Jon in Raleigh, NC

A second opinion is still important in this case, but that doesn't change the fact that if Punjani's story as reported here is accurate, his current dealership has not provided him with a sufficient level of detail to allow him to understand what is wrong and what measures need to be taken to effect repairs on his vehicle. "We might be able to fix it for $1,800, but if we can't, be prepared to spend up to $7,000" just doesn't cut it from any competent, professional service department. Lexus01 made a good point above - regardless of whether or not the problem can be attributed to the known engine gel issue, Punjani may be much better off to find another Lexus dealership in which to attempt to place his trust. He needs far more detail both in terms of what's truly wrong and what it should cost to repair. If his current Lexus service department isn't willing or able to provide it, a second opinion from a respected independent Japanese service provider could be the best way to go in this case.

tmastres, Actually, there's nothing wrong with me other than the fact that I've had to battle with Lexus throughout this autumn in an attempt to get a poor-performing transmission replaced and now the vehicle emits considerably more cabin noise than before and my wife is unhappy about it since it's her primary car. And I'm not insinuating anything about anyone on this board in my posts. If you're attempting to read between the lines, you're wasting your time. I've gleaned a lot of good information about Lexus in general and our vehicle in particular on this board. Folks like Castrol (I believe he's in Miami) and Lexus01 (I'm not sure where he's located) have been especially insightful on several topics that are important to me, and I'm thankful for that and have personally expressed my appreciation several times. But a couple of folks are particularly annoying to me and can't seem to let a strong complaint or a disagreement go without attempting to speak from the throne as if they are the be-all-and-end-all authority figure when no such figure exists. Not everyone who visits here does so out of love for their Lexus vehicle. Some are frustrated, angry, and just plain sick of being told by their dealer that "nothing's wrong with your car". I found this site through my frustrations over attempting to deal with Lexus concerning a very real problem that both my wife and I recognized. We've made some progress, but we still have problems with this vehicle and our battle with Lexus continues. As far as selling our RX300 - I'm not going to do that unless and until I feel that the transmission issue has been resolved to the point where the next owner can be safe on the highway without having to adapt to "feathering" the transmission since not all emergency conditions allow you the time to think about how you're going to use your accelerator. In my opinion, to sell it right now would be unethical, unfair, and possibly unsafe to the next owner. I trust this answers your questions. If not, let me know. I'll be more than happy to provide details to whatever level you care to discuss.

This advice is right on the money, and Lexus01 hit the nail squarely on the head when he pointed out that you must be a fighter with the word "quit" not even in your vocabulary. So call Lexus Corporate at (800) 255-3987 and follow the advice above. Don't take no for an answer, keep escalating to higher levels of management, and keep us posted on your progress. We can also provide words of encouragement if you need them. But the bottom line is to document your issues, always be professional when engaging with Lexus, but don't ever forget that you must maintain a warrior mentality to get what you want. By following this same strategy throughout October and November, I was able to have a new transmission installed in my wife's 2000 RX300 at no cost to us.

Steve, Of course it's my opinion. Everyone is entitled to their own. The question was asked, and I answered with my viewpoint. Nobody has to agree or disagree with me - it's just my opinion on that particular topic. You need to relax your sphincter muscles enough to allow folks to express their opinions without feeling the urge to add your own brand of social commentary after each post. Your opinion is no more valuable than anyone else's here, and nobody died and made you the absolute pundit of this forum. So how about letting people have their say without trying to !Removed! all over them for a change. You just might learn something from your elders.

Spending money on meaningless aesthetic parts to replace existing components that are perfectly fine just as they are installed by the factory is a huge waste of money. I certainly realize that such impulse behavior drives the aftermarket parts business, but I prefer to establish my vehicle bank accounts for maintenance and performance enhancement, not wasteful spending on junk I don't need or want.

What Lexus needs to do is to formally acknowledge the problem and to seriously study the cause-and-effect issues that seem to be created by the presence of an electronic throttle. A conventional throttle may very well eliminate the transmission "freeze" that my wife and others have reported experiencing while attempting to pass another vehicle on the highway. But I don't know what the answer is (other than a complete transmission re-engineering) for the many folks including ourselves who experience the herky-jerky transmission tendencies while climbing through the gears upon initial start-up in cold weather. As I've said several times before and even you agreed with me: a stuttering transmission is simply inexcusable in a vehicle as expensive and supposedly as well-engineered as a Lexus.

Check your fuses. They're all obviously intact to some degree, but one or more could be weakening. Remove, clean, and re-install your fuses and their connectors, ensuring that you keep the correct amperage in each fuse port. Your owners manual will have a schematic diagram of your fusebox. Find it, study it, and try to determine if the systems that are wavering are all wired through the same fuse or couple of fuses. This may not be the problem, but fuses are always the first component you should check with any electrical problem in any vehicle. It's easy, fast, and best of all free to check your fuses first.

You should immediately run the other way and find someone with more competence in their engine diagnosis skills. A good mechanic should have the ability to pinpoint your problem with no guesswork and define the steps and the costs to effect your repairs. If I were you, I wouldn't throw away a hard-earned $1,800 on repairs that "may or may not" fix your engine problems. Find a good local repair shop that specializes in Honda, Toyota, and Nissan. Look in your local Yellow Pages and make some phone calls. Talk to some of your acquaintances and colleagues who drive Japanese cars and inquire where they get their repairs done. But don't get taken by your dealer who sounds like he is setting you up for a good old-fashioned wallet-skinning.

Of course there are other horror stories with other brands of vehicles, Steve. Always have been and always will be. Issues get resolved and customers stay loyal when manufacturers admit and address them promptly, therefore minimizing the pain, suffering, and hassle factor. I've found GM to be poor at doing this. I've also found Jeep and Dodge to be good at doing this. I just wish that Lexus would step up to the plate on a national scale with their transmission problems. Sorry to hear about your mother's VW experiences. Sounds as if you feel about VW the same way I feel about Lexus. And we each have our own justifications for feeling the way we do.

My wife and I will never buy another RX model due to the transmission problems we've experienced with our 2000 RX300. I battled Lexus for about five weeks and they finally decided to put another transmission in under our original warranty in mid-November, but the jury is still out and will remain out for quite some time. The new transmission is operating more smoothly now, but the noise level inside the cabin increased immediately upon the installation of the new transmission and Lexus has thus far been unable to determine why. Fit and function of the RX series is quite good, however. I just happen to believe that for a four-door SUV, it's significantly underpowered. In our neck of the woods, it's also viewed as primarily "a chick car". This seems to be true, because the overwhelming majority of drivers of the RX's that I see on the road are women. But from the looks of the trouble checklist pertaining to your Mercedes, ANYTHING will probably be an improvement for you. If you prefer German engineering, you may want to look at the VW Touareg (spelling?), which is essentially a poor man's Porsche Cayenne. The VW has been getting quite a bit of good press, although being new, it doesn't have a track record yet.

You can call it an idiosyncracy or an annoyance, but the bottom line is that if it puts drivers and passengers at risk (which I believe any type of hesitation ALWAYS does), it's a flaw (and a dangerous one at that). Sooner or later someone will pull out into traffic and get creamed from behind when this transmission quirk unfortunately kicks in for them. And if it happens enough, we'll all start hearing about it in the news media. Transmissions, brakes, and tires have to work as designed 100% of the time or people will eventually get injured or killed. That's just common sense, and the manufacturers must ensure that their designs and components in these three systems aren't subject to quirky behavior. Period.

This entire scenario unfortunately reminds me of the Ford Explorer/Firestone Tire fiasco a few years back. I certainly hope that it doesn't come down to Lexus drivers and passengers losing their lives due to these transmission quirks before Lexus Corporate does the right thing and issues the appropriate warnings and recalls. Steve, I appreciate your willingness to speak up and acknowledge that this transmission condition is prevalent across the entire Lexus model line-up. A flaw like this one is not worth risking in any planned future vehicle purchases for my wife and me. But in the meantime, we still have to deal with our current RX300.

Thanks for the additional tips. Attempting to change these three rear plugs gets scarier all the time. I remember in the mid-70s when Chevrolet sold a particular model (I can't recall which one, but I would bet it was the Vega) which required hoisting the engine from the engine mounts in order to change the plugs. I guess I should be thankful that it appears I'll be able to get to the rear plugs in our RX300 without having to go quite that far.

If what you said above is true, this is an inexcusable (and highly dangerous) condition for ANY automobile manufacturer to be allowed to get away with. The average driver should not have to learn to "feather" the throttle according to the particular driving conditions at each and every moment they are on the road. Where are the details published on this particular condition for the RX300? I doubt very seriously if they can be found on a Lexus-owned or controlled site.

Thanks for the tip - this information may turn out to be extremely helpful. I'm still dreading the job of trying to change those three rear plugs at 60,000 miles (our vehicle is sitting at a little over 50,000 miles now, so I still have some time to research it further). If anyone else out there has done a spark plug job in their RX300 recently, please post here with your tips, tricks, and tools required. Thanks in advance.

Steve, Everyone is certainly entitled to their opinion, and just as I have expressed mine, you've also expressed yours above. And I respect that. But I would like to remind you of a very important fact that I posted almost a month ago that you apparently missed while reading that post (assuming you did read it at that time). We originally put our RX300 in the shop with our transmission complaint because my wife (remember - it's her car, not mine) experienced several instances where she pulled out into the left lane of the highway to pass another vehicle and her transmission "froze". In other words, she pressed the accelerator looking for more speed to get around the vehicle in front of her, but her transmission did not respond and she was left sitting in the passing lane at the same (or slightly slower) speed upon which she entered it. Steve, this is NOT an "idiosyncrasy" as you call it - this is downright dangerous and is likely to get her rear-ended by an oncoming vehicle in the left lane behind her (and let's hope it's not an 18-wheeler barrelling down the interstate behind her). All vehicles regardless of brand have their little idiosyncrasies, and I've always learned to live with them over the years. But a problem such as my wife experienced in her RX300 can get her maimed or killed. You accuse me of blasting Lexus for an idiosyncrasy, but in fact it was my wife's decision without any input from me that she no longer felt safe in her vehicle that day and she drove it straight to the Lexus dealership that morning in October without my knowledge. I only found out afterwards that she had taken the car into the shop. And it's back in the shop right now based on her decision and feelings, not mine. Our experience with this vehicle is not based on some minor idiosyncrasy. It's based on what were obviously dangerous operating conditions of our transmission that Lexus initially ignored and attempted to explain as "normal operating conditions", then later decided to attempt to fix based, I'm sure, on their concern for liability. As I've stated several times, I appreciate our local dealership's 180 degree change of heart and they are now spending massive amounts of time and money on us in an attempt to make this vehicle safe. But it should never have come to the point where a customer feels their life is in danger every time they get in their car to drive somewhere before a manufacturer steps up to the plate and admits there's a real and tangible problem. I'm sorry that this subject makes you uncomfortable, but I value my wife's opinions and feelings (and LIFE) far more than I value yours.

This isn't about emotions, pal. It's about an apparently widespread transmission problem that Lexus chooses to ignore because 99% of their customer base allows Lexus to tell them "your transmission is operating within normal limits" and doesn't stand up and say "wait a minute - I know my vehicle better than you do and I'm not going to let you get away with this". The typical customer accepts the Lexus explanation, they keep driving their vehicle (getting more and more unhappy with it all the while), and the bottom line is that they've all paid far too much money for their RX300 or RX330 to a supposedly world-class manufacturer to be stuck in this situation with no awareness of how to effectively seek help. Our household is following the necessary Lexus plan of action with our particular vehicle at our particular dealership. It's a hell of an inconvenience but I know that in order to have even a slight chance of finding the problem(s) and obtaining a true fix, we have to allow the Lexus techs to spend time with our vehicle. As I said before, I'm grateful for our "new" transmission, but I question whether our long-term problem is truly fixed at this point. Some of you out there need to take off your Lexus-colored glasses and acknowledge that many of these RX300 and RX330 transmissions are flawed in some way. There is a statistically significant percentage of the RX300/330 population that is taking the time and trouble to complain about their experiences on sites like this one. I can't help but wonder about the number of folks who are experiencing similar problems and don't initiate the effort to contact forums like this one to seek out others who may have dealt with similar problems and are therefore in a position to provide advice or recommendations. I've owned more than 20 vehicles over more than 30 years and I've driven nearly two million miles spread across those vehicles. I have the ability to recognize a significant automotive flaw when I encounter one (this Lexus transmission problem is not the first one I've had to deal with). And you cannot deny that the number of transmission complaints just on this forum alone indicates a flaw of some type. Take the time to investigate similar forums across North America and you will find the same overwhelming complaint - poor transmission performance in the RX series and unhappy owners looking for solutions from their local Lexus dealership (and rarely getting it). With all the time and effort I've spent on this problem over the last three months, I wish I had the final answer for all of us who own RX300s or RX330s. But that final answer is going to have to come from the Lexus corporate level, and unfortunately for us they are doing their best to hide from this issue and keep their mouths closed. Ultimately, I'll speak with my checkbook when it comes time to purchase our next SUV....

About three weeks after our "new" transmission was installed, my wife's 2000 RX300 is back in the shop today. She's put about 1,800 miles on the vehicle since the transmission job, and the cabin noise during idle as well as during normal operating conditions is considerably louder now. The good news is that transmission performance has been fine since the transmission job, but she is accustomed to a quiet cabin and wants Lexus to ensure that they can make it happen again for her. I have my doubts. I asked our service consultant if perhaps there is a break-in period for the new gears to settle in, and he said no. I asked if perhaps they left out some insulation or noise-baffling material when they put the new transmission in, and again he said no. At least they're trying to work with us. But if it's not one thing, it's another. I've regretted purchasing this Lexus all along, but my wife wanted one for a couple of years now so I finally agreed. Even she is now beginning to think that she should have stayed with our perfectly-maintained and much more powerful and roomy 1998 5.9 litre V-8 Durango. Although I do appreciate the decision by Lexus to replace our transmission under warranty, I'm growing tired of the hassle of having to run this vehicle into the dealership every month or so. I don't believe we'll be purchasing any more Lexus SUVs. Our Grand Cherokee and Durango were both much more reliable and were far less costly to maintain.

I also do my own routine maintenance on all of my vehicles. It is a huge cost-saver and ensures that only the correct parts and fluids go into my vehicles. Jiffy Lubes and Quick-10s have ruined a ton of transmissions and probably a few engines out there by assuming that all vehicles can use their standard lubricants when we know better. I've used Valvoline motor oil products for more than 25 years now. Valvoline makes great fluids and I've never had a fluid-related problem in any of my engines in the more than 20 vehicles I've owned over the years. Some folks like Castrol products, particularly for Japanese vehicles. Some folks like Mobil One products. You won't go wrong with any of these choices. And it really isn't absolutely necessary for you to switch to synthetic oil unless you really want to. As long as you change your regular oil every 5,000 miles and stick with good quality oils, your engine will be fine. The only complaint I have with changing the oil in my wife's 2000 RX300 is the location of the oil filter. You'll find it on the front of the engine block directly beneath the exhaust manifold. As a result, this placement provides you with very limited working room (and makes it almost impossible to pull a filter off a hot engine). Several months ago I received a tip on this forum for the best oil filter wrench / socket attachment to use in order to go after the RX300's difficult placement. I'm assuming that you have a standard three-eighths inch socket drive. If so, go to your local Pep Boys and buy a Lisle Import Car Filter Wrench, Part No. 63600. This is a well-designed heavy-metal spring-loaded wrench cap that you'll attach to your socket handle with a short extension and then go in from the front of your open hood (not underneath the vehicle) to pull your old filter out with. This tool will cost you about ten bucks, and it will make changing your oil filter a piece of cake compared to trying to use a conventional spanner wrench where you have no room to turn the spanner wrench once you get it onto the filter. If Pep Boys doesn't have this Lisle wrench in stock, get them to order it for you. Once you have it and use it, you"ll understand why this is the only way to go with this particular vehicle. It's the best-engineered and best-made oil filter wrench I own (and I think I have about six different wrenches now). Life is a lot easier for RX300 owners who want to change their own oil once they have this Lisle wrench in their toolbox.

You can switch to synthetic motor oil at any time during the life of a vehicle without causing damage to your engine. Obviously, the sooner you switch, the more likely it will be that you will receive the full benefit of a longer engine life through less wear-and-tear on your engine components. You should maintain your oil change interval at 5,000 to 7,500 miles. Don't push it beyond 7,500 - it's not worth the risk. Be aware of the potential weaknesses in your vehicle's transmission. Use only the Toyota Type T-IV transmission fluid that your owners manual emphasizes. Many owners of 1999 and 2000 RX300s experience transmission problems that range from minor to major. Spend some time researching this issue and documenting any transmission problems you may experience, particularly first thing in the morning in cool or cold weather. It is far more likely that you will experience transmission problems than engine problems, even if you don't switch to synthetic motor oil.

As long as you care for your vehicle per your owner's manual, an extended warranty is always a waste of money. However, you SHOULD document your vehicle's problems thoroughly and always be prepared to do battle with your Lexus service manager when the time comes. Jeremy is correct about the known transmission problems in the 1999 and 2000 RX300s. I just won my battle with Lexus and had a new (remanufactured) transmission installed in my wife's 2000 RX300 at about 48,500 miles. Lexus did this under the original warranty at no cost to us. Again, document your problems carefully and don't allow Lexus to convince you that lousy transmission performance is normal for your vehicle. Good luck.

Many RX300 and RX330 owners across North America have reported problems with their transmission shifting roughly for quite some time. Lexus has a tendency to ignore this complaint, and you really have to put your foot down with the dealership to get anyone to attempt to help you. We own a 2000 RX300, and I had the transmission replaced less than two weeks ago at about 48,500 miles. The only reason our local dealership did this was because I documented our transmission shifting problems and insisted that I was not going away until they found it and fixed it under warranty. We hope that the new transmission will resolve our concerns, but I continue to believe that there are design flaws or component flaws in these Lexus transmissions. Some Lexus owners on this site will post here to say that it is just a fluke and that transmission complaints are very rare, but if you do the research you'll discover that nothing could be further from the truth. Don't let your dealership convince you that rough transmission shifting is acceptable and normal in your vehicle. Document your problems, contact your service manager often to remind him that you are not satisfied, and you may get some results as we did. Keep in mind that from the time I first took the vehicle in with our complaints, about 35 days passed before Lexus realized I wasn't going to disappear and decided that it would be better in the long run to replace our transmission. I stayed in contact with our service manager either by phone or by e-mail at least once a week through that 35-day period.

Thanks for the spark plug source and TSB link, Castrol. I'll check them out. Our RX300 has the NGK iridium plugs. I used NGK plugs in my 1974 Datsun 260Z (I wish I still had this little rice rocket to play with - it was my first new car and I kept it for 13 years and never even had to open up the engine) and 1989 Acura Legend (given to my daughter after I was done with it and finally donated to charity last October), and I've always preferred NGK plugs in Japanese vehicles. But Nippondenso plugs have their fans, too. If you use either NGK or Nippondenso plugs in your RX300, you'll do just fine. I wouldn't risk any other brand than those two.

Again Castrol, thanks for the information. I guess the good news I can derive from your history is that the problem doesn't appear to get worse once it occurs. Of course, as the mileage piles on, that may change. Also, you tow but we don't. I called Lexus Customer Support today to discuss the problem and ask about technical service bulletins or recalls pertaining to it, but they claimed they don't have any records of this problem. I told them that based on what I've read on Lexus forums such as this one, I can't believe them. In the e-mail thread you provided, someone even mentioned TSBs had been published. I sincerely hope that forum participants aren't fibbing about such things and therefore misleading folks like us. I'll certainly take the vehicle into our local Lexus dealership to have the problem checked out before the warranty runs its course. But I want to wait for consistently cooler autumn weather to arrive and stay here in North Carolina before I do that. We're back into the high 70s/low 80s now and the transmission problem hasn't occurred again since the cool morning this past Saturday. I won't attempt changing the spark plugs until 60,000 miles, as per the owners manual. I've pulled one of the front plugs and it still looks very good. Right now we're sitting at a little over 44,000 miles. With my wife's driving habits, she should hit 60,000 miles before mid-2004. I have recently talked with a local Toyota dealer mechanic who is very familiar with that engine since it's also in the Camry. He admits that changing the three rear plugs is a monumental pain, but he says that with the right socket extensions and effort it can be done without removing the plenum and other odds and ends that appear to be in the way. So I've got some months ahead of me to figure it out. I've had some independent Toyota and Nissan service folks tell me that those NGK or Nippondenso iridium plugs will do 90,000 miles with no problem, but I like to put new plugs in at the recommended intervals. No routine maintenance enhances a vehicle's performance like a new set of spark plugs. Of course, most plugs cost about $2.00 apiece, not $9.00 apiece (which is the best price I've been able to find at my local NAPA store).

Thanks for the reply, Castrol. How long and for how many miles have you had your RX300? Did the "cool morning shifting problem" begin immediately once the weather chilled or did the problem develop over time? Once you start and drive the car in the morning for the first time, does the problem disappear for the rest of that day? Has the problem stabilized or does it continue to gradually get worse? And finally, have you changed your transmission fluid (using Toyota's T-IV, of course) and if so, did it help? All pertinent information is welcome. I agree with several previous posters' points in the e-mail thread you provided that a $35,000+ vehicle should not come with an inherent transmission problem such as this one.