kasak

Are there any RX300 buying tips for a newbie that are already posted here? A sticky would help/guide many like me who are looking towards buying an RX300. I am looking for a 03 RX 300 in a good condition and has clean history. Going to be a father soon and sold my 3000GT .

lexus114

In my opinion an 03 is a good choice,most,if not all bugs worked out.Try to get as much knowledge as you can re;past service records i.e oil changes etc..You should be fine then.

Lexmex

Welcome to the Club.

3000GT, I remember that car very well as I had two friends who used to have them, very nice to mod to.

The two major things to look at our the history of transmission fluid changes and oil changes. If that can't be shown, I would take a test drive and ensure that shifts are fluid with no hesitations (including between shifts). This means mashing the pedal to the metal on a straight street or highway. The color of the transmission fluid (from the dipstick) should be red with a slightly sweet smell. If history does exist for the transmission, changes should be no more than 15K, though I would ask the owner how they service the vehicle (Lexus, independent, DIY).

Oil changes should be done at about 5K miles, really no more than 7K. After taking at least a 15 minute test drive I would look underneath to ensure no leaks (other than water from A/C). Also find out what type of oil was used.

And if you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

lexus114

Thanx Lex,you described it well as usual. And remember kasak,for future referance,Toyota type Tiv fluid or equivlent ONLY,for transmission.

bob2200

I think you are overly restricting yourself by looking for a 2003 model only. I seem to recall that this was a partial-year production run and the 2004's came out early. I think the 2002 models and 2003 models are the same (could be the case for 2001-2003).

lexus114

I can also add that I have a 2001 AWD,and I like it very much.But I have completly changed out my fluids.Including synthetic fluid change twice in my front transfer,and rear diff.1st time with royal purple,2nd time with amsoil.

smerre01

Be sure to look at the door jambs, hood jambs, etc. to make sure that spacing and gapping are equal on both sides of the car, a lot of times if the vehicle has been in an accident these gaps will not line back perfectly. Also look for signs of re-painting areas by looking for overspray under the hood, around the fender wells, under the front and rear of the car. The paint on our cars is awesome, and any areas that might have been repaired could show a difference in the clear coat, I have seen that as well where the clear doesn't look as smooth on one particular door as the rest of the car. You can try taking the VIN # to the dealer and ask if they show any service history for the car, I have had that done successfully in the past (of course only dealer maint./repairs would show) Wish you luck and get a carfax report as well!!

lexus114

And could do a carfax check too.

kasak

Thank you all for the warm welcome. I really appreciate all your suggestions. My fav is black with tan interior. I am not really restricting myself to 03s. Just going for them as that is the latest year in RX 300s.
How true is it that RX300 are fine with regular gas (they don't specifically ask for premium gas)? In this forum in FAQ thread, 87 grade is fine but 91 (mid-grade?) is recommended? For my 3kGT I had to use premium.
I was also looking at extended warranty for about $2000 (3yr upto 100kmi) for the 40-50K 03s as I heard and these are expensive to get repairs.

I will look at some cars locally here and do all the checks that you all suggested.
The only reason I am looking at these vehicles is because they are safe and also nice cars & particularly because of weather in this new city. Thanks again to you all.

lexus114

As far as the regular unleaded,you don`t have to use premium fuel.However, I have learned it runs better on the premium.And it`s only a matter of $3.00 per tank full difference.Plus the fuel mileage is better too.It`s all a matter of personal choice.Premium is not required, my old Mercedes 300E called for Premium unleaded fuel only.The 99-03 only recomended.

kasak

good info on how to stay away from a car with accident history etc.

kasak

Can we really trust carfax report? I guess its more like there is nothing better out there.
For e.g. for this vehicle, the accident that happened in 2001 didn't show up on carfax until 2008. Wierd.
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smerre01

[QUOTE=kasak;3507241]Can we really trust carfax report? I guess its more like there is nothing better out there.
For e.g. for this vehicle, the accident that happened in 2001 didn't show up on carfax until 2008. Wierd.
QUOTE]

Funny you mention that, while I support the CarFax check, my wife wrecked our 05' Mini Cooper S and the body shop that did the repair told us that it would be reported to carfax. Six months later we are selling the car, I pull a carfax and it is clean as a whistle. I did tell the lady who bought the car about the accident, it was severely minor, but I felt obligated even though SC is a non-disclosure state. I am not convinced that CarFax is accurate. I should have you pull the Mini's Vin in CarFax so we can see over a year and a half later if it is still clean, lol.....

kasak

I have bought an unlimited 30 day carfax service on 24 Apr (expires 24 May). So far I pulled atleast 30-40 carfaxes. Of all these I inquired more on at least 7-8 vehicles. All these didn't report accident in carfax, but there certain things that make you think that there might have been an accident. 3 of them, I have solid proof. So, based on all this, I am really scared to believe carfax. But highly reccommend getting the vehicle inspected by autochex.com. Each vehicle it costs $99 (there is a $10 discount coupon -coupon code "CF10950" ) too. If someone has already done that it costs you only $25. They do a pretty good job. I am impressed. All the above suggestions are checked by them and they have a very detailed report.

lexus114

Whoa,that`s odd.