Leaderboard

The general rule is that if a repair or repairs within a short period of time are equal to or greater than 50% of the value of the car, then it may be time to buy a replacement vehicle.

We got 274,000 miles out of our 2001 RX 300. The engine was running like a top but the transmission failed. With that amount of miles, we sold it to a junkyard. Then I spent two months looking for a replacement. We wanted a 2009 RX. I just can't get around the weird looking 2010 and newer models. All the '09 Rx's I saw were more than we wanted to spend. Then another 2001 RX showed up as a trade in at a local dealership for $2000 with only 125,000 miles on it. Come to find out it had a rebuilt title for a minor front end collision in '04 and the dealership just wanted it gone. So I drove it and as soon as I left their driveway I felt something slip. There was snow and ice about and I was on the way to my mechanic so I thought little about it. After looking over the car my mechanic said If I didn't buy it he would. He really didn't check it out as I would so I really put it to a little extreme use and noticed the tranny slipping again. A friend of mine has a tranny shop and we figured we'd get the tranny replaced for $4200 and pay the $2000 (Damn dealership would not come down anymore) for a total of $6200. We came real close to buying another 1999 RX for $6400 with 145,000 miles and it needed a timing belt replaced. Now we're driving the new to us 2001 RX for a week and a camshaft snaps!! Engine wasted due to metal everywhere.. This was supposed to be my daughter's car to go to college with. What NOW!! I'm sure you can guess, we bought a remanufactured engine that is being installed as I write this. We will not have a $10,000 2001 RX 300!! The moral of the story is keep your RX 330 if its running great and just needs a few things now and then, I hear some of them will go to 350,000 miles.