Dreamsz

Hi Guys,

So far my 07 GL450 has been a disaster every few months I am at the dealer helping him make $$$ on my car, changed tires sets every 16-18K miles because it will not withstand the Snow, changed 2 front Air shocks, back Air springs and 1 Left rear shock, last month changed Power steering pump, replaced Spark Plugs, replaced 2 blown coil springs (7 & 8) and Replaced all Brake pads and Rotors in November (4K Miles ago) replaced Transmission conductor plate in September 2013, and etc etc the list goes on.....

Now not sure what my GL would come up with next, it might come up with some repair or it might not, one of my indy mechanic said looks like Upper oil pan is leaking but he wasn't sure and I guess it was the Steering pump which looked like Oil pan leaking because I just changed my Power steering pump...So I am very confused big time after putting so much money in and making it road worthy will it be reliable for another 40-50K current mileage on the car is 89000 or is like I am repairing the car and giving it someone to enjoy....

Other hand I am getting a good LX 570 2011 model with 50000 miles its a CPO and I am getting 17000 for my GL450 as a trade in and the LX is costing me 51500 and with $5000 down the finance is coming up to 32000 something.
So not sure whether to get into again this payment crap but IF IF IF I have to keep spending the money on this car I guess I should say bye bye to this car....But on the other hand I almost got all of the major component fixed which would break in near future.

And the big draw back with LX 570 is the 3rd row seating as of now sometimes my dad jumps in on my GL 3rd row seat and he likes it very much but if I buy LX it will strictly be for my kids who are 4yrs-3yrs-2yrs old, so not sure how long LX will come along for my 3rd row seat for kids, does anyone has any idea how long kids are able to use the 3rd row seat in LX570

And last is I searched all over the net for LX 570 issues and couldn't find any its like none and I pretty sure that it is a reliable tank which would last longer with no issues....

But I should agree the ride in GL is more better than LX but for a family man I wont be doing 90 -100 MPH on highway so with 70 -80 MPH that truck is good and yes the cargo (trunk) space is no where comparable to GL450.

And also I get 15MPH in city on GL but when I looked LX mileage the reviews was pretty bad people been complaining as they are getting only 11-13 MPG. So the major confusion is 3rd Seat, Gas for now.

So any former GL owner or any LX owner please advise what you think is worth doing in this situation.

UCFdude

iTrader: (1)

It has nothing to do with your post but can you give me a little more detail about the GL?
was it purchase new, or used CPO? ect...
my sister live up north with her husband and she is about to have her first child. They plan on getting a AWD Suv soon and they are looking at the GL.
Being a lexus guy, i told them to get the LX but they said they will get the GL new and if used it will be CPO.

thanks,

T4Fun

i dont know why anyone would ever buy a german car, let alone an suv. There not all getting safety pick + and they break down too much.

jsanders

I once owned a Mercedes. Never again...

blacklx14

SWITCH, the gl is great at first, but then when you run out of warranty, it's a nightmare. I've had two lexus SUVs before getting a gl. The SUVs were written off, so I tried Mercedes. Never will I again, product not stood behind, and Mercedes has crap service and satisfaction

CBRDude

You can't beat the LX! Bank vault on wheels!!

Had a Top of the line VW Touareg Executive TDI. Day three into ownership it was downhill from that point on. Bought it in May and lemoned it in November! Never again in a VW!!

The fit and finish of a German automobile is great, the reliability is awful!

If I had it to do over again I would have gotten a 2011 of newer. The Telematics in the older ones is crap! I can't believe for something that costs so damn much money does not work with an iPhone or have a USB outlet.

blacklx14

Get the lexus, i recently got a 2014 black lx570 and joined the forum. from previous experiences my lexus vehicles never let me down, except for the alternator failure on my '07 GX, but thats another story.

UZ214

please get the LX - asap
have about 64k on the car now, its a 08 bought it couple of years ago- i was thinking of selling and getting a smaller suv-but didnt nothing can compare.. its a no issues car- had no problem with it, except a rear ac fix.

used to have a lx470- now that thing was a tank- had ZERO issues with that car over 4 years of ownership..

islandbeef

Owning Land Rovers forced me to stay away from European brand SUV's for life. Our 2000 LX-470 was a tank, trouble free but the 12 mpg on premium gas steered me to a Honda Odyssey minivan because of rising gas prices. As kids grow, you'll need the extra room but I don't want to bleed away my funds to keep the tank full.

It's your choice and your money.

CBRDude

Dreamsz,

What did you decide to do? Did you make the leap to the LX or are you still pouring $$ down a rat hole?

The German stuff is great while still under warranty, also the fit ant and finish, but once out of warranty you need to take out a second to keep it running. My parents had a ML and as soon as the warranty ran out they went with the RX and have been happy ever since.

My brother drives the BMW and on his third. More money than brains but likes the way the BMW drives over the Lexus. Can't drive fast in DC so it's a total waste of money.

My other brother has had nothing but Lexus products and swears by them. This is our first an LX. Great vehicle, but should have opted for the 2011 with better telematics. The 09 does not fully support the iPhone, which I don't understand but that's life.

blacklx14

the euros save more gas, on the lexus lx you trade off fuel efficiency for reliability, size, and power. if you can't afford filling the tank every week for 75 dollars, this is not the car for you. i also agree the gas mileage is absolute crap

Dreamsz

By the time I made up my mind and got to the car it was sold

The same car which was on the lot for last 1.5months as soon as I checked it out it got sold in couple of days hummmm....

Anyways I am still looking for LX570 because I strongly agree with the reliability of the car once you have the family. But 1 major draw back in LX is its 3rd row seat it defeats the purpose of 3rd Row.

GL is good and gives nice driving pleasure, but once its 4 years old its like in constant need of something or other which will turn you off from this car.

And just FYI the cost of ownership would sum up because LX is a gas guzzler where as GL cost of maintenance is too high but I still believe LX would save me a little more money than GL. And my 2 cents the Tires for LX would be a lot cheaper than this GL

MjThind

These things are bullet proof man. My mom and dad have had at 3 LX's, all bought new BTW, we had a '96 LX450 went strong for 349,000 and was still going strong when we sold it in '03 for '04 LX470 and we had that till '09 for 250,000 and traded in for a '10 LX570 and my dad sold that one with 70,000 about a year ago when he and my mom went to India for an extended stay. I bought my '13 1 month after my parents sold theirs, mine just hit 13,000 after 9 months of owning it. None of the above actually had more than routine maintenance done to them, no major issues ever Honestly I feel the german cars are all luck, my uncle has a '08 S63 that he bought brand-new as his DD, now has 107ish miles on it and other than 1 minor electrical issue and routine maintenance he hasn't had any down time in his S63. My parents have along with carrying the tradition of having a LX have always had a S-Class. They had a '93 500SEL, '97 S500, '01 S55 AMG, '04 S55 AMG, '07 or '08 S63 AMG, and '11 S63 AMG. All bought new and driven over 100K except the '04 S55 and '11 S63(sold it when they went to India) Out all of those the MB's we had the most issues with the '97 S500 and '04 S55 both times they were electrical issues after 70k, never a mechanical issue on any of their S-Classes. Now that they are coming back my dad's planning up to pick LX and a S63 again, excited to see what he does to the S63. But back to point the LX will never let you down on any front as long as you keep maintained as Lexus recommends, it'll probably be bulletproof even if you don't. I personally would just keep it maintained as Lexus recommends for peace of mind, lol.

lexusrus

Go for the LX570 and forget about the MB or any of the euro brands.

I say this because I had owned MB's in recent past and still have a SLK55 AMG (there is no similar or equivalent hardtop convertible sport cars out there in any of the Japanese line up.)

I had a 2000 LX470 bought brand new with like 8 miles of the odo when new. Traded it in last year for a brand new LX570. The old LX470 had served us well. We had some 280K miles on it when we traded it in for a brand new LX570. No "major problems" with the LX470 except for the routine service/tires/brakes.. But at 280K miles I thought it is time. The exterior and interior of the old LX470 was still reasonably good shape. The dealer can not believe it (we have three kids with the youngest one born at about the same time we had picked up the new LX470 back in 2000!!) Sure we could have kept the LX470 for another 100K miles or so, but the new technologies in the new LX570 was just too tempting and we made the leap.

Gas mileage: It SUCKS gas like there is no ending in sight. But I think the LX570 is actually better with MPG versus the old LX470 with a lot more horsepower and torque. I think if one is willing and able to pay/buy a vehicle of this caliber, gas cost is not really an issue (at least should not be in theory. If it is an issue, then perhaps one should buy something "cheaper" and save the money for gas).

Built quality/reliability: The LX570 is solid. Although I FEEL that the old LX470 had a "better build quality" versus the new LX570 due to the fact that the majority of the "original senior crew" who built the old LC and LX470 back in Japan had since "retired" and replaced with a "much younger crew" with a lot less experience. But still the new LX570 is solid and bulletproof.

Built quality/reliability/safety are top priorities. We don't want the headaches of constantly going back and forth to the dealer/shop for unexpected repairs, not to mention the expense of time and effort and the actual cost of the repairs.

Think of it another way............ How can one truly enjoy the vehicle if it is constantly breaking down and needed attention (EVEN if the repairs are FREE and under warranty!!!). Not to mention the cost of the GL (it is up there and not cheap!!) A few years back one of my friends had a GL and for the first month after he took delivery the "air suspension" kept on giving him problems. One morning one side would fail and be lower and he gets it repaired, then the next week, the other side would fail and be lower. It was truly noticeable and therefore NOT safe to drive it around like that. And then there were the other problems pop up here and there.......

BTW, the suspension in the LX570 is hydraulics (fluid), not air which tend to leak more easily.

You can not go wrong with the LX570. If you see an used LX570 and you like it then Go buy it!!! Usually people snap it up right quick (a lot of those get shipped over seas).

Also most of the SUV by MB are made in the USA (Alabama) with the exception of the G (made in Germany) and GLK (made in Germany) and the "AMG" (made in Germany) versions of the ML and GL. I am partial to the "AMG" version of the MB models. Yes, it cost more, but I think the built quality is a little better with the "AMG".

I hope the above helps.