cobra2top

Here is the deal, looking at the following and both the same price:

05 GX470 with Navi and factory DVD Player, 65K miles very clean and all service records

04 GX470 with Navi, no factory DVD, but KDSS. 39K miles. clean and all serive records

Which would you take? 05 with more HP, bluetooth, and the cool factory navi
or the 04, less HP but KDSS and 25K less miles???

HELP!! I am purchasing in the next day or 2 and these are the 2 hanging me up!!!!!

Thanks!

chrisvr6

the HP is nice in my '06. Can't imagine having 30 less.

cobra2top

Do you think the 30 HP is that much better then 25K less miles and KDSS? I keep reading KDSS is amazing. I wonder if the less HP will really be a issue as I do have a bit of a lead foot.

I do like the 05 with the bluetooth and voice recogintion. I wonder if it would be missed that much if I go with 04.

Johnny Rad

Assuming it looks nicer inside / outside, the '04 with significantly fewer miles wins for me.

Neither has the factory warranty in place, right?

I don't have KDSS, so I don't know what I'm missing.

Do a search on the hp difference. I recall a recent thread. Some will tell you that you can feel the difference. Most will say that it's only noticeable at higher rpms and that you can't feel it tooling around town.

malmon

if I were you, I'll take the 05 over the 04 with 25k less miles. In my opinion, the convenience of having the nav and bluetooth outweighs the KDSS.

DrVolkl

I thought they both have Nav? Screw the DVD, you can add that later.

You won't miss the 30hp in a truck...

malmon

oooppps, my bad, in that case I think the 04 with KDSS is a better deal.

aljodoro

I have KDSS and cannot imagine not having it. I cannot compare to a GX woithout it but the handling is very good. I did not want Nav becasue that seemed like a piece of equipment that would get obsolete very quickly. I a Garmin GPS in mine and like thee idea of being able to hook up to my PC to load in routes etc. I don't know about the HP as I have the extra 30 but I am not sure when I would need the extra 30 horsepower. I am barely over 3000 rpm in most driving so maybe you just put a little more foot into it.

I would not be able to walk away from a KDSS car and go over to a non-kdss. No way. Al

pgsandiego

KDSS: I'd drive both to see if *you* can feel the difference with KDSS.

HP: Most said they cant feel the difference of the +30HP in the 2005.

What's the price difference? The '04 should be cheaper. Do you have a color preference?

I went through the same analysis a few months ago. Bottom line, both are winners. I went with the '05 and have found I really like the bluetooth (I hadn't expected to use it and find I use it all the time now). The '05 is supposed to have a better nav screen.

BTW: The DVD is great if you have kids.

Good luck!

TexasGS

We just bought an 04 without nav or DVD with 47K for $24,000. We had a budget of $25,000 and we looked at older (05, 06) trucks with higher milage but ended up with an 04 with lower milage. If you drive a standard 15K per year the 05 will have 80K the 04 will have 54K on it next year. To me the 05 would then be ready to get rid of and the 04 is still good for a couple more years. I think once they get older, the milage will be the key. As for the options, we had two Lexus cars in the past with the NAV and never really used it. The rear DVD is good but just buy a couple of headrest DVD's like we did and you won't have to worry about the screen blocking your view out the back. The KDSS is really nice and I think worth it if you can get it. I have heard you can not really feel the HP difference. So, go with the 04 and enjoy it.

Lexus 4 ME

I bought 2004 with 39k miles in 2008. I would rather go for less miles. Less tear and wear. I would compare condition od 2004 and 2005. I did some research and you cannot feel the diffrence of 30hp. 2005 has VVTI engine. As far as bluetooth you can get Parrot.
2004 and 2005 indentical except bluetooth. If you want you can even upgrade taillights, you can put 2009 taillights.
KDSS that a really nice feature it adds more stability. Rear DVD you can get aftermarket for 300-600.

cobra2top

All, great responses! My issue and why I am leaning on all of you is that both cars are a good distance from my house. The 05 is about 130 miles and the 04 about 80 miles. I have driven GX's locally and at the time ruled them out as they cost a ton in my area. The 05 I drove had 50K and the asking price was $28K no navi. I want to spend under $25K so ruled it out and started looking for a Landcruiser or Sequoia. After looking at a LC and a few Sequoia's, I kept on thinking back about the GX and how much I liked it and wished I could get it to work in the budget. I friend of mine owns a dealership and took a 05 GX with navi with 95K in a trade. It was beat to death, scratches, dents, poor paint touch ups, the car lived a hard NY city life. The previous owner even put on a chrome bull bar and chrome taillight covers. It was a true city car. He let me take it out to see if I liked the ride. I could not believe it, the thing was as tight and as quiet as the 50K car I drove a few weeks back. After that drive I decided I will get a GX even if the miles are higher to get into something that better fits the budget. Another big selling feature for me was a YouTube search for Prado. Has anyone seen what these things do in other countries? They are unstoppable. I like that!

Well, that is the story how I got here. Also a side story is that I am now a Lexus "guy". We bought a 98 GS400 with the 17" factory rims. The car is from the dealer friend, one owner, 75K when we bought it back in 07. Thing drives like new and has had zero problems. It's has that timeless look, even though it is 11 years old, everyone mistakes it for new. I have been active on the GS2 boards and look forward to joining this one.

Well, right now I am leaning toward the 04. It has the lower miles and as stated before, in a year the thing will have 54K vs 80K. Not that I am going to sell the thing, planning on keeping it a LONG time, but the further away from the 90K maintenence the better. Also less wear and tear.

The other thing is the 04 is the Blizzard Pearl color. Wife really likes that color. Not sure how rare it is but heard it is sought after. The original owner actually drove 300 miles to another state back in 04 just to get this color. The 05 is the dark blue which is the one I prefer. I guess it does not matter as we all know how this story will end. I buy the car and the wife will take the keys leaving the GS400 (not too bad I guess)!!

Both have the navi and I agree that the headrest DVD's are prefered. I have a factory DVD in my current SUV and when the screen is down I can not see behind me and I am the type that likes to see all around at all times. One cool feature I will though miss on the 05 is the way the factory DVD player can show what is on the Navi screen. Anyone use this feature? It is something I would play with for a few minutes and never use it again? What does it do?

Again, keep the comments coming. Thursday is the purchase day. I have both dealers thinking I am coming in to see the cars. The 04 is closer and at this time preferred so I will see that one first. If it is as advertised then it's miine. If the thing is a mess, and rides poorly, then I am continuing up the road to buy the 05. The 05 is $1000 more with my phone negotiations. Maybe face to face I could get them both down more. We will see!

Pics will be posted hopefully Thursday!!

TexasGS

I would say the color of the 04 should sell your wife on it. I would say black it the most popular GX then the blizzard white. For my wife and I, gold was the bottom with the dark blue second from the bottom. I say the 04 is a no brainer as long as the condition is right. We ended up with the blizzard white and my wife loves it. Ours was driven by a single lady who never used the back seats and had the third row seats in her garage the since new. It was locally owned and maintained and was a new car trade in at an Audi dealer down the street from our house. We have been looking all over the country for the super deal on a GX. They are really hot where we live so they usually go for pretty high prices. We found ours about an hour after the lady traded it in and decided on a price and put down a deposit immediatly. If they had a chance to research it, they could have gotten another 3 grand for the truck. Anyway if the condition is good, and it should be with that low of milage, go for it. With KDSS, heck ya! I doubt you will really miss the blue tooth and more HP. As for the DVD, check Ebay. I bought a set of Vizualogic headrest DVDs for cheap and will be getting them installed on Friday. The leather on the headrest is an exact match. Good luck. You really can't go wrong with either one...it is a Lexus.

I6turbo

iTrader: (1)

LOL I hope by "good" you mean "trivial" distance. You are contemplating purchasing a vehicle that you will keep a long time, spend countless hours in, so to make a decision based upon avoiding a short 80 or 130 mile drive wouldn't make sense at all to me. Heck, I've driven hundreds of miles and even flown to distant states to buy the right vehicle, and always happy that I held out and spent those few hours to get the right one.
IMO, the power on the '03-'04 is just fine -- I have never had the impression that my '03 was lacking power for the type of vehicle it is. They actually feel MUCH more peppy than the power rating would lead one to expect, IMO.

itsZep

Just ballpark....what percentage of GX470's have KDSS?