New Owner Of Lexus Rx 300 (2002)

[emolinare]

Hey guys,

I live in Canada and I just bought (this evening) a used Lexus 2002 RX 300 for 18,000 USD.

I took it for a ride and just fell in love with the car immediatelly.

This is the car if you want to see it:

http://www.trader.ca/powerpage/details.asp...mp;adid=6308176

Sorry if my questions will sound lame, but I am really new to this type of car...

Anyhow, this being 2002 model with 120,000 km (74,500 miles) on the engine, how many miles (km) I can expect the engine last for?

I saw some cars on the market with higher millage, but can someone tell me how do these engine perform?

Can I expect it to work fine for another 100k miles lets say?

I hear about the transmission problems and my question is, if I in any danger of transmission replacement with 75k miles on it?

What other problems I can expect with 2002 model?

Is there any way to buy a navigation GPS system for this car? Something which would actually look good after an installation?

Also can someone guess a resale value lets say 3 years from now, with approx. 125k miles on it?

Sorry I have a lot of question, but I am just so excited about the car :)

Thanks a lot.

Joe

[LexKid630]

These engines can go more than 250,000 miles (~400,000 km) if taken care of correctly.

The question here isn't the engine, but the transmisson. I noticed your rx300 is all wheel drive. These transmissions have been known to fail early. Check the transmission fluid; make sure it's light red in color and doesn't smell burned. Have it flushed or replaced every so often, and you should be fine.

You can have the "stock" navigation installed, but you'll be looking at a few thousand (US dollars). This topic has come up a few times on this forum; you can try looking them up, or someone else may be able to help you.

There really aren't any major problems with the rx300. Just browse the forum and you'll see everything that's come up with the members here.

Three years from now, your Rx will be 8 years old. Right now, a 1999 rx300 (8 years old) is worth around $12,000 (USD). I'm guessing in 2010 your rx will be somewhere around this?

It's an amazing car. I've owned 3 rx300's and would buy another if they were still in production!

[emolinare]

Thank you so much for your quick answer, it made me feel much better about my decision.

As I said, I had such a great feeling from the car, that it was almost an instant buy :)

Thanks once again.

Anyone else has something to add?

[wwest]

Thank you so much for your quick answer, it made me feel much better about my decision.

As I said, I had such a great feeling from the car, that it was almost an instant buy :)

Thanks once again.

Anyone else has something to add?

Yes.

If I wanted to avoid a DIY transaxle overhaul at ~75,000 miles I would do exactly what the previous owner of your RX did. Sell it quick!

Given the reports here and there on the internet, and the fact that my own RX's ATF was smelling and looking burned before I flushed it at 40,000 miles, I fully expect a failure in the 80-100,000 miles.

With the auxillary ATF cooler, no tow hitch, and NO severe service history, ATF doesn't normally simply get BURNED. Show signs of overheating, begin to look and smell burned, there is a core causative factor in there somewhere. I very strongly suspect it somehow relates to the well documented premature transaxle failures of the '99 RX series.

If you haven't yet experienced a Toyota or Lexus automatic climate control you are in for some surprises this coming winter.

Search for "wwest" and "demist" for some clues, or wwest and "c-best" for some things the dealer can do to help.

Your AWD RX is actually more FWD than otherwise so be extremely careful on adverse roadbed conditions and search for wwest, tire chains, and wheel spacers.

[emolinare]

Thanks a lot for your answer too. I am here just shortly and getting some mixed reviews, but I guess I will see myself.

I will try to take good care of this car. I had a hyundai before, well, I still have it and it works flawlesly at 200k miles, so this Lexus should be a step forward (I hope).

Joe