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Looking To Buy A Rx300 What Do I Need To Look Out For?


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Hi,

Can someone tell me what I should look out for? Whats the reliability of the the RX300 like? What are the common problems?

The car I am looking to buy is a 2002 RX300 with 87,000 miles on it. Do they have normal cambelts or chain belts? If its the normal cambelt what is the change interval? Thanks for your help.

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Hi,

Can someone tell me what I should look out for? Whats the reliability of the the RX300 like? What are the common problems?

The car I am looking to buy is a 2002 RX300 with 87,000 miles on it. Do they have normal cambelts or chain belts? If its the normal cambelt what is the change interval? Thanks for your help.

Are you buying from a Lexus dealer with a full Approved Lexus warranty or from elsewhere? If it's then former the go ahead and buy with confidence as any issues will be sorted out. If the later then there are a few items that might need checking as other posts will show shortly. In my 2003 RX300 SEL the issues were:

- Corroding alloys

- Rattle in the dash board

All sorted out by Lexus under warranty.

Not a big list! However, others have also had issues with the air suspension. General consensus seems to be that the non air suspension model has a better ride and is less expensive to maintain in the long term. SEL owners might disagree on the 'ride' factor !!!

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One other thing to bear in mind in the very good advice you have been given is to budget for a cambelt and coolant change in a vehicle of that age/mileage. Regardless of when it had a oil/filter change that might also be something you'd like to consider/budget for.

EDIT: Two remote keys will be useful as a replacement key can cost upwards of £100?

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Cambelt replacement is 100K Just make sure that youhave FSH on the car other than that they are pretty much bulletproof.

Most Lexus alloys are prone to corrosion not just the RX model but there are always plenty on eBay.

Never had the dash rattle so cannot comment.

Good luck with your purchase I am sure that you will enjoy the RX

Terry

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I dropped the idea of that 87k RX300. Just would have ended up spending more money to get the cambelt changed e.t.c.

However found another which has done 60,000 miles backed with full lexus service history. With the most recent one being carried out in october of this year. I asked the dealer (not a lexus dealer) whether a cambelt change had been done he read through the service book and said there isnt one due until it has done 100k.

Now I am a bit confused. What is the interval? 100k? 60k? every 72 months of 90,000 miles? There are all sorts of rumours going around but I dont seem to be getting a definitive answer. How hard is it to change the cambelt on the RX 300? How much should I expect it to cost if I do decide to get it changed (by dealers or independant garages)?

Last but not least why dont they just make chain cambelts in all cars?

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I dropped the idea of that 87k RX300. Just would have ended up spending more money to get the cambelt changed e.t.c.

However found another which has done 60,000 miles backed with full lexus service history. With the most recent one being carried out in october of this year. I asked the dealer (not a lexus dealer) whether a cambelt change had been done he read through the service book and said there isnt one due until it has done 100k.

Now I am a bit confused. What is the interval? 100k? 60k? every 72 months of 90,000 miles? There are all sorts of rumours going around but I dont seem to be getting a definitive answer. How hard is it to change the cambelt on the RX 300? How much should I expect it to cost if I do decide to get it changed (by dealers or independant garages)?

Last but not least why dont they just make chain cambelts in all cars?

100k but always advisable to change it earlier if you can. That (changing earlier than the book says) applies to other cars as well, not just Lexus.

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Interval is 100k miles or 10 years.

Just had the belt changed on my series I RX300 after 105k miles. Asked for the old belt back, thought the garage hadn't changed it and given me the new one. Not a mark or crack on it, would easily last longer. On US forums people have gone 130k miles+ on an original belt (not that I advise this).

It's only the IS200 that has an issue with the cambelt and needs to be changed more often.

Why not chains? They can be noisy, are less efficient, water pump normally cannot be driven from them because if the pump locks up the chain will snap and do a lot of damage.

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hi guys just one more question. The car I am looking at has covered 60,000 miles and had 3 owners. Its a 2001 model. Should I be concerned?

Is it just me or is it a bit odd that a car thats 7 years old and has had 3 owners has only covered 60k miles?

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