1999 Rx300 Front Planetary Assembly

[trinflorida]

I bought my RX300 three months ago with 112,000 miles on it. I felt comfortable since Lexus was "suppose" to have a quality automobile and good customer service. In the three months I have had to replace the O2 sensor, air flow meter, air conditioning compressor, air conditioning dryer and now, due to the front planetary assembly, my transmission. The total cost has been in excess of $7000.00 in repairs in three months of owning this auto. I have read (after I bought the car) on the problems with the front planetary assembly (I had never heard of a front planetary assembly) and wondered what others have done to help Lexus pay for some of the repairs. I have contacted Lexus and they have declined to assist me (even though their computers show that the auto has been serviced regularly at the local Lexus dealer). I have filed a complaint with http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/ and have also contacted a lawyer about a class action law suit since indications are that there have been a number of transmission failures in this year/model of Lexus. It looks like we will be moving forward. All I want from Lexus is some help with what I consider a "LEMON". Any advice would be appreciated. As an FYI, my last auto was a BMW 540I and I put 259,000 without any major problems. I wanted to try an SUV/Crossover. I guess this was a big mistake.

[RX in NC]

Spend enough time searching this website and others like it and you will come to understand rather quickly that the early model RX300s suffer from abnormally frequent failures of the transmission (AWD models primarily), the exhaust manifold, the oxygen sensors, the rear main oil seal, and the strut mount rubber bushings. If these failures occur shortly after the normal warranty period for the vehicle, many Lexus dealerships will handle these failures under what is referred to as a "goodwill warranty". But the cutoff for this "goodwill" effort appears to be around 70,000 to 75,000 miles. With your particular vehicle showing 112,000 miles, you probably have little recourse for any failure except for the engine oil gel issue which Lexus is covering for eight years from the vehicle's first in-service date and unlimited mileage during that time.

A number of us who own an RX300 have experienced most or all of these failures at some point, and all of our circumstances vary in terms of what Lexus was or was not willing to do for us. In our particular case, all of the above-mentioned failures struck my wife's vehicle (with the exception of the oil gel issue) between 45,000 and 80,000 miles and I forced our local Lexus service manager to cover the necessary repairs under warranty and then later the "goodwill warranty". My wife's vehicle has required over $9,000 of warranty work as a result, none of which we had to pay for. Although I certainly appreciate the fact that our local dealership fixed these various well-known problems on their dime as they arose, I despise this vehicle because of the many major flaws it has exhibited even though I've always taken meticulous care of it. As a result of our experiences, I would never recommend an RX300 to any interested buyer because too many very expensive and totally inexcusable failures occur regardless of how well you maintain it.

With that being said, spend some time on this website researching the problems that some of us have experienced and what we've done as a result to achieve successful repair results. If you plan to keep your RX300 for a long time, research of this type will become crucial for you and your wallet. Learn to use the search features and you can become quite prepared to handle these conditions when they arise and be prepared for either handling the repairs yourself or knowing where to go and how much you'll have to spend if the required repairs are beyond your scope.

Sorry you've had to learn such a costly lesson the hard way. Take some solace in the fact that a number of us have suffered from these failures long before you and are therefore able to offer our advice on what your best course of action may be....

[trinflorida]

I bought my RX300 three months ago with 112,000 miles on it. I felt comfortable since Lexus was "suppose" to have a quality automobile and good customer service. In the three months I have had to replace the O2 sensor, air flow meter, air conditioning compressor, air conditioning dryer and now, due to the front planetary assembly, my transmission. The total cost has been in excess of $7000.00 in repairs in three months of owning this auto. I have read (after I bought the car) on the problems with the front planetary assembly (I had never heard of a front planetary assembly) and wondered what others have done to help Lexus pay for some of the repairs. I have contacted Lexus and they have declined to assist me (even though their computers show that the auto has been serviced regularly at the local Lexus dealer). I have filed a complaint with http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/ and have also contacted a lawyer about a class action law suit since indications are that there have been a number of transmission failures in this year/model of Lexus. It looks like we will be moving forward. All I want from Lexus is some help with what I consider a "LEMON". Any advice would be appreciated. As an FYI, my last auto was a BMW 540I and I put 259,000 without any major problems. I wanted to try an SUV/Crossover. I guess this was a big mistake.

I have tried to find out which transmission they put on the 99 RX. If it is the Camry, I find it interesting that in Canada they have admitted a problem and will fix it.