Free Tibet

I have a 2000 RX300 with 87K. I was initially getting 21-22 on the highway and 18 in the city. Our highway miles are mostly in the relatively flat parts of the Carolinas, traveling between Columbia, Raleigh & Charleston and mostly driving 80-85. When I tried driving around 75-80 instead, I noticed I could average 24 on a trip. When I tried driving 65-70, it dropped to 22-23, so I think there's a real torque efficiency in the high 70s. I've also noticed that the effects of drafting on MPG are amazing! Of course, I don't advocate doing it to the point of dangerously tailgating, although I suspect the effects of that would be off the chart. Drafting even 50 feet behind a car of similar or greater size noticeably ratchets up the MPG, although it's not something I've tried to quantify over a long trip. I think Mythbusters said that drafting even at 100 feet at 55mph, you get something like a 10% increase in fuel efficiency. As for city driving, I live in downtown Columbia, so 90% of our city driving is the worst for MPG: block-by-block. Work, daycare, and just about everywhere we shop & eat are within 2-3 miles, mostly of city blocks. I can only assume that "city" MPG ratings generally account for a higher percentage of suburban driving than our 2-3 trips a month (cities being generally bigger than downtowns). That said, we're currently averaging 17 MPG in the city. When we were driving out to the beltline for daycare 3 days a week, we saw much longer stretches between stoplights and our MPG was a tick higher at 18-19. All of this is a combination of my mileage-conscious driving and my wife's mileage-irrelevant driving. :) And I keep the tires at 42psi.

I followed this process and it worked fine on both our Audi A4 and Lexus RX330. http://www.homelink.com/training/train.taf I've followed the Lexus instructions and the Homelink instructions, and it just doesn't work on my RX300. Everything flashes & stops as it's supposed to, all the way up until the last step, and it just doesn't take. I've tried all three buttons, and I've tried it with the ignition key in every position. I gave up & put a remote in the console.

I'd look for any signs of transmission failure first. If there are none, I'd take it in a skinny minute. It's a steal. Check out the tow reciever to see if it looks like it's been towing. That's apparently a leading cause of death in RX300 transmissions. Also, at 88K, they should be willing to do the 90K service for you on it, which should include flushing the transmission fluid. Even if you have to pay for this, all the 90K work shouldn't be much more than $1,000 even at a Lexus dealer. There are plenty of posts here about red flags in the transmission itself. Also check the service history to see that the transmission has been serviced regularly, and listen for any kind of grinding sound when you bring the vehicle to a stop (a sign of impending failure). If all's good, you have a deal on your hands. FWIW, I wouldn't spend money on the extra warranty though. I never buy extra warranties on anything, and in my experience car warranties are the most useless of all when something does go wrong.

On my 2000 RX300, the seat is 21" wide and the rail mounting bolts are 17" apart, center to center, fwiw.

I'm fairly new on this board, but I read through a lot of the tranny posts. I bought a 2000 RX300 AWD w/83k a couple months ago. I've had no problems and I don't have the "grinding to a halt" symptom. But, like you, I'm concerned about where to go from here. Clearly those who change the fluid every 5k or flush it every 15k have no problems, and it seems that those with problems have been changing their own (w/o flushing) every 30k or less, and usually towing. But that's only partial help for me, and your post raises a new question. My tow hitch receiver is clean as a whistle, meaning probably nothing has ever been inserted in there and certainly nothing has ever been towed. Because I have no problems, the previous owner probably had it serviced well. The big question for me is how much do I need to do to keep it serviced well? I don't mind the expense of paying Lexus to flush it every 30k because we'll be putting less than 10k a year on it. But should I do more? Now someone's telling you that flushing can actually cause problems if you haven't had any? Anyone know whether there's any truth to that?

I've been fiddling with mine since I bought it a few weeks ago (2000 RX300). Here's what I've figured out: The time, average speed, and average mpg features are not tied to the odometer at all (a, b, or factory). The trip time automatically resets every time you start the engine. The average speed and average mpg are long term averages that do not reset when you turn the car on or off, but you can manually reset them (together, not individually) by holding down the display button when one of them is showing. Reset either one (ave spd or ave mpg) and both will reset. I haven't noticed whether resetting these also resets the trip time, but I don't much care about the trip time. I reset mine so I could measure our city mpg over the course of several weeks (17 btw). When we get it on the highway for the first time this weekend, we'll reset it to check the highway mpg. I may do the same again after I've cleaned the IACV to see if makes a noticable difference. If yours is holding steady at 19 even when you're on the highway, that's probably a very-long-term average. After you reset it, it will change by the moment, then the minute, then by the day, getting slower and slower to react to changes (hence my reset for highway driving).

I have a 2000 RX300 and was given an '08 350 as a loaner a couple weeks ago. Must: Heated seats - yes on both. Aux audio input for pods, mp3s, XM and Garmin - no on '00. '08 had it listed, but I couldn't find it. It may be at the CD changer. I don't think I looked there. dual climate - 00 has it listed, but I haven't figured it out yet. '08 yes. seat memory - yes on both. auto down and up window - yes on both. always on 12 volt outlets in the front - no on 00. didn't check on '08, but had front, mid & rear outlets. ample storage for sunglasses and small stuff within reach of driver. - "ample" is relative. '00 is great compared to any sedan i've ever owned, but seems like an SUV could have more. i do like the lower storage tray in the console a lot, as opposed to the traditional single top-loader. interior color that doesnt show dirt. Wife's interior is tan and shows dirty foot prints! - '00 (cream) yes. didn't have the '08 (grey) long enough. Wanna: Heated/cooled drink holders - no on both. auto wipers - no on '00. don't know about the '08 sunroof that closes with 1 button push not 4 like on the friggin outback! - yes on both. remote open windows on the key fob - '00 has the "lower 2 inches" feature, but not full open. don't know about the '08. I did notice a few changes for the worse on the new model: 1. The old body style has excellent sight lines all around, while the rear triangle of the side windows you see on the outside of the new body style isn't actually a window and leaves a substantial blind spot on each side when backing up. 2. The rear compartment on the new body has less storage. The slope of the rear cuts into what used to be more storage space in the old 300. We have a couple jogging strollers that wouldn't fit standing up in the new model but slide right into our 300. 3. The older models have visor extensions to block the sun from the gap between the visor and the center mirror. For some reason, these were dropped on newer models. Of course, these are outweighed by countless upgrades, not the least of which is the increased power.

My understanding of the damage/no damage issue with timing belts is that a timing chain (old school) will bend your valves if it goes while you're on the road, but that a true timing belt will not. Anecdotally, the timing belt in my 1984 300ZX went out on me at 70mph on I-26 and all that happened was the engine shut down, would crank but wouldn't stay cranked, and had to be towed. After everyone told me I was lucky I didn't need the engine replaced, the mechanic told me the story about belts & chains. FWIW, I just bought a 2000 RX300 w/83k & the local dealer put the 90k service on it for free (to the extent anything is free when you buy a car), so I'm not sweating it. And so far I'm not having any of the rattling, starting or transmission problems. Starting takes 2 turns of the key on cold mornings, but that's about it so far. Otherwise, it runs like a sewing machine & is getting 18mpg in the city with light A/C use (haven't really traveled in it yet).