watch37

Hi everyone,

I have been a long time admirer of the LX/Land Cruiser, and a few weeks ago I finally took the plunge and bought a 2009 LX 570 with about 39,000 miles. It is in Mercury Metallic with the dark gray interior. It has all options (upgraded leather and wood trim, cool box, ML stereo, DVD player, etc.) except for the dynamic radar cruise control/PCS option.

It was a single owner vehicle, spent its entire life in Arkansas, had a clean Carfax, and is still under the original Lexus warranty until April 2013 or another 11,000 miles. It was important to me to get one that was still under warranty, so that any issues that might pop up could still be taken care of by Lexus. Also, buying it under the orginal warranty would give me the flexibility of buying the Lexus Platinum warranty when the original warranty nears expiration. I pulled the Lexus service records prior to my purchase, and saw that the prior owner did all recommended service every 5,000 miles, and he never brought it in for any problems or complaints. Additionally, I had the dealer (which was a BMW dealership, who were great to work with by the way) put the LX up on the rack so that I could inspect the undercarriage for any signs of rust, corrosion, or frame damage. It's pretty impressive to see this 3 ton beast being lifted up in the air. I was amazed at seeing how much of the underside is protected by steel plating. The dealer's Service Manager and one of their techs looked through the undercarriage with me. In fact, a couple of other techs who were working on other cars ran over to sneak a peak of the underside of the LX. It looked absolutely pristine. I removed the tow hitch cover, which was very difficult to remove, which suggested to me that it was never used for towing. My suspicions were confirmed when I looked at the tow hitch and the paint on it looked untouched. Second and third row seats looked as if no one had ever sat in them. On my 2.5 hour drive back from the dealer, I averaged 19.3 mpg on the highway. Since then, I've averaged about 14.5 with mixed city and highway driving. Not great, but I knew that going in.

Like most of you, I cross shopped other large luxury SUVs before purchasing this LX. For a guy with a wife and two young kids, there are probably more "sensible" options out there. At the top of the list is the Infiniti QX 56. We seriously looked at getting one with all options and 4wd. Very nice interior, state of the art tech, and plenty of room with a fold flat third row. It doesn't have the off road pedigree of the LX, but honestly, at most we're going to take it through the snow maybe twice a year, which the QX 56 should easily handle. But it came down to the exterior looks, specifically, the front hood/grill and the rear bumper. We tried and tried to like it. We really did. We even made excuses for it (well, if we get it in black, and if you look at it at this angle, it might not look quite as bad). But in the end, we just couldn't get over it. The interior is really nice, but the outside, not so much. If Infiniti ever improves that exterior, I might make the switch one day.

We also considered the new Mercedes GL 450. I like what they did with the new version, both inside and out. Much, much improved over the last model. But my wife did not want to deal with any reliability issues, and unfortunately, the GL has a documented history of reliability issues. The GL reliability issues, especially when compared against the great reliability of Lexus, took the GL off of our list. Speaking of reliability issues, we didn't even consider the Land Rovers for that very reason.

We looked at but did not seriously consider other contenders. These included the Audi Q7 (wife said it looked too much like a mini van), BMW X5 (too small and some reliability concerns), Cadillac Escalade (not our taste), Lincoln Navigator (outdated inside and out), Acura MDX (didn't like the front grille, a bit too small in the trunk area), and the Lexus GX460 premium (very nice, liked the fold flat third row, but second row seats were flat, really firm, and lacked support, second row was a bit too tight on hip and shoulder room, and we didn't like the swinging door set up, especially swinging towards the curb side) . In the end, it came down to the LX and the QX.

After about 1 month of ownership, I am really happy with the LX. I have to say, there's something about owning a vehicle with the history and pedigree of the LX. While I probably will never tap the true potential of this bullet proof beast, just knowing that it's sitting there waiting to be unleashed makes me happy to own it

rominl

iTrader: (4)

great write up and congrats on your new car!!!!

SC400slide

iTrader: (11)

Congrat's on your new LX! It would have been between the LX and the QX for me.

watch37

Thanks. I think Infiniti has "checked off" all the right boxes with their revised QX. They really hit the nail on the head in giving the luxury large SUV buyer what they want. Dual headrest DVDs, fold flat 3rd rows, luxurious interior, heated front and middle row seats, the ability to drop the 2nd row seats with a button next to the driver, all wheel drive option, around view overhead monitors, lane departure, blind spot monitors, and the list goes on and on. If I regularly needed to access the 3rd row, such as if I had a 3rd child or transported my kids' friends on a regular basis, the LX would make less sense as compared to the QX. Although I wish my LX's 3rd row could fold flat, I doubt that will ever happen so long as the Land Cruiser continues to stick to its off-road roots. I suppose that adherence to those roots makes it so unique.

Norboo

My father in law bought the QX56 and I wish I had taken that route. Everything is much better on the QX56 than the LX570 including the price. I paid much higher sticker price for much less of a car. I like the talking nav, weather and traffic when you start the car.

tkbalt

We have an 09 - same color. A great vehicle. Check out Sewell Lexus for discounts on parts.

http://lexus.sewellparts.com/

watch37

Yep, I've already taken advantage of the Club Lexus discount through Sewell Lexus parts online. Bought an all-weather cargo mat for my LX. Will also be looking at that web site for other parts in the future.

I've put about 1,000 miles on my LX, and have been very happy with it. My wife, who is the primary driver, really likes the height adjustment feature, which allows her to easily load cargo in the trunk and makes it all around easier to access the vehicle. It's a big vehicle, there's no getting around that, but it drives smaller than it's actual size. By the way, I passed by a Sequoia this morning, and that things makes the LX look small in comparison. Last weekend, we parked next to a Hummer, which made my LX look like a Fiat

WhyNotMe01

great looking car and great info...looking at LX too

do you mind share how much you pay it?

watch37

I paid $50,000, without the CPO warranty. It came with new Michelin tires and a new battery. Brake pads had about 60% life left in them.

Max707

Here is the problem with buying the LX. It will drive like new with only normal service and no problems for another 470+K miles. That means you are not going to be able to convince your wife you need a new vehicle. So depending on now many miles you drive a year and your age this might be your last SUV. Good analysis with your buying decision. My daughter owns a new QX56 and they are nice and will also be dependable but I agree they are butt ugly

TooCool4u

iTrader: (2)

Dang nice info

watch37

Max707 - that's a great point! Or, if she ever decides to trade in the LX 570, I don't know how I will be able to convince her to consider anything other than a new LX! She considers it the flagship Lexus vehicle.