Cool, distinctive, interesting automotive builds are all over the place these days. Among them are several eye-catching off-roaders and overlanding vehicles. Beyond a showy display of one’s finances though, what’s it actually like to live with and drive such a contraption?
One man with a Lexus GX470 knows after stacking almost 60,000 miles on it with a lift kit, 33-inch all-terrain tires, a 4.7-liter V8, and several off-road-focused parts. He’s provided some insights that truly only come from everyday experience.
That man is Douglas Sonders of the BlackBird Moto YouTube channel. He typically spends time reviewing unique and interesting one-off builds like the ones mentioned at the outset of this piece. This time though, he critiques his very own SUV.
Again, this is a 2008 Lexus GX470. It came stock with the 263-horsepower, 323 lb-ft V8, though Sonders bought it with around 150,000 miles on the odometer already.
It also had a two-inch lift and some B.F.Goodrich KO2 all-terrain tires on it at that time. Now, it still has that same lift kit but sports new wheels and new Falken all-terrain tires. Sonders also added steel bumpers, a 15,000-pound winch, an ARB skid plate, and some rock sliders too.
There are a few luxury upgrades that help with overlanding and towing, too. They include high-performance fog lights along with airbag spring helpers for the rear coilover shocks. Sonders can inflate those bags via a built-in air valve that sits in the rear bumper.
On top of that, the interior now features a recently reupholstered set of seats, a long-range GRMS CB-style radio, a new steering wheel, and even a small flip-down table on the rear door. All of those mods make for more enjoyable off-roading but don’t forget one thing that makes this SUV even more appealing.
The engine is largely bulletproof. It’s the same one Toyota used for the 4Runner and that SUV didn’t get an update for over a decade. Beyond routine maintenance and important scheduled maintenance, it has no major known flaws.
The one issue with a vehicle like this is fuel economy. Sonders reports 14 to 15 mpg there which means that it’s worse in the city and likely even worse still off-road. Granted, off-road fuel economy isn’t a giant concern so long as one isn’t wheelin’ every day and everywhere they go.
In addition, he says that many of the mods he has now aren’t very useful to him currently. “I’ll be honest, I did all of these amazing off-road upgrades… and then I moved to New York City and it’s overkill,” he says. Perhaps that’s why the entire rig is now available for sale on Facebook. Sonders is asking $17,999. To be fair to him, the city is where most LX470s live anyway.
Based on sales of similar vehicles on Cars and Bids and Bring A Trailer, that seems like a reasonable price given the age, mileage, upgrades, and condition. Those in the market for an adventure vehicle now have just a bit more insight into what living with one is like.
If you like this one you can give it a new life back in the wilderness where it belongs!
But this topic brings us to a question: Sonders clearly realized that his rig is so overbuilt for what he needs now that he’s in the city. But plenty of folks in the city drive SUVs and trucks every day despite the compromises associated with them. So the question is: Do you own a car that has way more capability than you need? And how do you square in your mind that you’re making compromises for capability you’re not really using? No judgment here, of course, but I’m curious.
Images: Douglas Sonders; Blackbird Moto/YouTube
Yes. I am the guy with way too much truck. I could probably get away with zero truck and instead I have a diesel Ram 2500. In fairness I bought it back when I owned a restaurant. It was for hauling food and restaurant equipment and to plow my parking lot. I had to have a diesel because that was the only one with a manual transmission. Of course I sold the restaurant about a year after the truck purchase. Feels awful silly hauling myself to work in an empty 3 ton vehicle.
I currently have a nearly stock 03 GX470 and that alone is complete overkill for me. Once I slap on new axles and rotors and pads I’ll be hitting some beginner offroad trails to get a feel for it, but a center locking diff is complete overkill for anything I would attempt. That said, these are absolutely incredible machines that drive absurdly nicely for the money.
A nice one with under 200k miles can be picked up in the 10-12k range without rust, and mine as an 03 has every feature my 2022 CX-30 turbo has save for push button start, bluetooth/carplay, and radar cruise control, and the GX has more space, leather, speakers, a power steering column, a third row, high/low range, full time 4WD with a locking center diff, and even double paned glass.
I really only got mine because it needed work and was a killer deal, but I’ve completely fallen head over heels in love with this thing. Mines even double beige, but in true Lexus fashion, its pearlescent beige outside. I never gave the GX470 much thought in the past but man, if this doesn’t qualify as a Beige Car You’re Sleeping On (or literally in as a camping rig) then I’m not sure what would.
I’ve not seen it in Beige but now I want to.
Mines painted “Sand Dollar Pearl” which is exactly what you think, pearlescent beige, with the mult-tone beige interior, and its glorious. I believe that color was 2003 only for the GX but they had similar colors over other years. Heres a BaT listing of a super clean one in the same color but the dark gray interior: https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2003-lexus-gx-7/
Delete. For some reason I’m defaulting to no notifications.
No.
As I’ve seen often quoted, if everyone drove what they really needed, they’d drive a Honda Fit. Absolutely love mine. I can transport half of my belongings, have fun on back roads, and average 35 mpg, all in a safe package.
https://images.hgmsites.net/hug/2015-honda-fit_100462018_h.jpg
Ah. I remember when I was in college and could transport all my worldly belongings in the back of my ’68 Datsun 510 wagon. Living in the dorms and moving on to furnished apartments.
That was 45+ years ago. And I’m now retired and re-simplifying–my daily driver is a scooter, but I have a ’17 Accord as a backup when the weather is not cooperative.
Off-roading was never my deal. In mountainous terrain, I was happy hiking, rather than risking damage to expensive hardware. No offense intended to those who enjoy that and can afford it.
I have a couple of friends with Fits, and it’s truly amazing how much they can hold with such svelte exterior dimensions. But I think the Datsun had more real estate for cargo with the back seats down. I had a lot of text books… A deep dive on the interwebs might prove me wrong.
In any case, in the mid-70s, the Honda Fit did not exist. And my car was seven years old when I flew the coop and headed off to college. So, I made do with what I had then.
The Honda Civic Wagon did which was probably as close as it got. You could even make one into an EV:
https://barnfinds.com/exclusive-electric-1975-honda-civic-wagon/
I, later in life, owned an ’84 Toyota Tercel 4X4 wagon and it was awesome but was a little narrower than the Datsun. To answer your next question, neither would have accommodated a modern fridge or washing machine.
I would really have loved to find a Civic Wagon back then. But it wouldn’t accommodate either appliance either. It just looked better. Maybe drove better. I don’t know.
Have you moved either appliance in your Fit?
I don’t have a Fit. My Honda is an Accord with will not fit an appliance.
Genuinely curious, will it fit an average sized refrigerator? Or a washing machine? Just how much crap can you get back there?
My point of reference is my Mazda 5 which is a three row six seater so I think a bit bigger inside. Not as good gas mileage though.
I haven’t done it myself, but posters on line and on Facebook have indeed carried significant appliances like washers and dryers. I’m too old for that sort of thing, and money is for delivery.
But we take a 4-6k annual trip, and half our wardrobe, food for an army, a gas can, and a bunch of household sundries easily fit.
And I just saw a post on Facebook with an ATV in the back of one
Sweet!
No. My vehicles all meet the needs that I have for them, with limited excess (e.g., I need five seats and they seat six, or I need a 4300lb towing capacity for my cargo trailer and they have a 5000lb rating). In a few areas, like off-roading, they actually come up a bit short. I’m about to install a locker in one, while another already has lockers front and rear but needs larger tires.
I used to have big trucks with capabilities that far exceeded my needs, as well as fast cars that had more capability than I had skill, but as I’ve gotten older I’ve found satisfaction in right-sizing my fleet to meet my needs.
My ’92 F350 longbed dually crewcab with full overcab camper is way oversized for what I use it for. Storage. That’s it, storage. I bought it a few years ago for camping, but still haven’t done that. I also bought a beaver tail flatbed trailer. The intent was to be able to haul either of my hobby vehicles to the body shop for painting. Still haven’t done that either. The secondary use is as our go-vehicle. Living in the flammable California foothills necessitates we have go-bags packed at all times. We went further and stocked the camper with our go-bags plus food and water and more. Parked in a manner that we can just get in and go. For a year or so after I bought it, I was hauling things, a car, moving stuff, a band saw heavy enough to dent the bed, and a 7000 pound walk-in kiln. Only drive it occasionally just to make sure it still runs. Now it is just extra storage space.
“Living in the flammable California foothills necessitates we have go-bags packed at all times.”
And don’t ignore the advice of the fire department to maintain a defensible space, non flammable roof, etc.
IIRC one of the reasons so many homes were lost in the Paradise fire was a lot of people had brush way too close and even flammable shake roofs.
It might be your best defense against fire are stone/stucco walls, a tile roof and a brush eating goat.
Yep, we have spent plenty of time and money in the last few years for a defensible space. I also have a hand-pump backpack sprayer easily accessible with a few gallons of fire retardant (same stuff used by tankers, but not red) and water for it, and I have informed my neighbors of the location. Retrofitting a 1970’s house with plenty of mods with a different type of siding is not trivial unfortunately.
At least goats are cheap. And tasty.
Yes, Nissan Skyline R33, I don’t have the skill to get the best out of it for sure.
Yes absolutely. I have nothing but terrible choices for my needs. I have a 4×4 F150 with a towing capacity of twelve thousand pounds. I bought it to tow my race car…which I sold in 2022…and hadn’t raced since 2019. I rarely need anything close to its capacity, and it is so, so dumb as a daily.
I have an S123 wagon. I have not used its cargo area in…years. There is quite literally no reason for me to have this car. I just like it.
And I have a 996 to drive in the mountains here. This was another dumb idea. Even a 996 is really too fast for most fun roads here. I should have bought a Miata. But, no, I had to have something interesting. In this case, interesting means ‘it just ate its own sunroof yesterday.’
I used to daily drive a 2007 LX470. I have no kids.
I took it off roading three times and used it to tow my broken MR2 twice, all in the span of about a year.
Ultimately I just still couldn’t justify 13mpg on premium with all that space to mostly just get myself to and from work and I sold it. It was great, just not what I needed.
Realistically, a Mazda CX-5 isn’t wildly excessive as the one family car for three people. That said, I don’t particularly need AWD (just the only option), and if we made do with a Mazda2 prior to this, the CX-5 is opulent in comparison.
An old F-150 is probably the only excessive vehicle I’ve owned – past using it to move once (loaded bed and Uhaul trailer), I mostly used it to haul me around, and I just couldn’t justify the pitiful fuel economy for that. My first car was a Chrysler Intrepid, but it spent so much time loaded with other teenagers it was reasonable.
In that I don’t drive a car that just meets my functional needs…yes. In that I don’t use the capability that my car has from time to time at or near their fullest? No, I don’t squander the capability of my vehicle, whether that is cargo volume, seating capacity, ground clearance, traction, etc. I tend to get the most out of what I’ve got.
Its not the right choice for a LOT of what I do, but its the right choice often enough.
With its relatively small size and big tires to eat up the city potholes I think this would be an ideal city car. Yea the mpg suck but you probably aren’t driving a ton of miles everyday. Source: we have a 100 series and 200 series and live in a pretty urban area. No flat tires from potholes. Snow is no issue. Only fill up every couple weeks cause we just aren’t driving that far in day to day living.
Toyota prius. It’s not my dream vehicle. It was my “compromise” vehicle because my budget was only 10-12k and since I couldn’t afford anything great/amazing I figured i might as well be as economical as possible and it has been the best automotive purchase ive made so far!
And if you add a quality sine wave inverter, you can use it to power your house when the power is out. We did it for 10 days a couple of years ago. Uses about a gallon per day. Extension cords throughout the house.
Kia soul: definitely not overkill for anything. But it can hold a lot (new dishwasher in box for example) and with a roof rack it’s been able to do most things I’ve needed it to.
Mustang GT: definitely overkill for my daily driving experience. But man is the rumble nice and every open on ramp is a joy.
The few times a year I need a truck to get the boat in and out of the lake or pick up something really large I borrow one from work. 10 minutes at the car wash and returning it full of fuel means I’ve never had an issue borrowing a work vehicle.
I also have a GT for my daily commuting. Whilst I’ve never gotten anywhere near the limits of what this car can do (although I’ve gotten much better at handling…um, traction issues), like you I enjoy the rumble and the acceleration. My mid-life crisis justification for trading in my Ecoboost Mustang for the GT is my wife drives an EV, so I’m only paying for gas for one car. Childish, yes, but as my children used to say…YOLO.
My sister in VA bought an F350 Crew Cab with an 8′ box on the assumption that my niece was getting into horses and they’d be towing a lot. That didn’t materialize, so now she drives an Explorer, which is probably still too big of a vehicle for her commute
It is better to have more than you need, if you can afford to.
My stupid little 09 Scion xB can haul a ton of shit, which works for me.
But it can also do an amazing burn out for a 2.4 liter engine. Seriously…
I enjoy being an “old” yet having fun like a damn 16 year old.
YMMV.
Shortly to be 70 and enjoying blasting around in my unassuming Honda.
Carry on sir.
As someone who very, very rarely utilized all 1,500 pounds of hauling capacity in my old van, and has only carried people in the back seats of my Prius v a handful of times…I mean, I think this applies to just about everyone’s personal vehicles in the strictest sense.
If we’re very literal with the definition, driving a sports car around by yourself means that you’re underutilizing your passenger capacity by 50%. Egads!
Anytime I drive my Prius under 106 miles per hour, I’m not utilizing its full abilities!
….sarcasm aside, I think it’s very hard to actually draw these lines. I think my car is very practical for its fuel economy, but a person who needs to (for example) tow something heavy long distances only once or twice a year and be reasonably comfortable (and for the sake of example, only have one vehicle) is going to have a much harder distinction to make.
Yes. But’s that’s the vast majority of Americans. If we truly bought cars that suited our needs, and not for the “once in a blue moon” scenarios, we would all be driving beat up Honda civics.
I’m 6’5”, middle age, and have disposable income. So of course I’m going to drive something that fits my outdoorsy GenX Xtreme Y2K lifestyle.
I feel this is directed to Mercedes’ article implying she could see how people daily an F250.
Sure, when you’re ballin’ it living out of a 35′ luxury trailer down by the river.
I’m the owner of a very nice and somewhat rare 2019 Cadilac CT6 w/twin turbo 3 litre engine. I love to go fast just for the sensation and believe me when I say this car provides acceleration heading to a topend that I can only guess about but I have seen 150 mph on several occasions. The rush between 60 – 85 mph must be experienced to be believed!
So to answer your question, yes the car has far more capabiity than the average driver will ever use. the answer is a strong yes! And I am glad that I own one.
And to use someone else’s metric, I know my own capabilities well enough (been driving for over 60 yrs) I can say that I use at most 7/10 of what is on tap.
The 4runner with the V8 (2UZ-FE) was from 2003-2009, only 7 years.
It is the same 4.7L V8 that was in the million mile Tundra though.
The 4runner that had the same engine for “10 years” is the 5th gen 4runner from 2010 – 2024 with the V6 1GR-FE 4.0L.
That engine has been in use by Toyota since 2002 to this day. While no longer available in the USA after 2024, it’s still offered in other countries.
The irony is that he’s selling the GX for a GX550. MPG doesn’t go up much higher in Manhattan, esp around and he’s spending 70k for a new one. For NYC esp if he’s commuting from Queens or Jersey, he should think about getting either a Tesla or a TX PHEV.
I have a Jeep Wrangler sport with stock engine, front limited slip 2 in lift and 33 in tires and I go to about 5 off road parks a year and spend many weekends to weeks overlanding (tent and a cot not that expensive and heavy roof top tent stuff) I take it on 3-5 canoe trips a year and most weekends that I am not deep in some national forest I have 3 rhodesian ridgebacks in the back at some dog sporting event. If anything I could actually use the rubicon stuff but I did not want to pay and extra $10K for it. It meets all of my needs, hauls everything I need, I even towed a ski boat with it for a few summers and It pulls my utility trailer when needed. In 12 years it has only needed one cooling system repair. It is not overbuilt for me at all.
I’ll tackle this from the other side of the coin. My daily driver is a C4 Corvette Z07 (the one GM sold that was basically specced exactly like a ZR-1 except without the LT5; and which replaced the Z51 in the 90s). One of the stiffest and most extreme versions of a car that GM already had spent a decade toning down from launch at that point. I specifically sought out a Z07 when I was looking for one. It has 295s on it on lightweight C5 Z06 wheels all the way around (and previously had 315s on Grand Sport wheels all around). I dumped thousands of dollars and dozens of hours into its already-upgraded-from-factory brakes. I went through the extreme pain in the ass process of lowering the suspension to get 3/4ths of an inch. I’ve put over 50,000 miles on it in 7 years and never ever have I come close to driving it hard enough to need it (even when I autocrossed it I don’t think I eclipsed 8/10s of what it could do, though probably mostly due to lack of talent).
Then I eventually bought an Elise to compliment it; where I immediately put lighter wheels with wider tires on it and upgraded the brakes and…
So it’s not just overlanders in mall parking lots who can build up cars wildly overstuffed for putzing to work and back.
My Miata has Ohlins coilovers, upgraded sway bars, DOT competition tires, roll bar, JDM engine swap and probably a bunch of other stuff.
I use it to drive leisurely around town running errands.
Brace yourself for all the Rubicon owners I see daily in Los Angeles traffic.
Not to mention the AMG G Classes.
Seems well priced for what you are getting. Didn’t mention the luscious Lexus seats that are probably the best in the business for long trips.
I do take exception to your statement “plenty of folks in the city drive SUVs and trucks every day”. Yes, lots of SUVs but you rarely see people driving the mall cruiser pickup trucks that you see in the rest of the country in NYC – maybe just the occasional Long Islander or Jersite.
Genuinely, a well-sorted and specc’d overlander with some reason to believe the work was well done and the car’s actually in good shape? Yeah, less than $20k for that’s pretty good.
I’ll put Volvo P2 seats up against any others out there for extraordinary comfort, even after 250K miles of use.
I figured “the city” is ment to be generic city, not exclusively NYC.