Transmission Failure-99 Rx300

[trannybroke]

My 99 rx300 transmission just died a couple of days ago. I had purchased the car in Dec 2001 with 85K and expected the reputable Lexus reliability. Not to be! buyers beware! I am now seeing more internet mention of these failures and backordered tranny's. Anyone know what gives? Should there be recourse with Lexus if this is widespread. Do I have a prayer fighting this. Is 118K 'average' for a tranny on a $40k auto?Can you recommend any forums for further discussion?

Thanks

Steve

[SW03ES]

The transmission on my $40,000 Explorer Limited went out at 77,000 miles.

Do you have any kind of maintenance records that show if the tranny fluid was changed regularly? Lexus specifies it should be changed every 15k miles. Generally the instances I've seen of premature tranny failure are caused by the owners not following this maintenance requirement.

But no, you're not going to get anything from Lexus at 118k, especially if you dont have those service records.

[JPI]

Do you keep up with all the service? The transmission fluids need to flush out every 15k like swo3 said. Do you have aftermarket warr?

JPI

[KevinK]

15K? According to the owner's manual, the transmission fluid does not need to be replaced untill 60K, provided not driving in dusty area or towing. My 2002 RX300 got 30K, does that mean I need to replace transmission fluid? My 98 Cadillac has 112K on it and it never had and does not need transmission fluid replacement. The GM factory recommendation is 150K. :o

[monarch]

Kevin, Cadillac and other american car makers play a psychological game. They know that if they call for a transmission oil change every 120,000 miles that the average car owner will think the transmission is very tough and designed to last many hundreds of thousands of miles.

Truth is these trannies will be worn out at between 100-200K miles due to lhe lack of fluid changes.

Toyota/Lexus therefore is caught between a rock and and a hard place. On the one hand if Toyota recommends fluid changes (draining and refilling the 2 quarts in the oil pan) every 15,000 miles to assure an exceptionally long transmission life, owners will wrongly conclude Toyota transmissions are weakly engineered. And on the other hand, if Toyota recommends extended changes (like 60K miles) or no changes at all, then transmission may fail at around 100-200K

just like an American car.

In other countries like Australia and Europe, Toyota is not faced with this marketing delemma because in those countries car owners are more aware of the durability benefits of regularly changing fluids and lubes. So in these other countries you'll see Toyota owners manuals recommending transmission fluid changes in the range of every 15,000-30,000 miles.

So yes, for a long trouble life it's time to drain and refill the transmission oil pan with 2-3 quarts

genuine Toyota Type T fluid http://www.saber.net/~monarch/typetb.jpg (about $3.80 a quart at Toyota dealers). You don't need to pay for those $100-$200 "total fluid replacement" jobs, however. That's largely a marketing gimmick which has emerged in recent years to make big bucks for the service shops

[KevinK]

Monarch, thank you very much. I will just drain and refill both cars.