matts6887

14RX350

I don't want to get into the same argument again again with people, so all I'll say is "sealed transmission". You can read the threads on it and decide for yourself.
Also, reliability typically goes up as the model gets older and they work out the kinks... So I don't like buying the first year of anything.

Droid13

I have a 2010 with 120,000miles, hit the road summer 2009. It's the hybrid version but many components are similar. Transportation reliability so far has been very good, the only unexpected issue was the need to replace a noisy water pump a few years back. By transportation reliability I mean all parts are functional especially for getting from A to B, not considering issues like squeeks which I do have especially in winter.

I don't fear first year models, at least not from Toyota/Lexus, but they can be more prone to small annoyance issues. My previous 2 vehicles were both 1st year of a generation Toyotas and neither had any significant transportation reliability issues personally. I had a 2007 Camry that I had for 6 years problem free (it had a dash noise that was solved in the following year by different clamps), and I still have a 2004 Sienna, one of the first off the line for that generation back in spring 2003. It did have a number of recalls over the years for various things, none of which affected me other than the time to schedule appts. It still runs great, although in the last 2 or 3 years it's needed a new engine sensor, a new ABS sensor, a new strut, and some exhaust patching none of which left me on the side of the road. It's starting to get old.

But my opinion is it won't surprise me if things like this start to happen to my RX in the next couple years. In my experience, the first 6 years should be almost perfect, from 6 to 12 years should be very good, and from 12 to 18 years expect to begin occasional to regular replacement stuff that can be at times medium expensive. If I was in your place and looking for, what sounds like a cost effective upgrade, I would consider including the 11 or 12 model year, same vehicle with hopefully a little more time left. The '13 was a minor refresh year and could see a bump in price for used vehicles.

Good luck.

matts6887

Well; i/we cant afford a 11-13. The most we can do at this point is probably the 10 because prices for those seem a bit more "reasonable". As far as the expected items that need replacing after period(s) of time; yes I know about that sadly lol. I just want something thats a bit more reliable and has no "current" repair needs cause Ive just plain had it with my current one needing item after item after item taken care of.

RX in NC

Our recently-acquired 2015 RX350 serves as my wife's daily driver. We purchased it based upon our experiences with her previous 2004 RX330 which she daily-drove from February 2007 to February 2012. That was a solid vehicle which required only routine maintenance from me (I DIY the maintenance and repairs on all of our vehicles). I sold that RX330 at 130,000 miles. My wife's previous 2000 RX300 which she daily-drove from August 2003 to February 2007 was much more problematic throughout its life in our fleet, but Lexus really stepped up post-warranty and performed a number of major repairs to that vehicle as goodwill towards us (the early RX models suffered from weak transmissions in those days and while Lexus never admitted it to me, they certainly knew it). I sold that RX300 at 125,000 miles.

I expect our current 2015 RX350 (now approaching 34,000 miles) to be of similar quality and longevity to our previous 2004 RX330. My major concern long-term is that our 2015 RX350 was built in Canada whereas our previous 2004 RX330 was built in Japan. Deserved or not, the Japanese-built vehicles have a better build-quality reputation than the Canadian-built vehicles do.

salimshah

matts6887:

There is make/model/yr reliability numbers, but at the end what an owner has to deal with is the individual unit (vehicle) they have. Once you get to used vehicles, the history becomes very important.

I would say, have the vehicle thoroughly inspected and and go over the history.

Salim
PS: You will often hear folks complain about fir gen RX (transmission), but I got over 1/4 million miles without any issue. That is why I say it gets down to individual machine.

matts6887

tus

Have to ask, what is your definition of "long term"? How many years is this?, and how many miles?

Read your other post in this thread about the problems you have had, and have to ask how many miles are on the RX and when did the problems start?

I ask because the average age of the cars I currently have, including the '13 450h, is 22 years old. Personally, I consider 100k trouble free, but well maintained, miles good long term reliability, with the list of yearly repairs to gradually get worse unless everything is rebuilt/refreshed.

Of course my 28 year old Miata, with around 200k miles on it now, finally started having problems 2 years ago where I've had to put a new starter, water pump, shocks, replace the original drive shaft, the 25+ year old used replacement drive shaft, passenger side power window regulator, has minor leaks on both the front and rear crank seals that will eventually need to be addressed, and have to rebuild the AC system (mainly to do the R-134a conversion since the R-12 on finally failed last summer.) It's a long list of things and far from what would need to be done for a full restoration to bring it to zero hour condition, but the car is 28 years old.

matts6887

well first; my current rx only has 116,000 on it which really should be nothing miles for a lexus. by long term I mean say at least 10 years down the road or more. The problems I have had just all recently started like all at once!!!. I mean are the 3rd gens generally bulletproof for the most part? I heard something about the sealed transmissions on these but im not exactly sure what as i tried searching for threads on it but could not really find anything.

Non

It all depends...
Toyota currently makes good products, but if the car you have was not taken care of and abused, it will not last.
I always buy used card with known service history, and I change all the fluids, even in the "lifetime sealed transmission"
I also dive gently for the most part, by avoiding hard acceleration and hard braking. I try to cost to stop whenever possible.
I've never had any power train problems in any of my cars, the break pads generally last 70 to 80 thousand miles.
You have a chance that a Lexus will serve you for 300,000 miles, but you have to change all the fluids.

salimshah

Respectfully ... your expectation is 200k+ miles and 15 yrs from date of manufacture [correct me if I am wrong as I just interpolated] seems excessive imho. This would be at minimum 3x of what the manufacturer stands for their product.
Reasonable expectation would be 100K for drivetrain and about 7 yrs from date of manufacture, which ever comes first. You will see lot of folks unload at that point and only folks who are willing to take the risk, pick them up. (typically 1/4 the new value and become most likely the 3rd owner). The first or the second owners who get to the 100k mark are driving in the "gravy" period. No payments and just the maintenance. At this time a med size repair bill is at the most 3 car payments. Those who take out loan to purchase, should feel good that that the depreciation was financed by prior owner(s), but should be ready for the small-med size repair bill.

What is often overlooked is that the cost of repair for Lexus is not cheap. OEM parts at full retail value are expensive and Dealership labor rates are high.

Hope it helps.

side note: Sealed transmission is not really sealed. It can be serviced, but Lexus says no service needed for the life of the part. You have to decide what the life is 100k being the lowest number.

Salim

matts6887

lexusrus

I realize that there is no "PERFECT VEHICLE" out there. Maybe it is out there and I just have not found it yet.

Having a Toyota/Lexus will have odds in your favor. Try it with any of the demostic BIG THREE. How about any of the euro brands? Ok, how about the "better Korean brands" (Equus comes to mind..... multiple problems with it's air suspension and GDI engines with carbon built up, and other many problems.). Sure all the above mentioned brands MAY drive F.I.N.E. when new or relatively new. But at the high mileage you are talking about, most of these above brands will FAIL way before a Lexus.

You can NOT compare a say, Hundai Elentra or Sonata or whatever to a Lexus bc these are not on the same "level". So to compare apples to apples......you need to compare "higher brands" to make it a fair comparison. Similarly one would not compare a Lexus to a Buggatii.

For example:. Those air suspensions found in MB SL, Rang Rovers, and recently......in the Korean built, Equus......... Even the air suspensions found in the Equus are made in Germany. Expensive indeed. I know of a friend of mine who bought a "low mileage (60K miles)/6 years old MB SL hardtop CONVERTIBLE" and about a year later, the air suspension went bust literally one corner after one corner. Soon all 4 corners went out and the car became a low rider. It cost anywhere from $1.5K to $2.5K PER CORNER (yes, per corner) to fix!!! He did not have the money to fix it, so he just parked it in the garage for a little over a year until he saved up enough to fix it. Very soon thereafter, he sold it for a loss.

Another example:. Our previous 2000 LX470 bought new with 8 miles on the odo in 2000.......we traded it in in 2013 with 280K+ miles on the odo and still running strong. We did routine maintenance by the book on it mostly at Lexus dealerships and a few time at independent Toyota specialists shops. The only breakdowns we had were the motorized antenna quit, the power steering pump hose went bust, and the key ignition tumbler just kept turning and not engaging. All these occurred at 250+K miles during the last year of our 13 years of ownership. One may argue that the above items are wear and tear items anyway......which after 250K+ miles......I tend to agree. The good thing was the hydraulic auto height suspension system was still working like a charm without fail. Try your luck with a MB GL or G Wagan, or any of the Land Rovers/Range Rovers, or Chey Tahoe, Ford Expedition!! Ok, you like the KIA.....try it with a KIA Sorento (I know it's not an apple to Apple comparison) ....... No way it will last to 280K+ miles WITHOUT AN ENGINE AND TRANSMISSION OVERHAUL/REBUILD.

All I'm saying is with a Toyota/Lexus.......odds are in your favor for breakdowns. And when breakdowns do happen......it costs WAY LESS compared to the Euro brands.

What you have experienced maybe skewed bc there were "hidden problems" undiscovered by you when you bought it??? IDK??? Was it a CPO? Did you get a PPI by someone who is an expert with Lexus/Toyota? Just bc it drove "FINE" on a test drive mean little in the long run. According to one source, F.I.N.E. = https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F.I.N.E.*

RX in NC

If you need an AWD SUV and you do not want to pony up for another RX, I suggest you consider a fourth-generation Subaru Outback 3.6R. I did significant research throughout 2015 and determined at that time that it was the best bang-for-the-buck SUV on the market from a cost-of-acquisition standpoint, a long-term cost-of-ownership standpoint, and an overall performance standpoint. I found and purchased our 2013 3.6R in early November 2015 and it has been a fantastic vehicle which has done everything we have asked of it and more. I liked it so much that I sold my beloved daily-driver 2005 Jaguar S-Type sedan and now daily-drive our Outback. Just be sure to get the 3.6R / 5EAT engine / transmission combo (the best drivetrain Subaru has ever offered). You will not regret it.

By the way, no "sealed for life" transmission on the 3.6R. It has a dipstick / fill tube and an easy-to-access drain plug. I do a simple ATF drain-and-fill every 30,000 miles as an added protection against transmission failure down the road. Takes me all of 20 minutes and costs me only $35 to $40 for the recommended Subaru ATF-HP.

14RX350

Isn't that the main point of buying these cars though... Because of the long term reliability. Why is it absurd to expect 200k out of these cars, when Toyotas from 30 years ago easily achieved that... And cars have only gotten more reliable.
I feel like thats exactly what manufacturers are pushing. They want you to buy a new car every few years. I bought my car at 50k miles and the service advisor was already talking to me about when I'll need to let it go and buy something new.
​​​That's my main issue with the sealed transmission. I feel like they know these cars could go for 300k, but they've put a little ticking time bomb in there to slowly coerce you into trading in.
I don't think most people stop and think about how much money a car really costs. The longer you can hold onto "that old car" the more you save. And we're not talking small amounts here. Of course that day comes when it no longer makes sense to keep/ maintain a car, but that day is far into the future. I know that isn't the popular way of thinking anymore, and the auto magazines, manufacturers, and dealers will tell you otherwise. I say take your time, find a reliable make/model, get one that's been well maintained, continue to maintain it, and drive it 'til the wheels fall off.
And that's true about the cost of parts and dealer rates being expensive. That's the main reason to buy a Toyota over a Lexus... You get basically the same parts and service but at a fair price.