my wife is considering purchasing a 99+ rx300. i've done a search on common problems and all i found were trans problems and a few complaints about the early model's hatch shocks and bottoming out struts. are there any things we should be concerned with or any common mechanical failures or troubles? i am a mechanic by trade and i am a matenience freak, so with having 8 cars, i am constantly at work. any comments would be appreciated.
If your a mechanic you need not worry about strut supports on front end which are of marginal quality.
The tailgate stays are also cheap as a diy'r can easily modify an aftermarket strut to fit the existing oem strut, or if you have deep pockets you can opt for oem at $500 CAD for the pair.
Great car and excellent long haul transportation.
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'99 BMW 540i sport- Homelink ignition hardwired (the way all should be)
-quad brake light mod
Mines is also a 99 rx300, but mines is AWD. The only complaints that i have heard about are the oil sludge issue, but that shouldn't be a problem if you do the oil changes on time. I do mines at every 2800miles or 3 months. I get pretty decent gas mileage even though its AWD, and i haven't had any mechanical, or chassis/body issues. Like Fern said, bulletproof as a camry.
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I have a firiend who has a Rx300, he loves it and doesn't ever seem to be having problems with it. He drives a lot from state to state and it seems to hold up for him.
my wife is considering purchasing a 99+ rx300. i've done a search on common problems and all i found were trans problems and a few complaints about the early model's hatch shocks and bottoming out struts. are there any things we should be concerned with or any common mechanical failures or troubles? i am a mechanic by trade and i am a matenience freak, so with having 8 cars, i am constantly at work. any comments would be appreciated.
Make sure if you by one its pre owned certified from the dealership. Sure it will cost more but at least if you have issues it will be covered. Sludge motors are possible even if you change your oil often, Exhaust flex pipes and donut exhaust gaskets are common, trans and diffs on the awd models are common if the trans fluid and gearoil wasn't changed or the truck was beat on. make sure you get all of the keys(2 master, 1 valet) and if they dont have them make sure it is included in the deal. Struts, supports, bearings and rear swaybar bushings are common to go between 60- 100k. Now with all of that said if you follow maintence schedule this is a great truck to own.
My wife bought a 2000 RX300, FWD, with 38,000 miles from the Lexus dealer [ Certified Warranty ]. She's had it for about three years now. It now has about 58,000 miles. It's been a real experience for me. Had it back to the dealer for gas knock [ 3 times ], front struts [ 3 times ], shoulder harness, parking brake, fast idle, [ 3 times ], air-control valve replacement, and stuff I can't even remember. It's been out of warranty for 3 months now and the driver's door-lock has quit working. The dealer wants about $550.00 to replace door-lock [ parts $250 ] [ 3 hrs. labor $300 ]. My opinion is that Leuxs thinks that Lexus owners are totally brain-dead and have bottomless pits of money! They charge an hour's labor [ $90.00 ] for 10 minutes work. I can't tell you how many times I've observed customers go bonkers when they are told that the 2-minute job of changing a light bulb will cost $90.00 plus the cost of the bulb. While the car was covered under the Certified Warranty I took it to the dealer for all of the oil/filter changes [ wife's idea ]. I now do ALL of the maint. and service. Also now use Mobil 1 and NAPA GOLD oil filters. The AWD vehicles have a large number of transmission failures. PS. Buy a Toyota Highlander! It's the SAME vehicle, with the SAME engine/transmission, SAME drive-line, SAME chassis, [ brakes, suspension, etc. ], and $12,000-$15,000 less expensive. PLUS you don't have to bend-over for service/repairs!
My cousin currently drives a 2003 RX300, his previous RX300 was a pre-2000 model. So far he hasn't had any complaints and his RX300 is in constant use since he's a real estate agent. If he has any car troubles it obviously makes his job rather difficult. He had a C class mercedes before and that was a very troublesome car, mercedes owners end up paying a lot for roughly nothing. An alternative to the RX300 is the Mercedes ML which is possibly the least reliable mercedes a few of my dad's friends used to have them but now drive the RX or some other lexus.
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