donsuek

Well, this will be my last post on this site. Last week Lexus completed the rupurchase of our 2004 RX 330 because of the well documented transmission isssues. Vehicle had about 15,000 miles and was almost two years old. Repurchased for $2,000 less than we paid, including taxes and fees. My wife now has another SUV. She came home the the other day almost in tears of joy on how great it was to have a vehicle with a transmission the didn't hesitate and malfunction. She's starting to get used to not rocking back and forth with the shifting of the transmission. Some may say live with it, but we disagree. Its like living with a tooth ache, you can do it, but when you get it taken care of it feels sooooooooooooooo good. Good luck and good bye.

There is no fix. The 2006 RX will have a six speed transmission. Not sure what the engine match will be. I was told that the Japanese didn't want to built the current transmission but the Americans insisted on having more power in lower gears and yet more gas milage in the crusing gears. The result is gears that have ratios too far apart. The engine needs to increase speed when it shifts up or down so it won't stall. We were told to use premiem gasoline, which we did, maybe helped a little, but not much. We're just living with it. They even offered to may some payments for us but its paid for. After that nothing was done. They did say that they would offer me a great deal on the new 2006. Unfortunately, we're just stuck with a Lexus lemon.

Wait, we're very disappointed with the 2004 RX330. Its an OK vehicle, but for the price and the reputation of Lexus, we expected much better. We agree on the comment on the FX 35, if you like the styling, its seems to be a better vehicle. Wish we would have bought one. thanks

Regarding the shifting problems: four trips to the dealer, calls to Lexus customer service and all we get is - "the transmission is working within design standards". The dealership says that we're the only ones in Houston that seem to think its a problem. BS Taking the advise previously stated in this topic: every time the vehicle goes in for service the transmission complaint is registered. If anything ever goes really wrong with the transmission, there will be hell brought if they think we're going to pay for repairs.

Had the "fix" done last Thrusday. Made no difference. Still what the dealer describes as a soft shift. Well its a sooooooooooooooft shift all right. We're not giving up, haven't had time to take it back, but will be. This shifting problem has really ruined our enjoyment of the vehicle.

Have an RX 330 with only 750 miles. Very unhappy with the transmission. So far it dosen't have the noise you describe but the shifting between 1st and 2nd and 2nd and 3rd is terrible. During normal acceleration the shift between these gears feels like its slipping. Like shifting a manual and giving it too much gas and sliding the clutch out. The RPMs rise and it slides into the next gear. Dealer says this is normal "what do you want, a banging shift". Its embarrasing, when we have people in the car you can see them moving forward and back as it shifts. Particularly bad when going around a corner from a stop. Everything else is great, but we could not recommend this vehicle to anyone because of this problem.