Insanelyra

Howdy partners! I'm in the market for an RX and thought I'd get some advice from you fine folks about a couple questions I had. First off, I'm looking for a 1999-2002 AWD and was wondering if there was anything I should look out for as far as common issues. From the research I've done, it looks like the trannys can be somewhat of a soft spot on the cars, but from my experience, all automatic transmissions are hit or miss. I've had good luck with all of my cars except one (a Nissan maxima that the tranny went out at 60,000 but had it rebuilt and drove it to 230,000) and I am meticulous about fluid and filter changes, but I have friends that NEVER maintain theirs and sometimes they run forever and sometimes they quit early.

I'm also curious about what the best solution for iPod/iPhone connectivity to the stereo is, and whether or not I should avoid the nakamichi or look for one with it.

Any help and/or advice would be awesome! Thanks in advance. I'm a tinkerer and DIYer so hopefully I can contribute to the forum once I find a good match and bring her home!

-Rob

hypervish

Welcome to Club Lexus!

Yes, with proper drain and fills the transmission will be fine. My uncle has close to 400k miles on his 99' RX with original engine and transmission. I have 194k miles on my 00' also original engine and transmission.

I installed the GROM unit, which has bluetooth. But it requires you to unplug the cd changer. If you are planning to use a GROM unit, do not get Nakimichi as it's not supported. Honestly, the nakimichi does not sound better than the lexus premium sound system, that's part of the reason Lexus got rid of it and replaced it with mark levinson.

The first gen RX ran from 1999- 2003 btw. Although very few 03' RX300 were built, as that is when the RX330's came out.

Make sure the engine oil was changed on time. These engines are prone to sludge (only 99' - 01' RX), if the oil wasn't changed on time. Just use a quality oil and change it on time, and you have nothing to worry about.

trhs75

Welcome! I second what Hypervish says about the gromaudio.com unit. It's fantastic and my daughter loves it in her '99. I seem to recall reading that they came up with a way to leave the CD player hooked up, but I'm not positive. My daughter hadn't used the CD player in a long time, anyway. She gets some kind of online radio on her iPhone which now plays through the RX sound system. You'll love the 1st gen RX. I'm currently looking for another one. This forum is wonderful for info and advice from all the great people on here!

Insanelyra

Awesome, that grom unit is exactly what I was looking for! Thanks guys. I found a 2000 with 175,000 but it's a one owner car with all the service records and the transmission was rebuilt at 160,000 miles. Looks like it might be the one, but I still have a couple others to check out. Not quite as peppy as my GS400, but should be MUCH better in the snow and off road!

salimshah

Look at the miles and age and have reasonable expectations.

Parts are not cheap and non-oem are not available in abundance, also Lexus is finiky and only OEM sensors work well. It is good that you plan to DIY ,,, Lexus labor rates are above $100/hr.

Connect an OBDII and get current info.

Get service history.

Salim

asssets

I'm in the same boat and looking for 01-03 as it was a bit updated: brake assist and stability control became standard.