Sammzway

Hey whats up folks. Well we just bought a 03 GX470 and I haven't picked up the truck yet. I'm supposed to pick up the truck on Friday once it's ready (detailing and adding few things). Well the truck has 34k miles on it and it had the lexus warranty on it. I purchased the extended warranty which is 5 years / 100k. The dealer is also adding lo-jack due to high theft of automobiles in NY. The truck is fully loaded with navigation. I took some pics right after purchasing the truck and they're in my cardomain site. I'll take more pics once I pick up the truck.

Is there anything else I should learn/know about the truck? I've read many threads about the all famous "clunk" noise that many people were complaining about. I test drove the truck 3 times and slammed the brakes hard just to see if there was any clunks. I didn't hear any sort of noise even when I came to a complete stop from going 40mph.

I would highly appreciate any tips or tricks or inside information from you folks because I know many of you have owned your GX470 for over a year. You can give me the ups and downs on this truck. Thanks.

Also a question I have for people that has the extended 5yrs/100k warranty. The truck I bought is a pre-owned certified lexus truck, and being that it has 34k miles on it already shouldn't the extended warranty cover me upto 5yrs and 134k miles? I was just curious about this because the dealer told me it'll only cover me upto 100k yet i'm paying a full price of $2300 for this extended warranty. Can someone clarify this for me?

Here are some pictures

lonewolf69

Hi Sam,

Congrats on the purchase and WELCOME to the Lexus family! The extended warranty is fine @ 100K miles, no warranty gives you more than 100K mile that I know of and for them to even sell it to you now after the is an ADDED bonus!!!

You'll absolutely love the GX,!


-Alex

jugdish

Unless you plan on driving less than 12-15K miles/year, I would skip the extended warranty. In your case you are only gaining time. You will have 3 years or 65K +/- miles bumper to bumper warranty at no cost so you are paying twenty-some hundrede dollars for 2 years more coverage, at which point you may A) Decide to get a newer model year truck or B) Sell the truck while the resale value is better before 100K miles. Keep in mind you are buying an '03 truck. In three years, when your Lexus Certified Used warranty is up your truck will be 6 years old. Finally, of any brand of vehicle available, I feel most confident of Lexus' quality as far as long term reliability. You still have time to cancel your warranty as most states allow at least 30 days trial, and even if you cancel after, you are entiltled to a prorated refund. I too opted for a CPO truck over a new '05. Mostly because of the CPO warranty. It can't be beat.

jugdish

Sorry, forgot another point: If you plan on putting alot of miles on the car, you may have wasted 2 grand as the extended warranty only covers a TOTAL of 100k, not 100k added to current mileage. If you plan on being close to 100k miles within 3 years, then save your money.

Sammzway

Yes, I have thought about everything you've said. Here's the thing, lets say after 3 years I don't use the warranty. Another word, being that i'm going to be covered for 3 years by Lexus and the extra 2 years i'll be covered by extended warranty and if nothing goes wrong with the truck during that 2 years of time period. They will give me my $2300 back. They call it the money back gurantee. Now lets say I decide to sell the truck before 5 years and before 100k. The warranty can be transferred to the new owner OR canceled and they would give me the $2300 back. It's just that I don't want to be azzed out if something major goes wrong (god forbid). We have a Maxima and a Dodge Caravan that we use for everyday. This truck is strictly for weekend and pleasure use.

Thanks for the quick response guys. I appreciate it...

r210

If you have a caravan and the GX I bet you will be using the GX much more then you currently think.

my .02

jugdish

Just beware of the "money back" warranty offers. If you get anything, and I mean ANYTHING ever done to your truck at the dealer and they see that a screw is faulty or that something needs to be replaced, it goes as a claim against your warranty and a $2.00 plastic piece can end up costing you 2 grand. My point is that you will more than likely use your warranty during the next few years. I had a strange whining sound coming from my air vents, rather than lube the HVAC fan, lexus just replaced it under warranty.

jugdish

I think you are also being mislead about the extended warranty, If you purchase it, The extended warranty supercedes the CPO warranty, meaning that if you have something replaced under warranty with the 3 year/100k time frame, it goes as a claim on your extended warranty. Your CPO warranty becomes Null because you bought extra coverage. Be careful in thinking that if you have a claim within 3 years but nothing in the follow 2 years that you will get your 2 grand back, because you won't. This exact scenario happened to my Sister, there is no way to fight it if there is any type of claim. She got screwed because of a faulty windshield wiper screw. They replaced under her extended warranty, when time was up she called for her refund and was met with "Sorry, we have a claim posted against your account."

Sammzway

So do you think it's best to cancel the extended warranty? I mean I know it's only 2 years extra for 2grand in change. I feel as if it's a safe move because atleast for the next 5 years i'll be covered bumper to bumper.

jugdish

Personally, I think the CPO warranty in worth it's weight in gold, that's why I opted for a CPO 04 GX vs. a new 05 GX. $2300 is alot of money for 2 extra years IMHO. This may sound stupid but if you took your $2300 and invested it conservatively with an average return of 8%, you would have about $3400 in 5 years. As you can tell I'm not a fan of extended warranties, most of them are a consumer rip off and companies prey on people who have the "what-if" fear. If you are going to have a serious problem with your car, the law of averages says it will happen within the next 3 years vs. the latter 2 years. If it were my money, I'd put it to better use.

JellyBean

I'd stick with the CPO warranty and that's it. But If you really want the $2300 extended warranty, have you tried asking your dealer to sell you the car without the CPO warranty and then separately purchasing the extended warranty from them? It's still more $$$ in their pockets. In other words, the dealer can discount the price of the vehicle by more than $1000 if you chose to forego with the CPO warranty. (In my case it was going to be $1500 on a GS430, but I ended up taking the CPO warranty instead.) You can then opt for the $2300 extended warranty and end up with only ONE warranty.

Sammzway

Hey everyone. Thanks for the outlook.. I am suppose to go in and pick up the truck tomorrow and i'll speak to them about canceling it. I'll let you guys know how it turns out.

Sammzway

Well, i've picked up the GX last night and between last night and today i've put on about 100miles. All I can say is WOW.. I am so impressed with the way it rides and handles. It also is very high comparing to the other suv (ie pathfinders, explorers). I also noticed that it attracts a lot of attention at certain places like the mall parking lot. Anyway, maybe it's cause i was used to driving my maxima and caravan and this is like a completely different line of vehicle. Anyway, over all, I give it two thumbs up.

I'll take some more pics later and also I give Lexus of Massapequa (out in long island) a lot of credit for their customer care. I was suppose to pick up the truck at 3pm and the guy called me up around 2pm and told me to go there at 5pm becuz he said they had bird doodoo on the truck after they detailed it so he sent the truck back for redetailing. Once I got there, the truck looked super shiney. Anyway, I was very happy with them and told them that within the next year or i'll be back to replace my maxima with a GS430.