AustinHusk

- Bought brand new in 12/2005 (for either $48,000 or.... $52,000. Can't recall ).
- Nightfall mica (that's the beautiful navy blue) with beige int.
- ML stereo + Nav
- Rear cooling zone
- Pretty loaded for a car of it's time.
- Wife's car - lightly used. 153,000 miles as of yesterday
- No real major repairs other than 1 timing belt change (at 100k I think) and the usual rotor/brake replacements. I've also had to do a couple of gasket replacements (though not sure if they were under warranty)

In the last month the following have occurred:

1) Evaporator core coolant leak: $1500+$150 coolant rchg. I have not done this repair yet bec. the leak is so small that the A/C still performs fine. Lets see what happens in a few weeks once it turns warm

2) Front shocks replaced+new front rotors & brake pads + rear brake pads: $1500

The car sounds awesome and runs great. Looks brand new. Should I keep it or sell now? When would I start seeing more issues come up? I know that's subjective but looking to get an idea about when issues start cropping up and it starts to become a $$ pit

chiph9

$3150 is a lot of money - but how long have you been without a payment?

I'd have to spend a lot more before I'd get rid of it.

Chip H.

AustinHusk

Right, $3150 is A LOT esp considering the car is going on 11 years. I probably made payments for the 1st 2-3 years (2006-2009) and then paid it off in 2009.

Like I said earlier, I'm looking at another potential $1500+ exp. depending on how bad that leak turns out but my dilemma right now is - what other issues typically crop up when the car crosses 150k miles? What else starts to fail at this point?

chiph9

The usual things you see referenced here. Radiator. Transfer case seal. Both of those combined would be another $3k.

Chip H.

NMBruce

Do you do camping & off roading or is this just another vehicle.

The GX470 can be a nice off road vehicle.

AustinHusk

Thanks Chip! That's great to know. Had no idea.

Can you elaborate a little more on those 2? I mean is it just a w&t thing or is is a quality issue? What's involved and is this something I can have the dealership look at now rather than wait till it blows up?

chiph9

Radiator is just an age thing. After a while they start to leak (like all of them on any car). Look for red "crystals" along the sides.

The transfer case leak is probably a design flaw, but Lexus won't acknowledge it. You might could sweet-talk the dealer into cutting their labor rate. If you have a 3rd party repair shop that you trust and has experience working on 4Runners and GX/LXes, there's a cheaper approach - do a search here for the details.

Chip H.

AustinHusk

No much off roading but I have pushed the GX a little. Agree, it's one heck of a 4x4

Makakio

I did a radiator at 95k miles and an alternator (though I think the latter was a statistical one-off as it doesn't appear to affect models) under CPO warranty at 80k.

Is the evaporator core a "common" failure on the GX?? Anyone?

Transfer case leak affects (I'm guessing based on anecdotal research here) maybe 15% of models, so looking for seep there would be a first step in my decision process.

Routine maint (shocks, brakes, tires) are going to end the ownership of my BMW in the next 10k miles (at about 175k miles) as that's a $3000 bill, so I get it.

But unlike a BMW, I don't think these trucks "fall apart". My Toyota products historically went from 100k - 200k+ with no real big problems. Maybe it's worth it to go to a tech for a pre-purchase-inspection (like $100) and have them comb through everything really well to get an idea? The $50k you're going to spend on a new rig (and all the increased insurance and reg cost) it a big number comparatively.