2004 rx300 which to buy?

[Nickyt211]

The abs light fuse? I'll let the garage know. I'm getting fed up of waiting now. But I love that car :(

[rayaans]

13 hours ago, Nickyt211 said:

The abs light fuse? I'll let the garage know. I'm getting fed up of waiting now. But I love that car :(

Well the Fuse for the ABS. 

If its blown, the light will be on all the time regardless of whether a new sensor has been put on etc. 

I'd stick with it - they'll find a fix eventually - makes it better when you actually collect due to the anticipation!

[Nickyt211]

Right I thought I would update you all. I had a call today to say the auto electrician can't fix the abs light he has apparently spent the day trying to and he said the ecu won't let him do it or something. Meaning the car would fail its mot. Anyway I have demanded a refund of my deposit and I am fuming after 3 weeks waiting for nothing. 

So back on the car hunt again :(

[rayaans]

38 minutes ago, Nickyt211 said:

Right I thought I would update you all. I had a call today to say the auto electrician can't fix the abs light he has apparently spent the day trying to and he said the ecu won't let him do it or something. Meaning the car would fail its mot. Anyway I have demanded a refund of my deposit and I am fuming after 3 weeks waiting for nothing. 

So back on the car hunt again :(

Hmm that seems extremely odd. You could ask for a discount and get it done yourself at a decent garage? 

It can't be that hard to fix, I wonder what they're playing at

[Nickyt211]

I know I rang one local auto electrician and he said don't buy it there will be something major wrong. Then rang Lexus wolvo and he said they would be able to fix it but whatever it might be wouldn't be cheap.

just so let down my other half is trying to turn me to an x3 but i have my heart set on one of these :(

[sorcerer]

First off, stick to your guns and don't go for an X3, the Lexus RX300 is a far better car.

It's a difficult one this. I don't think I'd take Rayann's advice this time - it's ok asking for a discount to put it right yourself but without knowing exactly what the fault is, it could cost you far more than any discount you negotiate.

However, unless the dealer is going to scrap the car and write off whatever they paid for it, they will have to get it repaired sooner or later in order to sell it. I know it's disappointing and I would feel exactly the same as you do, but if the car is good in all other respects and you like it and you really want it, might it not be worth waiting a bit longer until they get the problem fixed?

[rayaans]

16 minutes ago, sorcerer said:

First off, stick to your guns and don't go for an X3, the Lexus RX300 is a far better car.

It's a difficult one this. I don't think I'd take Rayann's advice this time - it's ok asking for a discount to put it right yourself but without knowing exactly what the fault is, it could cost you far more than any discount you negotiate.

However, unless the dealer is going to scrap the car and write off whatever they paid for it, they will have to get it repaired sooner or later in order to sell it. I know it's disappointing and I would feel exactly the same as you do, but if the car is good in all other respects and you like it and you really want it, might it not be worth waiting a bit longer until they get the problem fixed?

Well generally depends on what the discount is - if they said £350-500 Id be strongly inclined to have a long and hard think about it and possibly would be tempted! 

6 hours ago, Nickyt211 said:

I know I rang one local auto electrician and he said don't buy it there will be something major wrong. Then rang Lexus wolvo and he said they would be able to fix it but whatever it might be wouldn't be cheap.

just so let down my other half is trying to turn me to an x3 but i have my heart set on one of these :(

Agreed with Sorcerer, don't go for an X3, whilst it handles and drives well, the product itself is poor quality and extremely unreliable in the older generations.

[Nickyt211]

I really want an rx im not changing my mind my other half just thinks I'm being picky on spec etc, I have tested a few now and love them. The garage are not willing to get it fixed, they have sent me a check for my deposit which annoyed me as I've got to wait for the check to clear now as well. The cheek of it is the garage have put it back up for sale with only 2 months mot remaining and the abs fault is an mot failure. At its original price of £3450. So I just hope someone checks the car well. I'm looking at another one this weekend that's a 2004 se with 69 on the clock, it did have air suspension but it has been changed to "expensive coilovers" hopefully this one will be better.

[PCM]

10 hours ago, Nickyt211 said:

I really want an rx im not changing my mind my other half just thinks I'm being picky on spec etc, I have tested a few now and love them. The garage are not willing to get it fixed, they have sent me a check for my deposit which annoyed me as I've got to wait for the check to clear now as well. The cheek of it is the garage have put it back up for sale with only 2 months mot remaining and the abs fault is an mot failure. At its original price of £3450. So I just hope someone checks the car well. I'm looking at another one this weekend that's a 2004 se with 69 on the clock, it did have air suspension but it has been changed to "expensive coilovers" hopefully this one will be better.

I think a cheque is fair.

Keep looking, it's out there somewhere!

[Nickyt211]

Is the se-l good? If the air suspension has been changed? What other differences are there? The one I'm seeing tomorrow is a nice car 

[Neil E]

The SEL is the top of the range RX300 (the best one to have in my view and Lexus ) though best with the air suspension left working.

A quick search suggests the top of the range RX300 SE-L adds the following items: This may not be all of them.

·       Intelligent, Adaptive Front-lighting System (the headlights move in the direction you steer) 

·       Lexus Navigator satellite navigation with colour touch screen display (an upgrade on the SE model)

·       Lexus parking assist monitor

·       Four-wheel air suspension system (allows height adjustment - low, normal or high setting and has a feature to lower the car automatically for easy access)

·       Mark Levinson^® 11-speaker audio system

·       Wood pack (optional)

Sometimes they also have the rear screens fitted in the headrests and wireless headsets in the armrest, DVD player/ interfaces for games consoles etc. It depends on what has been added by the owner. 

[Malc]

generally, and from the Ls400 etc forum, not having air suspension saves you a potential £1k a corner should it ( almost inevitably at some stage ) fail, sometimes piecemeal, one corner at a time ...............  and should give you peace of mind for the future ....  these are now relatively old cars and reading on these forums that Lexus itself reckons the life of components at 100k miles is ok and the likely warranty cut-off point ( apart from age anyway ) . ...........fair wear and tear after that wouldn't enable you to claim under a possible warranty...................

worth bearing in mind ....................  don't know about the comfort and gizmo level of satisfaction of not having air suspension ..........  but the replacement cost per corner would tell me that  coilovers are a good move !

[Neil E]

1 hour ago, Malc said:

generally, and from the Ls400 etc forum, not having air suspension saves you a potential £1k a corner should it ( almost inevitably at some stage ) fail, sometimes piecemeal, one corner at a time ...............  and should give you peace of mind for the future ....  these are now relatively old cars and reading on these forums that Lexus itself reckons the life of components at 100k miles is ok and the likely warranty cut-off point ( apart from age anyway ) . ...........fair wear and tear after that wouldn't enable you to claim under a possible warranty...................

worth bearing in mind ....................  don't know about the comfort and gizmo level of satisfaction of not having air suspension ..........  but the replacement cost per corner would tell me that  coilovers are a good move !

Yes, I hear what you're saying and I accept many agree but it would be wrong if I didn't say that my experience of owning cars with air suspension suggests otherwise. Can it just be luck that I've had a Soarer, an LS430 and RX all high mileages, driven long distances and I have always managed to fix air suspension issues relatively cheaply? I do wonder how many owners change to conventional struts because the local garage doesn't know how to fix the air suspension. That shouldn't be true any more as the answers are here in the forums.

The last GS430 I had needed both rear shocks replaced when purchased at 90k miles £600 - Easy to fix but a known common issue. The SC430 has coil-overs fitted to cure the poor ride/handling @ £1000 so in fact conventional suspension has cost me far more over a much shorter period of time than air.

 

[PCM]

10 minutes ago, Neil E said:

Yes, I hear what you're saying and I accept many agree but it would be wrong if I didn't say that my experience of owning cars with air suspension suggests otherwise. Can it just be luck that I've had a Soarer, an LS430 and RX all high mileages, driven long distances and I have always managed to fix air suspension issues relatively cheaply? I do wonder how many owners change to conventional struts because the local garage doesn't know how to fix the air suspension. That shouldn't be true any more as the answers are here in the forums.

The last GS430 I had needed both rear shocks replaced when purchased at 90k miles £600 - Easy to fix but a known common issue. The SC430 has coil-overs fitted to cure the poor ride/handling @ £1000 so in fact conventional suspension has cost me far more over a much shorter period of time than air.

 

I had a Soarer too. GREAT car.

Eventually had an air suspension issue.

JEM in London fixed it with a used part. It was fine after that. 

[Neil E]

5 minutes ago, PCM said:

I had a Soarer too. GREAT car.

Eventually had an air suspension issue.

JEM in London fixed it with a used part. It was fine after that. 

Yes fantastic cars. Built so solidly like the early LS and packed full of tech. 

[rayaans]

18 hours ago, Nickyt211 said:

Is the se-l good? If the air suspension has been changed? What other differences are there? The one I'm seeing tomorrow is a nice car 

Id be cautious of the air suspension unless getting Lexus Extended Warranty.

What spec and colour combo are you looking for? Budget and mileage? PM me if thats easier.

I'll keep an eye out and should be able to spot anything off with them just by looking at the photos and History 

[Nickyt211]

It is a 2004 se l with 69k on the clock and coilovers instead of air suspension, its reg is mj04 xxl its mot history is very good. it's got the sat nav, camera etc. It's in great condition too. It's only £3700 as the CD player isn't working and the garage have knocked £200 off for it. Ive put a deposit on for collection tomorrow. Hopefully a good car.

[Spacewagon52]

I saw that one - looks good apart from the CD player.

[rayaans]

2 hours ago, Nickyt211 said:

It is a 2004 se l with 69k on the clock and coilovers instead of air suspension, its reg is mj04 xxl its mot history is very good. it's got the sat nav, camera etc. It's in great condition too. It's only £3700 as the CD player isn't working and the garage have knocked £200 off for it. Ive put a deposit on for collection tomorrow. Hopefully a good car.

The mot history is indeed perfectly average for a vehicle of this age. Having said that, I'm not sure why things like "rubber wiper split" etc is even there.  In other words, it sort of suggests the vehicle may have been neglected as these are things easily seen by the drover before MOT.

Additionally, the vehicle looks to be sitting too low - probably due to the coilovers. Make sure you're happy with the ride height as well as the ride itself.

[Nickyt211]

I thought it was sitting a bit low. But it appears that the coilovers are adjustable? So I could change that. It is just in good condition and mileage for that price.

[rayaans]

1 hour ago, Nickyt211 said:

I thought it was sitting a bit low. But it appears that the coilovers are adjustable? So I could change that. It is just in good condition and mileage for that price.

If it looks fine then go for it. 

Some coilovers ar adjustable and some arent. I would raise it up slightly so it looks somewhat normal but not so much that you get the body roll these are known for. Possibly a 15mm drop from standard should be OK

[sorcerer]

On 18/06/2017 at 2:09 AM, Neil E said:

The SEL is the top of the range RX300 (the best one to have in my view and Lexus ) though best with the air suspension left working.

A quick search suggests the top of the range RX300 SE-L adds the following items: This may not be all of them.

·       Intelligent, Adaptive Front-lighting System (the headlights move in the direction you steer) 

·       Lexus Navigator satellite navigation with colour touch screen display (an upgrade on the SE model)

·       Lexus parking assist monitor

·       Four-wheel air suspension system (allows height adjustment - low, normal or high setting and has a feature to lower the car automatically for easy access)

·       Mark Levinson^® 11-speaker audio system

·       Wood pack (optional)

Sometimes they also have the rear screens fitted in the headrests and wireless headsets in the armrest, DVD player/ interfaces for games consoles etc. It depends on what has been added by the owner. 

I find the specs of models very confusing. I purposely did not want air suspension so I made sure to avoid the SE-L models. I see air suspension as overly-complicated and overly-expensive for very little return over and above traditional coils, so I deliberately went for an SE model and as such my car has the following:

Intelligent Adaptive front lights
Lexus Navigator satellite navigation with colour touch screen display
Reversing camera (which I'm assuming is what you mean by "Lexus parking assist monitor")
Extra controls on the steering wheel for Bluetooth hands-free phone and SatNav voice control

Not sure what a "wood pack" is but I think it may just be a heated wooden steering wheel?

[Nickyt211]

Yea this one has the wood pack. The ride seems very smooth and comfy anyway so I'm not too bothered about it. I'll post some pics when I get it. Thanks 

[Nickyt211]

Right so this is my car. I love it it's fab. I have changed the CD player as in the other post. Here is the picture of it on the drive. 

My next question is regarding the nav. I would like to update it as it's the original 2004 disk. I've been on the website recommended before and I think my nav is gen 1 and it's €125 ( for a 2011 update disk) a bit too much lol. I'm looking at updating it just a little bit to improve the rolling screensaver. As I'll probably use a tomtom for holidays. 

Do I need to look for a particular disk or can I just buy any Lexus disk up to 11 for it? 

[Spacewagon52]

Looks really good. Keep us updated on how you find it. That looks a good buy for the money.