2001 Lexus RX300 review from North America
"Bad on snow"
What things have gone wrong with the car?
Rear Rotor, front strut, rear noise
General comments?
Nice looking vehicle. Smooth engine/transmission. Good gas mileage for a 6 cylinder. However, this "SUV" almost got me killed on a snow day. I have driven many cars on snow before but nothing worse than RX300 AWD. I was on a skiing trip to VT one day. It was snowing (about 2" snow on the ground). This car was skidding more than 20 times on the highway. I was only doing 45-50 mph and it was on the AWD snow mode. At one time, the car skidded from one lane to another. The car also did a 180 degrees on a turn. Lucky there was no cars near by. Traction control does kick in when the car skids but it does not help much.
I have driven Jaguar XJS, Nissan Max, Mitsh Eclipse, VW GTI on snow and I never had a single skid that was severe as my RX300. I usually drove 50-65 mph on a light snow day. I took my RX300 to the Dealer and they told me the tires are fine and it is normal for any suv/car to skid. I was totally disappointed! Sure… it can handle 20”of snow doing 25 mph but it is not good enough. A good SUV should be able to do 50 mph on a light snow road without skidding…
Has anyone experienced the same problem? Can your RX300 do 50mph on snow without skidding? Please let me know -Thanks
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| It's the first Lexus I own and I think maybe my last |
| Comfortable and reliable luxury SUV!! |
| Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? | No |
| Year of manufacture | 2001 |
| First year of ownership | 2004 |
| Most recent year of ownership | 2005 |
| Engine and transmission | Automatic |
| Performance marks | 8 / 10 |
| Reliability marks | 8 / 10 |
| Comfort marks | 7 / 10 |
| Dealer Service marks | 10 / 10 |
| Running Costs (higher is cheaper) | 7 / 10 |
| Overall marks (average of all marks) | |
| Distance when acquired | 27000 miles |
| Most recent distance | 32000 miles |
| Previous car | Lexus VW GTI |
| Date of Entry | 1st February, 2005 |