Leaking Rear Oil Seal

[RX in NC]

Like a number of RX owners have reported here previously, my wife's 2000 RX300 has developed a slow oil leak from its rear seal. The vehicle began losing 10 to 15 drops of oil per day at some point during this past weekend, and I've been monitoring it by placing a piece of cardboard between the engine oil pan and transmission fluid pan which is where the oil dripping occurs.

Our RX currently sits at approximately 73,400 miles, and a number of RX owners have reported that this problem seems to develop between 65,000 and 75,000 miles. Based upon our negative experiences with the RX, I was actually expecting this problem to occur and I've been looking for it over the past couple of months. Sure enough, the evidence is now there.

Be aware that in order to replace this particular rear seal, the vehicle's transmission must be dropped. So putting in a new $25 seal requires a couple of days and over $1,000 in labor costs from your friendly Lexus dealership.

The good news for us is that I spoke with our Lexus service manager this morning and she agreed to cover these repairs under the 70,000 mile drivetrain warranty even though we've technically exceeded that mileage figure.

The bad news is that this vehicle continues to plague us with problems, all of which are documented as common flaws in the RX series. I'll list these problems below so other RX owners can be aware of them if you're not already:

August 2003 - cracked exhaust manifold, faulty mass air flow sensor.

November 2003 - automatic transmission failure.

August 2004 - faulty fuel/air ratio (bank 1) sensor.

October 2004 - rear oil seal failure.

However, I will give our local Lexus service manager credit (and a nod of thanks) for handling ALL of these problems under the regular Lexus warranty. Our August 2003 and November 2003 issues were legitimately handled under the 4 year/50,000 mile warranty, while the August 2004 and October 2004 issues were and are being handled under a selective "customer goodwill" policy even though we've exceeded the regular warranty period for both of those problems. All issues EXCEPT the transmission failure were handled quickly, relatively conveniently, and without too much foot-stomping on my part. I really had to battle for the new transmission last October and November and it required more than a month of effort on my part to make it happen, but my effort was worth it because it brought my wife some much-needed piece of mind and re-established at least some measure of trust in her vehicle.

That being said, from an inherent problems standpoint this RX300 is still the most disappointing vehicle we've owned during the past 25 years. The famed perception of Lexus quality and "relentless pursuit of perfection" is simply not present in so many components that comprise the overall vehicle. Toyota's quality control has taken a number of well-publicized hits lately, and Lexus is certainly playing a part in that.

[bluestu]

I think you should sell your RX300 and buy a car that makes you happy. I have two RX300s with almost 80k and have had only one problem which was the mass air flow sensor. I replaced that myself which took about one minute. Of course, I have had my transmissions completely flushed and all the other fluids changed. I have the engine oil and filter changed every 3,000 miles and started using only synthetic oil. No engine sludge or leak problems here. Keeping the fluids clean is vital in maintaining any car.

The Lexus maintanence schedule is flawed, especially concerning the transmission. There is probably a good reason for this considering that dealerships make most of their money selling parts and servicing vehicles.

I have to admit that I have learned a great deal of valuable information by reading and posting on this forum. I love my RX300!!!

[RX in NC]

bluestu,

I'm not ready to take the depreciation hit by selling my wife's RX300 at this stage of what we planned to be about a six-year lifespan for us. If I could unload it for even money I would jump at the chance, but given its problematic history, that just isn't going to happen because I believe in being totally honest with anyone who rings my doorbell to consider a vehicle that I've listed for sale. That means full disclosure and all service records. I demand no less when I purchase a pre-owned vehicle myself.

Like you, I maintain our vehicles meticulously and compulsively. I do the routine maintenance myself because I believe that no one else will take care of our vehicles as well as I will. I've done this since the mid-1970s, comprising approximately 20 vehicles, most of which have provided us with at least 130,000 miles of service apiece. Do the math and that comes to more than two-and-a-half million miles between my wife, our daughter, and myself.

None of our other vehicles have ever saddled us with anything even close to the severity of problems that this RX300 has presented us with over the past thirteen months. I very much appreciate the willingness of our local Lexus service manager to step up to the plate for us, and I realize that many of you out there do not receive the same type of support from the Lexus folks you deal with in your particular area. But in my eyes, a well-maintained, carefully-driven Lexus vehicle having to spend almost thirty days in the shop over a thirteen-month period due to a myriad of major (and very expensive) service breakdowns is, in a word, inexcusable.

And finally, I agree with your comment concerning the value of this forum and that's why I continue to come here for information. Without this forum and similar ones elsewhere on the net, it would have been far more difficult to discover the widespread existence of the RX transmission problems as well as most of the other issues we've had to deal with pertaining to this vehicle. And that's the true value here - to learn from other folks' experiences and recommendations, come up with a solution for your particular issue, and then share it here for those who have not yet experienced the problem but are likely to at some point down the road.

[RX in NC]

My wife's RX300 had its leaking rear oil seal replaced under the Lexus "goodwill" customer warranty this past Thursday and Friday, and the vehicle is now back in our hands leak-free at this point.

The General Manager of our local Lexus dealership strongly agrees with me that we've sufferered through an inordinate amount of problems with this vehicle over the past year, understands my concerns about the vehicle's overall quality (or lack thereof), and will be meeting with me next week to address my concerns. This is responsive and customer-oriented management, and I very much appreciate it. For those of you who may find yourselves in similar circumstances, I'll keep you posted on the results of this upcoming meeting.

[RX in NC]

Had my meeting yesterday evening with the General Manager of our local Lexus dealership in Raleigh. Nice guy, very customer-oriented, and he understands that my vehicles are meticulously cared for by myself whenever possible. There was no question whatsoever about my ability to do my own routine maintenance; it's obvious in the condition of my wife's RX.

Here's what he basically admitted to:

1. Real oil seal leaks have been a problem in the RX300 series. Widely known and addressed by Lexus with their supplier. The oil seals that are going into the vehicles under repair today are better engineered with better materials than the original factory-installed seals. We have our new rear seal at no charge to us, this is a very acceptable explanation, case closed as far as I'm concerned.

2. The various oxygen sensors have been a problem in the RX series. Same story as above - the suppliers were contacted, better engineering and materials were utilized, and the sensors that are going into the vehicles under repair today are expected to last much longer. I reminded him that thus far two sensors have popped on my wife's RX (the mass air flow sensor and the air/fuel ratio sensor) and both were replaced at no charge by Lexus, and I expect that policy to continue as our other sensors pop up until about 125,000 miles where I've seen an oxygen sensor pop in a previous (non-Lexus) vehicle we owned. After 125,000 miles I have no problem covering those sensors out of my own pocket if I have to. If Lexus will continue to cover them for me, so much the better.

3. As expected, things got somewhat hazier when I turned his attention to our transmission problems. He acknowledged that given our circumstances last autumn, his dealership should have moved much more quickly in replacing the transmission in my wife's vehicle after she no longer felt safe in it, and he apologized for me having to battle with one of his service advisors for over a month before that finally happened. But unlike most of you out there, we did finally get our new transmission and that's a definite plus. At $6,000 to $7,000 in revenue apiece to replace these transmissions, Lexus will continue to do everything they can to NOT have to put a new transmission in your problematic vehicle. It's up to you to fight your battle as I did. Most folks are not willing to go head-to-head with a service department. I stand on principle and will do it whenever necessary, and I usually succeed in convincing these folks that they're better off dealing with me now rather than trying to stretch it out and hope that I'll just go away. I will NEVER go away as long as we own the vehicle, and these folks now know that all too well.

The most interesting part of our conversation centered around the proper care of a Lexus transmission in order to assure that you receive a long, trouble-free lifespan from yours. Your owners manual will tell you to never change your fluid unless you drive under unusual circumstances such as towing a trailer, driving primarily on dusty, unpaved roads, or doing mostly city driving with trips under five miles in duration. He and I both agreed that if you don't change your fluid, your transmission is doomed. His dealership prefers a 30,000-mile fluid change interval, but NOT running the risk of doing a complete transmission flush. The official Lexus opinion is that too many things can go wrong, primarily from a contamination standpoint, if the transmission is flushed. There are folks on this forum ("bluestu" comes to mind) who firmly believe that UNLESS you completely flush your transmission every 30,000 miles, it's going to die. With the inherent weaknesses in these RX transmissions, I believe that the truth is somewhere in the middle. My best advice is to ensure that you do a drain-and-fill at least every 30,000 miles with nothing but Toyota Type T-IV fluid. If you do that, keep good records, and don't abuse your vehicle by driving it like a Formula One racer, if transmission problems do develop you'll win your battle with Lexus 90% of the time, at least up until 120,000 miles or so.

Good luck to all of you RX owners out there. Hope you've learned something from my experiences, especially this: be professional, have your documentation in hand, and above all, BE CONSISTENT AND FIRM....