Lexus RX300 or Toyota RAV4 - Thoughts?

[DaimlerJ]

Hello,

My “daily” Jaguar S Type seems to be getting a bit worn out now. Rust in many places and now the gearbox is juddering. As much as I love the car, it’s just transport and I have other cars to enjoy, so I think it’ll be time to replace it soon.

Really something a bit more practical for winter would be ideal now as I have a new job. Something cheap, £3k max.

It seems you can get a nice RX300 or RAV4, around the age of my S Type (2004), for about £2-3k.

I’m only interested in petrols, but was wondering if there’s a clear winner from the two? Both seem like they should be very reliable, just maybe prone to the usual corrosion. I love the interior of the Lexus, but will the extra toys cause me trouble? This is just to be a workhorse/reliable runaround, so maybe the RAV4 would have less to go wrong?

Or maybe I should look at something totally different for my budget? My absolute main requirement is reliability.

[The spinner of plates]

Had an RX300 years ago.
Reliable, very comfortable, terrible mpg.

If my annual mileage was below 12k, I’d have another.

[DaimlerJ]

I can see the mpg is even a little less than my 3.0 S Type! But probably won’t do too many miles a year, as I have a Kia Picanto for economy, a Daimler for nice summer commuting and a Rover for shows/weekends. It’s mainly just for longer trips and bad weather commuting, so maybe 5k a year.

Looks like the RX300 might stay top of my list!

[The spinner of plates]

Makes sense. Took our to the Alps skiing every year we had it. With M&S tyres it was impressive.

Weirdly though motorway cruising wasn’t as relaxed as it should have been.
Had a 4 speed auto - at 90mph on french autoroutes that V6 was spinning away at least 1,000 rpm higher than it should have. Made you either drive slower to suit the engine’s natural gait, or accept you were cruising at sub 20mpg.

This was the mk1 though.
If I were to get another I’d get a mk2 - looks more modern and has a 5 speed auto.

[DaimlerJ]

The spinner of plates said:

Weirdly though motorway cruising wasn’t as relaxed as it should have been.
Had a 4 speed auto - at 90mph on french autoroutes that V6 was spinning away at least 1,000 rpm higher than it should have. Made you either drive slower to suit the engine’s natural gait, or accept you were cruising at sub 20mpg.

This was the mk1 though.
If I were to get another I’d get a mk2 - looks more modern and has a 5 speed auto.

The Mk2 is ideally what I’d look for, as it just looks a bit more modern, but if the Mk1 is just as reliable then I’d be happy to go for either. Out in Suffolk and Norfolk motorways are a foreign thing, so to do 60 would be fast for me!

[The spinner of plates]

Ha, fair enough!
Give them a test drive, nice cars.