MWalker

Could someone with an 04 confirm that you can run non-premuim gas, please??

Thanks in advance.

JasonCANES

I had an '04 and it did not require premium, however even if for some reason your "build" does require it, we are talking about a difference of less than $500 a year if you need to use 91 vs. 89. Don't let that be the factor that keeps you from buying the car you want - just figure out a way to get $500 or $1000from the dealer or have them knock off another $500 or $1000 off.

Side note: When my 04 was a lemon (yes, even Lexus makes Lemons - and yes, they did the right thing), they bought it back. To sweeten the deal, they gave me a NEW '05 with KDSS/Sport for just over $42,000 and threw in the maintenance for the first 30,000 miles. I would suggest asking for them to throw in maintenance for the next 30,000 miles if it will make you sleep better regarding the regular vs. premium fuel issue.

It is an amazing truck and having leased an '03, bought an '04, then an '05 and now my latest one - you will not regret it!!

coldwiz

Owner's manual from my '04 states select 87 octane or higher and for increased performance use premium 91 octane

The G Man

The owner's manual from 03 to 05 states select 87 octane or higher and for increased performance use premium 91 octane. The 06 and up states use premium 91 octane only. The 05 GX has the new vvt-i engine but still only requires 87 octane. The 06 and up has the same engine as the 05 but 91 octane is required, which doesnt make any sense at all. My opinion is that when they change the engine in 05 to the vvt-i, the comapression ratio went up a little bit, but not to the point where premimum gas is a must. You will improve performance a bit with 91 octane, but you can use 87 octane in all GX without damaging the engine. Of course if you do notice any knock or ping, you need to go back to 91 octane. I ran 87 octane on my 05 GX for 2 year and never had any problem with knock or ping.

GX4704ME

First off let me say thank you to everyone who responded to my post. Second of all let me apologize for not responding sooner but my girlfriend and I went to Gettysburg for the weekend! <insert sarcasm here>

Anyway, this is the week in which I need to make a decision on whether to move forward with the 2004 GX or attempt to work a deal on a 2005. I went to the dealership yesterday afternoon (dealership closed but service department open) and was told the IPod Integration, updated NAV disc, new floor mats, and TCB (drive shaft) were all completed. However, while doing the delivery walk through, someone discovered a chipped fog light so the SUV was having the fog light replaced and the paint polished and buffed.

Something tells me that I have already purchased the SUV (remember paperwork was completed on Friday) even though I have yet to take possession of the SUV and am still driving around in the car I intend to trade. I am not sure where I read this or who told me but I thought the deal isn't sealed until the transaction is fully completed.....meaning monies and goods have changed hands. Maybe my original post was much to do about nothing because there is no turning back.

The G Man

If you sign off on the titles, technically, the car is yours.

Nathan H5

Hey GX4704me,

I am a newbie here and new GX owner, but I love my late model year 2004 GX470 and plan on keepin it for a long time. I laid down cash to my friend Tai at American Auto Tech for it, Tai purchased it new, so I am only second owner. Mine too has just about every option, including the ML, Nav, 3rd, etc. Tai always used 91 or higher octane while he owned it, so I also use this.
Tai had huge rims and custom wheels mounted, I had him re-install the stock rims tires which I prefer. To this day, I think the GX470 is among the most beautifully styled SUV, I can see no real difference in the body in any models, so Lexus and its customers must be real happy with it. Only mods I did to mine was the deep blue 16000K HID to the lows and fogs. I know you'll like yours!
FB

The G Man

16000K omg

JasonCANES

16000k WOW!!! Any pics?

GX4704ME

Nathan H5,

I agree with you that the GX470's are a beautifully crafted SUV. There are only two other SUV's on the road that I think are hands down above the rest when it comes to exterior attractiveness and those are the BMW X5 and Mercedes ML350.

This may sound like a dumb question but what is the advantages to upgrading your lights (16000K HID) and why are folks freaking out over 16000K? If that is too much what would be a better HID install? I am a newbie at mod'ing so I have yet to learn the lingo.

The G Man

The exterior of the GX is not exactly a looker, but the interior and built quality more than makes up for that. The BMW and the ML's exterior is pretty ugly in my opinion and the interior is not up to par with the GX. Well, the new ML is not bad.
HID lights starts at 4300 kelvin, thats the color of sunlight. The higher the kelvin or K, the whiter or bluer or purpler the light will be. Once you go pass 5000K or 6000K, you will start to lose a lot of light output. A 160000K HID will have about the same or maybe less output than the factory holagen bulb. The only legal kelvin color as far as the government is concerned is 4300K. Anything above that is not DOT approved. Any blue or red light on any part of your car is illegal. Police really get **** off when they see blue or red lights on civilian vehicles because people can mistake them for police or emergency vehicles.

Nathan H5

16000k WOW!!! Any pics?

I'll take some tonite and post. The light output is still very intense, much brighter than halogens (twice as bright) but not as much output as 4300-5000K (three times the output of halogens) The color is bluish-purple, but not as deep as the intense blue of police lights.

GX4704ME, HID, and especially factory kelvin will light the road up in front of you like no halogen ever could. If properly adjusted (I make sure the low beams do not protrude their light above the trunk of a car on my GX) they won't blind other drivers. And they are wonderful when you need to see road signs. Halogen lights with their hot, glowing filaments put out infared light. HID, with the electric arc between two electrodes, in an atmosphere of Xenon (used to output usable light immediately) along with various bromide salts, halide and mercury emit ultraviolet light, which causes road signs to florecse, along with the refelctive paint on highways. Once you drive behind HID, you'll never go back to filaments!
FB

The G Man

16000K is consider deep blue, heres a picture of it:
http://www.marsperformance.com/html/...rsion-Kit.html
It may be ok if you live out in Virginia, but if you drive around in those lights in the big city, you can pretty much count on being pull over.

JasonCANES

Ironically enough, I lived in northern VA and they have some of the strictest cops I have been around. However, as long as you are not blinding people and you drive a luxury car, cops don't generally bother with you. They assume that the headlights are stock.

The G Man

The cops around here in the Northeast are some of the strictest as far as mods for cars is concerned. I got pull over for tinted windows twice and they were legally tinted. Cops here will know right away that blue lights are not factory colors, well any cop should know that. We also have some of the strictest state inspections in the country. Its pretty hard to past state inspections here with 160000K HID unless you know somebody.