Question About 02-03 Rx300

[AustinGT]

I am helping a neighbor (a lady in her early 50's) purchase another vehicle to accompany her '03 S2000. We drove a Lexus CPO RX300 (2002) which was great- it had about 42000 miles. I have heard about all the transmission failures in the earlier RX's, and I would like to know if the 02-03 models were affected as well.

As much we liked the RX, I am reluctant to recommend the RX given the transmission issues. Even though it looks like otherwise the reliability is outstanding, the transmission is a major expense, and it would not look very good if I encouraged the RX and the tranny failed a few years down the road! Thanks for the help!

p.s.- Although I do not own a RX, I do own an older LS400 and my parents have a 2001 ES which they love, so I definitely am a Lexus fan. :)

[lenore]

I just received another email today from another RX300 owner with tranny failure at 79k miles. Happened on the freeway with wife and kid, I get one of these every other week, I would never recommend this Car if they assume it is reliable, like most Toyota Products. I have a 1999 RX300 with my third transmission in it.

Read the post and make your own decisions.

[RX in NC]

Given all the failures we've experienced with my wife's 2000 RX300 AWD (including transmission failure at about 48,000 miles), I could never in good conscience recommend that anyone purchase an RX300, regardless of the model year. From a multiple component failure standpoint, it is by far the worst vehicle I've ever had in my garage in almost 37 years of driving....

The upside is that I've been able to convince our local Lexus service manager to cover all of these failures under the original factory warranty and then later under the little-known "goodwill" warranty program that Lexus service managers have the flexibility to offer to certain customers in certain circumstances. With over $9,000 worth of warranty repair work performed on my wife's RX300 thus far, that's the primary reason we continue to keep this thing. It is now approaching 120,000 miles and will be due for a major tune-up (which I'll do myself) when the odometer rolls over the 120K mark within the next 30 days....

Do your research carefully if you're going to make a recommendation to your neighbor, particularly if she knows very little about cars herself and is therefore trusting you to lead her to the right vehicle. That Honda S2000 is a nice vehicle even though it's terribly small. If she's comfortable with Honda, you may be better served by keeping her in the Honda family....

[wwest]

As of 2004 the RX series used the DBW, e-throttle, to significantly reduce the number of premature transaxle failures in this series. Of course that resulted in apparently valid complaints of 1-2 second engine idle periods during "unexpected" downshifts.

[AustinGT]

Thanks for all the input- I really appreciate it. Because of it, and what I have read on edmunds.com, I will suggest that we move on from the RX. My neighbor is also interested in the Honda Ridgeline- which IMHO is not a real truck at all but drives great. And RX in NC, you are right- the S2000 is a blast to drive, even though it must be the smallest car I have driven in years! It is too bad the RX has such a problem with trannys because other than that it seems like a great vehicle.......Again, thanks to all who helped out.

[SW03ES]

I don't know if you can find one in your price range, but you might want to look at an Infiniti FX35. My parents have one, a 2004 and its a really nice vehicle, unique, sporty, and a lot more interesting than the RX. They've had no problems with it either, I think it has 35-40k on it now, my mother drives it primarily and they take it on trips.

[AustinGT]

After a lot of going back and forth, we finally decided on a 2006 Nissan Xterra. I was reluctant to recommend it as I had driven a previous gen X before and it was the truckiest vehicle I have ever driven, but the new one has that 4 liter V6 based on the 350Z's engine, and it flies! Anyway, she kept the S2000, which I encouraged. Thanks again for everybody's input and help- I really appreciated it!