rj4510

I was looking through Consumer Reports and was shocked to see the 03 GX470 on the cars to avoid list I've searched the forum and have found nothing. What was wrong with the 03?

CivicFerio

I had a 03 GX470 and I think it is a very very nice truck. However, like everything else the first year of production tends to have a couple of minor problems. In the GX we have campaigns for the air suspension, rear seat latch to name a few. Makes me wonder why they made a ton of changes to the 05 GX. My post about it here https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...16&postcount=1

Cars/trucks 2nd and 3rd years in production tends to have the fixes already done to them at factory. So they tend to have better ratings in terms of reliability and satisfaction.

Charleston

06 LX470
04 Scion Xa
03 GX470 (sold)
02 Odyssey EXL (sold)
99 Civic EX
90 CRX Si

Knicksfan

I purchased the first GX in 2003 (day before Xmas) that the dealer received. Drove it hard for 2+ years = 65000 mi....zero problems. Three recalls (minor) including mislabeling the Gross Vehicle weight (remember that fiasco?)....traded in for 2005 cause I like new cars but couldn't have been more satisfied.

Rx900

haha. i remember that "party" about the GVWR! man, that was so whacked. but that $1k came in handy though...

rj4510

It's hard to believe the truck made the CR vehicles to avoid list. I can see having a few bugs, but the rating makes it sound much worse!

tgergen

Could be that the GVWR had sometime to do with reader rating it unsatisfactory??? I dunno.

caha14

And then they recommend the 2nd gen Acura TL which was plagued with transmission problems... Go figure.

tgergen

Yeah, go figure.

Seems that MOST of the time CR is pretty good. But you have to do your own research on stuff too. One of the best places to do your own research is online forums! That is what I do. Who is going to know more about a particaulr car, tv, etv than the people that already have them? lol. This forum is great IMHO. Lots of knowledge here! Before I bought our 04 GX I read a lot here and determined that is was a good vehicle. I almost bought an E55 for myself but found that it has some electical issues....which appear to be programming related. Also, MB was buying back a disporpotionate amount of cars under various states lemon laws..not a good sign! Lol. Looks like they got is mostly solved now, but I certainly did not want to deal with it. I say read CR for a general overview, then find a good forum on the subject and ask the owners to verify!

PitBull

Your right. This type of forum gives you the insight to make a buying decision. I find these other publications are wrong and I'm to the point of canceling my subscriptions.

spwolf

2003's Prado's are doing just fine too...i would bet they lowered the rating for those recalls as we really didnt get many complaints about our prado's...