What've You Done With Your GX470 Lately?

Compared to the old 2005 tape deck and outdated GPS, Yes! We love it. I am a Apple person so I got the wireless CarPlay adapter and I start it up and immediately goes right into Apple CarPlay. It also has native Android Radio because its an android system. The backup cameras work flawlessly and immediately also come right on with reverse. So, no complaints.

 

Dang! Someone went a little 'Pimp My Ride' with the wood trim. Kind of cool -

 

They also did the chrome appliqué on the door pillars

 

I owned one for about a year before finding a non-nav HVAC to convert to.

My opinion, it was a good unit and if you like tinkering with android/tech and dialing things in how you specifically want, it can be nice. However, if you want it to work perfectly out of the box and want good customer support, forget it. This is one of those items you have to be ready to problem solve for yourself. Every single US based company that sells them has crappy to nonexistent tech support. Combine that with chinglish in the menus and lots of menu options that don’t do diddly. These units are all generic. They slap an android tablet inside a vehicle specific fascia and change the vehicle setting and theres your unit. So many menu options only apply to a certain make/model.

There is actually a Facebook tesla style stereo group. The guy who made it sells custom firmware for the units, which is what @cameleon50 mentioned. It’s $100 and though it has some bonus add-on customization for both appearance of UI as well as some neat custom features (control HVAC fan speed via steering controls for example), a lot of it is really just letting users unlock everything that was paired down at the factory and it’s really how the units shouldve been from the factory. Kinda ridiculous.

That said, my unit functioned very well 99.9% of the time. Maybe once a month I’d have an issue with the unit booting up and not recognizing HVAC inputs using the onscreen buttons. Usually an off/on cycle always fixed it. I updated the onboard CarPlay emulator software and after that it was always flawless. But it’s not like true CarPlay. You can’t have CarPlay doing nav and then listen to fm or something in the background. It’s just third party CarPlay interface. Despite an update it still had consistent lag just by design as it interfaces to android then to your iPhone. I’d guess android auto might work better.

 

Thanks. I still have some research to do, but it sounds like it's a step up from the OEM Nav (even if it doesn't work all the time). Having the full functionality (maps, Bluetooth, extras) far outweighs the outdated stock system for me. I appreciate the firsthand knowledge.

 

Yes even despite the Tesla’s quirks, it is a leap from nav. My first thought on my test drive of my GX, how terrible the OEM nav unit was. I keep saying, whatever engineer decided to integrate HVAC settings into the touch screen should be beaten with a bag of bricks. Makes zero sense to distract a driver by trying to figure out how to change the vent mode or fan speed.

 

If you do get the Phoenix radio or want to research - Check out Sergey Kozlov. He is the guy who has the custom firmware for these headhunts. Resolves all bugs and he fixes everything. Please note: If you read through the group, there are some people having issues because they are buying for RAM, Ford, etc. versions that are suspect installs and a lot of these posters are beginners. In all, the unit was 90% Out of the Box, and Sergey made it 100%.

 

Yeah lmao reading the posts it looks like all the Tesla units are lemons, but then you realize the group is full of idiots. Or at least that was my opinion before I left it lol.

 

Snapped the top clip on the pass side wood vent trim a while back. Did my best to plastic weld the clip piece back on today. Seems to be holding. Material reminds me of Bakelite. Doesn’t plastic weld well.

While I was at it I tack “welded” the vent clips onto the vent body to prevent further breakage. Finicky fragile material. Then again I doubt Lexus anticipated it would ever be back apart lol.

 

Did a good cleaning today.

 

Come do mine.

 

Spent most of the day cleaning the garage out enough to get the GX in for some love. Got the Coastal bumper laid out and ready to glue together over the next few days...

 

I heard superglue was the best.

 

that bumper come iwth a swingout? and how much was it?

 

Yes. Has dual swingout, receiver and 2x40W pod package with wiring/switch. It was just under $1500 shipped.

Didn't realize it until I got the directions, but you have to drill out the old mounting points in the frame and tap them to a new size. Also have to relocate the pump module behind the driver side bumper. I'm gonna rip it out anyway with the lift/coil conversion.

 

I am leaning towards the victory one. You should get it so we can keep being twins
https://www.victory4x4.com/product/VGXRS.html

 

thats what I wanna get with a single swing for the tire.

 

i do like that one cuz u dont have to cut the stock bumper any

 

Yep, same reason why I like it and it’s not huge like the metal tech one

 

Biggest reasons I went with Coastal over the competition were cost and lead times. You're looking at $2500 easy for the Victory bumper with extended lead times.

$1500 for the Coastal with a 7-day lead time from when I ordered to my door. Choice was easy for me...