Yea I totally get that as I'm not a fan of the wood grain myself. That probably will get addressed at some point but its low on the priority list. I thought a lot about this for over a year and several vehicles were considered but as my base I wanted a V8 SUV and that narrows the search considerably. For a minute I considered a LR3 but came to my senses and basically I was down to V8 4 Runners w 4WD (rare and over priced) and domestics (plentiful and way overpriced) and the GX. I really never was in the Land Cruiser market for price alone. My target price was 10ish and in good shape. I just kept coming back to the GX and my search began. Not easy to find these things under 130k with service records for 10 grand so I started expanding my search area and came across Houston TX. For whatever reason there seems to be plentiful amounts of them with low mileage and service records and the pricing is very good. Like NADA trade in pricing. Yes I am aware of Harvey flood vehicles but I have a friend that trades in those units and he assured me that flood vehicles end up on Carfax reports and can never be erased. So I found mine and got on a direct flight from Memphis ($120) and picked up my GX. I have had it 2 weeks now including the 580 mile or so drive back home. Have you driven one? These things are sweet!! Plenty of room, good power and quiet inside. Incredible travel vehicle. Not quite on par with my X5 as a highway traveler but nothing beats those for long trips and lets face it a X5 is no off roader. So far no buyers remorse and for your 20 G target, its a great starting point. BTW your buddy got a killer deal on that 4R at that price.
