120k Miles, And Still Crusin'

[jmcohen23]

not jinx myself or anything,

but my 99 RX300 has about 120k miles on it, and I've taken it on 3 separate 3-hour trips within the past 6 weeks, all of which were problem-free.

the car handled flawlessly, navigating with a lot of junk in the trunk, and accelerating efficiently. additionally, I was able to get at least 22mpg during each leg of the trips.

of course, most of the driving was on highways, but the last trip (this past weekend) was a secluded cabin in West Virginia. Directions to the cabin included, "turn off the hard road and drive about 3 miles....after the second cattle crossing, make a left...."

other people that accompanied me on my trip were impressed to find out that the car was 10-years old. I told them that I keep it updated, well-maintained, and had some help from the folks on this forum.

so thanks to everyone for making comments/suggestions, etc....

[NJerseyDan]

nice!! I just hit 100K with mine. Feel like it is now 'over the hill'. They are beautiful vehicles when taken care of properly.

[dchan865]

Mine is a 2000 model, with 149,600 miles, no major issues and still fun to drive. Anyone else got more or similar milage?

[lenore]

Mine has 173k miles, however at 100k the tranny went south. Since it has been fairly problem free. We plan to run it till it dies.....The armrest are a little worn, but the rest of the car is pristine.

[PharmGuy]

Greetings from Massachusetts,

I have a 2001 RX 300, that has 119K miles, runs good, but the only problem I have had recently, is the exhaust system.

I couldn't pass the state inspection due a hole in the pipe. But I suppose that's going to happen. I have been looking to do an

updating, mostly waiting till springtime...but if the right CPO comes along...I'll move on it. Great vehicles, dependable, and I would

plan to buy another Lexus...I can't see myself going back to a Pontiac....and my neighbor, who owns a Mercedes, seems like

his car in for service every other month... hmmmm.

Drive Safe

Paul

[Paticake]

2002 Rx300 with 106K.

Car runs great and I haven't had any major issues. Oil change 3-5K, two tranny drain and fill, battery, tires, 2 sets of rotors and pads.

The 1 major replacement I haven't done is the timing belt... Hoping to get to 112K, keeping the fingers crossed.

Would like better gas mileage, but wouldn't we all like more for our money.

Hoping the New Year is good to us all...

P

[dchan865]

2002 Rx300 with 106K.

Car runs great and I haven't had any major issues. Oil change 3-5K, two tranny drain and fill, battery, tires, 2 sets of rotors and pads.

The 1 major replacement I haven't done is the timing belt... Hoping to get to 112K, keeping the fingers crossed.

Would like better gas mileage, but wouldn't we all like more for our money.

Hoping the New Year is good to us all...

P

I had my belt, water pump, and an idler bearing changed at around 120K miles and it has beening great since. I am still on my original spark plugs and haven't done any tune up what so ever. I only had 1 brake job done to the front and the rear will be needed in several months. I've done the usual mainteance(oil, tranny fluid change, clearn the MAF, buy new tires). Hopefully this baby can give me another 100K miles or more.

You're probably wonder why only 1 brake job so far. I drive a lot on freeway, so less stoppage of course.

Good luck folks, hope to hear from you again in another 50K or 100K miles.

[dchan865]

2002 Rx300 with 106K.

Car runs great and I haven't had any major issues. Oil change 3-5K, two tranny drain and fill, battery, tires, 2 sets of rotors and pads.

The 1 major replacement I haven't done is the timing belt... Hoping to get to 112K, keeping the fingers crossed.

Would like better gas mileage, but wouldn't we all like more for our money.

Hoping the New Year is good to us all...

P

I had my belt, water pump, and an idler bearing changed at around 120K miles and it has beening great since. I am still on my original spark plugs and haven't done any tune up what so ever. I only had 1 brake job done to the front and the rear will be needed in several months. I've done the usual mainteance(oil, tranny fluid change, clearn the MAF, buy new tires). Hopefully this baby can give me another 100K miles or more. And yes, I am getting about 21 to 22 miles per gallon on average.

You're probably wonder why only 1 brake job so far. I drive a lot on freeway, so less stoppage of course.

Good luck folks, hope to hear from you again in another 50K or 100K miles.

[cduluk]

The Rx300 is a beautiful car, i miss mine :(

[nh_outdoorguy]

1999 RX300 with 190K miles here. Lots of highway miles (avg 18.9 mpg). Unfortunately, transmission is being rebuilt as we speak. The first major repair for car - to the tune of $4000+ (Acme Transmission).

I try and keep my cars until they reach 300+K miles. I basically just have oil/filter done frequently (between 6K-10K intervals), brake work and then any major work as needed. Other than the first "Warranty" service appointment I don't bring my cars to the Dealer for the recommended (overly expensive and often unrequired IMHO) "maintenance appoitnments" if the car is running well.

Also currently driving a 1998 Saturn SL2 with 260K miles (manual transmission)...no major engine or drive train work done on that car yet. My previous 1992(?) Saturn SL2 went 365K miles (rings at 234K) and was still running but needing significant work when I donated it.

I had a 1983 RX-7 that I sold in 2007 with 396K miles for $200 (major repairs: manual transmission at 217K; shortblock engine rebuild and body work/repaint at 243K). The best and most fun to drive car I've owned so far (love the rotary engine!).

[tmastres]

Hope I don't jinx myself either but I just turned 125,000 on my 2000. So far, other than scheduled maintenance, I've replaced all the coils, front O2 sensor and the antenna/mast/motor. I've also done the IACV cleaning twice. Oil every 4k with Mobil 1 5W-30 (now 0W-30). I have a very short commute each day (5-6mi) but I do regular 400 and 600 mi trips several times a year. Hope to keep this rig for at least another year or two. Mine was bought originally in May of 2000.

[artbuc]

Hope I don't jinx myself either but I just turned 125,000 on my 2000. So far, other than scheduled maintenance, I've replaced all the coils, front O2 sensor and the antenna/mast/motor. I've also done the IACV cleaning twice. Oil every 4k with Mobil 1 5W-30 (now 0W-30). I have a very short commute each day (5-6mi) but I do regular 400 and 600 mi trips several times a year. Hope to keep this rig for at least another year or two. Mine was bought originally in May of 2000.

Tmastres, excuse me if I asked you this question already, but did you replace all coils as prevention or did you have coil failures? Thanks.

[KirkII]

2002 Rx - Just shy of 160,000! Had new trans (courtesy of Lexus!) around 65000 and NO major problems since. Replaced plugs, timing belt and water pump around 100000 and antifreeze twice. Change oil every 5-6000 with Mobil 1 or other synthetic. Because of my tranny experience, I drain and fill every 20000 miles or so. As nearly as I can remember, except for the transmission, this car has had NO problems - ok, except for the antenna.

I'll start a new post (I don't want to hijack this one) and ask for suggestions for PM at this vehicle's age - hate to give this car up!

[tmastres]

Hope I don't jinx myself either but I just turned 125,000 on my 2000. So far, other than scheduled maintenance, I've replaced all the coils, front O2 sensor and the antenna/mast/motor. I've also done the IACV cleaning twice. Oil every 4k with Mobil 1 5W-30 (now 0W-30). I have a very short commute each day (5-6mi) but I do regular 400 and 600 mi trips several times a year. Hope to keep this rig for at least another year or two. Mine was bought originally in May of 2000.

Tmastres, excuse me if I asked you this question already, but did you replace all coils as prevention or did you have coil failures? Thanks.

The first three failed over the course of about 18 mos. At the time of the third failure, seeing the pattern I just decided to replace all the remaining coils. It was expensive (about $80 each) but its a big hassle when one fails and there was absolutely no warning or predictability in their failures. As I understand it the ones in the 99-00 (part #90919-02234) had some sort of defect and that defect was rectified with a newer model (part #90080-19016) but thats just what I remember and I can't cite any proof of this. Either way, if you end up with a coil failure you're likely to have more and its easier to replace them all in one afternoon in your garage than to get stuck somewhere with a car running on 5 cylinders.

[artbuc]

Hope I don't jinx myself either but I just turned 125,000 on my 2000. So far, other than scheduled maintenance, I've replaced all the coils, front O2 sensor and the antenna/mast/motor. I've also done the IACV cleaning twice. Oil every 4k with Mobil 1 5W-30 (now 0W-30). I have a very short commute each day (5-6mi) but I do regular 400 and 600 mi trips several times a year. Hope to keep this rig for at least another year or two. Mine was bought originally in May of 2000.

Tmastres, excuse me if I asked you this question already, but did you replace all coils as prevention or did you have coil failures? Thanks.

The first three failed over the course of about 18 mos. At the time of the third failure, seeing the pattern I just decided to replace all the remaining coils. It was expensive (about $80 each) but its a big hassle when one fails and there was absolutely no warning or predictability in their failures. As I understand it the ones in the 99-00 (part #90919-02234) had some sort of defect and that defect was rectified with a newer model (part #90080-19016) but thats just what I remember and I can't cite any proof of this. Either way, if you end up with a coil failure you're likely to have more and its easier to replace them all in one afternoon in your garage than to get stuck somewhere with a car running on 5 cylinders.

Thanks. I agree with replacing them all at your convenience on your terms. Question for me and OP is should we wait for the first one to fail or just go ahead and do it now. I asked this question some time ago and got different opinions. When it comes to preventive maintenance, everyone has a different philosophy - sort of like buying extended warranties or life insurance. No right or wrong answer.

[tmastres]

Thanks. I agree with replacing them all at your convenience on your terms. Question for me and OP is should we wait for the first one to fail or just go ahead and do it now. I asked this question some time ago and got different opinions. When it comes to preventive maintenance, everyone has a different philosophy - sort of like buying extended warranties or life insurance. No right or wrong answer.

I suppose I'd be sure i had the old coils (old part number) in your RX first. If you're the original owner and you have a 99/00 then that's likely but its easy enough to get at the front ones to check. If you do have them and haven't yet experienced a failure I might go ahead and just buy one new coil and simply keep it in the car so that you don't get stuck somewhere. If you're lucky you'll never need it and if you're kinda lucky and you do have a failure it will be in one of the 2,4,6 front cylinders which are a snap to switch the coils on with even limited tools.

[jmcohen23]

so long as you check up on it every few months, then you can wait for the first one to fail before replacing it.

but I'm a big fan or preventitive maintenance and reducing my cost, thus if I see any type of indication that it will falter, I'll have them replaced.

[tmastres]

but I'm a big fan or preventitive maintenance and reducing my cost, thus if I see any type of indication that it will falter, I'll have them replaced.

That's the insidious part of coil failure, at least in my experience, there is no warning whatsoever. My experiences were these:

first failure- drove to work as normal , car seemed perfectly fine. Came out at end of day and started up car. Car sounds a bit funny and has a noticeable vibration- running on 5 cyl, Damn, coil failure.

Failure #2 sitting at stoplight car IS running fine, all-of-a-sudden its running rough and sputtering, bad vibration, Damn, coil failure.

(at this point the light-bulb should have gone off in my head , but didn't)

Failure #3 drove home from work, car ran fine, came out next morning and sputter, vibrate, Damn another coil failure.

Light-bulb in head is now spotlight in face, Doh! All coils get replaced :D

I was lucky for several reasons, I live less than 5 mi. form my work , I wasn't far form home when the coils failed and I have teenage drivers (and extra cars) so I'm never stuck without a vehicle or at least a ride. It certainly could have been much, much worse.

[RX in NC]

Be aware that when coils are in the early stages of failure, they often throw misfire codes. Usually P030X with X being the affected cylinder (therefore P0303 would indicate a misfire in cylinder 3). If you have an OBDII code reader, you can diagnose these issues yourself....

[lex2]

Just bought my parents' 99RX300 (despite the doom and gloom about the trannys). I suppose I have an advantage in the the car only has 47k miles and has had oil changes every 3-5k miles. I started trans drain and fills last summer and will do a third one this spring to fully "flush" the unit. All fluids have been flushed or otherwise replaced (brakes, power steering, antifreeze). I drained and filled the transfer case and rear diff oil and it really wasn't too dirty, but after 10 years I figured I would do it. Probably didn't have to after seeing the condition of the oil that was in there.

The only blemish on this car are two small rust spots on the rear q-panels which I plan to sand down and buff out, repaint, etc in the spring. Otherwise, this car still looks new.

JBL

ps I know 47k miles is not that much but posted anyway. See Spec Sheet attached.

1999RXspecs.pdf