HouTexGX

Finally...the picture!

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Sorry for the delay in getting an update to you. It's been a crazy couple weeks between catching up at work from my time spent with car stuff and getting the GX ready for its first camping trip this weekend.

I'm still a huge fan of the GX. It's tons of fun to drive and has just about every amenity that I could imagine. In the last couple weeks, I've done the following:

- Got a road hazard warranty on the tires at Discount Tire. It was $270 to get all four tires warrantied + free rotation/balances. This is about the retail price of one Michelin Latitude HP, so seems like a good deal.

- Bought a cargo carrier, hitch rack, and bike rack from http://www.stowaway2.com/. I currently have the cargo carrier on the GX in preparation for the camp trip I mentioned. All in all, it took 3 hours to assemble, but instructions were easy to follow and it seems very high quality.

- I noticed a slight tire balance issue and noticed an slight pull to the right on the alignment. When I talked to the dealership, they recommended that I drive 500 miles and then bring it in if there is still a problem. I'm at 300 miles at the balance issue has gone away; however there is still a pull to the right, so I'm guessing it will be going back for a free alignment job.

- This is the heart breaker...on the second day of ownership, I messed something up. You guys know about my 4WD Low ambition. Well, I wanted to try out 4WD Low on pavement so that I would know how to use it in the event that the opportunity presented itself this weekend. I read the manual, pulled to the side of the road, followed the instructions to engage 4WD Low and then slightly accelerated. At about 12-15 mph, it started making a LOUD screeching noise (could perhaps be heard over a block away). I immediately stopped and put it back in park and the noise went away. I tried again and the noise came back as soon as I put it in 4WD Low. Scared out of my mind, I took it straight to the dealership. The shop foreman tried it out in 4WD Low with no noise whatsoever. He said 4WD Low was meant to be for less than 10 mph. I asked if there was any way that I could have messed something up during my experiment and he said no. ANY THOUGHTS ON WHAT HAPPENED? I couldn't find any stories similar to this.

- Lastly, I've become a huge fan of Destination Assist. I didn't think I'd use it, but it rocks. Very convenient!

Things I'm still thinking about:

- I'm thinking about getting the http://www.prestigioussociety.com mod for the nav system so my passenger can use it while I drive. I've heard that it will also play a DVD on the center nav screen if you have the ML audio upgrade. DOES ANYONE KNOW? This would be awesome since I didn't get the DVD screens in the back.

- This is likely a RTFM issue...is there a way to start the engine with the remote start and keep it going as I get in the car? Unlock on the key fob kills it and I think when it unlocks from the door it stops as well. Minor issue, but I don't like having to start the engine twice if I want to use the remote starter.

- Voice recognition hasn't been so great. Perhaps it a southern accent or something, but it rarely recognizes what I'm saying. ANY HINTS?

That's all for now. I'm looking forward to the camp trip this weekend!

Glad to be able to help. The GX post are a little slow so glad to have another active member. Let me know how you like it.

By the way I know what you mean about the rear DVD. I have a 1 and 3 yr old. Have a DVD system in back of the BMW and we had one in the rx330. Great for trips but it is a pain when you are going 10mins down the road and all you hear is daddy put on my toy story movie!

Good luck with it...also my dealer tossed in the first two services 5k and 10k so I am not sure if it is standard or something you may want to ask for...

Well, for the 20 mile report - I LOVE IT! Awesome vehicle!! I'll write more later and have a couple follow-up questions, but wanted to pass along my first impression.

BTW, they did have to swap out the tires, so thanks to the posters about the Michelin tires.

Thanks for checking. GX shows up at dealer tomorrow, so hopefully there won't be anything else for me to be OCD about.

Thanks again!

Back online...we had CPU problems at the office :chairshot:

I have the Latitudes on mine and they ride great not much noise and a nice smooth ride... since I have no experience with the LTX I have no clue if they are a better tire or not...you can check out tirerack and look at the reviews online maybe...but I think you would be happy with the Latitudes...

I just told my dealer that I want the Latitude Tour tires (vs. the Latitude Tour HP) and he said they only have the LT HP.

UPDATE - I just called the parts department to see if they had the Latitude Tour in stock (even if not on the GX by default). He said that the GX470 used to have them (in a slightly different size), but that the GX460 is all Latitude Tour HP.

Does that sound right?

That's great...I have the Michelins on mine too.

I have a quick question for you then. I've heard that some ship with the Michelin Latitude Tour and some with the LTX M/S 2. Which do you have / recommend? I left the conversation open ended with the dealer and just said Michelin.

BTW, thanks for all your help!

Here is my 1k mile review of the GX. Love it sums it up though. X5 has been demoted to baby hauler Aka wifeys car! :) still love driving that too.

http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=66292

By the way I do have the ML and I do not have the RSES? If you wanted the ML you could get it without the DVD in back unless I have overlooked the DVD players in back? :)

And to your video NO don't do it! Just kidding have fun!

I just got the equipment specification and you're absolutely right, the option includes the ML. Thanks to some of the other postings, I also told them that I wanted the Michelin tires.

From what he said, I'll be in the car by end of day Wednesday!

:) mine will be lucky to ever see 4 low...although if it snows here like it did last winter I may. I almost bought a gx that was knights armor but I wanted black. Did you get the premium pkg? What options did you end up getting?

I did the premium package plus everything but the backseat DVD. I'm also going to get the StowAway2 cargo/bike/basket set for extra storage thanks to cmarshack on this forum (http://www.clublexus.com/forums/gx-first-generation/398362-car-top-carrier.html).

We didn't get the DVD because we didn't want to fight with the kids (7 and 4) every time we got into the GX about whether or not they got to watch the DVD. I was disappointed that this also meant that I would not get the upgraded stereo system. Oh well, I'm sure stock will be fine. How do you like your GX vs. the X5?

Here's a video of me in six months: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vi9Vp_s0Dcg&feature=player_embedded#!

No problem. What color did you get?

It's hard to tell from the website, but I think it's the Knight's Armor Pearl. I was tempted to get the lighter Starfire Pearl; however my wife and I seem to have a long history of getting charcoal colored cars. I'm guessing that says something about us, but not sure what :)

I was pretty far down the process of getting a Q7 when we decided to switch gears for the GX. It doesn't have the performance of the Q7, but the offroad capability seems like it will be fun. Now I just need to be sure that we actually use the offroad capability. My goal is to be in a situation where I really need to use 4WD Low at some point to get out of a situation. I don't want to be one of the 90% who never leave concrete / gravel with it.

Don't kick me out of loc mods. I am not even a member of the darkside. :)

Here this will help. Like I said not many changes. Stuff in bold is supposed to be what has changed.

http://www.clublexus.com/forums/attachments/gx-second-generation/182643d1281707466-pulled-the-trigger-2011_lexus_gx_460_product_info.pdf

Thanks for the link. It had the exact information I needed. Hopefully I'm making the right decision on getting the 2011 vs. 2010. They were only offering approx 3k more of a discount on the 2010 and I think the first year of depreciation will be greater than that, so I'm sucking it up and going with the '11.

Thanks again for the information and quick reply.

I just put in an order for a 2011 GX, which I hear will be in the dealership next week. Does anyone know what is new to the 2011 versus the 2010? I've heard that there are only minor changes to the trim; however I haven't heard anything detailed.

Thanks!