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SUVs Lexus RX 300/330/350 Lexus RX 330 Maintenance and Repair
1741 messages, Last post on Dec 01, 2009 at 4:44 AM
You are in the Lexus RX 300/330/350 Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & tidester
| Hi. am wanting input on buying a 2004 Lexus RX 330 for my wife. The car looks and drives good but am leary about the high miles. It has 110xxx mostly highway miles. If maintained properly what can I expect to get out of this car or should I pass on it.? Thanks JYJ | |
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Replying to: jyj (Nov 18, 2008 9:49 pm) The 1999-2001 models came with "under designed" transmissions (compared to the expectations of buying an expensive automobile with a rep for durability). Many but not all of those transmissions were replaced with more modern designed units, many times Lexus paid for it under warrantee. 1999-2000 also had some models show up with engine oil-gelling, although the problem did not seem to be prevelant in models that were well maintained, and perhaps city/low mileage/extended idling played a significant role. Those issues were not common in later models at all. 2004 had a completely modern drivetrain, but suffered from a few rattles and windshield issues during the first model run, from what I've understood on this forum. Usually RX's with high highway mileage make the best used car buys for a couple reasons. I'd steer clear of models with low mileage because they tend to have more problems and the higher perceived resale value means you aren't really getting a great "deal" by looking for a low-mileage model. For some, extended idling and/or short trips seemed to leave a pattern of poor durability. Make sure you have records of maintainence, there wasn't a lot of city "stop and go" (sounds like you already recognized that) and keep the engine oil and specifically transmission service more often than the manual recommends. And of course, bargain the price down because of the mileage. Eventually, you will need to repair something on a used car. Make sure you budget for it, then the likelihood of a satisfying experience will be on your side, and you have a good used car buy.
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Replying to: la4mead (Nov 18, 2008 10:24 pm)
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Replying to: jyj (Nov 18, 2008 9:49 pm) hesitation abolition delay ALL Toyota FWD and F/AWD vehicles with E-throttles, DBW (Drive By Wire), will oftentimes exhibit a downshift delay of 1-2 seconds, sometimes in quite DIRE situations. |
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Replying to: avery1 (Nov 18, 2008 11:38 pm) Lack of wear on the edges of the seats (where you slide in and out), door panels, brake pedal, "door dings", etc. The type of brake wear may also help verify a sellers claim. These are just some indicators I know of... Does anyone have other ideas? |
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Replying to: lon7 (Nov 04, 2008 10:08 am) |
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We will be picking up a used one owner RX330 AWD with 35K miles from a private owner in a few days for my wife. Any pointers any one can give me about what to watch for, and what goes wrong with 2004 RX330 will be appreciated. My wife did have a 2001 RX300 that we sold for a 2008 Accord EX, now we are back to Lexus again. The RX300 oil filter was in a tough spot to get to, didn't Lexus/Toyota go to a vertical position for the oil filter with the 3.3L engine? Are there any issues with RX330 AWD system? Does it use 87 or 91 octane gas? Thanks, Joe |
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Replying to: jodar96 (Nov 24, 2008 6:30 pm)
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Replying to: steve_ (Nov 24, 2008 6:41 pm) I have looked at used cars for years. I have pretty good idea what to stay away from and what is a good buy. I can tell a clean car from a car that scrubbed for sale. So far so good My specific question was to RX330 owners, people that own these and know ins and outs. I was not looking for a check list. Joe
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Replying to: jodar96 (Nov 24, 2008 7:42 pm) fwiw, I haven't heard of any recurring issues with Toyota/Lexus since the gel days, and that didn't affect the V6 in the RX's. You may want to track down Kdhspyder too; he's at a dealership and keeps track of issues and talks straight. You can find him at the Toyota Prius discussions lately. |
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