hackjo

Hi all. My father currently drives a Jaguar S-Type 2.7 diesel which he loves. Unfortunately, Jag reliability is not as great as it ought to be and repair costs are high. He is retired and needs something ultra-reliable with reasonable running costs that won't let him down.

As both my parents are getting older, accessibility will become an issue and they are therefore looking at SUV's. It seems that the only model that will offer similar luxury and smoothness to the Jag and at the same time, high quality and reliability is the RX300. He's looking at cars from 2003 to 2006.

What is the true reliability of the RX? What sort of repair costs can one expect and are there any do's or dont's for buying them, for example mileage?

Your help would be much appreciated!

pauljcl

I don't know how much I can really help. You should check the Consumer Reports auto issues for historical reliability, though of course on cars that are ten years old or more (the dates you mention), the reliability becomes more in line with the care and maintenance done on the car over time than the intrinsic. I had an RX300 (first generation) and it was a good car with weaknesses at the engine seal, the transmission and also the need to replace the camshaft belt at a high cost every 90 K miles. The RX300 you seem to contemplate purchasing - of which I know little except for the common elements with my own RX350 of 2009 - also has belt-driven (rather than chain-driven) camshafts, but I believe the model is overall very reliable. You might want to step up to a RX350 - second generation and particularly the latest years you can afford with decent (i.e. not-too-high) mileage as car models improve as the model years progress and as the belt was replaced with a chain-driven camshaft.
Again: overall, RXs seem to have a very good reliability record (mine has been great but I have only 48K miles) and are probably a good choice for the price.

lex_rx

Avoid any RX with the air suspension. PITA and expensive to maintain. Other than that, it would be usual research and checks on any used car.