Pzindy

Well I bought a 99 RX300 AWD Saturday. It is my first Lexus, and the first time I have owned any vehicle that ever had the word "luxury" ever associated with it. It is the 2nd oldest vehicle I have ever purchased (1st is a 1978 GMC Motorhome purchased in 2007). I have been wrenching on the motorhome enough that most of the Lexus DIYs I have looked at do not scare me too much-I'll finally have a use for those metric sockets in the set.

The only other "Toyota" I have owned was a 2009 Pontiac Vibe which was totaled in an accident earlier this year. The Vibe had 5-speed stick, crank down windows and no power locks, so the RX300 is a pleasant change.

This Lexus has142000 miles. Timing belt was done at 92000, but in 2005. Car was 200 miles from home. After reading on here I kept wondering if the transmission was going to fall off, but it seemed to shift fine and made it home with no issues.

This one has a few scratches and is not perfect. But I got it cheap enough that there is enough in the maintenance fund that I could take care of most of a transmission replacement. I was wanting a daily driver that could handle a little snow. And that would' not.use as much gas as my truck.

Purchased from a private party that is moving out of country. It really wasn't prepped to sell, certainly not detailed. It needed a headlight lamp replaced. Seller had the bulb, but had not installed it. I ended up installing it in the parking lot of IKEA, while DW did some shopping.

The power windows, sunroof, and seats all seem to work. The antenna mast is broken, and I discovered the front side marker lamp also needs replaced, so I have a few minor projects. But so far the car seems nice enough for intended use, DW like driving it better than the Vibe it is replacing.

This forum has been helpful already. I am sure I will have more questions. We'll see how owning this goes.

salimshah

welcome and post a pic of your ride.

Salim

trhs75

Welcome and congratulations! You'll be able to do so many things yourself with the help of the nice members of clublexus. I have two '99's, love them both, no tranny problems with either one yet. Antenna mast replacement is pretty easy, but takes a while. Side marker light involves going in from the fender liner as I recall, but not too bad. My first projects were diff/transaxle fluids, brakes, and the antenna mast. Spark plugs took a while, but do them if they haven't been done. Sign up as the owner (using VIN) on the Lexus website; it will tell you all service work done by Lexus dealers -- and by the owner, if he/she took the time to post it on there. Have fun!

Lexmex

Welcome to the Club.

hypervish

Welcome to Club Lexus!

Glad to hear you are enjoying the RX thus far!

Pzindy

First thanks everyone for the welcome.

The AM radio in this 99 RX300 has so much ignition noise across the band that it is completely unusable. I have not replaced the mast yet (I have one ordered though), but I assume the AM is using some kind of loop antenna, and the mast should have no affect on AM reception? Are they all this bad? If not what can I do?

Enjoying the ride so far. Have replaced 3 of 4 headlamp bulbs and cabin air filter so far. Hope to get the side marker bulb this weekend.

Thanks.

manianac

Earlier '99 RX300s had a problem with the amplifier, there would be alternator or igntion noise while listening to AM stations. The bulletin is AU002-98. The amplifier was replaced under warranty when you had that problem, granted those days are long gone. Replace your antenna mast and hope for the best really.

Lexusblack

Welcome.. any plans on changing to the car?