2004 Lexus RX 330 buy or good bye?
Looking at a 2004 Lexus FWD RX with 135K selling for 10K.
at a Lexus dealership with a clean Carfax.
Would it be reliable enough to last a few more years or
a money pit best to avoid? Thank you for your input.
2 Answers
Too high a price for the year, probably just a dealer thing. Good cars but they do have transmission problems over 80K miles. Our RX had that transmission problem, and the heater blower motor resistor block kept burning out, so I just jumper wired it. And ours seemed to be a little hard on soft compound tires, good tires like TOYO lasted a lot longer. Alas our RX was killed by a driver not paying attention and drifted over the center line and hit my wife head on. So, if you're still interested then have it checked over by an independent shop before signing anything.
New car dealers, especially higher end dealers like Lexus, usually don't put something that old on their lot unless it's in really good condition. However, look at the Carfax report again and see if the vehicle came from an auction. If it did, you don't want it. Some new car dealers do buy at the auto auction to boost their volume of inventory. If it was a local trade in though it's probably in good condition. But, as Gene said, have it looked at by your favorite mechanic before you decide to buy. Try to get them to come down on the price too. Check kbb.com for a price, print it out, and take it with you when you go look at it. Remind them that the vehicle is 20 years old and has some mileage on it. Jim