ES300 is good for how many miles?
12-11-15, 04:35 PM
#31
I am considering purchasing a used ES 300 that has about 50,000 or so miles on it. It will most likely be a 97 or 98 model. Does anyone know how long, in terms of mileage, these cars last until maintenance costs become significantly expensive?
I am looking for a reliable vehicle that will last a long time. I can get a Honda Accord that has half as many miles for a much cheaper price. So, I am trying to figure out how long an ES 300 will last. If it lasts long enough, than it will justify the added cost. My desire is that it will drive reliably with little problems up until at least 110k.
Thanks
I am looking for a reliable vehicle that will last a long time. I can get a Honda Accord that has half as many miles for a much cheaper price. So, I am trying to figure out how long an ES 300 will last. If it lasts long enough, than it will justify the added cost. My desire is that it will drive reliably with little problems up until at least 110k.
Thanks
12-12-15, 01:17 PM
#33
Driver
Love to read about the longevity of these cars. Drove a pick up truck for years and decided it was time for a luxury car. Can across a 05 ES330 with 94,000 and love it. I found this great forum and learn so much about this car. New timing belt and water pump kit going in next week. Big plans of driving it for a long time.
Mike
Mike
12-19-15, 11:22 AM
#35
Driver
03-03-16, 10:56 AM
#37
I have a 2002 ES300 with 121Kmi on it with no major issue at all, with every 5Kmiles and all major maintenance done at the dealership. Except for the wear and tear parts, like tires-rotors-break pads-bulbs-ac filters etc, I only replaced the starter motor at 117kmiles.
I am planning to do preventive maintenance to replace all shocks and struts and wheel bearings for long distance family road trips. Any advice for this maintenance?
I am planning to do preventive maintenance to replace all shocks and struts and wheel bearings for long distance family road trips. Any advice for this maintenance?
03-04-16, 03:34 AM
#38
I have a 2002 ES300 with 121Kmi on it with no major issue at all, with every 5Kmiles and all major maintenance done at the dealership. Except for the wear and tear parts, like tires-rotors-break pads-bulbs-ac filters etc, I only replaced the starter motor at 117kmiles.
I am planning to do preventive maintenance to replace all shocks and struts and wheel bearings for long distance family road trips. Any advice for this maintenance?
I am planning to do preventive maintenance to replace all shocks and struts and wheel bearings for long distance family road trips. Any advice for this maintenance?
03-07-16, 11:26 AM
#39
I am considering purchasing a used ES 300 that has about 50,000 or so miles on it. It will most likely be a 97 or 98 model. Does anyone know how long, in terms of mileage, these cars last until maintenance costs become significantly expensive?
I am looking for a reliable vehicle that will last a long time. I can get a Honda Accord that has half as many miles for a much cheaper price. So, I am trying to figure out how long an ES 300 will last. If it lasts long enough, than it will justify the added cost. My desire is that it will drive reliably with little problems up until at least 110k.
Thanks
I am looking for a reliable vehicle that will last a long time. I can get a Honda Accord that has half as many miles for a much cheaper price. So, I am trying to figure out how long an ES 300 will last. If it lasts long enough, than it will justify the added cost. My desire is that it will drive reliably with little problems up until at least 110k.
Thanks
The only major expense has been the recommended timing belt replacement for $600 at 180,000 miles.
In fact, because it is such a good car, I bought a 2001 ES300. The only problems with the 2001 have been design changes from the 98: auto dimming mirrors, and remote control built in the key.
JC
03-07-16, 07:07 PM
#40
My 98 Lexus ES300 just clicked over 194,000 miles. I have had very little go wrong with it.
The only major expense has been the recommended timing belt replacement for $600 at 180,000 miles.
In fact, because it is such a good car, I bought a 2001 ES300. The only problems with the 2001 have been design changes from the 98: auto dimming mirrors, and remote control built in the key.
JC
The only major expense has been the recommended timing belt replacement for $600 at 180,000 miles.
In fact, because it is such a good car, I bought a 2001 ES300. The only problems with the 2001 have been design changes from the 98: auto dimming mirrors, and remote control built in the key.
JC
The remote key fob board sometimes gets bad or the button sensors get worn, a new one can be bought and cut aftermarket for $40 or so. Alot cheaper than the dealer for $240
11-17-16, 03:53 AM
#42
Driver School Candidate
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Location: Colorado
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144369
my 1997 es300 has 144,369. i paid $1,350 for it a little over 4 months ago when it was at 130,098. yes, i drove it a lot in 4 months 
it does smoke when it is started sometimes. at first that worried me but I think the smoke was misleading with this particular vehicle. this es300 Sat for a long time in the harsh Colorado weather. I believe there is an oil leak somewhere internally, and the heavy smoke when started at first was residual oil that accumulated while the car sat for years burning off. it did consume about 2 quarts extra between oil changes too, but I a
switched to 10w40 oil and now it consumes 3/4-1qt between oil changes and rarely smokes when started.however, the original starter in the car was going out which I think may have been a result of having to start in <30ºF weather , so I i swapped it out with a duralast remanufactured starter that I got at AutoZone for $160 (got $22 back for core charge so more like $140) and now it starts great. I can really tell how much more torque the new starter motor has just by the sound, which is probably good for cold starting to 10w40 in this car. the 10w40 really does take a long time to get warmed up and I let it idle for 10mins before driving and by then it's at operating temp. the 10w40 seems to have helped a lot, ive only been using castrol gtx high milage syntheric blend and shell 91 gas and it seems to be running great. you can really tell that this car sat for a long time from the paint, the passenger side looks brand new , but the driver side is faded and starting to rust. the driver side of the hood was getting so badly rusted that I scraped and sanded the heck out of it, used 'aircraft remover', sanded again, primed it, sanded again, did about 10 coats of black enamel, and then about 20 clear coats. the whole driver side is getting rusted out so I will be DIY painting the whole car the same way soon, which is a shame because the passenger side looks perfect, literally almost new. but the hood turned out so well that I think it'll look good. I have some cheap aftermarket 15" rims from my old car that I had crashed and needed to buy new rims , i painted them black and transferred them to the es300, and about a month ago i spent $500 and got a set of champiro ice pro snow tires (studabble but not studded ) and I love how the es300 looks with the agressive knobby tires and black aftermarket rims. I think this car will run as-is until around 200k, and I like this car so much that when she finally dies, well, i got a buddy who has an engine hoist I saw new 1mz-fe for $3-4k and used ones from $1-2k. I'm planning to drop another motor in it and just keep fixing it. I am 22 y/o and all maintenance and repairs have been done by me and sometimes with help from my friend. it's been quite a learning experience so far and this is only the 2nd car I've ever had , from ages 16-22 i had a jeep and never really cared to get under the hood of that thing myself. called it quits with the jeep(had 175,000)about 5 months ago after I got the es300 and I've been loving the es300 ever since. it's been reliable as hell, has never left me stranded to this point, even when the starter was going out I was able to hit the starter with the back of a screwdriver and got it to fire up. I think this car still had the original coolant up until about a week ago , i pulled off the skid plate and drained the radiator, didn't really measure how much fluid drained. i used the Prestone flush additive with water and drove it with that in there per the instructions. drained the radiator again. when I tried to fill up with new coolant it only took one and one-third gallons when it's supposed to take a between 2-3 gallons (9 . 2 liters ). does anyone know where the drainplug on the block is for the 1997 es300? or which hose I pull to drain all the coolant out ? i already bought more coolant so I'm just considering the one and one-third gallons I put in to be more flushing lol. thank you in advance - Paul
Denver, CO
it does smoke when it is started sometimes. at first that worried me but I think the smoke was misleading with this particular vehicle. this es300 Sat for a long time in the harsh Colorado weather. I believe there is an oil leak somewhere internally, and the heavy smoke when started at first was residual oil that accumulated while the car sat for years burning off. it did consume about 2 quarts extra between oil changes too, but I aswitched to 10w40 oil and now it consumes 3/4-1qt between oil changes and rarely smokes when started.however, the original starter in the car was going out which I think may have been a result of having to start in <30ºF weather , so I i swapped it out with a duralast remanufactured starter that I got at AutoZone for $160 (got $22 back for core charge so more like $140) and now it starts great. I can really tell how much more torque the new starter motor has just by the sound, which is probably good for cold starting to 10w40 in this car. the 10w40 really does take a long time to get warmed up and I let it idle for 10mins before driving and by then it's at operating temp. the 10w40 seems to have helped a lot, ive only been using castrol gtx high milage syntheric blend and shell 91 gas and it seems to be running great. you can really tell that this car sat for a long time from the paint, the passenger side looks brand new , but the driver side is faded and starting to rust. the driver side of the hood was getting so badly rusted that I scraped and sanded the heck out of it, used 'aircraft remover', sanded again, primed it, sanded again, did about 10 coats of black enamel, and then about 20 clear coats. the whole driver side is getting rusted out so I will be DIY painting the whole car the same way soon, which is a shame because the passenger side looks perfect, literally almost new. but the hood turned out so well that I think it'll look good. I have some cheap aftermarket 15" rims from my old car that I had crashed and needed to buy new rims , i painted them black and transferred them to the es300, and about a month ago i spent $500 and got a set of champiro ice pro snow tires (studabble but not studded ) and I love how the es300 looks with the agressive knobby tires and black aftermarket rims. I think this car will run as-is until around 200k, and I like this car so much that when she finally dies, well, i got a buddy who has an engine hoist
I saw new 1mz-fe for $3-4k and used ones from $1-2k. I'm planning to drop another motor in it and just keep fixing it. I am 22 y/o and all maintenance and repairs have been done by me and sometimes with help from my friend. it's been quite a learning experience so far and this is only the 2nd car I've ever had , from ages 16-22 i had a jeep and never really cared to get under the hood of that thing myself. called it quits with the jeep(had 175,000)about 5 months ago after I got the es300 and I've been loving the es300 ever since. it's been reliable as hell, has never left me stranded to this point, even when the starter was going out I was able to hit the starter with the back of a screwdriver and got it to fire up. I think this car still had the original coolant up until about a week ago , i pulled off the skid plate and drained the radiator, didn't really measure how much fluid drained. i used the Prestone flush additive with water and drove it with that in there per the instructions. drained the radiator again. when I tried to fill up with new coolant it only took one and one-third gallons when it's supposed to take a between 2-3 gallons (9 . 2 liters ). does anyone know where the drainplug on the block is for the 1997 es300? or which hose I pull to drain all the coolant out ? i already bought more coolant so I'm just considering the one and one-third gallons I put in to be more flushing lol. thank you in advance - PaulDenver, CO
08-17-17, 07:12 PM
#44
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2003 ES300 with 208,000 miles, 2nd owner all maintenance records provided by 1st owner. Only problems are a slight oil leak, DVD is full and will not eject (Ican live with that) and some minor paint issues on the lower body. Car starts and shifts perfectly and drives like new.
