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Comments
I suspect that, except for the hump, you won't get a significant gain in space without moving into a larger SUV (MDX, Montero, etc.)
Fedlawman is right. I don't think the RX will offer much more room than your Audi A6. Out of all the mid-size luxury SUVs, only MDX will offer a significant increase in cargo room.
Personally, I chose the RX over X5 and MDX because it has the most luxurious interior, high safety ratings, and customized-looking clear back lights I needed to transfer 2 12-inch subwoofers from my old car into my new car, so MDX's 3rd row of seats were useless to me. All three of these cars are great choices. If I needed more space, I'd go with the MDX. However, you'd have to bear with the Acura interior (cheap looking in my opinion), and a mini-van rear end. Have fun test-driving!
I have driven a '99 RX300 for over 40,000 miles and I'd describe its acceleration as adequate, but this all depends on your perspective. If you are used to driving sportier vehicles with a better power/weight ratio, then the RX300 may seem a bit sluggish. I think 0-60 times are more relevant than 0-30 since you'd better be somewhere in the vicinity of 60 mph when you enter most highways. The RX300's 0-60 time is in the high 8's to just around 9 seconds. This is better than many sport utes with 6 cylinder engines, but not quite as quick as some V-8s and some more recent designs (i.e. Acura MDX, BMW X-5 3.0). Then again, the RX300 will get slightly better gas mileage and mine is prefectly happy with regular grade fuel. Bottom line: Test drive one and take it out onto the freeway. If you're happy with that, buy one. If significantly quicker acceleration is a high priority you may be better served by another type of vehicle. Good luck.
Now if I can only find a way to keep from attracting door flinging fools... ;-)
A friend of mine has 2000 RX300 with about 12k miles. He had his leather cracked twice already.
Each time he brought the car to the dealer and they fixed it somehow at no extra charge. The first crack was at front seat. You can see that something was done to it. The second crack was on the rear seat and you can not tell it was cracked. Hope it helps.
Mark at markandpatti@yahoo.com
Steve
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Vans, SUVs and Aftermarket & Accessories Message Boards
Has anyone experienced anything like that or am I dreaming (gl, gl, gl)?
Questioning his (or maybe HER) sanity Tarik
A well trained TC
did the dealer rotate tires etc.? Check the tire pressure. I had an incident during my first oil change where the dealer did something wrong and the air pressure in two of my tires was very low (I described the whole incident in a post last year). This had an immediate impact on the fuel consumption.
If that is not the culprit, then I suspect you are loosing it
Izabela, I wasn't aware that differences in tire pressure could have such a noticable effect on gas mileage - will check pressure right now, thanks for the pointer. I also appreciate your honest and public assessment of my mental stage... ;-P
Off to checking pressure and impressing boss of private life with vast knowledge of cars Tarik
Wonder if our local MB service is as questionable, too...
Not in good standing with wife any more Tarik
I won't let Tarik get commited to the institution TC
I have a bit of a "dilemma" if you will, and have been back and forth on this issues too many times...
My girlfriend is looking to get a new car as she is selling her current Jeep GC this Saturday, getting much more than she would have if she traded it in. I'm a bit biased and told her to look at a CPO 1999 RX300, b/c her budget (tops) is $29,000. We found a Black AWD with 27K miles Certified, and can get it for around that price.
However, we also looked at a 2001 Highlander, un-limited (w/out leather, 6 cd, auto climate) but fairly loaded with keyless entry, power seats, moonroof, small center console. She actually does not care to have leather in her car and can get the cloth in the HL, but will settle for leather if she gets the Lexus. We could most likely get at least $2,000 knocked off the sticker on the Higlander, putting it at $27,500.
Knowing this is an RX forum, I would assume everyone would pick the RX, but given that it is a Toyota, same chassis, same engine, etc, it's a similar vehicle.
Which road do you think she should take????? RX or HL? Thanks in advance for any advice you may have.
Also, if saftey is a concern, the '99s didn't have VSC and you get VSC on the HLs.
What about resale? Is she going to drive it into the ground? The '99s are going to take a severe value hit after the 2003s come out. Actually, there are so many damn RXs on the road now you should be able to do better than $29k on a '99, I'd haggle. They still have 01's sitting on the lots.
gdanczyk, which computer??? Just kidding, I reset the averag-o-meter after every trip to the gas station. I even reset it while on the interstate, as to cheat a little, but the reading went right back to the now-lower-than-before value.
gs3_4me, you crack me up when you say ...get the cloth in the HL, but will settle for leather if she gets the Lexus.... In good, ole boy slang: We don't want nobody to "settle" for no d$%# Lex, if them cloth seats she prefers, the Thoyodah it is!
Now I feel better ;->, TC said it all. BTW, my Rex is a '99, and I had just started to consider you a soulmate...
Grinning from one ear to the other Tarik
Friends again?
Besides the price/features, there is the intangibles. We took our Rex in for minor warranty work (the coating on the front crossbar accessory started to peel) Tuesday. They had the part in stock and it would only take 10 minutes to change out. But because the service area had a delayed opening that morning, they put us in another RX and told us to have fun. We did what we needed to do that day and came later when we were good and ready. And we didn't buy our car at this dealer. I has to listen to my 4yo saying, "Daddy, this isn't our truck. Ours is cleaner."
So service/support is another thing to consider between a HL vs. a RX.
Starting to think about a new ES300 or IS300 TC
Keep your eyes open.
A sign for me,it was very sluggish.
Smoke on start up.
TC, I'm disappointed to hear about the "dated" look of the '99; since it's my wife's car, I'll let you tell her. Me, I've got a case of OC/NC ("old codger/new car) tooling around in my 01 GS and so am immune to such accusations for now. No sludge in hers yet, Gimpyrx, tho I've been keeping an eye on the board (and her dipstick....I mean, her car's dipstick). Keep us informed; over on the sludge board, there is much hollering about Toyota/Lexus trying to duck the warranty issue on this one. Very troubling.
GS3, I agree with the chorus above; get the new HL, at least if the Lexus dealer won't come off several thousand on the 99.....they've got plenty of 01s nailed to the floor currently and 29K is a bit much, esp for such a dated looking vehicle.
Actually, I'm feeling a little dated myself so I think I'll go take my medicine now.........
A very jealous TC
Eventually they'll figure out that 185hp is underpowered for vehicle that weighs over 2 tons. Maybe not.
Comparing the engine specs for the Highlander and the RX 300, they appear to be identical. Yet, the RX 300 requires premium fuel, while the Highlander only requires regular. Could someone tell me the reason for this? Are the compression ratios different, for example?
Thanks.
Lexus RX 300
Mechanical Features
Engine:
3.0L displacement
Double overhead cam (DOHC)
V6 cylinder configuration
Gas engine
24 valves
variable valve timing
220 hp @ 5800 rpm
222 ft-lbs. @ 4400 rpm
premium unleaded fuel
Toyota Highlander
Mechanical Features
Engine:
3.0L displacement
Double overhead cam (DOHC)
V6 cylinder configuration
Gas engine
24 valves
variable valve timing
220 hp @ 5800 rpm
222 ft-lbs. @ 4400 rpm
regular unleaded fuel
In a word: INCREDIBLE!
I was astounded by the before and after of the work. If anyone is still uncertain or on the fence, I hope this will help. The work they did on my '99 RX was for a quarter-sized door ding from an inconsiderate moron... Dent Wizards has allowed me to forgive (for now). :-)
Thanks to everyone who offered their recommendations and advice!
Before:
After:
Very nice.
Edmunds does most of its own data providing now too, btw.
Steve
Host
Vans, SUVs and Aftermarket & Accessories Message Boards
I see you 'regular' Rexus drivers jockn' my SS.... )
When I was shopping for a car earlier in the year, I found numerous discrepancies regarding incentives and rebates on Edmunds. When I emailed the eds, I was told the data on this was bought from a third party and wasn't "manually" verified. I guess if you could take the time to verify the data, then why buy it to begin with?
Steve
Host
Vans, SUVs and Aftermarket & Accessories Message Boards
$90 for two, one for the Rx and one for the GS. Asked my saleman howcum and he says filter material is expensive because it traps pollen.
Not sure but I think my furnace filter is the same material, maybe exactly the same, $8 for a 24x30" filter....
Off to home depot and borrow Mom's sissors.
A few of you have mentioned you think $29K is too high for a certified, 28,000 mile RX300 AWD. That's down from the $30,000 they originally offered (from $33,000)... what do you think is a fair price?