YSE Car of the Week: 2004 Lexus LX470

Justin Crenshaw
by Justin Crenshaw
yse car of the week 2004 lexus lx470
This week’s YSE (Your Shitty Economy) Car of the Week comes to us via Lexus (and Autotrader): the Land Cruiser-with-wood-trim LX470. The low-volume sales of these SUVs proves Americans are not real keen on a tree branch scraping down the side of their $80,000 vehicle. Even though the second gen LX470 is supremely capable off-road, most rock climber-kayaking types are more likely to own a Jeep or an old Tacoma. Never mind. This pre-loved 2004 LX470 with 49k on the clock is yours for just $29,499. This price may seem high for a car almost old enough to qualify for the cash for clunkers, and 13 mpg is a bit scarifying, but the Land Cruiser/LX duo maintains some of the best re-sale values in the biz. Sure you can pick up a used Range Rover for a little less, but why would you? There’s no competing with the Japanese-built LX for reliability and longevity. So saddle up, strap down the antique furniture, and take the no-road option home.
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  • Improvement_needed Improvement_needed on Jun 28, 2009

    i don't think this quite qualifies... 5 year old car/truck, 50k miles, depreciation of 50k, but is being 'sold' for 37.5% of original purchase price... most 5 year old cars would sell for ~ 40% of original MSRP... (or less)...

  • TonyJZX TonyJZX on Jun 28, 2009

    the only way to run these is off diesel or LPG can't think of any possible reason to run one on gasoline

  • Signal11 Signal11 on Jun 28, 2009

    @FreedMike For a developed country? No one needs a LandCruiser. "Off roading" is a recreational activity. OTOH, ever spend any time in the really poor, developing countries/regions? Africa, mid East, South/Southeast/Central Asia. When "off road" IS the road, there's the LandCruiser and then there's everything else. Really. Toyota still produces my ride of choice, the LC 78/79 series specifically for these markets. Updated the headlights last year.

  • FreedMike FreedMike on Jun 28, 2009
    Signal11 : June 28th, 2009 at 11:02 am @FreedMike For a developed country? No one needs a LandCruiser. “Off roading” is a recreational activity. OTOH, ever spend any time in the really poor, developing countries/regions? Africa, mid East, South/Southeast/Central Asia. When “off road” IS the road, there’s the LandCruiser and then there’s everything else. Really. Toyota still produces my ride of choice, the LC 78/79 series specifically for these markets. Updated the headlights last year. Seriously - no argument on the durability and off-road ability of this vehicle whatsoever. Then again, I don't think there's anywhere to fix the LX570's electronically controlled air suspension anywhere in sub-Saharan Africa...

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