Rx300 Air Suspension And Lexus Extended Warranty

[Rasti Man]

Good afternoon everyone

I have been persuaded by Mrs Rasti Man to replace our Honda CRV (which is currently on lease) with a 2005 year RX 300. Having been pleasantly surprised by the apparent distinct lack of serious problems with the Series 2 RX300's when compared to other luxury marques, I thought I'd ask a few more questions before I part with my hard earned cash.

Firstly, I like all the features of an SE-L, (electric tailgate, Satnav etc) but the air suspension does make my wallet want to seal itself into my pocket at the thought of potential repair bills that may occur. If I've read the Lexus website correctly, it appears possible to purchase an extended warranty provided the vehicle is a UK model which is less than 10 years old and travelled less than 140K miles at the time the warranty is purchased.

As we are likely to have the car for 12-18 months, have any other forum members with an RX and air suspension either a) had any serious problems and what sort of costs were involved, and b) have they successfully claimed on the Lexus extended warranty?

Secondly, is the Lexus warranty felt to be value for money, or am I better keeping the £995 in my pocket for unexpected repairs?

Lastly, I understand from posts on the forum that the 2005 model year RX300's with Satnav has hands free Bluetooth as standard. If I am unable to find a suitable 2005 year vehicle, is it possible to fit an aftermarket kit such as a Parrot easily to say a 2003 or 2004 model year with the integrated Satnav?

Oh I almost forgot, are they any Lexus specialists in the Cambridge area in case I decide not to go with the extended warranty?

Thank you for reading my first ever post, and I look forward to all your comments.

[ColinBarber]

I'd look for an SE with the Nav option. You would get the power tailgate without air suspension.

Bluetooth was added in July 2005 to vehicles fitted with Nav. You could fit an aftermarket system but you won't have the same functionality (steering wheel buttons for example). There is a mute wire for the stereo which allows phone integration.

[Rasti Man]

Many thanks for that Colin, it seems a logical solution. Does anyone know of a Lexus independent in the Cambridge area please?

[JamesRX300]

Hi, just thought i would share my experience with my SE-L. Really great and very smooth car on the motorway. Living in central London, there are hundreds of road humps that I find the air suspension to not absorbed them smoothly. I also had to change the front passenger side suspension as I would hear a knocking sound when I go though humps. Lucky for me, found second hand one.

My advice to you is find the SE model as other members have mention.

I've also put 235/60/18 which are smoother to the OE 235/55/60

Had my RX300 for five years and never had problem with the engine. Really great car

[Rasti Man]

Thanks for the reply James, I will certainly go for either an SE model or 400h if funds permit.

[garyrx300]

Just replaced the air suspension on my 300 sel with coilovers for a fraction of the cost of genuine ones. Wouldn't be put of buying one again but would be a bit more cautious.

[Morton]

Garyrx300, could you please tell me a little about your swap? Did you do it at Lexus/Toyota with original RX300 coilover parts? At what cost? And most of all, you should now be the best Lexus owner to judge the two suspension setups and what the differences are.

Morton

[garyrx300]

Hi morton first of all the coilovers were not genuine one's, cost of all 4 was less than lexus would want for one suspension leg. Replaced them myself took about an hour for each so about 4 hours in total. As for ride i find it better yes it is stiffer but that suits me i have also lowered it and just need to fine tune it much better ride in my opinion and the saving was huge.

Gary.

[garyrx300]

Hi morton first of all the coilovers were not genuine one's, cost of all 4 was less than lexus would want for one suspension leg. Replaced them myself took about an hour for each so about 4 hours in total. As for ride i find it better yes it is stiffer but that suits me i have also lowered it and just need to fine tune it much better ride in my opinion and the saving was huge.

Gary.

[Morton]

Hi morton first of all the coilovers were not genuine one's, cost of all 4 was less than lexus would want for one suspension leg. Replaced them myself took about an hour for each so about 4 hours in total. As for ride i find it better yes it is stiffer but that suits me i have also lowered it and just need to fine tune it much better ride in my opinion and the saving was huge.

Gary.

Great job Gary. I guess then you got the coilovers as a complete assembly ready for install?

[garyrx300]

Yes morton complete including topmounts.

[ChrisKaye]

Hi Gary,

What happened to your original air struts... Did the air bags perish?

A friend of the family had them go on his Range Rover and was able to source new bags all round from Dunlop (the OEM supplier) for £400 quid and installed them onto his existing struts - been good for about 3 years since he changed them and still going strong!

I was wondering if we could do the same on the RX?

Ta,

Chris.

[garyrx300]

Hi chris bit of a long story but airbags and struts are fine topmount knocking and compressor not working. Changed a leveling sensor last year. £300 it was cheaper to get rid of the problem altogether, rather than replacing with oem.

[Morton]

Sensors..airbags.. compressor..$$$$$

I had the knocking topmount syndrom on my car as well. ..I'm beginning to think it was a terrible mistake to replace the airstrut. Since it was covered by the insurance I should have thrown in the extra money and replaced them all. The cost was exactly half the price of swapping to conventional struts on all corners!