I’m in this boat with my 01 GS300. I bought it pretty cheap in 2020 and it later became my daily driver. While it had stuff like the Timing belt done before I bought it but they didn’t change out the seals or valve cover gaskets. Now it leaks crazy amounts of oil. My sister also backed into the passenger fender and front door. Insurance refused to help and my sister took over 18 months to help pay for some of the damage. It really killed my desire to keep the car despite loving it.

So I bought a really clean black on black 04 GS300 to replace it and have two GS’. I’m ready to throw in the towel on the 01, but I wouldn’t mind keeping it if I could get the car repainted cheaply.

 

kira, cool you have 2 gs's. Yes the 300's have timing belts, where as the 350's have chains, i'm happy for this. Although...if your 300 engine is non-interference (i'm not sure if they are or not)....then even if the belt snaps, it won't damage the engine.
did you find them to be reliable engines/drivetrain??

 

I definitely love the second generation GS and this is the first time I’ve had two of the same car at the same time. Both cars have been reliable so far. My 01 had issues with the Accelerator Pedal Position Sensor when I first got it in 2020 and was hard to figure out what was wrong due to the car not throwing codes. I tried a new sensor I found on Amazon after hours of reading on the forums and consulting with an old coworker from Lexus. Once he installed it for me the car was fine. I had to replace an O2 sensor, but that was it until the oil leak got worse. I drove that car across town nearly every day for 2.5 years.

The SC300 was less reliable, but that was due to me having problems with various ECU’s on the car and the used crank pulley my mechanic installed failing on me. I put 42,000 miles on the SC300 in a 16 year period and have barely driven it since that crank pulley incident.

I was actually looking into getting a GS350 last summer, but it sold. The 04 popped up a week later in another state and I ended up grabbing that. I wish I would’ve grabbed the 350 too and traded the 01 in towards it.

 

i "throw in the towel" when i have the funds to purchase something else AND the car is no longer practical to own. this varies with life stage of course! i stay away from debt too, so this drastically limits my options .

 

in answer to the original question. I dont. But when does the other guy throw in the towel? Usually the day before I buy it. When I see an ad that says something like, "I am throwing in the towel",. I go look at the car. Often, he has replaced so much stuff trying to make the car reliable that it is just a few dollars away from done but he hasnt made that last step yet. I buy the car, finish what he started , and then have a nice car for years.
The LS430 that I am driving now had 50K when I bought it 10 years ago. The lady that owned it said,"Its 12 years old so its going to start costing me money." It was fear, not reality. It was in perfect condition and she was throwing in the towel.

 

Story of my S4......guy was in shock when I sent him the video of it starting less than 24 hours after I bought it lol!

Best Florida vacation I've had to date!

 

I once bought a nice Citroen DS-19 that I had seen sitting on the back of a dealers lot. It had been there for over a year so I went in and asked about it. I was told that it could not be started and his best mechanics had worked on it and could not solve the problem. It was sitting in the weeds and looked forlorn. I asked if I could try my hand at fixing it. He said sure. And "If you can drive it off the lot, its yours". I got my tools out if the trunk and within 20 minutes I found the points were shorted out. They opened, but it was still a short to ground. another 20 minutes and I found that the lead to the capacitor was pushed sideways and was hitting the housing shorting it to ground. I cranked it up and drove it around to the front office and was handed the title and all the keys. I drove my free car home.

 

Timmy, i agree, it has to fit your needs. Right now the rx is good for us, in terms of comfort on trips, trunk space, room for 4. The gas consumption is always the issue, but again, i paid off the car years ago. No monthly payments

 

Jimi.....ohh so your THAT guy...hahahaha. I often see those ads where they've shelled out a bunch of money and is still problematic. You lucked out on that LS..sweet!

 

striker...audi s4? My brother had the s4 wagon with the v8. It was such a blast to drive, but was in the shop one a month or every other month, and the bills usually had 4 numbers in it. So many leaks, sensor issues. This is where i'm blessed with my rx...never had to change a sensor, no cel light.

 

Jimi, awesome story!!! Free car!

 

On a side note, what i've loved the most about my car, is that in terms of "tech", it's minimal, which i love. It has all that i need and a touch more. I love the non touchscreens...that eventually die out, i like that it has a standard shifter lever and not a round toggle ****, i like the buttons and switches, i love having an actual key to start the car and shuts it off when removing it. All i need in any car are power windows and doors, a cd player and A/C. I don't even want a sunroof!
i just saw a commercial for a Cadillac suv and cringed at all the tech in it...more crap to break and more 💰 to shell out!

 

Yep, bought one that was in storage for 4 years when I was last down in Florida. Right after it was running again and everything serviced/repaired we took it out and did 155 on a backroad next to lake Ariana lol!

Has been a great car but I need to replace the clutch, we are turning it into a track car for mid Ohio raceway/fun local driving car to be passed around my friend group and dad.

 

cool! Yes his was was awd, v8 and manual transmission...was fun!

 

Fabchef, seems like your bored w/ the rx, I get it as my wife wanted a rx as a few of her g/f's have them, which she likes the solf ride & my thought was its a Toyota product. Well, in 2020, w/ the vehicle prices high & 5 guys wanted to buy my Superbee, I sold it to the highest offer. Now driving the rx for a while, it is reliable & boring to drive, of which I did the gen3 front brakes & the gen2 Hylander rear brakes, ss brake hoses, TSW 8.5'' wheels w/ the oem 235 size tires, then to 10'' x 18'' w/ 295/45's KYB struts w/ the oem springs,( it would have been great w/ Eibach springs, but didn't want it lowered) 2.5'' HF Magnaflow convertor, Walker SS Ouietflow muffler & just added a Ultraracing 19mm rear sway bar. Since she's had it, Radiator, alternator, & 3 p/s pumps are the major item. Yeh I've done a couple Maxlife trans fluid & Wix filter changes & 75/90 Royal Purple transfer case/diff fluid changes. I found its a good around non performance vehicle, even thou the 2gr does pull pretty good for the weight. For you the RX vs the X1, I'd think the rx will out live the X1. If your wanting a LS= go w/ the LS430......