jimbug

Hello, I'm Jim and I'm new to this particular Lexus forum.

I bought a 2001 RX300 - 74k for my daughter in 2008 and joined another Lexus forum to help me through that process. I learned a lot then about this vehicle and it's still going strong for my daughter with 125k miles now. I replaced the starter contact and plunger the first week I had it, and other than tires and oil changes it's been great. It recently started having an issue with the rear door not locking with the remote. I love driving this vehicle when I get a chance.

I drive a 2007 Honda Civic EX sedan I bought new and it has been nearly trouble free. No major problems with it at all, but I got tired of sitting so low and wanted something that could pull a very small boat I recently bought. I looked at an Acura RDX with the four cylinder turbo, and it drove very sporty. I looked at Grand Cherokees, Acura MDX, Honda Pilots & CRVs, Toyota 4Runners, Highlanders & RAV4s. All the time I kept thinking how nice my daughter's Lexus RX300 was to drive and it had been dependable.

So, this week while on a vacation break from work I found a 2002 RX300 AWD - 88k with tow package and a pretty good maintenance record at Hennessy Lexus in Atlanta. I made a deal on it Tuesday and will be headed down to pick it up Monday (hopefully) after they finish with a 90,000 mile service (timing belt), fix a leak in rear transfer case seal, fix the noisy spiral steering cable, replace wiper blades, and replace starter contacts and plunger (paranoid after my 2001 RX300) experience.

Wish me luck on my family's second first generation RX300. Reading this forum has helped me through the worrying and waiting process these last few days.

Thanks, Jim

hypervish

Welcome to Club Lexus!

These RX's are addicting!

Congrats on the purchase! Be sure to post pictures!

There is a great DIY on here to fix the rear lock actuator for cheap!

How heavy is the boat you are planning on towing?

jimbug

Thanks for the welcome. I like it here. There are lots of answers & DIY photos.
I read that DIY post on fixing the actuator and found it to be a very interesting solution.
The boat (457lb), motor (117lb), trailer (400lb), and gear weigh less than 1500lbs total.

The first forum I joined back in 2008 was the lexusownersclubdotcom and I got a lot of good information there on the MAF sensor - how to get to it and clean it. I forgot that I had that check engine light for the MAF sensor and cleaned it when I was replacing the starter contacts and plunger. I had a guy at a technology school do these for me so it only cost the price of those starter parts - less than $20 & and he used some carb cleaner to clean the MAF sensor. The use of photos on these forums is especially helpful to me in doing minor maintenance and fixes.

I'm going to try to post photos now, just to see how it works here.

Thanks again, Jim

Here's the boat:
[IMG][/IMG]

Here is the 2002 RX AWD:

2KHarrier

Welcome to the club! Good looking RX...

jimbug

Thanks!!

They really are a beautiful design even after all these years. You compare them to all the crossover and small SUVs that all look alike, and there's no comparison. Hoping for the best with it.

lamar411

Congrats on the RX, looks just like mine except i had black interior. I miss it.

jimbug

Thanks Lamar looks like you moved on recently to the RX350.

aznlapin

Very nice car! Congrats.
I have the exact same one, same colors and year, and I love it.
Hope you'll enjoy driving it as well,

jimbug

Thanks!!
My daughter's is black which I also like, but this color is Vapor Blue Metallic which I had never heard of and thought it was silver. I'm kinda hoping we will get just a little snow here so I can test the AWD.

Raoul

Looks just like ours, we have 203,000 miles.
Going on a two thousand mile trip soon and not concerned at all with this vehicle.

jimbug

Yes Raoul that is one big reason it came down to another RX for me. They sure built them to last. Silver is my favorite car color.

Enjoy your trip.

hypervish

Very clean! Nice find!

You are well within' the limits for towing so you're all set there!

Be sure to change out the transmission fluid regularly, as I'm sure you've heard many times before on the other forum.

jimbug

Thanks hypervish. I do plan on babying this transmission. One very concerning difference between this vehicle's service history and my daughter's is there is no mention of a transmission fluid change from the Lexus dealer service record. My daughter's RX had tranny fluid changed at 60,000 miles in the Lexus record. I hate that even to this day Lexus and Toyota think of this as having All World transmission fluid that only needs changing at 100,000 miles. I'm hoping that the improvements that I've read about here in the 2002 will protect it to this point in time. I'm keeping my fingers crossed until I can get that fluid changed.

I'm loving this forum.

Lexmex

welcome to the club

Lexusblack

Welcome to the club. Car looks nice and shiny. keep us up to date on your car.