debashis22

I have the opportunity to buy a used 2015 LX570 with 40k miles but my wife thinks buying a car that old is bad. It's for me, but she prefers a 2017 Nissan Armada Platinum with about 18k. The LX570 is about $2000 less. I always wanted a Landcruiser since the early 90s when I was in high school. In my position, which would you guys choose?

hankinid

As you might expect given this is a Toyota/Lexus forum, I'd go with the LX...design life per Toyota is 15 years or 250K miles. Not sure about Nissan Armada's reliability, but it's nowhere close to that of an LX570 or Land Cruiser. 40K on a 200 series Toyota or Lexus is just broken-in.

Why does wife think buying a truck 2 years older than the Armada is bad?

debashis22

She loves new. We all do I guess but it's funny a 2017 Armada Platinum depreciates from $65K new to $43K in just one year, that really scares me for some reason. I'm paying $41K for a non-certified LX570 from a Lexus dealer, which I feel is fair. Some drawbacks I see is it's a bit slower, tows less weight, uses premium gas, and the video screens dont read USB drives. I was getting 22mpg in a Tahoe before because of cylinder deactivation, which I will miss. That and the lack of a warranty are my main concerns. I plan to drive this thing for the next decade.

docboy

I'd go with the LX570 or Landcruiser. 40k miles on a Lexus or Toyota is nothing, and it's reliable as heck. Aramada reliability I believe is below average.

Main negative with the LX570 is the mpg. 13/18mpg. In the city I'm getting 12mpg. It's a big heavy truck, there's no getting around it. But you can use regular gas (search this forum and also IH8MUD for reg vs premium gas). Aside from the gas mileage, the LX570 is a tank, and I would feel comfortable buying it without a warranty.

hankinid

OP, for what you'll save by not biting off depreciation on the Nissan, you and wife could live in Hawaii until you were sick and tired of it.

irishbrahm

I had a Certified '16 QX80 for awhile. It had 10k miles when I bought it. The gas mileage was about the same if not a tad bit lower than the LX but the handling was dreadful. It literally drove like a boat. In terms of reliability, the blind spot monitoring failed within my first week of ownership. It also developed a creak in the dash that could not be fixed.

ClaytonW

I would try to find 2016 Lexus LX. It has Blind spot monitor/Rear Cross Traffic alert, improved adaptive cruise control and Head up display is also quite useful. But if I should decide between 2015 LX and 2017 Armada, I would choose LX. Much more reliable. But try to drive both. Some people don't like LX because its heavy steering, some people (like me) love it for the same reason (it still uses hydraulic power steering).
I think that there will be no significant mpg difference between these two SUVs.

hankinid

The steering is perfect to me...hold dead straight at 85 mph and has the right amount of firmness.

Armada is a perfect example of loading up on electronics before you know what you're doing, and, like Toyota, driving prototypes all over Australia to make sure nothing breaks.

The base Armada, aka Nissan Patrol to the rest of the world, has a good rep outside of North America, but not to the extent of the 200 series.

lexusrus

I would go with the LX570 for the same reasons as others had said.........most importantly RELIABILITY.

My prior 2000 LX470 which I bought brand new and kept until late 2013 with 280K+ miles on the ODO before I traded in for another brand new 2013 LX570. My old 2000 LX470 was built like a tank and NO MAJOR PROBLEMS.

The "problems" I had with my old 2000 LX470 were:

1. One of the front axle broke when the Lexus dealership was doing the FIRST brake job EVER at some 150K miles (mostly highway miles). The Lexus dealership foreman examined the axle and the front bearing seals and found it was truly original and indeed my LX was getting its FIRST EVER brake job. So the Lexus dealership replaced the broken axle without any charge.
2. The antenna that goes up and down got stuck........so I had it replaced. It was "costly" as I recall......something like several hundred dollars???
3. The power steering hose broke at around 200k miles or so (it was soon after I had the first water pump replaced. The water pump was still good at 200K miles and no leaks....but I thought I did not want to gamble.) The Lexus dealership MAY HAVE damaged the power steering hose during the water pump replacement, but they said they will not cover it due to its high mileage already. This was "costly" also. I remembered it was around $1500 ??
4. The key ignition just turns and turns and will not engage the starter to start the LX. The LX was parked outside when this had happened and I thought someone may have tried to steal it......but I could not find any physical evidence of this.......so IDK. I got this fixed at the Lexus dealership. This was "costly" as well......around $750 or so??? I don't remember.....

Everything else on the old LX were routine maintenance.............

I think the KEY to keep everything working was that I had the routine maintenance done on time throughout the years. Especially I was very religious about oil changes at around every 4K miles.......switched from dyno oil to synthetic mid way at around 125K miles on the ODO. No problems with leaks......

I decided to traded it in for another new LX back in 2013 was the fact that it is getting to over 280K+ miles and although still running very strong.....I did not want my wife and kids stranded somewhere.........

SSerna93

Max707