GX - 1st Gen (2003-2009) Discussion topics related to the 2003 -2009 GX470 models

As Silverlady predicited...Baby/Child Seats in the GX

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Old 08-11-06, 07:44 AM
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CVsIS250
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Default As Silverlady predicited...Baby/Child Seats in the GX

...can any of you give me any information on Baby Car seats that work really well in the GX. I might be in the marked for one of those in the near future...

Thanks!

CV
Old 08-11-06, 08:14 AM
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scooterpie
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Well let me be the first to Congratulate you!!

and we have this one.

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index...entPage=family

Also because it pops in and out in like 2 seconds, and then throw it on the stroller. Your good to go. just snaps into place. The base stays in the car so you dont have to take the baby in and out if he/she is sleeping, just remove the carseat.

and our older daughter sits in this.

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index...entPage=family

And we love 'em both... the kids too...

Last edited by scooterpie; 08-11-06 at 08:18 AM.
Old 08-11-06, 08:50 AM
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Originally Posted by scooterpie
Well let me be the first to Congratulate you!!

and we have this one.

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index...entPage=family

Also because it pops in and out in like 2 seconds, and then throw it on the stroller. Your good to go. just snaps into place. The base stays in the car so you dont have to take the baby in and out if he/she is sleeping, just remove the carseat.

and our older daughter sits in this.

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index...entPage=family

And we love 'em both... the kids too...
Thank you and Thank you!
CV
Old 08-11-06, 11:39 AM
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Scooterpie, we chose the same two seats (maybe with different fabric). LOL

CVsGX470, If you have more than one vehicle, buy an extra base (for the infant seat) for each car that you want to use the seat in. Then you can quickly transfer the seat from car to car.

Re: strollers, we had 2 nice full-size strollers but the only thing we've used in almost 2 years since the child was born was a simple, superlightweight umbrella stroller. Be sure to buy one of those (or maybe even get one free with purchases at Babys-R-Us, like we did). We don't even use the sunshade part -- just keep it simple and ultralight and compact.

BTW, congratulations! Kids are wonderful (this coming from a guy who NEVER thought he'd want to have any).

Originally Posted by scooterpie
Well let me be the first to Congratulate you!!

and we have this one.

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index...entPage=family

Also because it pops in and out in like 2 seconds, and then throw it on the stroller. Your good to go. just snaps into place. The base stays in the car so you dont have to take the baby in and out if he/she is sleeping, just remove the carseat.

and our older daughter sits in this.

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index...entPage=family

And we love 'em both... the kids too...
Old 08-11-06, 11:57 AM
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scooterpie
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Originally Posted by I6turbo
Scooterpie, we chose the same two seats (maybe with different fabric). LOL

CVsGX470, If you have more than one vehicle, buy an extra base (for the infant seat) for each car that you want to use the seat in. Then you can quickly transfer the seat from car to car.

Re: strollers, we had 2 nice full-size strollers but the only thing we've used in almost 2 years since the child was born was a simple, superlightweight umbrella stroller. Be sure to buy one of those (or maybe even get one free with purchases at Babys-R-Us, like we did). We don't even use the sunshade part -- just keep it simple and ultralight and compact.

BTW, congratulations! Kids are wonderful (this coming from a guy who NEVER thought he'd want to have any).
HA HA HA, we had two bases as well, and we got the umbrella stroller too!! BY all means get one!!! They are cheap & work so much better than the big strollers when shopping, events, whatever!! But the umbrella stroller takes up no space, fits in any car, unlike normal strollers. And we got a cup holder attachment for ours, if your one to need a constant drink.. i.e.-me. But there is a ton of space for the seats, and they are a breeze to put in.

Also another note. We have had two things. one is a mat for each seat that the carseats sit on, so it wont ruin the leather, spilled juices, cheerios- get under there or what have you. It has pockets on the front that hang down to store small items, in our case DVDs for the girls. the other, is a blanket sometimes that covers the entire seat, back and bottom. Also a nice feature so the empty seat in the center does get dirty. i'll flip flop about every two weeks, take the seats out, fully clean and give the leather a chance to breathe for a day if i have nothing to do.

Old 08-11-06, 02:05 PM
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I'm about to pick up my GX in September. Does the GX have LATCH on all there of the middle row seats??? I just had my first baby boy on fathers day. We use a Britax, which uses LATCH. It too will just pop right out of the base, which is extremely easy and helpful to use. Our Britax also has a head restriant pad that is shaped like a horshoe and inflates around his head to keep it from sliding side to side.

Josh
Old 08-14-06, 05:37 PM
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Originally Posted by Josh's GX
I'm about to pick up my GX in September. Does the GX have LATCH on all there of the middle row seats??? I just had my first baby boy on fathers day. We use a Britax, which uses LATCH. It too will just pop right out of the base, which is extremely easy and helpful to use. Our Britax also has a head restriant pad that is shaped like a horshoe and inflates around his head to keep it from sliding side to side.

Josh
Josh - I don't know if my 2005 is different than the 2006 but I only found 2 sets of latch hooks in the middle row. The one on the passenger side is on the far right of the bench (the 40% split seat). But on the 60% split seat side, the latch hooks, instead of being on the far left side of the bench, is shifted inward about 6 inches so you end up having about 5-6 inches of space between the door and the edge of the seat once installed. In other words, if you plan on using LATCH, there is no way to do 3 in a row, at least not in mine. You may want to go to the dealer to check it out if this is of any concern to you.
Old 08-15-06, 04:51 AM
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I don't know if this is what you are talking about since I am a newbie with all of this, but I did notice that on all my rear seats there is a piece of leather that is held down by velcro that pops up and exposes some areas to anchor a car seat. I also believe that there are anchors on the back of all the seats.

CV
Old 08-15-06, 04:11 PM
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llcc1975 thanks for your info and help. I don't really want to go to my local dealer in Spokane, WA because I'm not buying from them. I actually going to buy my GX from Longo Lexus in the LA area of CA. Longo came out about $4000 less than Spokane's best deal. Anyways, if I can't fit three in the middle row, that's ok, because I can probably just use the seatbelt if anyone else were to sit on the middle row and then I would be able to fit 3. Although...when I went to test drive the GX, my brother and his wife and baby came with us. We put the carseat on the middle seat on the middle row and fit my wife and his wife on each side of the carseat. I'm not sure if they used LATCH or not, I'll have to ask him. If he says he did use LATCH, then it would be different from your 2005 because then I would be able to fit a carseat and two people on the middle row. Again thanks for all your help. By the way, does anyone think I would be better off financing (not lease) the 2007 GX over my quoted 2006 GX at $45,513? There aren't many changes to the 2007 and the only one that would really affect me would be the Generation 5 navigation over the 2006's generation 4. What are the differences?

Thanks for all the input,
Josh
Old 08-15-06, 05:37 PM
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Originally Posted by Josh's GX
llcc1975 thanks for your info and help. I don't really want to go to my local dealer in Spokane, WA because I'm not buying from them. I actually going to buy my GX from Longo Lexus in the LA area of CA. Longo came out about $4000 less than Spokane's best deal. Anyways, if I can't fit three in the middle row, that's ok, because I can probably just use the seatbelt if anyone else were to sit on the middle row and then I would be able to fit 3. Although...when I went to test drive the GX, my brother and his wife and baby came with us. We put the carseat on the middle seat on the middle row and fit my wife and his wife on each side of the carseat. I'm not sure if they used LATCH or not, I'll have to ask him. If he says he did use LATCH, then it would be different from your 2005 because then I would be able to fit a carseat and two people on the middle row. Again thanks for all your help. By the way, does anyone think I would be better off financing (not lease) the 2007 GX over my quoted 2006 GX at $45,513? There aren't many changes to the 2007 and the only one that would really affect me would be the Generation 5 navigation over the 2006's generation 4. What are the differences?

Thanks for all the input,
Josh
Glad to help Josh. Hope that is resolved on the 2006. But yes, I just ended up putting the passenger side seat in using LATCH and just using the seatbelts for the driver side seat so it would free up room for a (very slim) third person in the middle. Worked out well.

As for the other question, what are the MSRP and invoice #s of the 2006 that you are getting quoted for at $45,513? If this is about $500 over invoice, I'd say just buy it although if you really beat them up, you could likely get it at invoice. When the 2007s come out, you won't get that number, but with gas prices the way they are, it's possible that you may not be that far off even in a 2007. I had a recent conversation with a friend who is the GSM of a Lexus dealer in the midwest and he wasn't too optimistic of them being able to command a big premium over invoice even on the 2007s. Of course, no one can predict the future on this one and it's going to vary based on each market.
Old 08-17-06, 05:38 AM
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Originally Posted by llcc1975
I don't blame you for going that far out to save $4k. That's not chump change. I don't know what the rules are here as to pricing discussions although I've seen a few others post them so I figure it's okay. I wouldn't worry about the dealer reading this post and then reneging on their original commitment. It's very bad for business for them to outright lie to you and I think a Lexus dealer is held to a much higher standard than most other makes. That's not to say it couldn't happen but highly unlikely.

It's funny, before I purchased by 05, I was looking at an 06 also. And when I went into the local dealer here, I was looking at one loaded like yours (MSRP appx. $53300). They at first said that the lowest they could go was $4k back of sticker. But when I told them I had friends in the business, they changed their tune and went to about $1000 over invoice. They said their invoice was $46.5k on that vehicle also, although when I went to research sites like Edmunds.com and CarsDirect, their invoice numbers were about $600 lower than what dealer said (and this includes the dealer delivery charge by the way). Who's right and who's wrong? Who knows. But in any event, assuming invoice is $46.5k on the model you are looking at, they are selling below to clear stock for 07's and clear up their floorplan carrying costs (it's the interest they pay for vehicles they have to inventory and gets more expensive as they sit on the lot more). Plus, the floorplan is like a large revolving credit facility so they are also tying up needed cashflow.

Most dealers want to turn inventory before 60 days and I think GXs are staying on the lot longer than their other models (don't know the # of days though). And I don't believe they are losing any real money in the deal because they have approx. $1000+ in manufacturer holdback on the GXs (this is not verified as it is hearsay from my friend who is the GSM at a Lexus store but for the sake of discussion, I'll take it at face value). Your deal looks like they are giving you most of the holdback. And your Spokane store is obviously not figuring their holdback when they say they are losing money.

Moreover, they'll likely still make money on you when you go to finance your vehicle (if you sign a retail contract with them). When they sell that contract to the true lender (in this case probably Toyota Financial/Lexus Financial because they'll have the best rates with the current Golden Opportunity sales event), they will mark up the rate that the lender charges them and make some money on the discount. During these factory sponsored promotions, it's hard to beat the captive finance company's (like Lexus Financial) rates but I'd still look.

If you are planning on financing, I'd check your local bank/credit union rates and then go in there to compare the dealer's rates. Also be sure to ask the dealer to tell you what their best "buy rate" is from the lender and tell them you don't want to pay more than .25% over the buy rate. This may or may not work as some dealers won't let you know the buy rate (which is the rate the lender charges them). NOTE: this buy rate will obviously be variable depending on your credit profile. In many cases, the "best rate" dealers quote customers is at least 1.00% to 1.50% over the buy rates (which is good money for the dealers). And they'll then try to sell you on back-end products (like GAP, credit life, paint protection, window tint, LoJack, Vin etch, etc. etc.). Those are all big money makers for the dealers. I personally wouldn't buy any of that stuff but that's just me.

Just a suggestion, depending on when you are planning on actually pulling the trigger on the purchase, I'd call your sales rep up to confirm the price and maybe even talk finance numbers with him/her so that you can lock that variable down. If you know your credit score, I'd tell him/her what it is and ask for the buy rate for someone with that score. He should be honest with you (best rates usually go to those with 730+ scores). Then all you do is go in, sign the papers and drive off.
Great, now back to the subject at hand. Any more input on baby seats?

CV
Old 08-17-06, 10:18 AM
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Originally Posted by CVsGX470
Great, now back to the subject at hand. Any more input on baby seats?

CV
Yeah, sorry, got carried away there. As for baby seats, ummm no.
Old 08-17-06, 10:24 AM
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Originally Posted by llcc1975
Yeah, sorry, got carried away there. As for baby seats, ummm no.
That's fine, it happens. Just didn't want the thread to get hijacked.

CV
Old 08-17-06, 01:32 PM
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Default A bit of cleanup

OK guys, I've clarified the title of CV's post so it will hopefully get more on topic response, and I have moved the two pricing discussions to a new thread titled "pricing discussion". This should get us back on track.
Old 08-18-06, 02:50 PM
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Thank you Silverlady. I asked my brother what he did when we test drove the 2006 GX. He said he used LATCH and placed the carseat behind the front passenger seat on the middle row. My wife sat in the middle seat and my sister-in-law sat behind the driver seat (my seat ). They are not big by any means, but the car seat, which is a Britax is fairly large as far as I know, but I'm not sure since this is my first kid and he just turned 2 months old today. Anyways, they were all pretty comfortable in the back seat for the test drive, but I'm not exactly sure what they would do for a long car ride. Does anyone put thier carseat in the third row when driving with other people in the car? Is it safe to put a car seat in the third row, and is there anything like LATCH or teathers?

Josh


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