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Last week I purchased from Alaska, online from a Lexus used car lot in my home state of Minnesota, a 2008 (108,000 miles) GX470 with KDSS. I tried to educate myself as much as I could, including this forum, about the truck and the pros and cons of KDSS. My wife picked the truck up last week and is currently in Kansas City visiting our 31 yr old son. My son will be evaluating the truck for a possible replacement for his 2008 Honda Element. He's a rock climber and travels to Arkansas frequently to climb and his Element just isn't cutting it to get into some of the sites. He would also like to used it in Colorado or wherever. I'm new to using a forum and I would like to ask two questions. I realize maybe I should be using two threads. Please let me know if I should.
First: Did the GX470 come with skid plates on it? I realize, if I have to purchase Skid plates, I have to buy something to fit the KDSS option. Any thoughts?
Second: Premium gas vs regular gas. I have talked to some owners who have only used regular gas. I plan on using premium gas for now after talking to a friend in Alaska who received training on emissions in Alaska when it was required. He told me the electronic fuel controller was programed for premium gas to get max power out of the engine. He said the fuel controller would always be trying to compensate if regular gas was being used. Thoughts?
Thanks from a guy who's looking to get 300,000 plus miles from this truck!
1. Yes there are skid plates but if you're going to be doing serious off roading you probably want to upgrade those.If you're just doing light stuff you don't need to do anything.
2. Premium gas is required per the owners manual and its why the GX has a higher rated HP figure than the Toyota trucks. Some people run regular but if you can afford it and you plan on keeping the truck a very long time its probably best to stick to what the manual calls for.
1. Yes there are skid plates but if you're going to be doing serious off roading you probably want to upgrade those.If you're just doing light stuff you don't need to do anything.
2. Premium gas is required per the owners manual and its why the GX has a higher rated HP figure than the Toyota trucks. Some people run regular but if you can afford it and you plan on keeping the truck a very long time its probably best to stick to what the manual calls for.
I have a 2005 Lexus GX470 4WD and a 2005 Toyota 4Runner limited 2WD...
they both have the same power output. They also both say the same thing in the owners manual. Run 87 octane or higher. For improved performance, use 91 octane or higher.
I always thought the Lexus had more power... but I was wrong.
The owners manual picture of page 283 is from the 4Runner..
so you you can run any type of fuel. But you’ll get better gas mileage, power, and cleaner valves from using 91 octane(or higher).
Thanks MrJason! Great information. I think it's real easy to get the octane rating mixed up with the research octane number...
Its no problem. This thread reminded me to look that up. I have been running premium except when I get gas at a “back in the woods” store by my house that only has regular(non-ethanol) and diesel... but I tend to put as little as possible in if I can’t get premium.
I average 18.5mpg(unless I run both a/c systems and over 75mph on my commute).
When I first got the vehicle it was filled with 89 by my dealership. If it 16.9mpg.... but that could be because of the driving style change as the vehicle learned my drive style.
I also use the trip and amount of fuel fuel during fill ups to calculate my mileage.... although the computer is within .2mpg on every tank.
But with a 78 mile drive each way to and from work... I’m glad my contract has work paying for my fuel. At 55k+ miles a year... gas would get expensive on the GX.
One thing that that really bothers me though... the fuel light comes on with 6 gallons left and the “range to empty states 0 miles left with 3 gallons left.
So I just use the trip and allow for 23 gallons at 17.5mpg(to be safe)... so I fill up at 402 miles and generally put 21-22 gallons in. Although I may change my calculations a bit since I ran out of fuel once... right in front of the gas station.. lol
i had let my mom use the Gx one weekend while I installed a back up camera and remote start on my 4Runner that she uses normally. I call it mine... but I bought it for her. She just would get rid of this POS Honda minivan.. and I got the 05 4Runner limited(2WD) for $5k with 113k on it... it was a steal
A customer bought it from our sister dealer... it had new tires, battery, brakes, and service done.. then the customer came back with the cluster looking like a Christmas tree... it needed the SAIS system, alternator, and was over due a timing belt.... the Toyota dealer quoted $6k in repairs.
So I got it for a steal and saved the UCD managers ***.
[QUOTE=turnagain;10539107]Last week I purchased from Alaska, online from a Lexus used car lot in my home state of Minnesota, a 2008 (108,000 miles) GX470 with KDSS. I tried to educate myself as much as I could, including this forum, about the truck and the pros and cons of KDSS. My wife picked the truck up last week and is currently in Kansas City visiting our 31 yr old son. My son will be evaluating the truck for a possible replacement for his 2008 Honda Element. He's a rock climber and travels to Arkansas frequently to climb and his Element just isn't cutting it to get into some of the sites. He would also like to used it in Colorado or wherever. I'm new to using a forum and I would like to ask two questions. I realize maybe I should be using two threads. Please let me know if I should.
First: Did the GX470 come with skid plates on it? I realize, if I have to purchase Skid plates, I have to buy something to fit the KDSS option. Any thoughts?
Second: Premium gas vs regular gas. I have talked to some owners who have only used regular gas. I plan on using premium gas for now after talking to a friend in Alaska who received training on emissions in Alaska when it was required. He told me the electronic fuel controller was programed for premium gas to get max power out of the engine. He said the fuel controller would always be trying to compensate if regular gas was being used. Thoughts?
Thanks from a guy who's looking to get 300,000 plus miles from this truck!
[/QUO
TE]
Welcome to CL!
Great looking GX!
One thing I noticed is that the headlights are regular, not smoked as is on all Sport packages. It was my understanding that KDSS came only on trucks with Sport Package (Black Burlwood trim on the interior, smoked headlights and KDSS). Have the headlights been changed? Or does it not have KDSS?
Last week I purchased from Alaska, online from a Lexus used car lot in my home state of Minnesota, a 2008 (108,000 miles) GX470 with KDSS. I tried to educate myself as much as I could, including this forum, about the truck and the pros and cons of KDSS. My wife picked the truck up last week and is currently in Kansas City visiting our 31 yr old son. My son will be evaluating the truck for a possible replacement for his 2008 Honda Element. He's a rock climber and travels to Arkansas frequently to climb and his Element just isn't cutting it to get into some of the sites. He would also like to used it in Colorado or wherever. I'm new to using a forum and I would like to ask two questions. I realize maybe I should be using two threads. Please let me know if I should.
First: Did the GX470 come with skid plates on it? I realize, if I have to purchase Skid plates, I have to buy something to fit the KDSS option. Any thoughts?
Second: Premium gas vs regular gas. I have talked to some owners who have only used regular gas. I plan on using premium gas for now after talking to a friend in Alaska who received training on emissions in Alaska when it was required. He told me the electronic fuel controller was programed for premium gas to get max power out of the engine. He said the fuel controller would always be trying to compensate if regular gas was being used. Thoughts?
Thanks from a guy who's looking to get 300,000 plus miles from this truck!
[/QUO
TE]
Welcome to CL!
Great looking GX!
One thing I noticed is that the headlights are regular, not smoked as is on all Sport packages. It was my understanding that KDSS came only on trucks with Sport Package (Black Burlwood trim on the interior, smoked headlights and KDSS). Have the headlights been changed? Or does it not have KDSS?
The GX470 Prada came with smoked lights and the dark interior trim. I thought the KDSS was an option that could be added to any Gx470... but it was standard on the GX470 Prada.
No problem. I don't mind the ramble. Once again, I gained some great information. My wife has been driving the car for a week now and has ranged between 16.5-18.0 mpg using the a/c the whole time. We calculate gas mileage the same way you do. I think we're going to use a range of 350 miles to start with and then slowly increase the range until we get a good gauge on how many gallons are left when the low light comes on and then go from there.
It's good you get your gas provided and your able to use premium. I'll play around with 87 octane to see how it runs, but I plan on using 91 for now until convinced otherwise. It does sound like you did get a nice buy on that 05 4runner. Thanks MrJason!...
Good question RockfordRX. I used Cargurus and Carfax to locate the truck. I eventually learned I could go to Lexus.com and on the home page go to owners, then resources, then vehicle specifications, then enter a VIN number, then click on full specifications. It will then show what options were put on at the factory or the "port" (which I assumed meant the dealer). I'm going to try and attach a screen shot of my options showing the KDSS option as KS. My truck did not have the black burlwood trim or the smoked headlights that came with the sports package, but it does have KDSS from the factory, so apparently KDSS was a stand alone option. I will say I saw many listings saying the truck had the "sports package" on the vehicle, but upon looking on the Lexus site with the VIN number, none of them showed the "sports package" or KDSS as being on the vehicle from the factory. That also corresponded to none of the pictures of the vehicle showed the black burlwood or smoked headlights. I remember seeing early on in my searching for a vehicle that one of the trucks showed a picture of the black burlwood option inside but I didn't know about checking the VIN number on the Lexus site yet to see whether it showed the "sport package" as an option. When I went back to look for that vehicle later, I couldn't find it (it must have sold). When I look back at this post I hope people will understand it. If not, come back at me.
My wife picked the truck up one week ago and loves it! She's visiting our son in Kansas City. She told me the truck handled the curves better than anything she's driven to date (maybe the KDSS). I have not seen the truck yet!
Good question RockfordRX. I used Cargurus and Carfax to locate the truck. I eventually learned I could go to Lexus.com and on the home page go to owners, then resources, then vehicle specifications, then enter a VIN number, then click on full specifications. It will then show what options were put on at the factory or the "port" (which I assumed meant the dealer). I'm going to try and attach a screen shot of my options showing the KDSS option as KS. My truck did not have the black burlwood trim or the smoked headlights that came with the sports package, but it does have KDSS from the factory, so apparently KDSS was a stand alone option. I will say I saw many listings saying the truck had the "sports package" on the vehicle, but upon looking on the Lexus site with the VIN number, none of them showed the "sports package" or KDSS as being on the vehicle from the factory. That also corresponded to none of the pictures of the vehicle showed the black burlwood or smoked headlights. I remember seeing early on in my searching for a vehicle that one of the trucks showed a picture of the black burlwood option inside but I didn't know about checking the VIN number on the Lexus site yet to see whether it showed the "sport package" as an option. When I went back to look for that vehicle later, I couldn't find it (it must have sold). When I look back at this post I hope people will understand it. If not, come back at me.
My wife picked the truck up one week ago and loves it! She's visiting our son in Kansas City. She told me the truck handled the curves better than anything she's driven to date (maybe the KDSS). I have not seen the truck yet!
Mr. Jason,
There is no such thing as GX470 Prada. There is a Toyota Land Cruiser Prado that was never available in the US and was never equipped with a 4.7L V8. They are mechanically identical except the distinctly different engine options.
I have learned now that you can get a KDSS package without the smoked headlights and black burl wood trim.
Thank you!
Mr. Jason,
There is no such thing as GX470 Prada. There is a Toyota Land Cruiser Prado that was never available in the US and was never equipped with a 4.7L V8. They are mechanically identical except the distinctly different engine options.
I have learned now that you can get a KDSS package without the smoked headlights and black burl wood trim.
Thank you!
06-11-19, 12:40 PM
New Proud Lexus owner
