RX300 Air Suspension

[Rush325]

Hi,

There's a few RX300's (2004/05 and around 100k miles) that have caught my eye but they are all SEL spec and have air suspension.  I'm doing as much searching as I can and there are a fair few horror stories of massive repair bills to fix it if/when it goes wrong - £2k for a new compressor, £600 a corner for a strut assembly, £200 a corner for a ride height sensor 

This scares me quite a lot. Is it a matter of when it goes wrong or are there equally a lot of people who haven't seen these problems?

I'll be buying blind and having the car transported to Spain, so any car I do buy I will have an independent vehicle inspection done.  I assume it's easy to check if the system is working as it should?  Would any problems be highlighted on MOT history?

I'm amazed even second hand parts are mega money and no one has come up with any ways to repair or re-manufacture the components - or am I missing something?  (Most of the threads I've seen regarding problems are from over a couple of years ago)

I've seen there are complete kits available in the US for about $600 to convert the air suspension to a normal coil spring setup (so 4 complete shock assemblies that are supposed to be easy bolt on), but not read about many people doing the conversion - anyone have any experience?

Any info gratefully received!

 

Or maybe it'd be better to look for an SE model with no air suspension, what toys would I be likely missing and can they be easily retrofitted - eg satnav, auto boot open, parking sensors?

 

Many thanks,

Elliot

 

[SLACKBLADDER]

Buy an se your not lose that many gadgets you could look round for one that's got the add ons or put them on yourself  

[ColinBarber]

You could convert to standard if you have problems but to avoid the headache get an SE, or a 400h (which doesn't have air suspension even with the SE-L grade).

If you can get an SE with Nav option (which also gives you the reversing camera) then the only things you will miss out on are Adaptive front lights and the Mark Levinson stereo (the standard pioneer system is still good).

[ISJason]

You could convert to standard if you have problems but to avoid the headache get an SE, or a 400h (which doesn't have air suspension even with the SE-L grade).
If you can get an SE with Nav option (which also gives you the reversing camera) then the only things you will miss out on are Adaptive front lights and the Mark Levinson stereo (the standard pioneer system is still good).

Hi.. your information isn’t quite correct. My SE-L has both adaptive lights and mark levinson.


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[sorcerer]

You could keep your eyes open for my RX300 SE that I traded in to Lexus Teeside two weeks ago yesterday (reg No. GY05 HVK). It has the satnav and reverse camera, power tailgate and the adaptive front headlights with standard coil suspension. I had the cambelt/idlers/tensioners/water pump done and new coolant at 80k miles; new spark plugs done at 81k miles, along with new engine oil, oil filter and transmission pan dropped, new filter installed and 10 litres (or close) of new transmission fluid. There's also been another service done since then but I think it'll almost be due one now.

Best of all, it's converted to LPG. Conversion was done at approximately 81,500 miles and the car had about 99,500 miles on when we traded it in. It's a great car, excellent runner, and the only reason we traded was that a newer car was our joint 60th birthday present to ourselves to set us up properly as we come to retirement.

[ColinBarber]

1 hour ago, ISJason said:

Hi.. your information isn’t quite correct. My SE-L has both adaptive lights and mark levinson.


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Which is what I said, the SE-L has those but the SE doesn't. The question was what would you miss out on if just going for an SE rather than SE-L on 2004-2005 year models.

Before the facelift in 2006, ML audio wasn't an option for the SE.

If you have a 400h then specs are different too. AFS was only on the RX 300 SE-L, however on the 400h is was standard on both the SE and SE-L.

[Jaystar77]

Just on this topic, has anyone replaced their factory suspension (air or standard) with aftermarket coilovers?  I see both PB and BC coilovers offer similar versions and whilst I don't want to ruin the smooth ride I'm enjoying at the minute it could be an option once the suspension wears out.  Also means I can drop the ride height slightly and tighten up the handling.

Haven't noticed anyone running them on here?

[Nickyt211]

Jay star my rx300 has coil overs which were fitted by the previous owner. They are only slightly lower than standard and the handling has improved massively for it. But it’s still a very comfy car too :) I love my rx 

[Jaystar77]

Cheers Nicole, knew someone must have ventured down this path!

Do you have any idea which brand they are?  I'm currently weighing up some BC coilovers..

[Nickyt211]

I haven’t seen a brand on them. The previous owner must have had some trouble with the air suspension as it’s an SE-L model. When I was looking for an rx I looked on here and saw the complaints about the air suspension issues so I was only looking at the SE model first until I saw this one with all the extras of the SE-L but coilovers so I was happy to have a look. It’s only a little lower than standard but you wouldn’t really notice. Until you corner then it doesn’t willow around as much lol. A few people have don’t tell the conversions but I don’t know about the price. If it’s a good car just get it and budget for if it goes wrong but remember it may be fine for a while these cars are very well made. :)