Is It Safe To Buy A 2003 Lexus Rx With Over 80k On The Clock?

pascal · February 4, 2010

hi there evryone. were changing our car this year hooray lol. were looking at lexus rx second gen. our budget is around 10k and for that we find stuff with over 80k milage or just under.now if it was a beemer or merc i would never buy one with a high milage because as we all know thats when trouble normaly begins with them. but the question is would it be the same with lexus. i have heard of hardly any issues with the rx and when autotrader said it was one of the most reliable 4x4 of the decade that made think of buying one. so please please i would be really gratefull to know peoples expiriences with higher milage lexuses.

cheers pas. :winky:

monster · February 5, 2010

Hi, Should be no problem with over 80K, it's probably just run in at this point :D . Obviously check for service history and accident damage. It's also worth getting a professional to look over it as anything that needs to be fixed can then be negociated in the price. Try to get one that has had it's cambelt changed and new brakes as if these need doing around 100K then your looking at £1K+ for servicing costs.

I've got one thats done 103K and it drive superbly. Air suspension and Sat nav on the SE-L are the business! :P

Good luck,

Miles

Damer · February 5, 2010

Hi, Should be no problem with over 80K, it's probably just run in at this point :D . Obviously check for service history and accident damage. It's also worth getting a professional to look over it as anything that needs to be fixed can then be negociated in the price. Try to get one that has had it's cambelt changed and new brakes as if these need doing around 100K then your looking at £1K+ for servicing costs.
I've got one thats done 103K and it drive superbly. Air suspension and Sat nav on the SE-L are the business! :P

Good luck,

Miles

You should be able to get one with lower than 80K miles for £10k I would have thought.

Mine has 53k miles, absolutely trouble free apart from a bit of excessive tyrewear early on.

P38Aaron · February 5, 2010

a supplier we use has 2 RX's, 1 is farely new the other is clocking up the mileage & he says they are sound!

main thing will be cambelt service, I dont think you will have any issues, its a Lexus!

steveskeggy · February 6, 2010

80k these days is not high milage.

In the old days, 80k would have been around the time when an engine may have needed re-boring, at least the main and big end bearings would have needed replacing.

But with improvements in materials and tollerances, engines last three, four even five times longer than they used to.

Of course this all depends on how the engine has been treated, if it has been hammered from day one, or maybe driven too slowly, then this can shorten the life of the engine and drivetrain.

Its not that unusual these days to see a car with 1/4 to 1/2 a million miles on the clock, or even more.

It all comes down to how the car has been treated, and that is why service history is important, especially cambelt replacement.

Its not the engine you need to worry about these days, its the electrics, there are so many gadgets and computers in these things that its not unusual for at least one of them to be a bit "Iffy" so press all the buttons, twist all the knobs slide all the switches and push all the levers, or at least all you can find, you will still be finding switches a month after you have bought it.

If it looks good, sounds good, drives good and has plenty of paperwork, then it should be a goodun.

jay b · February 6, 2010

cars like the rx's have bullet proof drivetrains and 80k is nothing. the same goes for the engine i wouldnt be suprised if it lasted up to 400,000 miles without trouble. but like other people mentioned it depends on how it has been treated. make sure the cambelt has been replaced and it has a full serive history even though the electric stuff on japanese cars like the rx is very very reliable and hardly ever goes wrong it is worth having a good check around. we own too rx's. we bought the both second hand one having done 90k and the other 56k and the one that we bought witch had 90k has now done 140k and we never had any faults with it and the same goes for the other one. so long you check everything over correctly you will be just fine. taking a mechanic along with you is a good idea to and make sure you get a hpi check done.

good luck and enjoy your new car when you come to buy it. i never looked back after i bought a lexus.

jason :winky:

Iceman2010 · February 6, 2010

This prob aint gonna help you much as im reffering to an is 200, ive had 4 of these now & the first car only had 28k on the clock & was a dream, ive also had some on high milage (higher than the 80k) & they have driven just like the one on lower milage, aslong as they come with service history etc i dont think you can go wrong. Good luck

Normski · February 8, 2010

Like everyone says - make sure it has been serviced regularly and looked after! My RX (2004 model, SE-L) now has close to 85k on the clock. It hasn't missed a beat! I get it serviced on the dot from Lexus (Nottingham) and although a little pricey to maintain/run it is by the far the best car i've owned! I don't want to tempt fate so also went for the Lexus extended warranty and will be renewing again with them later this year.

Unfortunately i've seen quite a few for sale that are quite low mileage but have not been looked after - even at Lexus dealers! So keep a careful eye out...