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After all these years, I still have an affinity for the Original
RX 300. Bought the 01 AWD fair lady in 2014 with 38K on the clock
and today, she is still running like a champ.
The RX300 might not be the fastest, might need more TLC
with oil changes and ATF fluids changes, but I still think
the design is timeless.
I love my RX300 very much and proud that I can fix most anything on the vehicle myself. However, my favorite thing about it is running bracket races (staggered starts by time) for money.
In my 65 years of being a car nut and owning many luxury and performance cars of all descriptions, my 2001 RX300 is the all-around sweetest ride of all. I've only owned it for about 7 months now, but in that time I've put over 20K miles on it in lots of different driving conditions, and it always performs flawlessly. The car is loaded with all the toys, everything works as new, and what with 134,000 miles on it now, I have to wonder how this car could have been any better when new! It's quiet, solid, smooth, handles very well, has plenty of power, and on any nasty-slippery surfaces it drives amazingly. Our driveway is very steep and gravel. FWD cars have trouble keeping traction and must get a good rolling start and keep up the momentum all the way up to the top. The Lexus? I can stop anywhere on the driveway and actually step on the gas with gusto and it bolts straight ahead with no wheelspin at all. I'm looking forward to the winter snow! And all the while listening to one of the best OEM sound systems I've heard.
I paid $5K for it in February and it came with all the owner's records from new. It has been properly cared for, with transmission and all other fluid flushes done on schedule. New brakes, tires and battery just before I bought it.
One more thing, the design is indeed timeless. All the time I have people ask me if it's a new one! At 17 years old, that speaks well for the design!
My 01 Lexus RX300 has 202000 miles now. My wife asked me to replace it with a new one, I simply answered "why". It runs perfectly, without any problem. It is quite, and gas saving. Why should I waste money into a new car, without significant change?
My 01 Lexus RX300 has 202000 miles now. My wife asked me to replace it with a new one, I simply answered "why". It runs perfectly, without any problem. It is quite, and gas saving. Why should I waste money into a new car, without significant change?
One thing about 1st gen RX is that ever since, it set standard for SUV shape/proprtions wise and even up to day, it is still being copied. I lost my count how many times me and my wife - ex 99 RX300 owners - saw lookalikes on the road.
I'm 19 and got my grandma and Grandpa's 1999 fully loaded RX300 AWD. Just half a year ago and love it! I've had memories of it for the past 15 years as they were the first owners of the car. So those memories really make me love the car even more.
The car is VERY used. Door looks don't work automatically, some interior lights don't work. Stuff like that. After cleaning the entire engine, and using good oil and high octane fuel, plus a ecu reset, the car is way snappier surprisingly. Drives like it's new.
It's just an awesome car. I love it for it's comfort, reliability and because it's my toy 😀
After all these years, do you still " LUV " your RX300?
It's a wonderful, solid, and fairly simple vehicle to maintain. She's my DD, with about 157,000 miles on the total vehicle, but only about 60,000 on the engine, as she got a new short block before I took possession in 2009. I actually like it better than my wife's 2012 RX350, as I don't like all of the "assumptions" her RX makes with its electronics. I also have basically replaced the entire suspension...springs, struts, tie rods, steering rack, etc. Everything works flawlessly. And no car payment!
After all these years, do you still " LUV " your RX300?
Yes! My wife loves it as much as I do, and now with over 160K miles on it, we’re casually keeping our eyes open for another RX300 miracle: one that has low miles, impeccable service records and is in pristine condition. We’ll pay top dollar for it, too. That’s how much we love this car!
I’ve been a car nut all my life, have owned and operated several auto-body repair shops and other repair facilities, I was a licensed dealer in three states for many years, and have had my choice of just about any fabulous car you can imagine. My favorite drive of all? This particular Lexus.
We live on the Oregon Coast now and need a car that won’t be deterred by the occasional foot of snow, we like to go “four-wheelin’” on all these adventurous dirt roads out here in the mountains, and the RX300 handles all of that without any issues at all. And yet it’s a timeless machine that fits in anywhere. This one rides and handles so well I can’t imagine how it could have been better 21 years ago when it was new. I could go on . . .
So why look for a fresher one? Soon it will ask for another timing belt replacement, transmissions don’t last forever, the leather on the driver’s seat is showing cracks on the side by the door, and we’d rather just sell this one while it still runs and looks nearly new and spend all the repair and maintenance money on that fresher one. And if it never materializes, hey, I’m 84 years young and it’ll probably outlast me!
About those door locks not working, I researched that when I bought my '01 RX300 six years ago and I found it to be a common issue. I generally do my own repairs and quickly found out that the needed parts - from the dealer - were pricey enough that I considered living with "manual door locks." BUT FIRST, I googled the issue and came up with several excellent tutorials on how to fix the problem for about $20 per door. You can just go to Youtube, type in "repair Lexus RX300 door locks" and there they are. You'll need some average mechanical aptitude and a few tools, but nothing hard to access.
I took my laptop out to the garage and used one of those tutorials, step-by-step, and the job was a breeze. Fixed both front doors in about three hours, the second one taking up only one of them!
I hope this helps a lot of your owners with those pesky door-lock issues.
10-02-18, 12:30 PM
