Jreask

GX470 black with only 251K miles. The truck is in decent shape for the mileage and has a few scratches and small dinks on it. You think I'm crazy to buy something with that many miles? I have driven 4Runners for years and saw this one at a ridiculously low price on CL. I Just finished replacing the timing belt and all the idlers and tensioner. I replaced the green coolant with Toyota Super Long Life coolant. I changed all of the fluids except the brake fluid, which I will do soon. The AC is pretty cold and blows strongly. Interior is in good condition and everything works except for a few bulbs that I had to change (with the help of this forum). The fuel mileage seems to be pretty poor with the AC on. The engine seems to have good power especially in the 3K rpm range. A little sluggish off the line even after new laser iridium plugs. I'll put some pics up when I get her cleaned up all the way. I hope to drive her into 300K plus miles, maybe 400K. The height control works. She rides very good. I had one frozen caliper that was causing a pull to the right when applying the brakes. $75 later it drives perfectly straight. You guys think I'll make it to 400K?

bazzputz

Absolutely!

Jreask

i hope so Bazzputz. Over 50 views and only one response. Quite a difference from T4R.org.
I know most of you guys and girls wouldn't dream of owning a GX with that many miles but nobody knows until they see the odometer. It runs and drives great. And now the major items are done. That timing belt was a little tougher than the 3.4L 4Runners. I've gotten plenty of info from this forum. Thanks.

tz693

Congrats! A member here hit 400k! Wish you can catch up with him. I am still in 120k and hoping at lease get to where you are at now.

ScatAdams

Congrats and welcome! Also if you like t4r you should check out ih8mud's 120 section, more active and more off road oriented.

Cheers!

justweav5

Congrats! Welcome to the club and getting 400k out of the GX shouldn't be too hard as long as you keep it maintained. I picked up an 06 with about 120k on her and I couldn't be happier. Enjoy your new rig!

Jreask

We are a little cash strapped right now and while searching for a 4th Gen 4Runner, the GX showed up on CL. I actually went to look at an 04 GX with 189K on it. It was in about the same condition as the one that I ended up buying but the owner wanted $10,500 for it. LOL. I bought this black one for about half that amount. The miles don't scare me with Toyota/Lexus vehicles. This one seemed to have a decent maintenance history as the son in law owned a repair shop. They "looked" at the timing belt and decided not to change it at 232,000. It was last changed at 104K. That's too risky for me especially with the interference motor. I decided to change it right away just for peace of mind. The belt did look OK but it's hard to tell by looking.
This truck is so much like the 4th Gen 4Runner but the suspension seems smoother and the 4R's are really smooth running and riding also. You all know that the Lexus IS more refined with a few more amenities. It really surprised me that this 2004 doesn't have TPMS because 4R's do. Anyway, enough rambling. Thanks for the replies and the welcomes.

JR

Randy20g

I'm the guy, and I now have 402k

Read my thread about what I have replaced, and how a timing belt looked after 360k. lol

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gx-...to-keep-2.html

rstl99

Welcome and good luck with your GX! I too was looking for a 4R and ended up getting a GX because I felt I deserved a bit of comfort in my life. I purchased a 2004 a few months ago, mine has about 125k miles on it but seeing people like yourself (250K) and Randy (400K!!) makes me confident I can keep my 2004 running for a very long time (as long as I can keep the rust from it - I'm in the rust belt).
Cheers.

Jreask

i live in Missouri and I've seen plenty of rusty undercarriages when looking for 4Runners, mostly 3RD generations. I looked at one where the rear pumpkin was so rusty that the gear oil was dripping out of it. Keep the undercarriage clean and wash it off after the salted roads from the snow. I just changed the the oil and was going to send a sample to Blackstone but I completely forgot about it. Guess it'll have to wait 5K miles. We love our 2015 Trail Premium 4Runner but this GX just seems to glide on the highway. If they would make the 4Runner in a V8 the sales would really gain some traction. They won't do it with the new EPA fuel mileage stipulations.

180ls1

The lexus has another 50lbs of sound deadening, thicker glass, different body mounts, the electronic controlled dampening and some other stuff that makes the ride so much better.

rstl99

Yes, it's quite shocking how badly those 4Runners (and GX's) rust underneath. I've also walked away from several during my search, after one look underneath. And yet some of them (the GX's especially) looked pristine top-side. Toyota should really do something better to protect the undercarriage at the factory, but I suppose those of us living in the "rust-belt" probably only form a small percentage of owners of those vehicles world wide, I don't know...

Yeah I've come up with many ways of preventing rust from getting too bad under there, over the years, but the best solution is just not drive the vehicle in the winter months, and drive a winter beater instead. This year however, I plan on driving the GX through the winter so will pay attention to rust-proofing and frequent washings underneath. One thing I do every spring, is run an oscillating water sprinkler under whichever vehicle I've driven in the salt, to wash off the salt and dirt accumulated during the winter.By slowly pulling the sprinkler hose from underneath the vehicle, it washes off most of the bad stuff. Then I get it rust-proofed (annual oil-based treatment) in a specialized shop.

Jreask

I know that the wind noise in the GX is almost non existent in my 2004 even with over 250K miles on it. Now those gremlins under the dash are another story. I read somewhere on here about the noise being the servo motors. My AC is about 50 degrees when it's hot outside. I think it should be in the lower 40's. At least that's what this thermometer shows in my '15 4Runner. Anyone know if the servo motors have anything to do with the air temp?

chiph9

I walked away from a 4Runner that had rust issues -- here in Texas. Turns out the dealer bought it at auction in Wisconsin and shipped it down to put on their lot. And couldn't understand why I wouldn't pay more than $4000 below his asking price.

Chip H.

rstl99

Haha, so you guys occasionally get our rust-buckets and we occasionally get your flooded vehicles! ;-) Darn those dealers...