Good post, this is my first foreign car, I have two Chevy's a Tahoe and Vette.

I hope the Lexus is all they say it is.

 

had my air/fuel (both of them 204.97 each) go at the same time @ 75k. thank god i have extended warranty. did 75k service one time hop nothing breaks down in next years

 

Nearly 84K miles on our 2000 AWD and it's still going very strong. Only issues to date are:
1) Indicator light in the guage cluster that signals your in drive went out
2) Small creak developed in the last 1K miles in the dash in front of the driver.

Nothing remotely serious and the vehicle is still very smooth, quiet, and as stong as new. Still averaging 19mpg in mixed driving on 89 unleaded. Not bad for a full time AWD that can haul as much crap as ours does.

 

i'm starting to question the reliability of the car... my girls car died while driving on the freeway today had to get it towed we ahve had all maintenance done by the book from day 1 the car is a 2000 with exactly 50k and now teh car won't start

 

4 years 42k miles, ZERO problems besides a battery change at almost 4 years. Never owned another car more reliable.

 

Once I get 25 for a model year, I'll cover the RX in my reseach at www.truedelta.com . I'll be reporting times in the shop and days in the shop to enable more precise and understandable comparisons than in CR, JD Power, etc. Access to the information will be free for those who help provide the data.

Beyond just access, I'm going to be open to custom analyses if members suggest interesting questions that can be answered based on the data I have. The survey I use, though easy to fill out, will allow the data to be cut many different ways.

I'm already collecting data for a few models, but the Lexus RX is not among them. So far only 14 are signed up for all model years.

 

RX just hit 140k miles, not a damn issue. A rattle every once in awhile and I get about 22mpg (AWD), just put gas, oil changes and service. She has been WONDERUFL.

 

How the heck are you getting 22 in your AWD? I've got that on long trips but in mixed driving I'm avg'ing about 19 and if you think about it, you're doing more than 15% better than me. That's not a trivial difference!

 

my girl averages about 22mpg

 

I drive 2500-3500 miles per month.

20.6 was the best I could get with the tires filled to 39 PSI,

my avg is @ 19.6. with tires at 35 PSI

I check my mileage at every fillup whihc has been 3 times this week since Monday already.

I also took off my luggage rack.

 

See your PSI when the tires are hot. Granted, I drive for racing operations, but even with nitrogen, sometimes I have seen them go up to 40 psi.

What I do is fill to 36 psi with nitrogen, drive it around for awhile, preferably highway speeds even through Mexico City streets (60, 70 mph) and then check my psi. Hot I like my 235 CrossTerrains at 38 psi as they helps me get the best 1/4 mile times. Going higher psi (max 44 on my tires) works for mpg as the tires are rounder, but not enough traction and it almost feels like the RX is hydroplaning for a second at intervals down the track when the psi is too high.

 

I had a 99 Rx300 and the only thing that ever went wrong with it in 90000 miles was the air/fuel sensor died at just over 75k - $250 - it actually died in warranty and the check engine light came on, but then went out and by the time it came back on I had gone another 5k, but still $250 is cheap for 5 years. Bought an 04 Tahoe cause I wanted a big car - lost count of how many little stupid annoying things went wrong in the second year and stopped getting things fixed because the chevy dealer is such a low brow poor service affair that I would rather deal with a broken car than the idiots that call themselves an automotive service center - they lost the service along the way. Anyway - 2 years of regretting buying a chevy and vowing never to buy another domestic vehicle I am back in a lexus GX470 and have never been happier.

If I couldn't afford a Lexus, I would still just buy a really old one and it would be more reliable than a new Chevy!

 

Toyota seems to get it right more often than not according to this: http://autos.msn.com/advice/CRArt.as...tentid=4023544

 

At this point in time, I'd go:

Lexus, Acura, Cadillac, Infiniti

in that order, for cars to buy next. MB and BMW don't even hit my radar, not because of price, but for long term reliability if I'm going to keep it over three years. Just look at all the long term and consumer report ratings... MB and BMW are always near the middle if not bottom for several categories.

My eyes are wide and mouth watering for a chance to test drive the new ES350. Should be a sweet car. I've seen the prototype displayed at my dealership and it's better than the pictures.

 

i have a used 99 awd rx300 with 175,000 miles and the only thing i changed was the battery.