EXTERIOR

My Uncle Antonio painted the lower body panels black with DuPont paint (my uncle would charge you under $400 total for this due to the cost of the paint). Further down we added 3M paint to protect from rock hits (included with $400) For speed, we removed the mudflaps (thanks to TunedRX300 at Club Lexus for pointing this out) and roof racks. Did you know this RX originally had a rear spoiler, but it was removed and Antonio painted over it? It now sits on my cousin Carlos' 1995 Golf VR6.

1999 Lexus RX300 spoiler now on my cousin's Golf.

Smoothed and painted portion where the spoiler used to sit

Notice lack of mudflaps overall

No roof racks

Lack of mudflaps on front

Lack of mudflaps on rear

Another modification that is quite rare in the Western Hemisphere, excepting some areas in the Caribbean, is the removal of the side marker lights on the corners. The Toyota Harrier and the RX300 sold in Europe/Asia/Caribbean and other areas do not have side marker lights on the corners either. What we did was remove the markers and place a fiber epoxy over the holes and later add a paste that was smoothed out and painted over.

Yes, it came with the special rims. Notice I use the center cap from a Toyota Camry. Saves on theft versus Lexus caps and they appear to be surprisingly better made. ($100 for 4 caps) I also use Michelin CrossTerrains 235-70-16 instead of the stock 225-70-16 Goodyear Integrity, which I found horrible for Mexico after only a few months. I plan to move to a 235-60-16 in the future. Most Toyota Harriers have 215-70-16 tires as the stock size. I use nitrogen in my tires.

KYB-GR2 shocks (about $110 each). After installation I noticed better acceleration due to lack of swaying and bouncing, better turning ability on high speeds without having to fight the vehicle and of course less feeling on bumps. In place of the rubber lower suspension insulators we have replaced it with .75 inch/2 cm diameter, 22 inch length red plastic tubing as the prior insulators would wear out easily.

Eventually, I painted the top of each of these shocks black to match the rest of the vehicle and give it the original look with the OEM shocks. Do not get me wrong, silver shocks and the black exterior looked good, but I preferred the look of the black OEM shocks a bit better.

Badgeless rear. I bought this RX used and it came with the gold package, which I never did like along with the design of the 1999 spoiler. The Lexus rear bumper protector was actually added later, since it was not an OEM part on 1999 RX300s. There is one for the comparative year Toyota Sienna, but it does not curl around the edge of the bumper like the Lexus one. Very easy to put on with the accompanying 3M tape.

All of the badging was removed save this front emblem which was gold and painted silver. I like silver on black better than gold. This emblem has since been removed.

I now have a Toyota Harrier (as the RX300 is known in parts of the world) emblem. I found this in of all places Kingston, Jamaica for a little over $40 USD at Bert's Auto Parts . Jamaica has both RX300s and Harriers (yes, they both have the original badging) on the road and that is a bargain place to go JDM parts shopping as they have a very full line of JDM (Japanese Domestic Market) vehicles.

A close up view of the emblem. The actual Toyota part number for this Emblem that should fit the 1997 (yes, Harriers haven around since then) (Harrier/RX300) to 2000 (Harrier/RX300) is 75301-48010. (see photo below) For a U.S. supplier, try My Auto Fashion

Special 3M paint to protect from rock hits on lower portion.

Me and my buddy Michael (with his 350hp+ Mazda RX7) at the 2004 Fast and the Furious Show at Hermanos Rodriguez Raceway. Michael took a lot of the pictures you see throughout these pages. Michael is the only dude I know that can shift gears, smoke, talk on his cell phone and drive all with one hand at the same time. Absolutely incredible:) To see Michael's amazing machine, 1993 Mazda RX7 . Michael has had some of the fastest amateur (I don't think you can call him that) times ever recorded (by any vehicle) on some of the major race tracks he has had a chance to race on here in Mexico. This is a fine testament to this great driver.

Another picture from the same show.

Rear view facing toward downtown Mexico City

Parked in front of the extinct Ajusco volcano in southwest Mexico City.

Not snow, but occasionally we get hail and ice that gives that impression.