Faults:

Nothing (right hand turn signal and parking light bulbs burned out).

General Comments:

When people say the GX470 is a "TANK" they aren't kidding and they aren't being hyperbolic either. In fact, to call the GX470 a "tank" is just an outright understatement, because if the zombie apocalypse happened tomorrow THIS is the only vehicle I believe I could survive in... literally indestructible!

Gorgeous, luxurious interior that is incredibly durable and comfortable; at 320,000 miles the seats look like they have 45,000 miles on them. No joke.

Fires right up. Gets 18-19 MPG and that's on 87 octane (no more high dollar 91!) and basically drives like a five year old truck. I doubt anyone looking at my GX would be able to tell it has over 320,000 miles on it, aside from the paint, which is faded beyond repair on the hood and roof -- but in Los Cabos, Baja California Sur faded paint is to be expected. Heck, I've seen 2012-2014 Audis, BMWs, and Mercedes-Benz with worse paint than mine at half the mileage! And all I have to do is change the oil, filter, tires and brake pads.

I just had the thermostat, timing belt, water pump and driver's door check replaced at 314,966 and that was the biggest and only investment I've made in it since buying it. Of course, it helped that it was a 1-owner California car with a 26 page CARFAX. Tustin Lexus and a Japanese independent shop in Orange, CA are the only two shops to have ever worked on it. Longo Lexus took it in on trade from the original owner when they bought a 2023 GX and I scooped it up for the same price other dealers were asking for 275,000 mile examples that had 3+ previous owners, NO CARFAX history and needed $4-$5,000 with of repairs and deferred maintenance! Never mind the front seats on every single one I looked at were BEAT TO SH*T!!!!! Absolutely trashed. Meanwhile, my interior looks showroom new with almost 50,000 miles more on the odometer. THAT, my friends, is the difference between a vehicle that has been well maintained by a single individual, and the cars you'll find at most of these mouse-house car lots in and around Los Angeles.

I need a 4 wheel drive vehicle that was going to be BEYOND reliable. I needed the dependability and surety that only a Toyota/Lexus can provide, considering I had to cross the entire Baja peninsula in the thing... and that's not something one takes lightly. You get stranded between Guerrero Negro and Mulege and you might end up dead. Anyway, now that I have the truck at my house in Cabo San Lucas, I use it to commute to work in San Jose del Cabo 5-days a week, only have to fill the tank once a week on Tuesday nights ($78-$85) and can have it serviced easily on the cheap at the Toyota dealership in San Jose. No problem.

I brought a few extra oil filters with me that the seller threw in the deal and since I only put about 8-10,000 miles a year on the thing, I only need 1-2 oil filters a year anyway. My only regret is that I didn't crank the Mark Levinson stereo all the way yup before I brought it to Cabo. Half the speakers are just totally blown. So at some point I'm going to have to take it to a stereo shop in CSL and have most if not all but one of the speakers replaced. There's a total of 11. So 8-10 new speakers + installation labor is going to cost a grip of cash when I get around to it. But I don't care. To hold me over, I use a Bose portable Bluetooth speaker and just connect my phone to it. My CD changer is jammed, too. Not sure if I'll bother replacing that since all I ever use is my Apple Music app.

At the end of the day, this thing is just bulletproof. And I happen to also own a 1983 W126 chassis Mercedes-Benz 300SD turbo diesel with 290,000 miles on it that runs great, as well. I keep it in San Diego so that I have a driver when I visit the U.S. That thing still gets 28 MPG and is effectively maintenance FREE! I put about $1,600 into it every 3-4 years to keep it going (recently did all the belts, windshield wiper motor, and a new exhaust system/muffler, etc.) and I consider that 5,543 pound beast to be the best car ever made. Particularly with the OM617 5-cylinder diesel -- an engine that's world famous for lasting 1.5 to 2 million miles plus! And yet I would put my GX470 right there on par with my W126. Especially considering my GX470 has 35,000 more miles on it than my diesel Mercedes!!!

Yeah, I see Reddit discussions and all kind of YouTube videos where kids whine and cry about high mileage and the resale values of Lexus GX470s, but what they can't seem to comprehend is that a truck like mine -- which I'd NEVER sell, and if I did, they wouldn't pay my price -- is just an AVERAGE GX470! I've seen 2003s, 2004s and 2005s with 400k, 500k and 700k miles on them. ON THE ORIGINAL 2UZ-FE engine and ORIGINAL TRANSMISSION!!! Find me any other car (aside from pre-1992 Mercedes-Benz) in the world with a reputation for that kind of longevity. It just doesn't exist.

The GX470 has that Lexus luxury appeal, but make no mistake: she is nothing but a Toyota Land Cruiser Prado (the name of the GX470 in markets outside N. America where there is no "Lexus" nameplate) with the powertrain of the full-size Land Cruiser/LX470. The Land Cruiser Prado is THE go-to vehicle around the world when the job calls for durability that is second to NONE. Africa. India. The Australian outback. These are places where you CANNOT risk a breakdown or getting stranded or stuck. The Prado typically offers a 4.0L V6 or a Diesel engine option in foreign markets. But been being that Lexus is a luxury brand created for the U.S. and Canadian markets only, the Japanese decide to just build it as a mini Land Cruiser... same V8 power as the full size Land Cruiser and Sequoia/Tundra trucks, in order to appeal to the American luxury car buyer. The GX/Prado is one of the most capable off-road vehicles money can buy. Period. It will outperform and modern Land Rover LR3 or LR4, any Jeep, and Ford, and GM truck like the Denali, Suburban or Escalade, any Mitsubishi or Isuzu and DEFINITELY any Nissan. And I've owned a few: the Xterra, Pathfinder and Infiniti FX45. Not that I'm knocking those vehicles, they are great off-road trucks. But they can't even come close to the overland performance of this thing. Hands down, the GX470 stands head and shoulders above any 4x4 in the world. With maybe one exception. But who has the money for a G-wagen, right? Ha! Ha! Ha!

Faults:

No problems at all.

General Comments:

Best SUV I ever had.

When I purchased my GX470, it had little over 19000 miles back in 2004. Now in 2011, with a little over 165000 miles, I never had any problems with the vehicle, standard maintenance always done, I paid lot's of money for my GX470, but it's well worth it.

I do my own maintenance on it, anyways this GX still drives like new. I'm looking to buy new LX570, need more room and all the new features.