GX550 purchase cancelled

I'm soon to be 53 years old and I've always bought used to let someone else take the depreciation hit and I'm a cheap ass when it comes to new car prices. After 25 straight years of Land Rover ownership and frustration and expense with repair & maintenance, I decided to spoil myself with a new GX550. I've had many successful years in a row in my business so the affordability isn't an issue. I'll be spoiled with the fact that it's a Toyota product that will run forever vs. a Land Rover piece of junk, with a full factory warranty for 4 years / 50k miles, with an extended warranty for another 3 years / 50k miles, and with pre-paid maintenance through 75k miles. I researched every truck option from the new Defender 110 & 130 to turbo-diesel Tahoes to the Ineos Grenadier. Nothing ticks all the boxes of comfort, off-road capability, quality, looks, size, etc. like the GX550. The only downside (and it's a big downside) is the tiny gas tank and the poor fuel economy. If Long Range America doesn't come out with a replacement tank in the next year I'll go nuts.
 
I'm soon to be 53 years old and I've always bought used to let someone else take the depreciation hit and I'm a cheap ass when it comes to new car prices. After 25 straight years of Land Rover ownership and frustration and expense with repair & maintenance, I decided to spoil myself with a new GX550. I've had many successful years in a row in my business so the affordability isn't an issue. I'll be spoiled with the fact that it's a Toyota product that will run forever vs. a Land Rover piece of junk, with a full factory warranty for 4 years / 50k miles, with an extended warranty for another 3 years / 50k miles, and with pre-paid maintenance through 75k miles. I researched every truck option from the new Defender 110 & 130 to turbo-diesel Tahoes to the Ineos Grenadier. Nothing ticks all the boxes of comfort, off-road capability, quality, looks, size, etc. like the GX550. The only downside (and it's a big downside) is the tiny gas tank and the poor fuel economy. If Long Range America doesn't come out with a replacement tank in the next year I'll go nuts.
Cool story and congrats! Agree with you on the small tank. I’d be surprised if a larger one isn’t available soon. Hang in there…
 
FYI. I’ve had my 550 OT+ for about a month now and about 1000 mi. It’s a little bumpy on not well maintained city streets but very smooth on good highways. I’ve had no problems with vibrations, brake noise or noticeable hood flutter as others have mentioned. I owned a landcruiser in the past and have a 2002 lx 470 which is pretty cushy and the 550 ride is somewhere in between. Remember it’s still a body on frame truck. I love this truck . Just had a full front PPF and full ceramic coating and just installed a westcott roof rack myself.
 

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For what it’s worth, I’ve been having multiple dealers who have since been selling at markup now contact me trying to sell at MSRP, with many GX in stock.

This is interesting because only a couple weeks ago they were acting stingy and very conservative about their allocations.

I’m not sure what the change is, perhaps the hype dwindling down for various reasons.

Unfortunately I decided that purchasing a GX550 at this time would not be the wisest choice for me. Between the first year model risk, QC issues, no reliability trac to reference, and the otd price delta of around 20k or so versus a new 23 GX460, it will be in my favor to pick up a last year model for a discount.

I found a 23 Blackline in Nori Green with 15k miles and about 15k in mods for 60k. I’ll be paying cash so I’ll be saving around 35k getting this over an OT + with the accessories I wanted, which would roughly be 95k otd.

It feels somewhat bittersweet as I was very excited for the GX550. It is truly a superior vehicle than the outgoing one in my opinion. Put a smile on my face driving it. Felt so refined and luxurious, regardless of what the 460 purists might say.

In summary I will drive the 460 in the meantime and will have the GX550 to look forward to in the future. Probably get one down the line when production comes to an end. I’m hoping and feeling positive that pricing and reliability will be sorted in the future along with refreshes and whatnot will be a better buy in the future.

I’ll still follow along on this forum and enjoy the mods and work that will go into this new generation. I will truly be privileged to learn from the trailblazers that will dive into this platform for the rest of us who are waiting on the sidelines. I just feel waiting is the right thing to do.

Thanks and good luck.
I had to respond and tell you that you made the right decision. I’m an owner of a 2014 GX and a 2024 GX and the difference between the two is crazy! First off, the quality has dropped tremendously with interior. It’s a lot of plastic and nothing special. The Mark Levinson sound system lacks bass and sub woofers and sounds like a cheap stereo. The weight of the vehicle is tremendously lighter which I don’t care for and also not a V8. I think a lot of people who got one didn’t own the previous one to appreciate the value of the older model. I am also not going to trade my 2014 GX for the new one. I’ll either get the 2023 like you or get a BMW X5. They are both similar in weight but the BMW can handle turns better by not being so top heavy. I’m happy you did what you did because that tank will last you for an easy 15 years if you take care of it. Mine has 185,000 miles and is still going strong. I could probably get an easy 300,000 miles out of it.
 
I respect everyone’s opinions but at age 68 and being a life-long car fanatic, it is clear that people are highly unique and very subjective when it comes to automobiles. Now owning a Land Cruiser FE and a GX550 Overtrail, I have gotten sucked in to both Forums. And I like many people, especially us Type A’s, can start to see ghosts after too much reading of problems folks are experiencing. I traded a MB SL63 AMG on the LC and a Macan on the Lexus, enjoyed the heck out of both of them but it was time for change. Don’t want to jinx things, but really enjoying both trucks, my wife claimed the Crusier so I bought my first Lexus. I certainly have my nitpicks, e.g., wish the Lexus had the Toyota’s radio volume toggle on the steering wheel instead of the button, but it is what it is.

I will end this ramble by noting that I just drove my Overtrail down a gravel abandoned “road” in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom that I have avoided like the plague for years. Had a blast, next time I will bring my fly rod.

Hope everyone drives safely and has fun.
 

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