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I have never owned a Lexus before, mostly driven GMC Yukons and Ford Expeditions over my adult life and this would by my first foray into Lexus.
I visited the local dealer just to sit in one, I had no interest in even talking price as I was not sure if I even wanted to buy one as I never had never experienced the vehicle. This saleswoman dressed to the nines came on hard, even when I said that I was just looking and not interested in purchasing anytime soon, telling me how amazing I looked in the vehicles and plenty of other nonsense that had nothing to do with owning a vehicle. She said your wife will love ridding around in a Lexus and when I said that I am widower she then tried to tell me that woman love men who drive a Lexus which I actually found offensive.
Regardless, I found the interior to be very nice and as best as I could tell I sat in a Base Modem (I feel weird using the word Base to describe any Lexus) as the saleswoman was pretty clueless about the vehicle even insisting that the Driver Support Package came on many models without a special order (clearly she is wrong about that as the website is very clear about that).
I guess my question is as follows, is the Premium model that much of a step up or am I better getting the Base Model, adding navigation and calling it a day? I intend to off-road in it as well as use it as a daily driver. My current vehicle is a GMC Yukon which is starting to show its age and has spent more time than I like at the dealer as of late.
I contemplated the Luxury Edition momentarily, but at the end of the day I could not see the added features were of much use to me and it seems that not many people purchase anything more than the Premium model from reading on-line and by judging the amount of GXs on the lot most seemed to be Base plus navigation with a few Premium models also available.
Welcome 310460, mine is a Base model 2011 GX460 Black Onyx. I love it the way it is. It is by far the best vehicle I have ever driven, bar none. I hear nothing but glowing reviews about the durability and dependability of this model. There are enough bells and whistles in this vehicle for me and the Mrs (Broomrider) to enjoy. I can't imagine there being anything more you NEED (folding mirrors and such) for a daily driver. Save the money and go with the Base + Nav. You'll be happy you didn't X5 it to repair shop poverty, or wagon-ride a psuedo-luxury bucket of bolts (Jeep) or some other off-road luxury wannabe vehicle with crummy performance for more money.
Many of the posters on this forum take their GXs off-road and some mod them with neat features (like rear console USB charger ports). If you can, my best advice would be to drive one for a week or month. You'll be sold.
Yes only you can decide witch fits your needs best. Aside from the "Toyota is the only one who can make a decent car" crowd of idiots. Its a very nice car. That said, there are things that they missed or didn't get right, just like all other cars. Just the way it is. For example, the floor in the bed isn't flat. I didn't think that was a big deal, until I started to put stuff in it. Also there is a big gap between the rear bed, and the back of the rear seats. stuff disappears back there. It doesn't not have adequate suspension travel in the rear when compressed. Hits the bumps stops easily, and its annoying, happens on minor bumps, like getting in our driveway. After driving big American, torque monster v-8's, you will find you need to rev the engine more to get the power out of it. It's not a problem, since it likes to rev, but just different. The fit and finnish is very nice. The driving experience is ok, but not spectacular, like you might expect from a more performance oriented street type SUV,(Q-7,Explorer,etc). It doesn't corner as well as our old Grand Cherokee, but handles a heavy load much better. It's pickup based, and shows its true colors when to put to work. You can really load it up, and it does that well. Overall, we like the car. Blind spots are a real problem with it. I think probably with a lot of cars,(roll over structural protection drives that). The infotainment system works well enough, but is distracting while driving. It's pretty good on slick roads, but the traction control is worthless. We had to quickly learn how to turn it off so we could get up the driveway. I don't like the lack of manual control of the automatic tranny. The computer overrides what I might want at any given moment, rather than allowing me to decide what gear I want. But it shifts pretty well and for most drivers, its fine. As for reliability, well, Toyota has their reputation. And I think its probably pretty valid. They tend to be a little bit old school. Let the others have all the latest and greatest, we'll adopt it after everyone else works out the bugs. I like that. The gas mileage, I feel is pretty good. Consideingr the weight,power, etc. We get the same gas mileage out of it, that we get from our old 98 Grand Cherokee V-8, and its a much bigger car, that weighs about 1000 lbs more. Short distance city driving comes in a constant low 15 mpg, and mountain highway is always 20. We drive with a pretty light foot, but still, I think acceptably good. You can put 4 adults in it comfortably, and even put the grand kids in the third row, no problem. I have gotten in the third row, and not been miserable. But you won't put anything else in it when using the third row.
As for others, they are probably not as bad as the Toyota crowd seems to think. I can match the money I have spent on 5 Grand Cherokees with all my friends Toyotas any day, and come out about the same. None are perfect. Some a bit better, some a bit worse. It's a very competitive environment, and todays cars are all marvels of dependability. Even with too much techno-crap on them. So drive it. Remember its more of a mid-size pickup based vehicle, than a full size pickup based vehicle like you are used to. If you want more of full size, drive the Land cruiser/LX. I think you may like it better, I did. And I think probably the better buy in the long run. But wife's daily driver, so she won out.
We were just out running errands, so thought I would add a couple things. The electronic throttle response is horrible. Crawl mode would be really nice in this car because of it, however you can't get that without sport package. I have only driven several cars with throttle by wire, they were all not bad. this one is horrible. I complained to the dealer at the first service about it. They said everyone complains about it. The only fix is an aftermarket fix. But they did make it better with a minor reflash.
Ours has ~5000 miles on it and we got it a year ago. The kick panels and plastic trim under the doors where your feet slide getting in and out of the car are not wearing well. Showing lots of scuffs, I would not expect that. I also should correct a previous statement about gas mileage. Got in it today, and we got gas. 14.6 is what is showing since last fill up.
The rear door is mentioned a lot. It can be a bit awkward, but personaly I don't find it a problem. I would prefer a lift gate, but ahs not been an issue. The Mercedes G-wagon has the same, only opens from the other side. The turn radius has to be experienced. It will turn on a dime. Kind of nice for a car this size. I find it a very pleasant car to live with. And I have no doubt it will last a long time, and could withstand a lot of abuse. Other than some minor Jeep roads, and a lot of mountain driving, and short distance driving, we don't abuse our cars, or drive hard, and generally maintain them well. I'm an old gearhead, and appreciate mechanical things.
I got into a GX after 16 years in an Expedition and 11 years in a Suburban. I also drive Jeep Wranglers, with two of them currently in my driveway. What I really appreciate about the GX is that it’s still recognizably a truck, just much better refined and equipped than I’ve been used to. I bought this because I was ready to downsize and I was willing to pay a premium for reliability. Mine has the luxury trim and the Mark Levenson audio, and I’m glad I got both. But life would go on without them. I’m totally spoiled by the heated seats and steering wheel though. My Chevy had a 5.7, and my Ford a 5.4. The Lexus is definitely less muscular than either, but it’s capable of moving this midsize truck along well enough for me. I hope this perspective is helpful. It’s been almost five months now and no regrets (or repairs) yet. Good luck
I think that's accurate. Nicely put. Its a very nice car, refined, extremely capable of being a truck and doing truck duties. that's probably the biggest reason we bought it instead of the mini-van based performance SUV's. Its capable of being a truck, in very nice refined clothes. Older adults will find it very nice to ride in the back seat as well. Ours is the luxery addition as well. I would like a console between the capt chairs in the back, another thing Toyota forgot. But again, I would not hesitate to take another couple with us for a road trip. It would be very comfy for all of us and our gear, AND...........AND........... when the road got rough, because we wanted to check out something out of the way. back in on some mild Jeep road, no problem. We do that. It's not stuck to pavement or county maintained roads. It'll tow the trailer or the boat, like a truck, not like a car.
and its plenty powerful to do it all, well. Just need a bit more RPM than I am used to. But it spins up well. The 5.2 in the Grand Cherokee starts running out of breath above 4000 rpm. the 4.6 still breaths well up there and more.
I hope I don’t sound like one of those “Toyota is the only one who can build a car...” but... you be the judge.
we love our GX, it’s my wife’s daily and the car of choice when we take road trips (we travel to the Oregon coast from Seattle about once or twice a month depending on the season, as well as some winter driving across the mountains). We just hit 80k on the odo.
Now, about the car: ride is ok, but it can be bouncy over small bumps - there is no doubt you are riding on a body on frame. Overall on the highway a very nice ride. Power: average . The older version the Gx470 felt like it had more grunt despite on paper being less powerful (my wife regularly reminds me of this). Plenty of power when towing tho so if that is your thing you’ll be fine, it’s jusr not power off the line. The infamous barn door: it’s ok unless you have a tight space in your garage or parallel park everyday.
At the end of the day, the main reason we have the car is a go anywhere vehicle that gives me confidence that it won’t strand my wife and kid and will give you no down time as far as breakdowns (if you follow proper maintenance). If that wasn’t important to me, we would have a Range Rover. for me, I daily drive a 100 series land cruiser and have a Porsche Cayenne turbo for the sunny days in Seattle. Porsche is “known” for reliability on some consumer reports, etc etc, but I can tell you it is not the same. I do all factory reccomended maintenance and it always has little nuisances that we don’t get with the Toyota’s (a few examples, cooling pipes on cayenne became loose, that stranded me, turbo had a leak (common issue factory known and covered in warranty but that’s a week down), and more)).
You wont go wrong if you go with a GX, it will even hold its value if you don’t like it and want to sell it in 6 months ... can’t do that with most other cars...
the LX is a better overall car, but at the same time it’s $30k more... so that matters.
Owned my GX for just over a year now. Bought it after a snow last year, finally got to drive it this week in a snow/ice mix. It's a tank. I've had all manner of 4x4 , AWD vehicles over the years. I thought my wife's Volvo AWD was good, this is better. Some of that comes from 5300 lbs. Some from much bigger tires. But, the AWD system is seamless and works. I got it to slide a little bit on ice this morning, it starts beeping then it straightens out and the slide is over. Inside it feels much bigger inside than it is outside.
I have no complaints, it gets decent gas milage, has adequate power, good ride for a truck, I'm still figuring out how to use all the bells and whistles.
I was looking at a RX350, and after driving the GX, it was like comparing a nice car to a nicer truck. I like trucks.
Inside it feels much bigger inside than it is outside.
I have no complaints, it gets decent gas milage, has adequate power, good ride for a truck, I'm still figuring out how to use all the bells and whistles.
I was looking at a RX350, and after driving the GX, it was like comparing a nice car to a nicer truck. I like trucks.
BINGO!!! I think sums it up for me... I wanted something more like a truck than a car...
BTW- I went to the place we bought our GX from because my other daughter drives a 4Runner. They had a 2011 with only 21,000 miles on it and they were asking $26,500 for it!!! They had a clean Carfax and the previous 2 owners put minimal miles on the truck each year!!! The first owner put 3,400 miles per year on it and the second owner put 6,000 per year! My thought was, THIS IS A NEW CAR!
But the Broomrider didn't like the "truck-ride" feel of the 4Runner. Then we saw the GX! Drove. Done. Bought. IMHO, the GX drive NOTHING like a truck. (My DD is a 2006 F150 Crewcab well-appointed, with 260,000 miles and still going strong!)
I went to same dealer and sought out an older man reading the paper at his desk, my reasoning, he did not look too hungry for work if he was reading the paper instead of hunting down customers.We talked for a minute and then I brought up my interest in a GX and the fact that the saleswoman from last time actually offended me and the fact that she scared me away.
He laughed and said that she can come on aggressive and that some customers do respond to that, but her approach is not for everyone. He said that he would be retiring in 6 months so he was not as aggressive as he once was, though he did say she is about the most aggressive that he ever came in contact with.
We talked about features and what specifically attracted me to the GX as he said most men my age are interested in the RX or NX and I responded that I want a Body On Frame Truck, but smaller than the Yukons and Expeditions that I have driven for my adult life. He said clearly you known what you want so I will not try and sell you on the RX/NX line and lets talk GX.
I said Base + Navigation, he said that is the usual, the dealer mostly gets Base Models with Navigation, Heated and Ventilated Front Seats, Blind Spot Monitor and Intuitive Parking Assit, though unfortunately he does not have any white ones available at the present time and none in the immediate area.
We talked price and he said honestly, as long as I make a reasonable offer he was sure his Manager would accept it as not many GX’s move from this dealership and his manager is pretty agreeable. That worried me a little as I never like to open price negotiations, but I played along and offered $50,000 on an MSRP of $56,620.I was surprised when he came back and said $50,100 and he would start to look for my requested color. That was the easiest car buying experience with my life which is a bit worrisome as buying a car is never that easy and car dealers are just not in my experience user friendly.
He asked about leasing or finance and I said that most likely I would just write a check as at my stage in life, the less debt the better. He smiled, said he understood as he finally paid off his mortgage and he owns his house free and clear after 30 years. We talked about retirement a little, I gave a deposit and he said that he would call me when he had found one.I have not heard back yet, but it has only been 48 hours and he felt a minimum of a week if not more before he would find one.
I went to same dealer and sought out an older man reading the paper at his desk, my reasoning, he did not look too hungry for work if he was reading the paper instead of hunting down customers.We talked for a minute and then I brought up my interest in a GX and the fact that the saleswoman from last time actually offended me and the fact that she scared me away.
He laughed and said that she can come on aggressive and that some customers do respond to that, but her approach is not for everyone. He said that he would be retiring in 6 months so he was not as aggressive as he once was, though he did say she is about the most aggressive that he ever came in contact with.
We talked about features and what specifically attracted me to the GX as he said most men my age are interested in the RX or NX and I responded that I want a Body On Frame Truck, but smaller than the Yukons and Expeditions that I have driven for my adult life. He said clearly you known what you want so I will not try and sell you on the RX/NX line and lets talk GX.
I said Base + Navigation, he said that is the usual, the dealer mostly gets Base Models with Navigation, Heated and Ventilated Front Seats, Blind Spot Monitor and Intuitive Parking Assit, though unfortunately he does not have any white ones available at the present time and none in the immediate area.
We talked price and he said honestly, as long as I make a reasonable offer he was sure his Manager would accept it as not many GX’s move from this dealership and his manager is pretty agreeable. That worried me a little as I never like to open price negotiations, but I played along and offered $50,000 on an MSRP of $56,620.I was surprised when he came back and said $50,100 and he would start to look for my requested color. That was the easiest car buying experience with my life which is a bit worrisome as buying a car is never that easy and car dealers are just not in my experience user friendly.
He asked about leasing or finance and I said that most likely I would just write a check as at my stage in life, the less debt the better. He smiled, said he understood as he finally paid off his mortgage and he owns his house free and clear after 30 years. We talked about retirement a little, I gave a deposit and he said that he would call me when he had found one.I have not heard back yet, but it has only been 48 hours and he felt a minimum of a week if not more before he would find one.
NICE work. Congrats, sir.
Since you said BASE, be careful about Ventilated Front Seats, Blind Spot Monitor and Intuitive Parking Assist. My brother has a BASE with Navi and premium audio but NO heated seats (dealer installed after market units) so no Ventilated seats as well . Can we even get Blind Spot Monitor and Intuitive Parking Assist in the Base?
02-20-18, 06:05 AM
New Buyer Looking For Advice
