lenore

Yes, Smiths gauges notorious for breaking and the Laycock De Normanville transmission known for 1st and 2nd gear failures. As for the spin on nuts, well they worked when tightened properly, but a little scary. Oh and don't forget the overheating of British cars when not in their climate. But boy when it ran what a manly car with those big 15 inch wheels and all independent suspension. Until you had to stop and the hydraulics failed. As you can see I was very tuned to their cars, but heck it taught me cars and how to fix them.... so maybe shop 101 built into your own car.

I used to do autocross, hill climbs, road races, over in Spain. I drove a Triumph TR250, but the cars my friends drove ranged from Triumph, MGB, Alpha Romeo, Seat Mini coopers, Fiats, and One lone prototype Ford Matra. One of the guys I worked with brought over a Datsun 240Z from Guam, and do to support from Bre Datsun and many mods was able to even beat the local Porsche teams as well as everybody else. Oh those were the days, drive to track and pray your car would take you to work the following day.

I always followed Grand Prix racing, been to races in Barcelona, and Watkins Glen NY. More into autocross, rallys, and hill climbs. (old Sports car days)

Great Movie on that man, sorry to hear about that accident.

OK Becki, that was my first cry for the day, God Bless you. And yes the old iron sure does turn my head. I was more into British sports cars during that era, but now I appreciate all of them.

When you take the filter out you may be able to with a flashlight and mirror look down at the top of the fan/blower and see if anything is lodged in their. As for a high pitched squeak well I do not know. Motors do go bad, but very unusual.

Personally like good maintenance the fluid should be changed. A fluid exchange which uses the cars transmission pump is the safest method other than drain and refill. If The fluid is brown, you are asking for trouble. It just is not that expensive to change the fluid compared to a Transmission failure.

The brake actuator noise I am not sure, but the cabin fan should be quiet. There is a filter for the heating and cooling, maybe it was left out and their is something hitting the fan like leaves from a tree etc. I would check the cabin filter and make sure it is there. It is in the glove box and location and removal is in your owners manual.

Sorry was not trying to say EBAY

There are also folks that have upgraded to a wider armrest available on Flea-bay so they may have their old ones....

There are many good threads on this issue. Way too many on the RX300 forums. Dropping the tranny pan and replacing or cleaning the older style filter which was a metal screen and replacing the fluid has solved problems for many. Yes the trannies are good, but in the RX the additional weight of vehicle with a weak planetary gear design in the early RX300 was a disaster for many including me. Highway miles are much friendlier to the car, but city stop and go is considered harsh. I personally change my fluid once a year. Transmission is a 2500 to 4500 repair job. Good luck. DO NOT do a flush on the transmission, it will cause problems on a high mileage transmission. Drain and fill only.

Just from experience, just a month ago, my drive shaft nut came loose. When the car was lifted off the ground the wheel would actually wobble a little. Scared me and I found the detent in the locking nut backed out and was loose. I was lucky I tightened the nut back to 125 ftlbs and made sure the detent was pinged in and so far no problems.

Could be dirty filter screen also

I agree with original poster, the magazine is way over the top. Like really I want to read about the accomplishments of the elite.? I would better enjoy a magazine that gives tech info, and customer real time feedback on the Lexus line. Oh my I guess that is what this site is for.

The differential is part of the tranny. I am afraid you are going for a tranny, by the way the fluid chamber has a separate drain plug but share the same transmission fluid.

I wonder if the hub retaining nut is loose? This would cause wheel to wobble....

Your welcome, the Oil changes use to be around every 3k but with the improvements and use of full synthetic they go way beyond even up to 10k changes depending on the fluid. On my old RX300 I used 0-30 Castrol Oil European blend and it was truly a fantastic class IV synthetic. My Rx400h takes 0-20 which works great. The Old RX300 had some sludge issues and if your mileage is going to be low please use full synthetic. My neighbor with a Highlander and same engine used regular oil and was very low mileage per year and his engine sludged up and we had to rebuild it after the damage.

If you are fortunate enough to deal with a honest dealer, than continue. If otherwise run and search for an independent or Toyota Dealership that treats you well.

Did you get the maintenance records when you bought.? The spark plugs were due at 120k miles, the timing belt was due at 90k miles. The Radiator coolant should have been changed at 100k miles. Transmission fluid should only be a Drain and Fill operation unless you can get a fluid exchange. (please do not get a flush it will kill the transmission) Brake fluid should be done every 60k miles or sooner. I would highly suggest using full synthetic oil for engine oil, and once this is done you should be fine every 5k miles minimum. Tires generally are recommended to be rotated every 5k miles so at a 5k oil change it would be a great time to plan that. Brakes last a long time if they are Lexus/Toyota pads and from my experience will go an easy 75k miles from new. If your vehicle has AWD than their is a transfer case that also needs a fluid change. With proper maintenance this is a great vehicle.

What you guys need is a bumper car....Than bump away.

I have admired beautiful cars all my life, but the new front ends are so uggggggly. Looks like a beautiful woman with the face of a gargoyle....

Just make sure to use OE timing belt and water pump. If you are a friend of Ebay they have kits with Mitusoboshi, and Aisin water pump which are the original manufacturer of the parts. Maybe buy kit for less than $150 and give to independent.

I would suggest getting your car serviced at a Toyota dealership or independent. The timing belt and water pump are not rocket science.

that is about expected life. However my original went 5 years before the clock stopped keeping time correctly. (A little thing that we noticed when the batteries start going bad)

Yup, they did it, but I don't understand the reasoning of changing the self tap plug everytime...should be a good to go thing.