My X5 was terrible in the snow and ice.

 

Totally agree. There was very little snow last winter here, and an X5 was sliding around like a slippery eel. The worst thing was, it almost hit me!

 

SaniDel,
You may have noticed that the GX has not recieved the new spindle grille or the technology updates that the other vehicles have. This does not mean that the GX will be dying out but instead that it may be recieving a totally new uni-body style. If this happens, your current GX will only appreciate in value. We're expecting an update in 2013 so I would strongly recommend that you hold out until the new GX is released and make your decision then. Hope this was helpful.

Shannon from Park Place Lexus in Grapevine, Texas

 

T4Fun:

We own only one (1) vehicle ... you own three (3). How frequently do you buy a new vehicle to replace one of your three? I'm guessing our purchasing patterns aren't all that different ... we replace our only vehicle every four to five years and you replace one of your three vehicles. Calculate the average age of your fleet and you'll see what I mean ... how does that compare to our one vehicle, an early-production (November 2009) 2010 GX 460 with a DOFU of February 2010.

We have none of the choices that you have ... which vehicle to drive today, which vehicle to take to work, which vehicle to replace, etc. With only one vehicle, there is only one decision ... WHEN to replace it. Unfortunately, we may have to deal with the unhappy possibility that Lexus will have nothing with which to replace it!
Regards,

SaniDel

P.S. Our accountant neither knows nor cares ... we pay cash. We own our house, we own our car ... that's how we were raised to believe ... cash is king, debt is for others.

 

Koz:

2016 is seven (7) model years (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016). You apparently don't think that is too long a time for Lexus to allow a model to go stale. Even better that you don't think the GX will be dropped or converted to a crossover. I appreciate your vote of confidence.

If memory serves, you waited until the 2011 model year to purchase, right? Would you be willing to drive your current vehicle until the 2016 models are available. I'll anticipate your answer ... yes, providing nothing better becomes available, right?

We are in a slightly different situation ... we had planned to trade our 2010 for a 2014 at the earliest or a 2015 at the latest. Assuming nothing better becomes available in 2014 or 2015, we would probably hold on for another year ... assuming the GX won't follow the SC into oblivion!
Regards,

SaniDel

 

Hi Shannon from Park Place Lexus in Grapevine, Texas.

Your reply is much-appreciated and I won't "read between the lines" of what you wrote. However, I need to clarify why I started this thread. We love our 2010 GX 460, it is the only vehicle for my wife and me and we 'compete' to drive it ... so much so that we had to put down rules ... we switch drivers every day at lunch ;-)

Much as we love our GX, we need to know there is a "path forward" when we are ready to replace it. Our pattern is to replace our only vehicle every four to five years, primarily because the warranty becomes limited after four years and with only one vehicle reliability is paramount. So, we are more than willing to wait for the 2014 (four years) and the 2015 (five years), but if it goes much beyond that, we'll get nervous!
Regards,

SaniDel

 

sani

its a lexus. it wont break down. i gathered youre looking for reliability like me. why dont you just stick with one vehicle till the end? like i said the gx will have no problem at all getting to 200K. my corolla i abuse the heck outta of it and its never let me down, although now it may have a few issues.
warranty is out so what. if anything is gonna break down from toyotas fault, it would happen in 4 years. we have probably 10 toyotas in the family and i havent heard one complaint about reliability

owning 3 vehicles has its ups and downs. we need 3. the corolla is nothing but a day to day hauler. the gx is the family machine. and the misses car is her commuter.

 

If you look at the history of the GX/4Runner you will see that the first gen GX (2003 to 2009) and previous gen 4Runners have run an approx 7 year model cycle. I don't see that changing, especially during this economy. There will be minor updates before a re-design. You have to remember that there is a lot involved with a re-design, like re-tooling the assembly line, stocking replacement parts, etc. Also the Prado is a good seller out of this country and as long as that demand is there the GX will remain a real truck.

The main reason I buy Toyota/Lexus vehicles is because they last and are very reliable. I plan on keeping the GX until it is no longer (financially) worth keeping. There is no reason why a GX will not last over 100K miles without any major repairs. The first several years are where any vehicle loses most of its value. Also, after the vehicle is paid for, everyday you use it is money in the bank. The longer you keep it (repair free) the more money you save. If you only keep a vehicle while it is under warranty, why would you even have to worry about reliability/durability? I purposely special ordered my GX (and IS350) exactly the way I wanted it because I keep vehicles a long time. I also have a (2000) sport bike (I bought new) that I modded with all the goodies that makes over 200hp and is still exciting to ride. I have no problem keeping a vehicle that is well taken care of for as long as it is still financially worth keeping and serves its purpose.

Koz

 

a v8 of this magnitude will last easily 200k Koz. 100k is nothing. a 4 cylinder or v6 wouldnt last as long as a v8.

as long as gas prices are under control, this is a reasonable suv to own.

reliability is key as its a toyota. we dont plan on any more suvs, so we will likely keep this for 10-20 years.

there is no reason at all to keep switching vehicles every 4-5 years, especially when its a lexus. another brand maybe (nissan and honda dont age well) i would.

 

I think you're stressing out a little too much about this Sani lol

 

I hear you and we are likely going to change our car-buying pattern for the reasons you and others have cited.

We bought our first Lexus (an SC 400) in 1995 and our tenth in 2010 ... only a few years per vehicle on average. Lexus made that easy by providing new and interesting vehicles to try and on two occasions by swapping defective vehicles for replacements.

Now we have a GX 460 that we love, but for which there are no alternatives ... none at least by Lexus. As many have said, Lexus vehicles are inherently reliable and the GX is massively over-engineered with a modern V8 engine, an overdrive transmission, a body-on-frame, etc., so it will last "longer than we want it" ... we assume.

Thanks to all who responded, please feel free to continue this thread, but our course of action is clear ... we'll keep driving our GX!
Regards,

SaniDel

 

Kind of a first world problem

 

In my opinion, it's financially smart to keep an extremely reliable vehicle and maybe have to fix something every now and then, as opposed to having a new car payment. Explains why I still drive a 1998.