Lexus RX 300

galogvi · June 2003

Looking for a little advice. My wife's '02 RX has 35K miles in just over 1.5 years. She puts on over 100mi/day.

Anyone purchase the Lexus Platinum Program extended warranty? The price for 6yr/100K is $1775 with no deductible. Is it worth it? Or are these vehicles as good as their reputation?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

avery1 · June 2003

I'm at 80,000 with a '99 and I have spent about $350 on non warranty, non maintenance items. The antenna had to be replaced and an exhaust cartridge went out causing the check engine light to go on. The darn cartridge costs about $500 but they gave me the cartridge even though it was out of warranty and I paid the diagnosis labor or $220. Who knows if I will incur another $1400 in the next 20,000 miles.

kwh · June 2003

with between 60,000-90,000 miles, what would be your greatest concern? What things would you definitely want checked before buying? Thanks for any suggestions.

mrrogers · June 2003

There are a few RX300's that have an oil gel (sludge) problem. I would look for good oil change records, and pull the front valve cover to inspect for oil gel. The good news is Lexus is fixing the engines if the oil was changed once a year.

mooretorque · June 2003

I second mrrogers on the oil gelling issue; again, the good news is that Lexus has extended the engine warranty to 8 years/100k miles from the date of original purchase for whoever owns the vehicle at the time the problem develops, ie, you don't have to be the original owner for the warranty to be in effect. But look for good service records. The 99 year model also had a strut tower mounting bracket problem, on which there is a TSB. But it will either have been done already or won't have been a problem, since though not dangerous, it is noisy.

mapleleave's experience with one wheel bearing seems not to be common; I would respectfully suggest he is jumping to a conclusion in doubting Lexus quality on the basis of one warranty repair.

If there is good maintainence history available, you're in pretty good shape overall.

m45guy · June 2003

They just don't. Bias, yeah, but those haven't been common on cars in 25+ years.

Kelly B
gearhead

stever · June 2003

How come the factories always over-inflate tires when shipping new cars to the dealers then?

Steve, Host

gteach26 · June 2003

I was test driving an SUV once that had a bad case of the jiggles... sales person said it was from a "flat spot" that developed on a tire while the car sat at the dealership. I thought he was full of it and I asked to test drive a truck that had just arrived from the factory -- no jiggles. So are these flat spots real or not?

tidester · June 2003

Goodyear doesn't list any exception based on tire type when storing mounted tires for prolonged periods.

Move the vehicle at least every three months to prevent ozone cracking in the tire bulge area, as well as "flat-spotting" from the prolonged strain of sidewall and tread deflection

tidester, host

jimbonut · June 2003

I have a 99 RX300 AWD with 66,000 Km. Until I read the recent discussions on this subject I did not realize my "D" indicator light does not light up. It may never have done so.

My question is "what is the down side to leaving it as is" The thoughts of some mechanic dismantling the instrument panel to repair something I didn't know was broken and don"t use doesn't make sense to me unless some harm could be caused by not fixing it.

Another question: I still have the original tires (Bridgestone Duelers) with plenty of tread. At what stage (age or mileage) should they be replaced even if they still have a lot of tread showing?

This vehicle is by far the best of about 20 I have owned. My only complaint is lack of space for people etc. I'm tempted to go back to a minivan even though they are kind of boring. I recently road tested the new Toyota 2004 Sienna and was very impressed. They say It has the same engine and transmission as the RX. Had they blindfolded me I would have sworn I was driving a Lexus. It is also much better looking than previous years.

Anyone in the Toronto area want to buy a very clean RX300?

jeffmust2 · June 2003

eom

tidester · June 2003

Anyone in the Toronto area want to buy a very clean RX300?

Hey, no buying and selling on the Town Hall boards! ;-)

tidester, host

stever · June 2003

At what stage (age or mileage) should they be replaced even if they still have a lot of tread showing?

This comes up now and then in Tires, tires, tires. One rule of thumb for passenger vehicles is to replace tires at 7 years years of age, regardless of miles or thread left.

There are some new regs coming out in the US that may require the manufacturers to recommend replacement every 6 years (or at least not let the tire stores warehouse them that long and still sell them).

All of which means I'm probably overdue on my '97 car for both the summer tires and the mounted studs.

Steve, Host

jrdowney · July 2003

I was cleaning my "new/used" RX and noticed that the plastic shell in the front wheel wells is different on each side. The driver's side is solid toward the front of the car but there are ridges. On the passenger side the plastic is slotted and open (horizontal slits, like fish gills). Now I'm curious about this. Why the difference?

Jim d.

jiamin · July 2003

This topic brings my curiosity of years ago back. I just took another look at the passenger side wheel well, and found if I look through these horizontal slots, there is some "heatsink" looking thing right behind the slots. I guess these slots are for better heat dissipation. What is the "heatsink" for? Maybe for towing, because my original window sticker says it has "towing preparation kit/transmission oil cooler"... Not so sure.

wwest · July 2003

Part of the trailer tow package.

brunna · July 2003

I am looking for a nice used 2000-1 RX and I would prefer to not have it in "white" or "pearl" - it seems that everyone bought that color. The one dealer I spoke to said it would be difficult for him to find a blue or black one at auction for me. I am curious, where can I get production figures for the various color schemes in a particular model year? Any help appreciated. Wish me luck in my quest for my dream car!

jrdowney · July 2003

Has anyone else noticed that the GPS indicator on the NAV system has been intermittent. The vehicle still seems to mostly stay on track but the indicator is on and off. I wonder if it has to do with the number of satellite signals being received. At one point yesterday the system was totally gone and didn't track the vehicle at all.

Thanks

wwest · July 2003

in mountainous terrain.

jeffmust2 · July 2003

...deer hanging over the GPS sensor unit.

m45guy · July 2003

Sure, the car is 400+ miles from home, but it just means a side-trip through Reno on the way home from a trip we're on, anyway. Found a 2002 AWD RX300, nav system, gold in color, literally, every single option (wheel locks, spoiler, heated seats, HID's, nice stereo, etc.), 22,245 miles (a bit high, but they live in the middle of nowhere), back seats have literally never been sat in, $30K. Not bad. Turns out, the passenger side mirror got taken out by bird, or something, and knocked the glass out, but it appears to be a snap-in kinda thing, which I recently fixed on a friend's '99 Acura. Regardless, it's the machine I've been searching for, for my wife, going on over a year now, so, we'll pick it up on the way home from Lemoore, CA, Sat.

Gotta admit, after seeing/sitting in the RX330's, even *I* like the 300 better, and I tend to go for newer/better ('cept for lusting after mid-late-50's cars). I'd have to say the seats have to be some of the most comfy I've come across in a car, yet. They don't quite compare with the motorhome's front seats, but those are like overstuffed living-room chairs, so it's not a fair comparision.

What's nice is, it was purchased, cash, so it's a deal between us and the owner. Hard to come across on such a new vehicle.

Now, to find a decent maintenance/repair manual, and start getting after stuff.

Even getting a bonus of 4 studded snows, which I'm likely going to find a set of used wheels for, if we move back to a snowy area. Oregon, the valley, at least, doesn't count.

Kelly B
soon to be new owner of a '95 Intrepid ES
'99 Suzuki Grand Vitara JLX+ 5-sp
'02 RX300 AWD

johngreis · July 2003

Venetian Red - Ivory Leather
Millennium Silver - Gray leather
Black Onyx - Gray or ivory Leather
Golden Pearl - Ivory Leather
Burnished Gold Metallic - Ivory Leather
Twilight Blue Pearl - Gray or Ivory Leather
Woodland Pearl - Ivory Leather
Mineral Green Opalescent - Ivory Leather

They don't make one word colors anymore.

gsenthil · July 2003

The discontinued Venetian Red ("Maroon" for us simple fellows) is the most gorgeous looking color out there for the RX

ke2fe · July 2003

Got to the big 6 digit milage. (100,000 miles) on my 2000 rx300. Nothing has gone wrong with the car and there are no evil symptoms. Let's compare notes with other high milage rx300's

avery1 · July 2003

I have over 80,000 and it has been good and bad. I have had some significant problems that have all been covered by warranty or covered by Lexus even if out of the warranty period. They have really gone out of their way to make me happy. The front struts were replaced, bad charcol cannister in exhaust system (sounds cheap but was going to be $700), crack in manifold. Even after all of this I am incredibly positive about this first Lexus because of the attitude of the dealer.

toydriver · July 2003

What are the good choices for replacement tires for my wife's 2001 RX? Have 50,000+ miles on original Bridgestone Dueler H/T's. Plan to keep the car for many more miles, and she wants a quiet, smooth ride. Are any choices quieter or smoother than the Bridgestones?
Any suggestions are appreciated.

rockyball · July 2003

On advice from others I replaced OEM Bridgestone HT's with Bridgestone HL tires on wife's 2001 RX 300. HL's are very noisy-sound like "snow" tires on dry pavement especially at city speeds-under 55 MPH. For a quiet tire, I'd replace with HT's.

pschiffe · July 2003

This has been discussed here ad nauseaum in the past, try a search. Favorites seem to be Michelin Cross Terrain and Bridgestone Dueler H/L.

Pete

toydriver · July 2003

Thanks for input rockyball; I was considering the B'stone H/L. Do they perform better than original H/T in the snow? I have driven an RX with oem Goodyear Integrity - and don't want those.
Michelin has LTX and Cross Terrain (and possibly other options). Which are better?
Are there any options besides Bridgestone, Goodyear or Michelin?

libertycat · July 2003

The leather is not holding up well. It is very crinkled, especially the driver's seat. Has anyone else had these problems?

wwest · July 2003

leather does with age, like an older cowboy's face.

libertycat · July 2003

and I've only had the SUV four months. I've had Fords with leather that stayed uncrinkled for years. Lexus must have used low quality leather on their RX300s.

tidester · July 2003

There are a lot of very good leather care products that will soften leather and make it last a good long time. I'm sure a little research with Google will get you headed in the right direction.

tidester, host

libertycat · July 2003

But still I'm also curious to know if I had dud seats or if every owner of RX300s had this problem.

jer55 · July 2003

My '00 also has the premature leather wear problem. Only 26k miles & I use Lexol & the vehicle is garaged, both home & at work. I spoke to the dealer & they said they will fix it on my next visit. My brother also has a '00 with over 50k, and his leather looks like new. Seems we got a bad batch of hide!

rockyball · July 2003

Sorry-we don't get much snow in the South so can't help you on that. My experience is limited the original OEM's and the replacement HL's.

m45guy · July 2003

This might violate some Edmund's rule, but I was wondering if you have knowledge of a 'live', *technically-related*, forum for the RX300, drop me a note, off-list, wouldja? I'm a hard-core car geek, so I can't wait to tinker with stuff which isn't broken. ;-)

I managed an hour cram-session on the manuals last night, and *still* can't figure out how to display either the compass on the mirror or just have the NAV system tell you what direction you're going. Not a huge deal, but there are many places where you might be on say, I-635 eastbound, yet going south...for 15 miles.

Kelly B

wwest · July 2003

In the upper left quadrant of the nav display.

Touch it once and it locks so north is always at the top, touch again and it indicates true heading.

m45guy · July 2003

I'd figured that out, somewhat, but I was really hoping it'd give you a nice, big, "N", or "SE", or something. Wife got accustomed to it being on the upper console of her Intrepid. She'll adjust...or get lost. ;-)

Sorry for the double-post, earlier. I *did* hit 'refresh', but it had been hours since I first posted. Go figure.

Kelly B
still haven't seen an M45 in motion... should be on sale, soon....

stever · July 2003

The "refresh" bug has been with us for months and months. The only "fix" is to go elsewhere on Town Hall and then come back to this discussion. btw, you can delete your posts at anytime with the blue "Delete" button by your post. And try a net search for other boards; there must be some others out there.

Steve, Host

joanzie · July 2003

I have a 2001 rx 300 and checked the manual but still can not see where this filter is in my glove box. How often should you check it? I am not having the service team check that. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks Joan

wwest · July 2003

the glove box in the dash. The top back of the glove box "container" is removeable, then you will see a rectangular panel, and behind that is the filter.

pschiffe · July 2003

The 2003 J.D. Power Dependability Study has rated the Lexus brand first for the ninth straight year and the RX300 as the hightest rated luxury SUV. Here is a link to the full report (Adobe Acrobat Reader® required):

J.D. Power

Pete

pmhtv · July 2003

Does anyone know if the Cabin AC Filter from the Toyota Highlander can be used/fit in a '99 RX300? If not, can anyone recommend where I can purchase the AC filter without having to go to the Lexus parts department and paying top dollar? Thanks.

pschiffe · July 2003

My son has a Highlander and I looked to see if the filter was in the same location as the RX and it was not. Thus I assume it is probably a different filter. Irontoad discounts that filter 20%, like all their Lexus parts, but still very pricey. Something like $23.00 net as I recall! Some people on this forum have made their own from furnace filters I believe.

Pete

bobfloyd · July 2003

from Lexus dealer for $28.23. Dealer installed if free while I waited five minutes. Seemed a simple choice to me for an expense every 20K miles on a $35 - $40k investment.

erik_h · July 2003

As mentioned before on these boards, use irontoad.com. They are a lexus dealer who greatly discounts parts. I think I paid $21 for the last ac filter I purchased.

wwest · July 2003

Buy a 3M "filtrete" furnace filter element, take it appart and make 4 Rx A/C filer elements.

jeffmust2 · July 2003

...but then you have the drive the RX into your living room to use its heater when the house gets cold.

squack · July 2003

It's my understanding that the paper in Filtrete paper is hygroscopic, and as cool air passes over the pleated surface, (Approximately 10,000 square inches) the aggregate moisture can cause sudden windshield fogging, regardless of the OAT.

I have heard though that pine 1x1 boards wedged behing the wheels can prevent this. Do no use rebar or tire chains, as its metallic composition may render the Lexus NAV utterly useless. YMMV

Lexus RX 300

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