SkiFish

Hi all,
I’ve finally given up on my LR3. My shop is going to buy it from me. It’s over 150k and repairs are starting to outweigh not having a payment. I travel for work so I have to have a reliable car.
Ive been looking at Toyota’s and most recently the GX’s.
Ive been back and forth. Wanting to buy something sub $20’s which is mostly GX470s.
Ive recently found a 2013 460, for $23k out the door. It’s got 118k miles. It’s very clean, it has impeccable service records. The only thing I’ve found wrong is a loose rear parking sensor. Looks to have been serviced regularly at the northern Virginia dealership it was purchased at up until it was sold back to the original dealer, (but not currently at the same dealer).
Wife thinks I’m making a mistake buying a 100k mile car. She thinks I should get a certified car, but I don’t want to spend the extra $15-$20k.

Can anyone one make me feel ok about this or steer me clear?

ed: a few photos from the underside, not sure if the rust visible is normal or problema


tic

coolsaber

These vehicles tend to be quite durable, but I can understand the hesitation some folks have recommending a 100K+ car for 23K. Heck I even follow in that category. I could care less about the mythical dependability of these trucks, a 100k mile vehicle is still a 100k mile vehicle.

First thing find the lexus service records from day 1, and take a paint meter/knowledgeable body shop to the area around that loose parking sensor. If you can get a independent PPI done on the entire vehicle for due diligence. Thats about it. With anything there is a risk, and only you can decide whether the additional $$$ money is worth it.

SkiFish

Not sure what you mean about paint meter, but I will say that the loose parking sensor was actually noted in the Lexus service records, and they apparently fixed one, not sure if it’s the same one.

edit: googled paint meter...thanks

sinistar

While I've had a number of Toyotas, and still own a couple, my 2014 GX is my first Lexus. I've only had it for about a month and a half, but it didn't really faze me that I was spending over $25K for an SUV with almost 94K miles. I would pretty much only do that with a Toyota-manufactured product and so far no regrets. Looks great and drives like new IMO. What also helped was that it had a regular service history at a Lexus dealer with no major issues documented.

I don't think I can post links yet, but one of the more helpful YouTube reviews I watched before finding my GX was "Introducing My 2012 Lexus GX 460 (Binaural Audio)". That guy bought a 2012 with 131K miles and just had some minor maintenance/wear-and-tear things to address initially, but from what he's reported in his videos, he has otherwise been very impressed with how well it rides and feels despite those miles.

Is the GX you're interested in a base model or premium? For pre-2014, I would go with a premium.

As for the rust shown in those pics, that's a bit too much for my taste and I'd keep looking. Another appealing thing about my GX was that it spent its initial years in Oklahoma, which is not known to be part of the "rust belt", and the underside does indeed look pretty clean from a rust standpoint.

rmason

In general, I'd side with coolsaber on this.
You may want to take the time to sit down and reanalyze what your risk thresholds are. (what you're willing to pay and what you're willing to assume)
For a person who travels for work that needs a reliable form of transportation, I don't think spending a bit extra for a piece of mind is all that of a bad idea and after all, if you divide up the cost over the number of miles or years you plan to use it, the difference upfront may not be as big as you initially thought.
I would reassess the options with 3 choices....first being the most ideal in your perspective vs what your dw thinks and something in between and all the pros and cons associated with those choices and go somewhere in the middle and only because your work depends on it.

on the side note for people who run 20k + miles a year, did a value retention on a new 4runner sr5 4wd $35k..for 5 years and 100k miles and it seem to hover around 56-58%....or say about $3k a year (excluding tax, insurance and other goodies).

best of luck.

GX4602011

Last year I sold my 2011 GX460 with 59K miles, the 60K service was done right before I put it on the market. It had $6,500 in factory options (total MSRP $59K), and I bought it as a CPO from Lexus with around 38K miles or so a year earlier. The tires were new when we bought it and were still in great shape as the miles we put on were highway miles. No paint work and in perfect condition for 60K miles, tools, Toyota ball mount [hitch] and trailer brake adapter cable etc., both keys all paper work and all Lexus serviced with all receipts. Sold it for $24K including state inspected for the buyer.

My point; that price seems high for that many miles.

Let me add about 'grades' for earlier GXs, mine was a Base grade model but had a lot of options (see window sticker).

Also, I paid around $32K for CPO with 38K miles so perhaps you can also find a nice one with CPO in the low 30s.

SkiFish

Thanks all.

Acrad

Those packages on your former '11 almost make it the equivalent of a '14+ Premium... in some ways this was the 3rd trim of the 10-13 models with those packages.

KennyH

I just bought a 2011 GX460 Premium with 120k miles from the original owner. He's in Connecticut but he bought this car brand new from a Lexus dealer in Oklohama and it spent almost its whole life there (literally no rust underneath). Car is in relatively good shape but the paint was neglected since he gave this car to his daughter when she got her license. Besides needing a new set of tires, radiator (it was leaking a bit), clean up interior and polish exterior, this car drives like new. He handed me over a stack of all receipts from day one. Water pump has been replaced at 87k miles. Paid $15,500 for it.

JonGX

For what it’s worth, in 2012 I bought a 2005 Sequoia (with the same 4.7 V8 as the GX470) with 98k on it for $21k. Wife thought I was clinically insane for spending that much on a high mileage car. I put over 100k completely trouble free miles on it before giving it to her father with 205k on it. When I bought it, it had an impeccable service record at the original dealer (also the same dealer I bought it from). I’d rather have high miles with a known service history than lower miles with unknown pedigree.

coolsaber

The reason I said paint meter around the loose sensor is while normally things get old, things get loose, sometimes integrated sensors or lights in the bumper may also fall out due to a minor accidents or heck even a bad bodyshop job. used cars the more info the better

Craigyyy

If miles bug you, find one with less miles.

Whatever you buy, test drive the car yourself on a good, extended drive.

paperchasi

Im in the same boat... been looking for a 10-13 GX and there are alot of them with 100K+ miles. I am not in a hurry so I will definitely try to find something with as low miles as possible, as long as the price is right.

Acrad

Are you looking for specific mileage trim or options?

On Cargurus there are 76 at 75K miles or less, 20 at 50K miles or less... 2 at less than 25K miles

Craigyyy

I think the problem is that these are now a decade old, or almost a decade old. Most people drive more than 10k/year.

Still, there's a lot of these for sale, and thus a lot of low mile examples out there. You just might have to be willing to wait, or willing to travel.