RX 300 Review!

Spacewagon52 · March 29, 2018

I have owned my RX 300 for a few months now, so I thought I would do a review. I appreciate this is an “old” Lexus model and this may not be relevant to the majority of members.

My reasons for buying the RX were somewhat muddled and I will not try to justify why I bought it – I have always liked them! My initial “want” was the RX 450h, but I could not justify spending (to myself as well as the wife!) that amount of money on a third car. The wife flatly refuses to allow me to get rid of the people carrier with 7 seats (Oh how I wish Lexus had imported the 7-seat version!).

My next choice was the 400h, but that was going to be in the region of £10K. I searched on AutoTrader - the chase is always more fun than the actual purchase. Then a couple of RX 300’s caught my eye. I discounted the SE-L version, to keep clear of the air suspension. The RX 300’s for similar age / condition / mileage were about half the price of the 400h. I am not from Yorkshire but half my genes are from that lovely county. Financially it was an easy choice and one I have so far not regretted.

For a saving of £5,000 you can buy 4,000 litres of fuel, 881 gallons at (£1.25 a litre) and travel 17,621 miles at 20 mpg. Alternatively you can buy a SMALL number of Lexus repairs! My thinking was that if I was unlucky enough to buy a lemon, I could “afford” the repairs or even take the financial hit of selling it. There is always a balance between what you pay and the risk of expensive repairs. The younger the car / lower mileage - the less the risk in theory.

The compromise with buying an older car is the wear and tear. This was not the case with this RX. It had been cosseted by one owner from new. A retired gentleman, who insisted on it being serviced every year, no matter how low a mileage it had done (one year 1,000 miles). With 53,000 miles on the clock, the car drove like new.

I will NOT compare it with my LS 400, as I consider them to be two completely different beasts. My review is based on my limited experience of 4WD SUV’s and my expectations.

Likes:-

Ride: Ride comfort is very good for an SUV.

Handling: Handles really well – very little body roll at normal cornering speeds.

Power tailgate: I thought this was just a flashy gizmo and something else to go wrong! It has proved very useful on many occasions but I could live without it.

Transmission: Very smooth gear changes. I like the “manual” option but I tend to only use it for long steep descents. The speed of the gear changes seem to be directly related to the pressure of your right foot. If you drive it hard, it will hold the lower gear longer and rev quite freely.

Engine: Lots of low down torque and revs easily – really nice V6 growl when pushed.

Interior: Very luxurious leather surroundings, a nice place to be. The “ski” small folding section is very useful when transporting long items, wood etc. I like how the centre cubby hole doors open!

Door Mirrors: I like the function where the mirrors tilt down when selecting reverse. This feature can be switched off if it proves annoying.

Instruments and switches: Clear and sensibly positioned. I like the radio controls on the steering wheel but often forget they are there!

Heated Seats: Very warm! I do forget to use mine!

Headlights: Excellent – good wide beam range.

Sound System: Standard not ML but still very good – no speaker vibrations or rattles.

Boot Area: The auxiliary box is very handy, especially if you have the luggage cover (which I don’t)

Quality: For a car that is 14 years old there are no rattles or bumps that I can detect. The only annoying sound is the rear leather seats squeak when no passengers are travelling in the back – I can live with it.

Exterior Style: To my eye this model does not look dated. Good design lasts and only needs some minor updating. The newer 450h breaks the mould but I would guess that design will be with the Lexus stable for a number of years.

On the Road: The RX300 is a large car but it does not “feel” large. Very easy to manoeuvre - with a good turning circle for an SUV.

Seating: Very comfortable and rear seats fold flat.

Dislikes:-

Reversing light: About as much use as a chocolate fireguard! There is a fix on here though!

Only have one key and Battery in fob flat – not had the inclination to sort it.

No reverse parking sensors – I will be getting these fitted as mine is not the version with the reversing camera. I bought the car on its condition rather than the spec.

Fuel Consumption: Yes I did realise it would be thirsty!

Tank to Tank mpg – Best 28mpg Worst 19mpg Usual/average 22mpg

I have owned a new car before but I would be hard pushed to say this was not “nearly” new to drive and look at.

What would I replace it with? Almost certainly an RX450h.

These are my personal thoughts on the RX300, others on here may have different views.

mikesands · March 30, 2018

Interesting review David. My 400H is now 9 years old and has done 132k miles. I have bought the Lexus used car warranty every couple of years for £900 and what a waste of money that has been . It seems to be worth £5400 trade-in so yes I guess a low mileage 400H at retail prices may be pushing £10k

Mine has got the reversing camera but I would much prefer beeping sensors. There''s about 20 pages in the user manual about the camera and it's all double dutch to me.

I'm getting about 25 or 26mpg in the cold weather. In summer on a run I can get 29mpg

I've been testing 450H's lately and each time I get back in the 400H I am surprised at how much smaller it is. And yet seeing it parked next to other cars it is obviously a big car. I have come to the conclusion that I like the size of mine but I will have to come to terms with the latest 450H bus-like size next year if I want to stick with Lexus.

One tip - I was getting annoyed at the primitive Bluetooth that is in the 400h - in particular since I use my Iphone 7 for all my music and satnav (Copilot), it was annoying to have a dummy tape and wires everywhere if I wanted to play it through the car audio system. I bought one of these for £12 and it's transformed the experience https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B06XHNHLR2/ref=pe_3187911_189395841_TE_dp_1 Incidentally - like heated seats, I couldn't see the point of Mark Levinson audio - until I got a car with them. Now I'm going to find it difficult to own a car without them.

Mike

Spacewagon52 · March 30, 2018

11 minutes ago, mikesands said:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B06XHNHLR2/ref=pe_3187911_189395841_TE_dp

That looks a nice bit of kit but my phone still uses string and two cans! Surprised your mpg is not better tbh.

Mike, how long have you had the 400h and what mileage did it have when you bought it?

mikesands · March 30, 2018

62k miles I think in 2013

My business partner got a 400H at the same time and got similar mpg - he has a 3RX now and gets 28mpg round town and 31mpg on a run. Nowhere near the claims

Mike

ColinBarber · March 30, 2018

1 hour ago, Spacewagon52 said:

Surprised your mpg is not better tbh.

Here is the record of my old 400h. Make sure you select UK for fuel units. I'd get around 33 mpg around town and 29 mpg on higher speed runs. These were actual figures, the fuel computer would typically always be 2 mpg over the actual.

Whenever I had a series III 450h as a loan, it would be 10% better on fuel than the 400h.

http://www.fuelly.com/car/lexus/rx400h/2005/colin10086/144848

rich1068 · March 30, 2018

11 hours ago, Spacewagon52 said:

I have owned my RX 300 for a few months now, so I thought I would do a review...

Great stuff. Obviously jumped straight on Autotrader and started looking!

sorcerer · March 30, 2018

A very good review David and I'd agree with almost everything you've said. Mine had the satnav and reversing camera and they were excellent, but reversing sensors would also have been handy. Add in the reversing light mod, replacing the front cigar lighter with a twin USB socket and fitting the daytime running lights, and I felt that that was it, the car couldn't be improved much more.

It was a superb car but, oh my, the 450h is a whole order of magnitude above the 300 in every respect - not surprising I suppose as it's much newer :-)

Spacewagon52 · March 30, 2018

1 hour ago, sorcerer said:

It was a superb car but, oh my, the 450h is a whole order of magnitude above the 300 in every respect - not surprising I suppose as it's much newer :-)

I hope, John, you will do a review after you have run the 450h for a while longer.

Geedub · March 31, 2018

I've just bought an RX300 that sounds almost identical to yours. 14 years old but in beautiful condition. and drives very well indeed, Paid under £4k for it, having sold a much newer/more expensive Audi. Really hard pushed to tell the difference in age, though, other than the fact that it has a cassette player! ;)

This is my second Lexus (owned a GS for a while a few years back) and am very impressed with build quality. It doesn't feel tired, despite having done over 100k miles. I bought it as I'm disabled and my mobility problems mean that getting out of a regular car has become more difficult - also needed the extra load space that an SUV provides. Hoping that the RX will last me 2 or 3 years, but at the price I paid, it's almost disposable. I'm sufficiently impressed that I would definitely consider buying another one when this one eventually dies.

Spacewagon52 · March 31, 2018

1 hour ago, Geedub said:

1 hour ago, Geedub said:

Paid under £4k for it, having sold a much newer/more expensive Audi. Really hard pushed to tell the difference in age, though, other than the fact that it has a cassette player! ;)

Hoping that the RX will last me 2 or 3 years, but at the price I paid, it's almost disposable. I'm sufficiently impressed that I would definitely consider buying another one when this one eventually dies.

That says it all to me.

rich1068 · March 31, 2018

It's pretty much my view on many of these late 90s/early 00s Lexus. IMO still at the proving themselves stage by building well engineered but not overly complex motor cars that stand up well to age and mileage. The electrics alone are a reason for choosing Lexus over its European rivals. I do love German/other European cars but at these price points I don't think I'd ever really consider one again. I'd have to spend quite a bit more to get quality equivalent to my IS but the chance of something going pop would still be higher. Does that make sense? lol

Spacewagon52 · March 31, 2018

11 minutes ago, rich1068 said:

I'd have to spend quite a bit more to get quality equivalent to my IS but the chance of something going pop would still be higher. Does that make sense? lol

Perfect sense from my experience!

Geedub · March 31, 2018

6 hours ago, rich1068 said:

It's pretty much my view on many of these late 90s/early 00s Lexus. IMO still at the proving themselves stage by building well engineered but not overly complex motor cars that stand up well to age and mileage. The electrics alone are a reason for choosing Lexus over its European rivals. I do love German/other European cars but at these price points I don't think I'd ever really consider one again. I'd have to spend quite a bit more to get quality equivalent to my IS but the chance of something going pop would still be higher. Does that make sense? lol

Makes perfect sense to me. I’ve owned a couple of Audi A8’s. Lovely cars but NOT cheap to keep running!

Chris Skelton · April 10, 2018

On 30/03/2018 at 11:14 AM, rich1068 said:

Great stuff. Obviously jumped straight on Autotrader and started looking!

Me too, even after nearly 10 years Lexus-free!

There's an lpg RX350 in Scotland I was tempted by (anyone know it?) but that's nearly 8 hours drive (could fly up.....)

lpg seems the way to go with a 350.

Spacewagon52 · April 10, 2018

2 hours ago, Chris Skelton said:

Me too, even after nearly 10 years Lexus-free!

There's an lpg RX350 in Scotland I was tempted by (anyone know it?) but that's nearly 8 hours drive (could fly up.....)

lpg seems the way to go with a 350.

That would be a good call. The only negative is the Road Tax at £500+

Stupot · April 11, 2018

Since the April price increase....road tax is now £555 for the RX350. That's up £20 from last year. I can see road tax for post March 2006 gas guzzlers hitting £600 in two years time. But you will get a £10 discount for an LPG car if it's registered as an alternative fuel car with DVLA (which the one in Scotland is according to the advert)

That LPG RX350 looks nice... if it had grey or beige leather, I'd have been interested myself, but, being a Scottish based car, I'd be giving the underside of the car a very thorough inspection. It's been for sale for a few weeks now, surprised it has not gone.

rich1068 · April 11, 2018

£500 plus in road tax is too rich for me. I've looked at some of the petrol XC90s before and been put off by the road tax. Takes a bit of a shine off the bagging a bargain feeling.

And fair enough some of these cars can be called gas guzzlers but some are just high CO2 emitters. There are so many great family cars out there that will just end up scrapped because no one wants to pay the road tax, instead they'll buy/lease something new or nearly new which makes an absolute mockery of the eco LED tax system.

Stupot · April 11, 2018

I forgot to add a thank you to David for his review which started this thread. Useful to hear the view of an RX300 from someone who owns an LS400.

Geedub · April 16, 2018

Having had the RX for a couple of weeks now, I find myself echoing most of Spacewagon52's comments from his excellent review, so figured I should add my two penn'rth to this thread.

Comfort: It's like driving around on my sofa. The seats are amazing (and the seat heaters are welcome). Ride isn't quite as supple as my Audi A8 was, but that had air suspension, so understandable. Still very smooth, though.

Audio system - mine isn't ML either, but it's at least as good as the Bose system I had in the Audi. I'm using a bluetooth-to-FM widget for streaming music from the Iphone, which works adequately.

Economy: Not too bad, considering,. My A8 was V8 powered and would do just over 30mpg on a long run if I was careful. The RX does slightly less on a long run (high twenties), but average day-to-day driving is no worse. I don't do a lot of mileage, so that's not an issue.

Handling/Performance: it's a bit of a bus, but easier to handle and nicer to drive than other SUV's I've tried *cough* Range Rover *cough*. Performance is fine for what it is - all fairly effortless and wafty, which is all one needs :)

Keys: Far too fragile. Had to rebuild both using the kit from the guy on eBay who supplies pre-cut replacement casings. Easy job and not expensive.

Like Spacewagon52, I find myself missing having parking sensors (I don't have the reversing camera either). A retrofit is on the cards.

Power tailgate: very handy indeed.

For such an old car, it's superb. I'd been tempted by a (newer) RX on two previous occasions, both times ending up in Audis instead. Glad I finally bought one - it was the sensible purchase for my current circumstances, but one that I'm enjoying out of all proportion to the low cost.

Spacewagon52 · April 16, 2018

10 minutes ago, Geedub said:

Glad I finally bought one - it was the sensible purchase for my current circumstances, but one that I'm enjoying out of all proportion to the low cost.

Quote Geedub: at the price I paid, it's almost disposable. I'm sufficiently impressed that I would definitely consider buying another one when this one eventually dies.

To me they are great value, provided you can handle the fuel costs - but there is always the LPG option. I find very little difference between my RX300 and my new Mitsubishi Spacewagon,

(in 2003!)

Nickyt211 · April 20, 2018

I agree I’ve owned my rx300 a year now and i love it it’s smooth and comfy but can still shift if I need it to. I think they still look great too, some of my friends think I drive a “posh” Lexus. Mine is a 2004 reg I did look at a 2006 rx300 but yes the ridiculous tax put me off. Mine is only £290 a year(probably more this year) but wouldn’t consider changing it except for a newer 450 when they come down in price or I get some dosh lol. Always liked my Japanese cars and this one doesn’t disappoint.