chreesto

Greeting all. I'm new to the forum and don't yet have a vehicle. I've been eyeballing GX and LX models for a year now. I'm thinking very seriously about this vehicle:
http://www.cccpaa.com/content/2007-lexus-gx-470-4-door-suv

I'm just looking for a good reliable vehicle to take my boys camping and some light trail use/over landing. When I go look at it today what should I check for? Is 14960 a good price for a 2007 with 120k miles? I'm planning on switching to OME shocks when the airbags go. Are there any other predictable issues I should be aware of? It is one owner with 20 maintenance records. I put the vin in Lexus' system and it looks like the alternator was recently replaced. Everything else looks like routine maintenance. Thanks very much for your time and feedback. Can't wait to get out on the trails.

micah360

yes... that sounds like a great deal. Was the timing belt service on the list of completed maintenance?

chreesto

Thanks for the reply. I ended up buying the vehicle but I still don't know if the timing belt was completed. The Carfax shows maintenance about every 5000 miles but it doesn't detail what was completed. Some of the maintenance was at the Lexus dealership but some was at an independent mechanic. I am trying to track down what was done but, in the meantime, I'm taking it in to my mechanic to get a once-over. The vehicle seems to be in really great shape. It drives well and there are no issues with the air suspension. I'll be getting it detailed this week, just so that it is as new-to-me as possible. I'm really looking forward to a long relationship with this vehicle and spending a lot of time on these forums. My out-the-door price was just a tad over 16K, seems like a pretty good deal for a one-owner, well-taken-care-of vehicle.

chreesto

Well, it took some work but I was able to track down the maintenance history. The previous owner took really good care of it. New timing belt, water pump, tensioner, idler, serpentine and thermostate at 93K miles. Also new brakes and battery. I was very pleased that all of this work had already been done. So pleased, in fact that I scheduled a deluxe detailing and the full 120k service. Really excited about this vehicle.

NTH

That's a great buy Chreesto! Congrats

chreesto

Thank you. One week in and I'm still in the full honeymoon stage. I love this thing. Took it to a dirt lot near my work to give the low gear and dif lock a workout. Incredibly smooth.

chreesto

Just wanted to update my original post. I'm really loving the GX470 experience. My gripes are minor. I think it could use more cupholders and I don't love the rear door (I don't hate it as much as I thought I might though) but, in general, it's great. I took the kids camping up in Gold Country over the weekend. We pulled our popup camper (about 2000#) up the mountain with no trouble. The air suspensiion made hooking up a breeze and the adjustable dampening made the ride as smooth as possible. Once we got up in the mountains we unhitched the trailer and did a bit of off-roading. This is a tremendously capable vehicle, even my wife was blown away by the obstacles that we were easily able to overcome. The best part was returning to the highway from the trail; as soon as the tires hit pavement it was back to a cadillac-smooth, quiet ride. I'll be doing some minor modifications to make it even more trail-ready but even in stock form it handled everything I threw at it. A big thank-you to this board for helping me make the decision to purchase. I'm hoping to keep this thing for a long time.

BlackCat81

My truck has done some pretty gnarly trails in Moab, and save for rims and tires, it's totally stock. I did order the metal tech coil conversion kit and some FJ springs since my compressor took a dump. They're very impressive off road.