2003 Lexus RX 300 3.0 Liter V6 DOHC

Summary:

Trust yourself rather than others!!!

Faults:

Timing belt replacement!!!

Tail light bulbs!!!

Replaced 235 Michelin "Cross Terrain" tires!!

General Comments:

Best car ever!!! Slow, but not a big deal.

For those who are afraid of the tranny failures, don't buy into that. Most of the tranny issues occurred because the owners had the wrong type of fluid changed. RXs only work with one type of fluid, Type T-IV Automatic Transmission Fluid, and make sure you replace it every 30,000 miles; some of the owners haven't changed the fluid at all, and when their RXs broke down, they blamed on the manual "not required to change fluid under normal conditions." Who knows what they did to their RXs. LOL!!!

Ask a Toyota or Lexus dealer to have other fluids like brake, differential, steering... changed too. I changed my tranny fluid at a Toyota dealer for only 140 bucks (Yay!!!). You will be okay if you have your car serviced "properly".

If you don't buy my story, go to www.autotrader.com and check out to see how many 150,000 mile RXs there are in U.S. More than those who have their RX tranny issues.

Good luck, and enjoy the car.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 3rd November, 2006

4th Nov 2006, 23:53

I can't agree with you on this story. I drive a lot and put a lot of miles on my vehicles in a very short amount of time. In 1999 I bought an RX300 deciding an SUV would be better than my previous LS400. In late 2001 I had 97,000 miles on the car and the transmission went. I had always done service at Lexus and had them do whatever they said needed to be done, along with transmission fluid changes. I traded that in when they finished for a 2002 RX300. I just traded it in 6 months ago with 143,000 miles and the original transmission. I asked Lexus why my 99 had it go, but not my 02. They told me 2001-2003 RX300 have a updated transmission. So stay away from 99-00, the 01-03 are better, but they still have had some go. The best bet is to buy the RX400h, an amazing SUV!

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2003 Lexus RX 330

Summary:

Definitely not the quality, luxury car that Lexus claims they produce!

Faults:

The RX330 has serious transmission problems. There is a dangerous lag between gear shifts and the car doesn't seem to know when to shift. There is a whining noise from the transmission. There is a popping noise in the transmission audible to anyone in the car.

General Comments:

The car has several other problems that I won't go into since the transmission problem alone is enough. The dealer admits there is a problem with the transmission, but since Lexus has not released a 'fix' for it they tell me there is nothing they can do. They tell me it is 'operating as designed'. At the dealer's suggestion I contacted Lexus about the problem. They also said it was 'operating as designed'. I have asked for a refund and they offered to send me to their arbitration company! This was during the first conversation without any investigation! They definitely know they have a problem, but will not come out and admit it. I loved the RX300 I owned, but am so disappointed in the RX330 and disgusted with the treatment received from Lexus... a company who claims the customer is so important to them!

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 22nd January, 2004

16th Feb 2004, 20:45

I have noticed that all the 3.3L V6 in various Toyota/Lexus models have a difficulty deciding which gear. Though yours sound a bit more severe. I own a new 2004 Sienna that has the same 3.3L V6 with 5 Speed Automatic.

28th May 2004, 11:55

The automatic shifting is done through a torque converter which calculates desire torque relative to engine's RPM. For some reason, the max torque for RX330 is at low 3000 instead of the usual low 5000 for average cars. May it has something to do with it. I am driving a BMW 330xi and have test drove the RX330. The thing I noticed the most was the handling, it was very smooth, but not very responsive.

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