Transmission Problems/failures with RX300 awd/fwd

[rkr]

First time on site but from what I read Im not alone. Bought a used 99 Rx300 with 73,000 miles in May. Last Saturday Oct 13 the transmission goes out no warning, had it towed to local Toyota dealer because Lexus dealer is 50 miles away. Dealer calls me Monday morning with the news. GUESS WHAT? I need a new transmission. The 4700.00 job is cheaper than if I had the car at the Lexus dealer he tells me. Thank you I said and asked if I could get a second opinion. He welcomed it like he cared. I searched around and found a independent tranny shop that can do it for less. So I guess what Im looking for is some help, anyone have numbers for Lexus you can call or anyone I can complain to and MAYBE get some consideration of the problem we are all having. We are the ones suffering the cost for LEXUS/TOYOTA , whoever. It just is not right!

[lenore]

sorry about your failure, did you buy from a Lexus dealership, if so you may have a warranty. i know the cpo ones are good till 100k miles... I am shocked that Toyota wanted $4700... Lexus only charged $4300.... But an independent should be at least a $1200 cheaper. by the way the rear main seal is exposed when changing the tranny it is less than $50 and now would be a great time to get it changed with the newer style one.... can save you $1200 in labor down the road... Please file a complaint with the NHTS Administration online. You will need your vehicle vin # it adds to their statistics on the failure rate of the tranny on these vehicles.... You can also contact Lexus of America....but quite frankly they dont care....good luck

[rkr]

sorry about your failure, did you buy from a Lexus dealership, if so you may have a warranty. i know the cpo ones are good till 100k miles... I am shocked that Toyota wanted $4700... Lexus only charged $4300.... But an independent should be at least a $1200 cheaper. by the way the rear main seal is exposed when changing the tranny it is less than $50 and now would be a great time to get it changed with the newer style one.... can save you $1200 in labor down the road... Please file a complaint with the NHTS Administration online. You will need your vehicle vin # it adds to their statistics on the failure rate of the tranny on these vehicles.... You can also contact Lexus of America....but quite frankly they dont care....good luck

Lenore ,I found a independent that will do it for 3200.00 and I will take your advice and have the rear main seal replaced. THANKS FOR THAT TIP! Do you have the number for Lexus America? I am already in the process of filing a complaint with NHTS , just want to make sure I dont leave anything out, want to have all my facts down and make it sound as pathetic as this is for everyone on this forum. What kind of business ethics does Toyota/Lexus have, I would could not have this kind of problem with an auto and let it go out to the public. Albeit Greed and profit is what makes the world what it is today.

[wwest]

sorry about your failure, did you buy from a Lexus dealership, if so you may have a warranty. i know the cpo ones are good till 100k miles... I am shocked that Toyota wanted $4700... Lexus only charged $4300.... But an independent should be at least a $1200 cheaper. by the way the rear main seal is exposed when changing the tranny it is less than $50 and now would be a great time to get it changed with the newer style one.... can save you $1200 in labor down the road... Please file a complaint with the NHTS Administration online. You will need your vehicle vin # it adds to their statistics on the failure rate of the tranny on these vehicles.... You can also contact Lexus of America....but quite frankly they dont care....good luck

Lenore ,I found a independent that will do it for 3200.00 and I will take your advice and have the rear main seal replaced. THANKS FOR THAT TIP! Do you have the number for Lexus America? I am already in the process of filing a complaint with NHTS , just want to make sure I dont leave anything out, want to have all my facts down and make it sound as pathetic as this is for everyone on this forum. What kind of business ethics does Toyota/Lexus have, I would could not have this kind of problem with an auto and let it go out to the public. Albeit Greed and profit is what makes the world what it is today.

If the previous owner used a Lexus dealer to perform the scheduled maintainance items then there will be a complete record of same accessable at ANY Lexus dealer. If proper maintainance was carried out then you might have a very good argument for having Lexus offset some of the cost of the new transaxle as they seemingly have established a history of doing just that.

Lexus is very well aware of a problem in the early RX300s that resulted in premature transaxle failures in exactly the mileage range of your failure.

Actually, given the circumstances, I would ask, enquire, Lexus of an offset compensation regardless of proper maintainance records or not.

[lenore]

sorry about your failure, did you buy from a Lexus dealership, if so you may have a warranty. i know the cpo ones are good till 100k miles... I am shocked that Toyota wanted $4700... Lexus only charged $4300.... But an independent should be at least a $1200 cheaper. by the way the rear main seal is exposed when changing the tranny it is less than $50 and now would be a great time to get it changed with the newer style one.... can save you $1200 in labor down the road... Please file a complaint with the NHTS Administration online. You will need your vehicle vin # it adds to their statistics on the failure rate of the tranny on these vehicles.... You can also contact Lexus of America....but quite frankly they dont care....good luck

Lenore ,I found a independent that will do it for 3200.00 and I will take your advice and have the rear main seal replaced. THANKS FOR THAT TIP! Do you have the number for Lexus America? I am already in the process of filing a complaint with NHTS , just want to make sure I dont leave anything out, want to have all my facts down and make it sound as pathetic as this is for everyone on this forum. What kind of business ethics does Toyota/Lexus have, I would could not have this kind of problem with an auto and let it go out to the public. Albeit Greed and profit is what makes the world what it is today.

The phone number for Lexus is Phone: 1-800-255-3987

TTY/TTD Users: 1-800-443-4999

Monday–Friday, 5:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m., PT

Saturday, 7:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m., PT

Fax: 1-310-468-2992

[fhc]

My daughters 2000 RX 300 must have the transmission replaced at 86,000 miles. It went out 8 days after 3 year extended warranty expired. Dealership understands pain but no relief todate.

[wwest]

My daughters 2000 RX 300 must have the transmission replaced at 86,000 miles. It went out 8 days after 3 year extended warranty expired. Dealership understands pain but no relief todate.

Contact Lexus corporate, especially if she has good scheduled maintainance records.

[hausertreyen]

Hey all -

I bought my 1999 RX300 used with 23k miles. It now has 76k and the transmission decided over the weekend that it had had enough. 2nd gear, 3rd gear and OD are fine, but first gear has a "wind-up" sort of whine to it. Once the gar gets into 2nd gear it drives exactly like you'd expect. I haven't driven it much since I'm expecting total failure, soon. The onset was immediate. One moment I'm find, next time I try to accelerate, it makes a pretty big wind-up noise.

My local Lexus dealer believes my transmission is failing, and while I suspect they're right, I know nothing about cars. I figure I have three options:

1) the dealer quoted me a price of $4.8k total to replace it with a "remanufactured" one (of course, I'm not going to try to negotiate/get concessions, but that's the quote)

2) AAMCO will overhaul it for $2200 - the guy I spoke to over there seemed really sharp, and had indicated he had personally done a bunch of RX300s in the past couple of years

3) I could just trade it in on something else/sell it and let someone else worry about it

I was leaning toward AAMCO overhauling it, but if the RX300 really does have a design issue, that would seem to indicate that my particular transmission would just fail again. If I go with the remanufactured one, it would seem my odds aren't that much better, since it's still the same part (but at least it's not MY part). What I know for certain is that I don't want to do this again.

Since you all actually know something about cars, can you answer a couple questions? This will help me out enormously.

First, assuming I had a qualified AAMCO mechanic (big assumption, but let's assume it's true), how much better is the lexus-remanufactured part vs. my part being overhauled? If the AAMCO guy knew his stuff and had the right equipment, is the different white/black or is it a shade over gray?

Second, if we know that this car has an issue, is it worth even keeping? That is, I'm considering selling it soon after I get the transmission replaced, just because I don't want to deal with it.

Please let me know what you think of my 3 options, whether i'm missing any, and your opinion on the remanufactured vs. overhaul parts.

Thanks ahead of time!

[lenore]

I guess it depends on how much you like the car, Mine failed at 100k, I had it replaced at $4300.... I still like the car, but am mad a Lexus for such poor support, unlike Honda Accura which decided to fix there trannies at their cost....I would definetly go with the independent, ask him If you could contact some of the customers which he did, and ask them how they feel about the repaired tranny. If you do have it serviced, make sure the fluid is changed every 15k miles from then on. And make sure it is Toyota Type IV or Amsoil synthetic. They are the only ones that will work.... I have 145 k miles on mine now, and still like the car, just very unhappy with Lexus as a company...

[edbro]

Hey all -

I bought my 1999 RX300 used with 23k miles. It now has 76k and the transmission decided over the weekend that it had had enough.

Is it an AWD or FWD?

[hausertreyen]

Hey all -

I bought my 1999 RX300 used with 23k miles. It now has 76k and the transmission decided over the weekend that it had had enough.

Is it an AWD or FWD?

It's AWD.

I guess it depends on how much you like the car, Mine failed at 100k, I had it replaced at $4300.... I still like the car, but am mad a Lexus for such poor support, unlike Honda Accura which decided to fix there trannies at their cost....I would definetly go with the independent, ask him If you could contact some of the customers which he did, and ask them how they feel about the repaired tranny. If you do have it serviced, make sure the fluid is changed every 15k miles from then on. And make sure it is Toyota Type IV or Amsoil synthetic. They are the only ones that will work.... I have 145 k miles on mine now, and still like the car, just very unhappy with Lexus as a company...

I really like the car, actually, and had planned on driving it for a long time - figuring it would last a while. I've got the money to repair it, so it's nice to not be in that jam, but I'm not looking for a money pit, either. I just replaced the starter where it wasn't disengaging (and beating up my flywheel).

I found an independent who has gotten a couple of good referrals who will rebuild it for me, cost dependent on what parts need replacing.

Thanks for the responses so far.

[lenore]

Hey give us feedback, and if you could ask the tranny guy what parts failed, and which ones he replaced. I will add to my files....Thank you very much Tom

[hausertreyen]

Hey give us feedback, and if you could ask the tranny guy what parts failed, and which ones he replaced. I will add to my files....Thank you very much Tom

Sure, I can do that. Will let you know what ends up happening.

As an aside: I was talking with my mom about this last night. She drives an 04 RX330 and had driven a 99 RX300 before that. I'd forgotten about this, but she'd ended up trading in her 99 RX300 back to the Lexus dealership at about 40k miles because the transmission failed on it, too. Her car had forgotten how to shift into reverse.

Thanks.

[hausertreyen]

So here's what ended up happening:

I had some diagnostics run on the transmission, and the verdict was that the planetary gear would likely need to be replaced if the transmission was rebuilt. I spoke with the service manager at my local Lexus dealer (who himself had an RX300 and had to replace the transmission, ironically), and he went to Lexus corporate and got them to pay for half of the replacement cost. This brought the estimated cost to about $2200 including tax.

The estimated costs on the overhaul were between $1500-$2000. The Lexus service manager had said that when his own transmission went out, he'd grilled the Lexus engineers on the remanufactured part. He said that the engineers admitted that there were some "improvements" made in that transmission post-2001 and that they'd rather have a remanufactured 2001+ tranny than a brand new 2000 transmission. They never admitted to an issue, only that the 2001+ part was definitely better. I consider myself to be pretty darn good at knowing when someone isn't telling the full truth, and this guy was, so I believe him.

Anyway, I went with the new part. It wasn't that much more expensive ($2033 at the end of the day).

[angelikag]

Hello. I am new to this forum, but I am finding it very valuable. Today I found out that my 2001 RX300 AWD transmission is failing (78K miles). Yippie! For about $5,000 I can have a re-manufactured transmission installed that may last me another 80k. Also, the car is only worth $13K - $16K, and I probably won't be able to sell it privately, so now I have to try to dump it on a dealer! Great.

I want to thank you all for your great advice. And Lenore and others, I can't believe you have been fighting this battle for so long! I'm glad to see folks who are as passionate about their cars as I am, and who have had similar experiences with dealers for service. I was beginning to think it was just me not being cooperative with dealer service departments, but I'm actually glad to hear that maybe it is not just me. I gave up going to the dealer several years ago after I purchased my first (and only) Lexus. And it wasn't even over a tranny issue...

Anyway, I wanted to thank you hausertreyen, and roanokebarry, for the technical advice. I haven't been to the dealer yet, but I plan to go tomorrow just to file a complaint and to check out their pricing. I think I may try to clean the filter and flush the fluids before replacing the tranny, and I'll be sure to ask for a later model part if it comes to that.

If there is anyone still collecting names for a petition or something, feel free to add me. I, like the rest of you, am shocked to find that Lexus (the premium brand) does not stand behind their products. BMW here I come!

[lenore]

Thank you and please file a complaint the the NHTSA Board online. You will need your vin # on your car...It adds to the data base of failures of Transmissions on the RX300...Wish you could luck, but dont leap into the BMW before doing your homework...The German cars are not what they used to be...

[wwest]

So here's what ended up happening:

I had some diagnostics run on the transmission, and the verdict was that the planetary gear would likely need to be replaced if the transmission was rebuilt. I spoke with the service manager at my local Lexus dealer (who himself had an RX300 and had to replace the transmission, ironically), and he went to Lexus corporate and got them to pay for half of the replacement cost. This brought the estimated cost to about $2200 including tax.

The estimated costs on the overhaul were between $1500-$2000. The Lexus service manager had said that when his own transmission went out, he'd grilled the Lexus engineers on the remanufactured part. He said that the engineers admitted that there were some "improvements" made in that transmission post-2001 and that they'd rather have a remanufactured 2001+ tranny than a brand new 2000 transmission. They never admitted to an issue, only that the 2001+ part was definitely better. I consider myself to be pretty darn good at knowing when someone isn't telling the full truth, and this guy was, so I believe him.

Anyway, I went with the new part. It wasn't that much more expensive ($2033 at the end of the day).

First, I'm somewhat surprised that your '99 engine/transaxle control ECU is compatible with an '01 or later transaxle. ECU firmware changes/updates/revisions are most certainly made on an annual, model production run, basis, and its even possible that running changes were made to the ECU firmware. I would query the dealer on this matter.

The second issue is that I have always been suspecious that the change that was made to improve the relaibility of the later, '01 and after, RX300 series was to increase the pumping capacity, pressure, or "duty-cycle", of the gear type ATF pump. IMMHO this also REQUIRED an increase in the ATF cooling capacity and that meant that all of these later models need the external ATF cooler, the TOWING package.

So if you '99 doesn't have one I would check with the dealer, or Lexus, to see if the newer transaxle might REQUIRE one.

[wwest]

Hello. I am new to this forum, but I am finding it very valuable. Today I found out that my 2001 RX300 AWD transmission is failing (78K miles). Yippie! For about $5,000 I can have a re-manufactured transmission installed that may last me another 80k. Also, the car is only worth $13K - $16K, and I probably won't be able to sell it privately, so now I have to try to dump it on a dealer! Great.

I want to thank you all for your great advice. And Lenore and others, I can't believe you have been fighting this battle for so long! I'm glad to see folks who are as passionate about their cars as I am, and who have had similar experiences with dealers for service. I was beginning to think it was just me not being cooperative with dealer service departments, but I'm actually glad to hear that maybe it is not just me. I gave up going to the dealer several years ago after I purchased my first (and only) Lexus. And it wasn't even over a tranny issue...

Anyway, I wanted to thank you hausertreyen, and roanokebarry, for the technical advice. I haven't been to the dealer yet, but I plan to go tomorrow just to file a complaint and to check out their pricing. I think I may try to clean the filter and flush the fluids before replacing the tranny, and I'll be sure to ask for a later model part if it comes to that.

If there is anyone still collecting names for a petition or something, feel free to add me. I, like the rest of you, am shocked to find that Lexus (the premium brand) does not stand behind their products. BMW here I come!

Keep in mind that your RX300 is actually "worth" the value of the BMW replacement provided you repair it and drive it for another 78,000 miles.

Does your '01 have the external ATF cooler??

In any case I would thoroughly "beat-up" on the dealer and Lexus about an out of warranty FREE replacement.

And I would NOT do any work myself, drain/refill/filter, until a final resolution is obtained from Lexus. They may need to see the condition of the ATF.

[Pam B.]

Hey give us feedback, and if you could ask the tranny guy what parts failed, and which ones he replaced. I will add to my files....Thank you very much Tom

Hi, I have just had my 2002 RX300 towed to the dealership...appears to be the transmission....waiting to hear from them. Just signed up on this site and haven't fully explored it so I was just wondering if you are still creating a list/file for this problem? I will be back on here after I find out what the problem is.

Thanks

Pam

[wwest]

Hey give us feedback, and if you could ask the tranny guy what parts failed, and which ones he replaced. I will add to my files....Thank you very much Tom

Hi, I have just had my 2002 RX300 towed to the dealership...appears to be the transmission....waiting to hear from them. Just signed up on this site and haven't fully explored it so I was just wondering if you are still creating a list/file for this problem? I will be back on here after I find out what the problem is.

Thanks

Pam

Miles....??

[jkoby]

I RECENTLY TOOK MY CAR IN AND FOUND OUT THAT MY TRANSMISSION HAD GONE OUT ONLY AFTER 89,000 MILES AND WOULD BE $5,000-$6,000 TO REPLACE NEW AND $3,500 FOR USED. AFTER RESEARCHING ABOUT THE LEXUS RX300 1999 MODEL I AM FINDING OUT THERE ARE SEVERAL PROBLEMS WITH THIS VEHICLES TRANSMISSION AND DRIVE TRAIN. I AM JUST WONDERING IF THIS PROBLEM OCCURS MORE THAN IT SHOULD WITH OTHERS WITH THIS PARTICULAR MODEL?

I also have a 94rx330 and have bad transmission hesitation upon depressing the gas and it often jerks the car hard by sticking as well. My wifes' toyota sienna does the exact same things. Toyota transmissions. There should be a recall, very common problem that independent mechanics will verify across the country.

[lenore]

That hesitation is pretty common on the RX330, but There is supposed to be a reflash of the ECM that helps the shift problem. Check your dealership and see if it has been done on your vehicle.

[bwh414]

I drive by a couple transmission shops every day, and judging from the number of newer cars outside, I would say that there are many makes and models of cars that experience premature transmission failure. The number one reason being that most people never have their transmission serviced until it fails. That's a fact.

I own a 99 RX AWD with 175,000 miles on it. My transmission starting slipping badly recently, almost like it was slipping into neutral and then shifting into the next gear, very hard shifting. All mechanics around here (Louisville, KY) told me with this mileage it needed to be rebuilt for about $5,000. I drove it to another small town to look at a used car for my daughter and the only good thing the sleazy salesman did for me was to tell me to take it to a small transmission shop in a nearby town, where I left it for 2 weeks. This old guy was going to check into a rebuilt tranny for about $2500 plus labor, but also said he would check out some other possibilities. He replaced the speed sensor and it worked like new. I think there is more than one sensor. He later flushed out the old fluid and replaced it and it shifts as good as new. All for about $200. So ask your mechanic or transmission shop to check out the sensors first. The only problem with this is that you are at their mercy to be honest and not sell you some repair you don't need. By the way, the repair shop I used was Transmission Exchange in Monticello, KY, out in the boondocks, but it was worth it for what they saved me.

[lenore]

Great, I am very happy for you, Thank you for the input and where the shop was. Others may take advantage of your input and save a lot of money...

[safric99]

Anyone have trouble getting their rx300 out of Park into Reverse ?

No other problems - just want to know if this is first indication of trouble to come ...