Lexus rx300. Too old?

[lee13]

Hey guys, I was thinking about buying a Lexus rx300 with 157,000 miles on it. The car is twenty years old but it’s a Lexus. a reliable safe car that’s less than 3500$. Everything on the car has been serviced very recently but a lot of my family members are saying this car is too old and will cost a lot in repairs. Any feedback is much appreciated I just want to know if this car is going to be worth it. I will only be using it for home and school and I’m actually not allowed to get a Camry or an accord only an suv under 5k and I think this is the best one for me. Again, any feedback is much appreciated. Thank you for your time.

[Bykfixer]

Well, after 20 years the motor and transmission would still be good to go but all of those creature comforts begin to stop working. If you can live without those then yeah it's a good choice. 

Any 20 year vehicle will have the same issue regardless of brand. 

[RX400h]

I've found that the expense most likely to bite an owner of an old but otherwise reliable vehicle is replacement of leaking gaskets. Valve cover gaskets are typically no big deal but others (labor, specifically) can be quite expensive - sometimes more than $1500. So before you buy, have all gaskets checked and if possible, look at all maintenance records. Just because all fluids were recently replaced doesn't necessarily mean that they were historically replaced according to the owner's manual schedule.
There are some 20 year old vehicles on the road their numbers are diminishing rapidly. 

[andyselec]

It depends where the car is from any coastal or snowy area probably not a good deal to many undercarriage rust issues.   Mine was from the south so it is good to go 2000 RX300 260000 miles and it is our highway car just did a 1500 mile weekend trip from NC to NY.   I do keep up with maintenance myself because these are simple cars to work on.

[NoRearDiffuser]

Nothing wrong with a 20 year old car as long as someone cared for it and maintained it properly.

You do not want a 20 year old money pit that someone neglected and "postponed" every repair on. If you get a money pit, you'll end up sinking thousands into getting everything correct. I have committed to a vehicle and I have done this before, I sank about 5 thousand into something I bought, but I liked the car and it was in excellent shape, so whatever.

Make sure the vehicle has zero leaks, engine and trans are good, power steering and A/C are good, struts are good and not leaking, steering rack and tie rods, cooling system, etc etc. Basically ALL major mechanical systems are functional and not falling apart and not leaking.

If you start with a good solid car, you won't have too much to deal with, and when you do have something more major, you can plan ahead (i.e. your mechanic lets you know that he is noticing a strut begin to leak, now you start planning ahead to do all four struts but it is not urgent and can be done any time in the next year or two, etc)

I have bought a few money pits and went nuts trying to keep up with it. I don't like to do that anymore ......

 

[RX400h]

On 5/11/2021 at 7:26 AM, lee13 said:

 I will only be using it for home and school and I’m actually not allowed to get a Camry or an accord only an suv under 5k and I think this is the best one for me. Again, any feedback is much appreciated. Thank you for your time.

I have to wonder what your parents' reasoning is for placing this restriction on you. Do they think that only an SUV is safe? I bought my son a Honda Civic and my daughter a Mazda Protege, each for $5000 when they were 16 years old. Both cars were highly reliable and got excellent fuel mileage. In addition, emergency maneuvers (including braking), if required, would be safer in a smaller, lighter vehicle. The cars were new enough to have multiple air bags and of course, ABS brakes.

[fernandolpa]

Mine is 280's miles, from 2001 AWD. So far, so good. No transmission problems or anything else except replacing valve seal gaskets (I did my own) at 150's miles, disc brakes, suspension, normal issues. Of course some oil consumption but only while driving over 3750 RPM during highway. 1 liter every 1500 miles.

If you are good doing maintenance, is not expensive, parts are available and you have a lot of manufacturers to buy.

All is working perfectly, car is nice but MPG is really bad while driving over 60 MPH. And in Europe we are paying almost 2,00USD per liter, that is around 8 USD per gallon. So I now use the car as third on family, but still using it to go to ski. 

Is a nice car, I have no intention to sell it, trade it or junk it.

Hope it helps.

[Royalmk001]

I have a 99 rx300 with 343k miles on it and its driven daily. Best car I've ever owned.

[letitbe777]

Great number. 

[MGAowner]

I bought a 2001 Lexus RX300 with 34,000 original miles in January 2019.  I replaced the PTU (power transmission unit) and keep the car well maintained.  it now has 84,000 so I have put on alot of miles but its been the best car I have ever owned.  I will never be able to replace this vehicle, its such a well performing SUV..

[grb188]

On 5/11/2021 at 3:26 PM, lee13 said:

Hey guys, I was thinking about buying a Lexus rx300 with 157,000 miles on it. The car is twenty years old but it’s a Lexus. a reliable safe car that’s less than 3500$. Everything on the car has been serviced very recently but a lot of my family members are saying this car is too old and will cost a lot in repairs. Any feedback is much appreciated I just want to know if this car is going to be worth it. I will only be using it for home and school and I’m actually not allowed to get a Camry or an accord only an suv under 5k and I think this is the best one for me. Again, any feedback is much appreciated. Thank you for your time.

My Lexus rx300 is immaculate only done 47000,full service history ,showroom condition inside and out ,been unused for 15 years due too illness,car used once a week for local shopping it’s mint condition,still new too look at,2002 first registered,timing belt done  by Lexus only about 1000 miles ago,because of cars age,brake pads are renewed,good for 150.000 miles,would swop for Bentley,you won’t buy a better car then mine,