im thinking about buying an rx300 with high miles....

My RX 300 has 175,000 miles. The transmission had to be replaced at 170,000 miles. I had other work done on the car at the time with a total bill of $5,000. It was a hard decision. Now the heater no longer works. Air blows but is cold. A mechanic who is very good with Lexus looked at it and thinks the dashboard needs to be removed to get to the valve that is not opening and suggested I take it to the dealer. The mechanic estimated the cost would be $1,500. I believe I made the wrong decision to keep this car.

193,000 miles is a lot of miles, Seeing you are pregnant I would NOT purchase this car. Go with your first (gut) instinct...Bad idea..shop around..Goodluck

Our 2001 has 233,300 miles Not a single thing has ever gone wrong with this car. Nothing.Everything works like new.We used synthetic oil as some early cars could have an oil sludge issue. i put fuel injector cleaner in the gas about four times per year. We have lived in Michigan, upstate NY (places not kind to cars) and now PA. No rust . We had Firestone maintain it and just did oil changes, timing belts every 90K, brake pads. My wife just took it on a 600 mile visit to Rochester, NY last weekend.I would drive it to California tomorrow. Best car we have ever owned.

I realize this is a really old thread but I will chime in anyway. I have a 2003 RX300 I purchased from the second owner about 6 months ago for $3500. The car had 164k on it. I had the timing belt, water pump changed, fuel service, transmission fluid replacement, oil change, new front brakes and windows tinted. I have $5300 in it now. I have driven it daily and have put about $10k miles on it. I see reports of them going over 300k miles with routine maintenance. The air is cold and the car drives well. I will drive it until it dies. Which I hope isn't for a long time.

I purchased mine with 163,000 now I have 176,000 RX300 year 2000 my mechanic worked at toyota and he did all the work on this one transition changed in 2015 he said u will drive it couple of years and make ur money if not all u wont lose much . The car gave me zero issues and drives nicer than the 2015 infiniti I had I look at lexus in a different way now i recommend it to any one just make sure to have a mechanic look at first to make sure nothing major need to be done

Old post but...Here's my thoughts on the RX300 : It is reliable but it is not the most reliable Lexus, if that makes sense. While Lexus is the most reliable brand on the road, there were some oversights on the RX300 that were never handled properly over the course of its 4 year run. Namely that they used the Camry transmission (a 2,900 lb car) in the RX (a 4,100 lb SUV with AWD). The Camry transmission is good -- IN the Camry. What we see with the RX is premature wear on the gear teeth which eventually cause slipping and then eventually total loss of gears. The only way to postpone this (best word for it really) is by changing the transmission filter and fluid religiously every 40,000 miles. I bought my RX300 at 182k and then immediately did the aforementioned, as well as replaced a bad wheel bearing (due to a bent wheel, this thing was abused), all 4 brakes and rotors, and an oil change. CEL was flashing and ended up needing an ignition coil (in the front thankfully - the rear requires 4 hours shop labor). Replaced it myself for $15 (eBay) in 2 minutes (like plugging in a light) and no problems. I'm at 196k now with no other problems except recently I thought the transmission was going bad because my acceleration was not "catching" and foot-to-the-floor got me from 0- 20 in about 7 seconds. It also stuttered/slipped uphill. Decided to clean the mass airflow sensor and it's good as new. It needs another wheel bearing (because of the bent wheel) but honestly the first time we got it up on the lift I thought there was no way this vehicle had a chance of survival. It was so abused. I chose to not replace some things and they've been fine so far (knock on shiny wood interior). I didn't pay much for it because the guy thought it was toast but it has been a daily pizza driver now for years. If you have patience and time to take care of a vehicle at 190k or so, there's not many better vehicles that wear it better (except some other Toyotas and Lexuses). But don't expect the RX300 to be without maintenance or future major overhaul at that mileage. It's just not engineered as well as other Lexus'. Mine I believe was beat to crap, raced, mud-bogged, and the entire underbelly is completely rusted out. I still cannot believe it's still a daily driver. So in summary - not the best Lexus, but still not a bad choice and better than the other brands at the same miles.

Old post, but I bought an 02 Rx300 after research, because I needed a good car but didn't have much money. It has been great. I am second owner. It has 270,000 miles. I am reading this stuff today, because I AM getting my transmission replaced. I have changed the transmission filter twice now because of issue, and it is time for new (er) transmission. I only paid $3,200 for the vehicle. When servicing transmission a buddy put his Maintenance Computer on it, and was impressed, that the Transmission was the only real issue. I will replace control arms and drive axles when I do the transmission. Hoping to break 300K

Anyway long story short, how much you spending in the end. Let it be known!!! a 2000 or so RX300 is unequivically a great deal even at 3500 with 200000 maintained miles.

Does it make sense to buy a 2003 RX 300 with 283,000 miles for $1,300. Cosmetically good.

Ive owned two AWD RX 300's.. 1999 and 2001 both had been in accidents so I got them cheap and fixed them. My friend saw mine and bought three of them two for his son and daughter. We helped each other on them and had a few minor issues which we fixed ourselves. The 99 had been run without cabin air filter which allowed leaves to get oin and rot out the AC evap core, and the transfer case without oil. replaced the transfer case for $1200. The car went another 100000 without problems, except vent flap motor actuators. the 2001 has had no problems; is at 178000 but is rusting out; (md road salt) engine and tranny are strong, good compression, needs struts all around now. I might buy another one.