Hey all...

Long time Toyota owner (currently have '04 Sienna LE, '16 Corolla LE), and we just found a great deal locally on an '04 RX330 (170,000 miles) for my 16yo daughter's first car. I extended the search to include the lux lines for Toyota and Honda, and found the RX within our price and mileage range. It's got a few dings and scratches, and some other wear and tear, but nothing major... (fun factoid: the Carfax came back and showed the vehicle was delivered to its first owner the day my daughter was born! We took delivery of the Sienna on her 1st birthday, and said she'd learn to drive in it (she did!), and it's still my daily driver 225,000 miles later.

Still weird that my kid's first car is nicer than anything my wife or I have ever owned...

A couple of questions for a noob to the RX: what are the gotchas I need to be aware of? I already know about the timing belts on those engines from the Sienna, and it was replaced with the water pump at 135K (the belt was previously replaced at 94K but the pump wasn't done... fools... )

I want to put a CarPlay unit in the thing, but the position of the radio is a little awkward for that (it has the ML audio, and I've done that install on the Sienna with the JBL Synthesis). Does anyone know of any mods that would replace/repurpose the nav display? That would be a much better location for it, and since the nav stopped being updated several years ago. it seems kinda hokey to have that screen still active. I have a background in avionics maintenance and work in network engineering, so tinkering with automotive electronic things doesn't intimidate me.

Has anyone replaced the rear marker lights? One got smashed, and it looks like I'll need to pull the bumper cover... Sound right?

 

The 2004 RX330 was the 1st RX built in North America (Canada). If you look at the VIN Number, the higher it is, it will mean that the bugs have been worked out. I have a lower VIN number and I had quite a few things worked on my 2004 RX330, however majority of them were warranty work and I bought extended warranty as well, so I enjoyed the courtesy cars from the Lexus dealers when it needed repairs and/or recalls.

It is a dependable car when you maintain it (means the regular oil changes and the visual check for leaks and abnormal noises) and are able to detect possible failures before it costs you a stalled car in the middle of the road.

Good luck and I know your daughter will be happy and safe with her RX330.

And the rear marker light-reflector can be serviced behind the RR bumper.

 

Hi me and my family got a new/use lexus rx 350
I am trying to find a new radio to replace the factory radio but not finding any luck finding one
if anyone can help me find a radio thank you for your help if you can