I'm in the market for a 2015 RX350 in the New York City area. I'm evaluating these two:

2015 Base 67,000 Gold / Beige Leather $17,850
2015 F Sport 88,000 Nebula Grey / Black Leather $18,750

We are an older couple who drive like we are 70 years told. It seems like the F Sport has additional features but we are worried about the suspension as it runs rougher. My question is, can the F Sport be adjusted to run soft or "not so rough". Budget is not an issue at this price. Also, is the F Sport the best option?

Both of these cars have two owners and NO accidents. Is there a list of items to check? a buying guide?

 

The F-Sport only uses stiffer front struts and shocks, the rest of the suspension like the sway bars, springs etc are the same, so you can easily remove the F-Sport dampers and convert over. There are no adjustments, so you have to replace the units themselves. Not a big deal for a DIY like myself, but may be more costly to get it done at a shop. Save your original springs if you do this, do not get any quick struts or cheaper shocks as the ride will be ruined. Many of us like to use the Bilstein B6 or B4 replacement struts, the KYB ones also work great as well.

As an F-Sport owner myself, I don't think it is worth the premium. It has a nicer front end in my opinion with the honeycomb grille, but I still like the normal 13-15 grille a lot, too. The F-Sport is heavier by 150 lbs than a normal 13-15 Premium, so it ends up being slower to accelerate even with the 8 speed. The 8 speed transmission gets slightly better highway mileage, but it hunts and has some taller ratios than the 6 speed as it is geared for fuel economy over performance. The 6 speed transmission is a lot easier to source, is more durable and I prefer the way it shifts over the 8. The F-Sport's steering computer also has some wonky characteristics which I despised so I swapped it out as well, this is a big job as the entire lower dash has to come apart.

The 13-15 cars are the most reliable RX ever made, and this is coming from someone who enjoys the 07-09 model the most, I cannot deny how worked out and reliable these facelift 3rd gen RXs are. This was the final revision of the famous 2GR-FE before they dumped it for the inferior (IMO) 2GR-FKS.

Things to check (Based on my 7-year experience of owning one):
- Make sure timing cover doesn't leak (Unfortunately these revised 2GR-FE are still susceptible to this)
- Rear trailing arm squeak, these are a common suspension wear item on these cars, especially pre-facelift. It's not a safety issue, but it can affect the alignment and make an annoying scratchy noise over bumps. You can use newer and cheaper assemblies from the 2021+ Sienna or aftermarket ones for a lot cheaper
- Rear tailgate rust: These 3rd gen RX are pretty prone to having the rear tailgate rust out, check around the license plate and in the corners, as that's where it likes to start
- Rear differential: Make sure it doesn't leak, if the vent gets clogged, it can blow out the seals and cause the diff to leak and lose all of its fluid eventually. This isn't too common, but now that these are getting older, it's a bit of an annoyance. The vent is hard to get to and the diff must be lowered to access and replace it

That's about all that comes to my mind, the rest is just simple older Toyota stuff. These are pretty bombproof!

 

In that area I'm thinking both cars were used mainly for urban driving, the F-Sport is AWD and came with an external transmission radiator which keeps transmission temperatures lower while city driving, bonus if it also has tow package which gave heavy duty radiator and alternator and 3500 lb tow capacity. Is the Beige car also AWD and does it come with tow package ? Our AWD car is very good in snow and ice and wouldn't want a FWD.

 

As mentioned above, you will be happier with the 6-speed transmission. Highly recommended that you do a series of three simple ATF drain-and-fills every 50,000 miles or so using Toyota WS ATF or Idemitsu Type TLS-LV ATF. Very easy to DIY and plenty of detailed instructions on how to do so here on the forum..