2005 Passed With No Major Problems....

[RX in NC]

For the first calendar year since we purchased my wife's 2000 RX300 AWD, 2005 went by with no major problems disrupting the vehicle. From 1/1/05 to 12/31/05, she put approximately 24,000 miles on her RX. It now registers about 101,500 miles on the odometer. Other than routine fluid-and-filter changes and tire rotations, the only out-of-the-ordinary procedure I performed during 2005 was to change the AC/Alternator belt last May. Belt changing is not typically an unusual maintenance requirement after four years or so of running the factory belts but given the position of this belt and the extremely limited access to it, this procedure required quite a bit of time and some long and slender wrenches borrowed from a friend of mine. I also had our local Lexus service manager inspect the engine for the gelling issue back in early November since I'm now having to add about a half-quart of oil between oil changes. No signs of gelling were found, which is as I expected. But it's always safer to be certain.

We'll never be satisfied with the harsh shifting characteristics of this transmission and the unacceptably high numbers of transmission failure in the AWD RX300 along with it being substantially lacking in power and nimbleness will continue to keep me from recommending this vehicle to anybody considering acquiring one, but I did want to acknowledge the fact that for 2005, nothing serious managed to break on this thing. That has been a true rarity during our ownership experience, and 2005 doesn't change the fact that this has been by far the worst vehicle I've ever had in my garage. Maybe all those times of cursing out our RX300 has finally forced the vehicle to sit up and take notice. Time will continue to tell....

[tmastres]

Well I hate to be the contrarian here (not really though) I've got an RX thats very similar in vintage and mileage to yours and I've never had a stitch of trouble with it. My transmission shifts great and the fluid is still red (getting a bit darker red I will concede). I just got back from a week in/near Yosemite Nat Park and the Sierras where the vehicle was encased in ice several nights and frequently traversed snow and ice covered roads without a hint of trouble. Don't get me wrong, I'm not comparing my experiences with even one full season of real cold but even at 26 degrees F I noticed no difference in the way the tranny shifted or performed.

As for oil, I must admit I'm a bit particular, I only use Mobil 1, 5-30 and change it every 4k but I've never added a drop to this thing other than when changing the oil. I've also heard a bit of !Removed! about how underpowered it is and how the brakes are sub-par, neither one of these do I find to be true. Sure it would be fun to have a ton more power (more torque would actually be more welcome) but thats just what it would be , fun. I've got a hot-rod that I take out for that kind of fun stuff, the RX is an everyday car made for puttering around in or cruising down the road and it does that just fine. Brake wise, it may not stop like a 911 but I've had the misfortune (only a couple of times luckily) to get "hard on the binders" as my English friend likes to call it, the RX was unwavering and stopped short and straight each time. Anyone who says their trucklike American SUV stops better, wont sell that to me!

So maybe I got the perfect RX and you somehow got a lemon, but the reason I bought one these things in the first place was on the stellar recommendations of three separate RX owners that I know personally. I was skeptical at first because I had been a truck guy for a long time, but I'd just come off one of the worst vehicles (reliability wise) that I'd ever owned, a Dodge truck and was looking for something I didn't have to fix every week. Well I found it in a 2000 Lexus RX300. I do admit its a !Removed! to work on this thing sometimes but luckily it needs so little work to be done it more than makes up for it.

Just my Opinion though, and you know what they say about those!

[LexKid630]

You're lucky that this past year has been trouble free for your rx300. As you already know, i haven't had much luck with the RX300 series...

I've owned 3 rx300's and EVERY one of them has given me at least one problem! But even though, i like the RX300 VERY much.

Good luck in the future too!

[tmastres]

I guess I've just been un-lucky in the past. It seems like every vehicle I've ever had (other then the RX) could never go a year without some at least minor problem. Knock on wood for this one though, I do hear the complaints of others on the list so I know some of you have had problems (some serious ones too), I don't look forward to any of those, hope I can steer clear of them

[lenore]

Well folks I am very happy for all of you, I too have had a very quiet year, but my maintenance schedule is very detailed and the transmission ( third one) still exhibits the turning of color to black. I have added a transmission filter (external) and cleaned and drained it three times in the last 16k miles since the last tranny change. My only other maintenance has been fixing the stuff Roseville Lexus messed up. Other than that I enjoy driving the car, but just have bad vibes, like some others on this forum. We are trying to make it go another 100k, but time will tell. I am going to add a tranny cooling fan on the Aux cooler this spring. Maybe it will help the summer commutes that my wife does in stop and go trafffic. Best of luck to all AWD RX300 owners this 2006.....