What would you pay? GX

[WPSFan]

Just wondering what you all would pay for this? A little more than I was hoping to spend but being a 1 owner, super clean, 91k miles with the timing belt done(has all maintenance records on carfax) it's difficult to not look into. It's exactly what I'm looking for except for the color and unfortunately at a dealer instead of private seller. Any input is appreciated.

http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?dealerId=83774&zip=22060&endYear=2016&sortBy=derivedpriceASC&location=Fairfax%2BVA&startYear=1981&makeCode1=LEXUS&dealerName=BMW%2Bof%2BFairfax&searchRadius=0&mmt=[LEXUS[][]]&listingId=407972498&Log=0

 

[WillBeck]

What are the NADA and KBB values? I don't know anything about this platform. I would look at those two, and see if you can find out what others are selling for.

Tbh, if Carmax has any, I would compare that price as well, they're usually quite spot on.

 

[WPSFan]

Surprising they're pretty spot on with KBB, even a little under. Fair purchase is $18,219. Private party is $16,654. I sent them an email, if I can get this right around private party value I'll likely pick it up. Just rare to find one of these with all of the history and maintenance intervals done. Could be a coincidence but I've looked at a ton of carfax reports and it seems like there's a trend of people dumping these off at 90-120k, which is expensive timing belt / water pump time.

 

[98OzarksRunner]

I bought an 07 with 93K in March for $20,000. It was a 2-owner (ladies) with good maintenance history and showroom clean. I looked for about 3 months before finding this one and figured I couldn't go wrong on the price (KBB was $21,XXX). I think your price is good. If you can get it for $16,XXX it's a real good deal (provided there are no problems). I too found a lot of them on the market at ~90K. I'm sure it is the timing belt. That makes the 90K maintenance a $1500 package, thus a good time to sell it. I called the Lexus dealer and they wanted $1100 to do the TB and water pump, so I used that to negotiate my deal. I bought the kit from an ebay seller for ~$300 and did it in a day (but I've done 5 before - it's still a big job, but not too expensive). According to the carfax, the TB was done on this GX at 90K so I'd jump on it (unless the color is a problem - I looked for a silver one for a long time and finally settled for white)!

 

[WhiteH2O]

I'm not sure how much difference the location has to do with it, but if that were in the PNW, that would be a screamin' deal.

 

[MarcFJ60]

I bought my 05 with about 100K for 16.5K about 18 months ago (also in the DC area). At the time, the price was pretty good compared to others I saw. Mine doesn't look quite as clean as that one (it had peeling rims that the GX is known for). So I would think anything under 17K would be a good deal with the timing belt done.

I can't say I'm thrilled with the car. It's fine, but I still wish I shopped more for a 100 series. The air suspension and rear barn door still bother me after 18 months. I have also had to deal with a few issues that aren't uncommon with the 4.7 drivetrain (which I may have had to deal with had I got a 100 series). Since I have owned it, I replaced the radiator, the O-ring to the thermostat, and now I am starting to get check engine codes that appear the air pump system may be going. None of those were major, and not unexpected with over 100K, but don't help selling me on a car I felt I settled with. When the airbag suspension goes, and it will, I will definitely replace with coils. I'm still kicking myself for spending over $1000 on the fancy electronic shocks for no ride improvement. If any part of your suspension goes, DO NOT replace them with OEM. It is all super expensive for no improvement. Any suspension issue can be replaced with OEM 4Runner or FJ Cruiser items.

All that said, it rides nice (although my buddy's 100 series rides nicer, but slower), but wallows a bit on uneven roads. It will get me wherever I need to go. And even with the couple of repairs, I consider it very reliable. In typical Toyota fashion, if something fails it tends to go out with plenty of warning and won't leave you stranded.

 

[WPSFan]

Appreciate all of the input. I've attempted to email the dealer twice about the GX with no response. I guess the next step is to call and let them try to convince me that the best way to deal is to come in go back and forth for hours.

There's another local GX, 06 white, private seller, 108k miles that is a 1 owner and had the 90k mile maintenance done at 100k according to Lexus.com ..I hope to check it out tonight, asking 14.5k which is a couple hundred over KBB.

Hate to hear about your experience with the GX Marc, definitely not the norm from what I've read. I'll definitely be ditching the air ride system asap.

 

[calicamper]

KBB pricing is wonky - I find even dealers only reference it to argue their trade in value offer. I would reference your TMV value via Edmunds for your area and see what numbers they give you. I've purchased several vehicles in the past few years from several years old to new and the Edmunds pricing data has been near spot on every time. The only vehicle that was way off was my old 93 Land cruiser in great condition low mileage which case non of the sites had a proper going rate value on it in 2011 when I sold it they were all very low vs what was typically being seen on the LC forums.

Also I found our local dealers were using the LC and GX as used car lot bait and rarely ever had fair prices on them or very good examples of a clean one. I would go private seller every time for that type of vehicle given most owners especially original owners had the clams to purchase them and had the clams to maintain them properly and most of those folks rarely used them for much more than soccer mom duty. Which makes them great used vehicles to shop and go private seller route! Good luck!

 

[MarcFJ60]

My post did sound a bit sour. I think on any used car with 100K on it, you will have to spend some money as things wear out. Replacing the radiator at 100K isn't a huge issue. And I think the O-ring leak was probably a shabby install done during the timing belt maintenance - they probably nicked it when re-assembling the water pump pieces. Both leaks were tiny and not even enough to leave drops on the driveway, but would empty the overflow container every few weeks. And the newer radiator designs cure the leaks where the plastic meets the aluminum. The air pump is just silly design, but there is a relatively cheap workaround ($150). They also increased the warranty to 10 years/100K - but only for the Toyota models Again, none of that stuff stranded me and it applies to all 4.7L Toyotas. I certainly don't have any issue with the 4.7L drivetrain. The power on the 2005+ is great, especially on the smaller GX.

The other stuff like the rear barn door and air suspension you know going in and either accept it or have a plan for it. My family likes it and I'm OK with it.

 

[calicamper]

Funny you mention the barn door, that and the lack of a 60/40 split 2nd row seat ended up killing the GX off my list. We needed to use the 3rd row option with car seats in play which case the 50/50 split just didn't work given my Land Cruiser had that also. Ended up with the 07 Sequoia given we can have a car seat in center position and the 40% flip can be flipped down for the 3rd row access. That and the extra width and 3rd row room ended up being the right choice with the Sequoia. The 4.7L is a nice engine I like ours its very smooth and pretty well set up. I haven't had any issues though it is overly sensitive and will trip an engine light for every little minor thing thats not totally perfect. I ended up getting a blue tooth OBD2 reader so I could read the codes that crop up on rare occasions and sort out whats being tripped and either clear it or go investigate etc. I think thats my only major complaint is that Toyota didn't really seem to give any tolerance to the sensors and systems for minor random changes that might occur and I've had about 5 codes over the past 5 yrs which all turned out to be nothing but for the unknowing it would have resulted in a visit to the dealer and probably a costly charge. Where as my $15 reader and app on my cell phone lets me sort it out in about 2 minutes time.


If the Barn door isn't doing it for you the V8 4runner is basically the same rig as the GX only you get a little better lay out space wise a proper hatch and a little wider range of aftermarket options.

 

[CYK]

I miss mine. No transmission clunk. I liked the barn doors because it was different. I let it go at around 95K having done the belt, pump, cam and some other good stuff while opened up. I even put in an alcantara headliner.

2UZ is one smooth engine. I worried about the rear air suspension, but turns out it's a stout unit. I guess it had more to do with my Range Rover suspension experience which doesn't exactly breed a sense of trust; rather, a more sardonic ownership feel.

 

[Mountainhound]

Whats the difference between lx and gx?

 

[Tundraexplorer]

Lx(450, 470, 570) is basically a slightly fancier land cruiser 80, 100, and 200. The gx uses the same engine at least in the earlier models as the 100 series(2uz) but is 6-800 pounds lighter, and it's also shorter and narrower. I believe it's based on the land cruiser prado platform, which the 5th gen 4runner is similar to(I might be wrong). So in short- lx is bigger on the inside and out, very reliable but also very heavy, worse gas mileage. Gx is smaller, more nimble around town, better gas mileage, faster acceleration generally

 

[WPSFan]

Well the 06 GX owner just called me back, it sold within 24 hours of being on CL. No rush, but I'm tempted to give up and just get a new 5th Gen T4R Trail against my better judgement.

 

[calicamper]

Thats one thing I can tell you when shopping used you need to either fast on the jump or be willing to wait for the right one. My 07 Sequoia I called 5 min after the seller posted it saw it that evening and had it home by midnight even had to drive him to another town where his office was to get his pink slip he had it in a safe at his office LOL. He texted me the next day and said he had 7 other people harrasing him he had no idea it would go so fast! 07 original owner limited AWD with 64,000 miles on it LOL ahh yea Ok buddy. LOL

It took me three months to find my dad his G35X we looked at lots of dogs and when we found the primo clean mint condition one it took an hour to do the paper work. Finding my father inlaws dream ride white Mercedes SLK350 two days talking with the seller, one day by pure luck friend and mercedes nut case in the area did a inspection for me $200 and some beer, then booked a flight and picked it up that Friday end to end 4 days and a 1000 mile drive home 2005 mint condition SLK350 barn find with 13,000 miles on it bought a year and a half ago. Great car!

I just sold my wifes cherry little 2001 VW Jetta 1.8T it had 76,000 miles on it original owner all maint and records took me two days just parked around the corner with a sign didn't even put it on the interwebs. Gone to a young guy just out of the service getting married next month and needing a decent car with AC to get to work! He was soooooooo stoked can't blame him the damn car looks and still smells new.