Vegas300

Last Friday I used my father-in-law's dealership license to attend one of these "dealer only" auto auctions that are supposed to be full of governent repo's, insurance loss/salvage vehicles. You know, those auctions you always hear about new luxury vehicles being had for 30 bucks, but have never met anyone who has actually bought said cars.

Well, I can report that this auction at least was nothing like that. Nice cars went for much more than 30 bucks....but deals were there to be had if you were willing to take the risk. My wife has been in dire need of something better than her 1994 Mazda 626 with 189k miles so I was keeping her in mind when I saw a 2000 RX300 up for bid. One minor detail,... it had no keys...yikes!...meaning no idea how many miles were on it so I called a friend to pull a Carfax on it quickly for me. It had no record of damage or repair, and a pretty good record of dealership services so I took the chance. Needless to say my bid won and I have been reading this forum ever since.

I am in awe of the amount of info. I have been able to find on several subjects here and I look forward to learning more. So other than a scheduled upcoming 100k service, is there anything else that anyone would check out or have done on a used RX of this year?

Thanks again for all the help found in this forum!

Tammy

Without keys means you haven't started it yet.

You'll need to contact a Lexus dealer to be fitted with a new master key set, at the very least.

witmaRX

good that you have found this site, you will find tons of info here.

i have 2K RX too, your wife is gonna love it...ask her to not mind subtle creaking noises though.

Vegas300

Ah yes, the keys...that was quite the shock when I called my local Lexus dealer to see what needed to be done about having no keys. They gave me the complete speech about having to replace my ECM (cost $1,740) and then get keys cut by my VIN # ($125/each for master remote head) plus pay fees to have the keys and remote heads programmed. I was suffering buyers remorse in the worst way.
Then I seached online and found http://www.lexuskeys.info and I started to feel a little better. I overnighted my ECM to them and they flashed it, cut two keys by VIN, and had it back the next business day including instructions on how to program the keys and remotes! All for only $350 and that included shipping...what a relief! I popped the ECM back in and everything worked like a charm. Everything on the car works so I am beginning to feel a little better about the whole thing. I found out that the car has 96K miles and seeing that it was a theft recovery, I highly doubt the theives took it in for it's 90K service . I went to the Lexus dealership service department to get a list of services included on the 90k maintenance and a price to do it.....I about fell down again!
The service includes replacing brake and coolant fluids, oil/air, re-torque axle shaft bolts, replace the timing belt, and rotate tires. All for the small price of $1155.92. Oh, I forgot the "road test vehicle". Is it possible to just get these things done at a good outside mechanic? or is the Lexus service center just that much better?

Andrax

you certianly can get the 90k mile service done at an independant shop. I wouldn't expect to see a huge discrepancy in the price though, maybe 10% give or take.

I just picked up a 2000 RX300 a week and a half ago, 79k miles on it. I feel your pain, I took mine into the shop and had it gone over and did a partial 60/90k mile service after they checked all the fluids and what have you. In 11k miles I get to have the big kahoona done so I feel your pain.

miltonlin

You could check if your Toyota dealership will service your car and ask for the cost of the 90K service say a 2001 Highlander. Some dealers charge you the same Toyota rate, while others jack up the price. At 90K, I would also change the drive belts (just the cost of parts more) while they are doing the timing belt. The water pump, dealers tell me that they check it and normally don't change it until every other timing belt. I just like to do it and not have to worry about it.

I suspect that the Toyota delership should be a couple hundred dollars cheaper, the same quality Toyota parts, and they have trained mechanics so that should know what they are doing.

salimshah

Welcome and congratulations on buying the RX.

By now, you must have realized that Lexus repair and maintainace cost is steep. Fortunately the repairs are not frequent. At 120,000 miles you would have put twice the miles covered under warranty, so please be prepared.

Salim

Vegas300

and continue to read the forums and it looks like I have a couple of things to do before I feel comfortable driving the RX.


1. Transmission fluid change(s) - I think I will go with the mulitple drain and fill method over a 500-1000 mile range as suggested by so many here. This RX has most likely been sitting for 6-8 months in an impound lot.

2. Bleed brake lines and refill

3. Flush coolant - this one kind of worries me. The coolant reservoir is sitting at the "low" line and it is full of the green Prestone type coolant. I have read that having the Toyota pink is suggested. Is there any damage that could have occured with the green in?

4. My "D" (drive) light is out on the console. I have gathered that this is a normal occurence with the 99-03 series. I think I'll let this one go and treat it as though it's a special "feature" as some others have commented.

5. Timing Belt?? I'm not sure if there is a way to tell if this was replaced anytime in the recent past...like 90k service. If I were to take it into a shop and ask, I fear they will just tell me it is old of course so as to charge me to replace it.

Oh, one last thing..whether I read my transmission fluid hot or cold it reads the same. The level is always past the "Type" wording on the stick. I fear it is overfilled pretty bad not to mention the horrible dark grape/brown color.

Here's some pics..

Fern

Hey Vegas300,

the colour of your trani fluid doesn't impress me...

If I were you I would be taking it to Lexus for a trani pan removal and flush as much as possible. I doubt that is Toyota T-IV fluid (unless my computer monitor is off)

Also the rad fluid should look red if it was the stuff put in at factory and pink if the new LONG LIFE type product from Toyota, which co-incidentally does not have to be mixed with water...

Just a friendly suggestion from someone who has recently encountered a costly transmission repair at 137,000km with perfect maintenance history, albeit out of warranty now

Tammy

A case of twelve bottles plus one of the Type IV transmission fluid, purchased at a Toyota dealer ($5 or less per bottle). This equals three drain and fills of 4.2 quarts each. Drain both plugs, transaxle and the transmission pan.

Fill at the dipstick with a small metal four inch kitchen funnel, one with a vent groove at the small end. Pour it slow and let the vent groove expel air as you pour in the fluid.

The brake fluid is Dot 3 type. I you try it yourself, insure the reservoir doesn't run dry... have the ignition on to run the ABS pump while bleeding. If it does, a toyota dealer visit is needed to bled all the air correctly.

The green is basic ethylene glycol designed for iron block engines. Drain it out using the three drain petcocks, fill the system with bottled distilled water, drain again, fill and drain once more with distilled, then fill with Toyota Red and distilled 50/50 mix or the pink premixed out of the bottle.

You should ask for the old parts when timing belt and water pump-seals and idlers are replaced. This tends to lean to honestly.

Lastly, when I check my transmission fluid with the engine not running, it reads up around the T in Type IV stamped on the stick...

But, it reads correctly if checked with the engine running in park, and the internal pumps are operating, causing the level to drop.

Enjoy "your New" Lexus ....

jbd747

So far the best information I have gotten from this forum has been that provided by "ed" at this website: http://rx300how2.home.comcast.net/index.html#wzTracker . Enjoy the RX 300. John (also in vegas)

81corolla

Congrats on the new Lexus.

So I have to ask... what did you bid?

These auctions seem like black magic to me. Are Lexus' just waiting for the taking out there?

Anyway, sounds like the car just needs a little maint. and your wife will soon be happy. :-)

Lexmex

Mine is an AWD and it goes up to the IV mark when hot...have had that there for as long as I can remember, but if troubles you lower it to the hot mark.