Lexus RX300 (1998-2003) review: the cheapest seat in the Lexus showroom, 25 years late
MotorsSouq Editorial Team
Buy a first-generation RX300 with your eyes open: it is a 25-plus-year-old car with era-appropriate safety and none of the tech buyers expect today. What it offers is a genuinely reliable V6 and AWD drivetrain, a comfortable ride, and a purchase price that makes the eventual list of small age-related fixes easy to absorb. Avoid anything with a service history gap or visible leaks around the AWD transfer unit, and do not expect it to do anything off-road beyond a graded track.
Pros
- 1MZ-FE V6 is exceptionally reliable with basic maintenance
- Comfortable, refined ride for its age and price bracket
- AWD is a genuine benefit in Bahrain's winter rain
- By far the cheapest way into a used Lexus in Bahrain
Cons
- Safety equipment and cabin tech are two and a half decades out of date
- Cracked dashboards and tired bushings are common on unloved examples
- AWD transfer case seals eventually weep and need attention
- Not a serious off-road or sand vehicle despite the AWD badge
The RX300 mattered in 1998 because it did something nobody had tried at this price: it put a smooth V6, real leather and Lexus badge equity on a unibody chassis shared with the Camry, instead of a body-on-frame truck platform. In Bahrain a quarter century later, none of that history matters to a buyer with a few hundred dinars to spend. What matters is that the 1MZ-FE V6 is one of the most forgiving engines Toyota ever built, and that a well-kept example still drives smoothly.
What actually breaks
The known weak points on this generation are age items, not design flaws: cracked dashboards from UV exposure, tired suspension bushings, and AWD transfer case seals that eventually weep fluid. None of these are expensive by Bahraini workshop rates, and none of them are a reason to walk away from an otherwise clean example. A timing belt service (not a chain on this engine) is the one maintenance item worth confirming before you buy, since a missed interval is a real risk.
Living with it today
The cabin is small by modern SUV standards and the safety kit — a handful of airbags, no stability control on early cars — reflects 1998, not 2026. Ride comfort and refinement are still genuinely good for the money, and the all-wheel-drive system is useful on wet Bahraini roads during the winter rain even though it was never meant for sand.
Who should buy one
This is a car for a first-time buyer or a second family car, not a daily long-distance commuter you plan to keep for a decade. Treat the purchase price as most of the total cost of ownership, budget for a set of age-related repairs in the first year, and you will end up with a comfortable, honestly reliable old Lexus for less than almost anything else wearing the badge.