Picking Up Used Rx300 Tomowwow! Any Lasy Advise?

[tmhtmh]

Well, I made the deal on a used 2002 RX300 about 150 mi. from my home that I pick up tomorrow. The dealer in Binghamton NY assures me the RX runs great and is in great condition. pictures online confirm it is in great shape inside and out. Under the hood is, of course, what worries me. Fortunately, this dealer is GREAT and says I can have the car all day to test around town and/or take to a local Lexus shop or mechanic of my choice. He wouldn't even LET me buy it without checking it out for a while. He will let me out of the deal if I'm not 100% satisfired it's a great vehicle.

The RX300 is a gold 2WD with almost all the fixings! No NAV system, but that's about it. 54,000 mi. ; Complete dealer service records from previous owner. I went 2WD for price, lack of many reported problems in the FWD tranny vs. AWD AND because I don't really believe AWD helps much on slippery roads. I'm a snow tire believer with FWD being just fine for on-road driving, which is all this one will see. Also, I got the all-leather (no wood) steering wheel, which I know isn't an "upgrade" but I much prefer it. The wood is ICE COLD in the winter as I found out during other test drives. I didn't see ANY AWD with leather only steering wheels.

Anything SPECIFIC you'd make sure to check out given a day to test this vehicle? Anything to tell the mechanic I take it to to check out other than general stuff? The dealer tells me the tires are 50% gone - will that cause the ride to be much different than I should expect with newer tires? (He's throwing in 4 new snow tires on rims for me rather than waste the remaining tread with new all-weather ones.)

I guess I'm just trying to make sure I check things out as best I can. lots of knowledge and experience with RX300s on this board so I figured I'd ask.

I'm very excited to have this RX300! I'm trading in my wife's Chevy Cavalier, so you can just GUESS HOW excited my wife is!

Thanks.

[lexuschuck]

Well, I made the deal on a used 2002 RX300 about 150 mi. from my home that I pick up tomorrow. The dealer in Binghamton NY assures me the RX runs great and is in great condition. pictures online confirm it is in great shape inside and out. Under the hood is, of course, what worries me. Fortunately, this dealer is GREAT and says I can have the car all day to test around town and/or take to a local Lexus shop or mechanic of my choice. He wouldn't even LET me buy it without checking it out for a while. He will let me out of the deal if I'm not 100% satisfired it's a great vehicle.

The RX300 is a gold 2WD with almost all the fixings! No NAV system, but that's about it. 54,000 mi. ; Complete dealer service records from previous owner. I went 2WD for price, lack of many reported problems in the FWD tranny vs. AWD AND because I don't really believe AWD helps much on slippery roads. I'm a snow tire believer with FWD being just fine for on-road driving, which is all this one will see. Also, I got the all-leather (no wood) steering wheel, which I know isn't an "upgrade" but I much prefer it. The wood is ICE COLD in the winter as I found out during other test drives. I didn't see ANY AWD with leather only steering wheels.

Anything SPECIFIC you'd make sure to check out given a day to test this vehicle? Anything to tell the mechanic I take it to to check out other than general stuff? The dealer tells me the tires are 50% gone - will that cause the ride to be much different than I should expect with newer tires? (He's throwing in 4 new snow tires on rims for me rather than waste the remaining tread with new all-weather ones.)

I guess I'm just trying to make sure I check things out as best I can. lots of knowledge and experience with RX300s on this board so I figured I'd ask.

I'm very excited to have this RX300! I'm trading in my wife's Chevy Cavalier, so you can just GUESS HOW excited my wife is!

Thanks.

I would still have the tranny checked/see when it was last serviced. It is my understanding (as you stated) that the 2wd versions do not have as many transmission problems, but I would want to make sure I was not walking into a potentially expensive repair. I would have a Lexus Dealer check t for you.

Well, I made the deal on a used 2002 RX300 about 150 mi. from my home that I pick up tomorrow. The dealer in Binghamton NY assures me the RX runs great and is in great condition. pictures online confirm it is in great shape inside and out. Under the hood is, of course, what worries me. Fortunately, this dealer is GREAT and says I can have the car all day to test around town and/or take to a local Lexus shop or mechanic of my choice. He wouldn't even LET me buy it without checking it out for a while. He will let me out of the deal if I'm not 100% satisfired it's a great vehicle.

The RX300 is a gold 2WD with almost all the fixings! No NAV system, but that's about it. 54,000 mi. ; Complete dealer service records from previous owner. I went 2WD for price, lack of many reported problems in the FWD tranny vs. AWD AND because I don't really believe AWD helps much on slippery roads. I'm a snow tire believer with FWD being just fine for on-road driving, which is all this one will see. Also, I got the all-leather (no wood) steering wheel, which I know isn't an "upgrade" but I much prefer it. The wood is ICE COLD in the winter as I found out during other test drives. I didn't see ANY AWD with leather only steering wheels.

Anything SPECIFIC you'd make sure to check out given a day to test this vehicle? Anything to tell the mechanic I take it to to check out other than general stuff? The dealer tells me the tires are 50% gone - will that cause the ride to be much different than I should expect with newer tires? (He's throwing in 4 new snow tires on rims for me rather than waste the remaining tread with new all-weather ones.)

I guess I'm just trying to make sure I check things out as best I can. lots of knowledge and experience with RX300s on this board so I figured I'd ask.

I'm very excited to have this RX300! I'm trading in my wife's Chevy Cavalier, so you can just GUESS HOW excited my wife is!

Thanks.

I would still have the tranny checked/see when it was last serviced. It is my understanding (as you stated) that the 2wd versions do not have as many transmission problems, but I would want to make sure I was not walking into a potentially expensive repair. I would have a Lexus Dealer completely check it over for you.

[rlin78]

Well, I made the deal on a used 2002 RX300 about 150 mi. from my home that I pick up tomorrow. The dealer in Binghamton NY assures me the RX runs great and is in great condition. pictures online confirm it is in great shape inside and out. Under the hood is, of course, what worries me. Fortunately, this dealer is GREAT and says I can have the car all day to test around town and/or take to a local Lexus shop or mechanic of my choice. He wouldn't even LET me buy it without checking it out for a while. He will let me out of the deal if I'm not 100% satisfired it's a great vehicle.

The RX300 is a gold 2WD with almost all the fixings! No NAV system, but that's about it. 54,000 mi. ; Complete dealer service records from previous owner. I went 2WD for price, lack of many reported problems in the FWD tranny vs. AWD AND because I don't really believe AWD helps much on slippery roads. I'm a snow tire believer with FWD being just fine for on-road driving, which is all this one will see. Also, I got the all-leather (no wood) steering wheel, which I know isn't an "upgrade" but I much prefer it. The wood is ICE COLD in the winter as I found out during other test drives. I didn't see ANY AWD with leather only steering wheels.

Anything SPECIFIC you'd make sure to check out given a day to test this vehicle? Anything to tell the mechanic I take it to to check out other than general stuff? The dealer tells me the tires are 50% gone - will that cause the ride to be much different than I should expect with newer tires? (He's throwing in 4 new snow tires on rims for me rather than waste the remaining tread with new all-weather ones.)

I guess I'm just trying to make sure I check things out as best I can. lots of knowledge and experience with RX300s on this board so I figured I'd ask.

I'm very excited to have this RX300! I'm trading in my wife's Chevy Cavalier, so you can just GUESS HOW excited my wife is!

Thanks.

Check the color of the transmission fluid, should be bright red. Check color of coolant, again, should be bright red. Check for any bodyworks or repairs, any body panel misalignment. Make sure AC works and should be ice cold, all the other eletronics works, little or no noise while running. it is really too late since you already paid for it or put a deposit down, but I would recommend against buying a car without first seeing it. Even though I have done it a couple of times, I got lucky. Bring a mechanic to look at the car is highly recommended.

Best of luck to you, I think you will enjoy your RX300 if it checks out to be problem free.

[tmhtmh]

Well, thanks for the advice. I had the RX300 checked out at a local Toyota dealership (no Lexus for 100 mi.) and all was well! I made sure they looked at the items mentioned here and had them show me the color of the fluids.

Now the RX is in my garage. Drives GREAT. 53,000 mi. and drives like new (as best I can tell). Very quiet engine, interior perfect.

It didn't have heated seats like I thought so the dealer threw in some snow ties for next winter. Fair deal.

Can the heated seats be put in aftermarket? Is it just a matter of hooking up the seats to the brain? Or, do the seats themselves need to me changed?

Thanks again to all in this forum who helped me with this decision.

[Topshelf]

Hey tmh, Congrats man!!! I just picked up my 2002 AWD on Saturday. Bought it from Jim on this board and fricken love the truck. Been driving it all weekend and couldn't be happier, so I know you're excitement. :D

Oh, about adding the heated seats...I have a buddy who added them to his wife's Sequioa (sp) 2 years back. I THINK it cost him like $700. But, the install was extremely professional and he was happy with the result. Ofcourse she doesn't like leather or her butt getting hot, so she installed seat covers later and *BLEEP*ed away all that money. But it can be done.

Anyway, congrats and enjoy!

[dmccombs]

Hey, I saw all you guys with your "new" 2002 RX300s and I had to chime in. I got mine less than a week ago. I picked up a 2002 AWD with 53,000 miles. It seems to run great.

I am taking it on a road trip this weekend, so it will get a bit of a test then, even with a little bit of off-road (extremely rough/poor dirt road actually - washouts, etc.)

We had a snow here the 2nd day I have the car and it got pretty windy/chilly (for Albuquerque anyway). The heated seats were nice. They were far from necessary, but they were nice. The High setting is a bit much, but the Low setting was comfortable. You will need to decide if $700 is worth it though.

[zeusigchi]

Figured Id chime in as well.... Just picked up My 2001 RX on March 11th. I too bought it without checking it out. Got it on ebay in LI, NY about 75 miles from me. Its white AWD with 74K miles and I got the powertrain warranty until 100K.

The car is great thus far, although I do have to go back to LI because there is a shimmy in the wheels when I brake at higher speeds. I figure it could be the rotors or brakes. Since I bought it from a Lexus dealer they are going to look at it and fix it for free and pay for my gas to get down there.

I am looking to get all weather mats but all the ones I saw on ebay are Oak and am not sure if they match. Any help here?? i think I need Ivory......

[backwoods lex]

A shimmy in the wheels most likely means that they need to be balanced. I try to get mine balanced every 6K.