1999 Lexus RX300 RX 300 review from North America
"Junk powertrain, poor reliability, nice to drive"
What things have gone wrong with the car?
Engine oil sludge at 50,000 miles...$3k.
Transmission failed at 105,000...$5k.
Transmission failed at 120,000...$?
General comments?
WOW. What a piece of junk my RX300 drivetrain is.
Looking at the other posts, I think my experience is more common than dealers will claim. I replaced the transmission at about 105,000 miles (just out of warranty) about 13 months ago. The refurbished (according to the dealer, they don't have "new" transmissions, but the reburbished are really new) tranny cost me $5000... ouch. The replacement tranny is now going out. It won't shift into reverse. That's 2 transmissions in about 120k miles. I'm steamed. This is after the sludge problem of the oil overheating and causing carbon deposits in the engine, resulting in knocking, that started at about 50k miles. That cost about $3k for mitigation of the problem. If the dealer asks for another $5k, I'm going to have a heart attack.
I expect this poor reliability from Detroit, not from Japan.
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| Formally happy Lexus owner |
|
| Lexus and Toyota are worth every penny! |
| Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? | No |
| Model year | 1999 |
| Year of manufacture | 1999 |
| First year of ownership | 1999 |
| Most recent year of ownership | 2006 |
| Engine and transmission | Automatic |
| Performance marks | 8 / 10 |
| Reliability marks | 0 / 10 |
| Comfort marks | 8 / 10 |
| Dealer Service marks | 0 / 10 |
| Running Costs (higher is cheaper) | 0 / 10 |
| Overall marks (average of all marks) | |
| Distance when acquired | 0 miles |
| Most recent distance | 120 miles |
| Previous car | Mercedes-Benz M-Class |
| Date of Entry | 3rd February, 2006 |