Beermoney

Good afternoon,

My 2003 RX300 finally died. She served 3 generations in my family and was with us for 278,000 miles. Her heart just stopped (engine ceased) one day and that was it.

I'm wondering what kind of mileage others have gotten before that fateful day. My mechanic acknowledged that 278K was a good run but he had seen better several times.

He quoted $5K for a rebuilt engine (plus, plus, plus), Ive seen them cheaper but with Lexus, you get what you pay for. Wondering if there's any way fixing her makes sense, given that for $5K I still have a bunch of components with 278K miles on them.

Thanks for looking,

John

isfdude

iTrader: (11)

Well if that's for a new rebuild then yes that might be worth it. I mean if the car has sentimental value then go ahead and fix her right up. Oh and if your mechanic is installing a used engine make sure that you are the one that will bring him a low mileage used engine. I've seen mechanics get engines for extremely cheap prices and lie about the mileage all the time.

Stereorob

they are kind of like people. some make it to 500k others make it to 250k. crazy how that works.

salimshah

Usually the first post is an introduction, but yours comes with a sad note. IN any case we welcome you to CL family.

What was the root cause of engine failure , and what did you observe as the driver? Low oil? Broken timing belt?

Every thing has end of life. You can throw in a new(serviced engine) or a used one, but what do you expect at the end? Lot of it depends upon the sentimental value (which you alone can determine) and the state of the rest of the vehicle. Suspension, transmission and condition of the body (+ interior) are things to be concerned about ,,, wheels/brakes/lights/hinges/stays are what I call wear and tear items.

Please reed the other thread .. 200k miles + . Not many may remember 100K miles as the golden target for vehicles back in early to mid 90's. Even then vehicles would last 500k but 100K was the expected trouble free life.

Salim

Beermoney

Salim,

All good things to consider. The car does have sentimental value but it has to be practical to keep it. I can get a similar model with 100K miles on it for $3,500-$4,000 miles. Really need to think about this.

Beermoney

Yeah, It's hard to find a good, honest mechanic these days. I had major work done on the car about a month before it died. New timing belt, new solenoid on the right side, front bushing replacement, and other stuff, then it died. I really wonder if the work was done correctly. Guess I'll never know the answer to that one.

Beermoney

Hey, sorry to jumped right in, but I've been a member for years and forgot my login credentials so i had to start over. Thanks for the welcome though!

isfdude

iTrader: (11)

Plus you will most likely be buying someone else's problems too. At least with your car you know what was done to it not someone who will say that changed everything and to find out it was never done or if it was cheap parts were used. It's rare to find a good maintaned car with an honest seller.

kalali

I would still find out why the engine failed. There's always a logical explanation for an engine failure.

bob2200

I know what you mean. Another thing to consider is how little you might collect in insurance if somebody plowed into your car.

My mother has stopped driving and we got a value estimate of her 2002 Lexus ES300 with 54,000 miles on it, from CarMax. They offered $4,500 (their competitor down the road offered $4,200). The interior is great. The exterior has a few blemishes, but nothing major. I can only guess what my 2002 RX300 with 155,000 miles and a lot more paint blemishes would fetch. By the way, my mother promised to sell it to her hairdresser, so the estimate was only for valuation purposes.

The last car I held for a long time (my 1972 Mercedes Benz 220D) had parts availability issues in the final few years, which made it easier to part with when the engine went after 220,000 miles.

matts6887

so sorry to hear your "baby" dies on you like it did. Have you been able to come to a conclusion with the help of a mechanic as to what caused it to die on you like it did? I mean was it something like a seized valve(s) and or lifters possibly or what? I would be curious to know what happened. But in any event hopefully u can find a decent replacement engine by doing some research and searching around if you feel its worth keeping the vehicle. Especially since you may not get a lot of $ back if you tried to do s trade in etc.my 99 300 currently only has 149,000 and change miles on it. I will probably just keep it until it dies as well then consider my options.

matts6887

I agree!; if you can find out I too would be interested in knowing what caused yours to die like it did.

sktn77a

iTrader: (2)

Get rid of it. A $5000 engine in a car that's worth $3000 makes no sense. What if the transmission goes out next (another $5000) or CV joints ($500 per axle) or the AC servos ($500 per servo), struts ($1000), engine mounts ($1000), etc, etc. She's served you well, time to move on!

matts6887

I definitely agree here. IF you find out you have to end up spending more for replacing parts than the vehicle is actually worth; than well yea in the end its just not worth. I too would say you definitely got your monies worth out of this one.