1999 Lexus RX300 from North America - Comments

Exactly 31 days after I purchased my Lexus RX300, the transmission completely blew out. The car had to be towed to the dealership, as the faulty transmission cause complete immobilization.

The car had been serviced at the dealership for every scheduled service. In fact, it had been serviced at the very same dealership from which I had purchased it. The all-important 60,000 mile maintenance had also been done.

Four thousand miles after the transmission warranty

expired from Lexus, the transmission breaks! I am in a complete state of shock.

Currently, I am awaiting word from Lexus to see if they will stand by their vehicle, so close to the expired warranty. If anyone would like to know how Lexus handles this, feel free to e-mail me at azwholesale@cox.net.

Since I posted this before (when I was quite angry I should add), Lexus has fixed my transmission free of charge. I have the 4-Wheel Drive model, so the transmission was even more costly. I believe the guys at the dealership said it was a $4000 repair.

Important: They said that the only reason they were repairing the transmission at no cost to me was because it had been serviced at the dealership for all major services. A word to the wise: If you buy used, buy from someone who has their car dealer maintained. If you buy new... Well, you get the point.

I just bought a used 99 rx300 and I have had it for 5 months now and guess what? the transmission is gone!

I own a 2001 RX-300 with ~ 38,000 miles. The transmission was serviced by LEXUS at ~ 30,000. The dealer just informed me that the transmission fluid was black and transmission unrepairable. Good news - it is still under warranty.

I purchased a Lexus Rx 300 on 10/09/03, on 2/16/04 the transmission went out, taken the car back 3 more times and on 4/9/04 it broke down again its the axle, and the differential, the car had never been an accident.

My 2000 RX300 transmission went out at 74,000 miles without a hint of any problem. The repair cost was $4000. I see more and more evidence on the Internet about this problem. In my opinion Lexus made a major mistake in their maintenance schedule for this vehicle by emphasizing that the transmission fluid does not have to be changed unless it is operated under special conditions. Even the dip stick used to check the fluid level emphasizes not changing the oil unless operated under special conditions. Lexus maintenance schedule says "replace" the fluid if operated under special conditions; however, Lexus maintenance practice is to "drain and refill" a portion of the fluid at 30,000 intervals. It simply doesn't work.

My Lexus RX300 transmission just went out 12,000 miles after the warranty has expired. As I have read, the cost is about $4,000. Any suggestions?

I have a 1999 RX300 with 71000 miles, well maintained. When the vehicle is cold, 30 degrees or lower, the transmission is very slow to shift from first to second. Sometimes, it doesn't make the 1-2 shift until the engine reaches 4000 RPMs. After three visits to the dealer, they say this is normal. This problem did not occur last year. Anyone have similar occurences with their RX300?

Please reply to WWoody@ezwv.com.

Thank you...

The transmission on my wife's 2000 RX300 just gave out. The car has 82,000 miles. As luck would have it, this falls out of the 7-year, 70,000 mile warranty. This $4,400 repair follows the replacement of the "gummed up" engine I had to incur last August. Thankfully, the engine replacement was under warranty. Supposedly, the transmission was flushed when the engine was replaced. Having been told by the salespeople at the Lexus dealership that the transmissions are "bulletproof", I never dreamed the transmission would break 15,000 miles after the engine was replaced. Lexus has denied any goodwill assistance. Apparently the other 5 Lexus and 2 Toyota vehicles I have purchased mean nothing in the form of customer loyalty. Jack Moore - Indianapolis. 4/26/05.

We bought a used Lexus RX300 from a Toyota Dealer in March this year. Since then, we have driven the vehicle round trip from Seattle to Utah, Arizona, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oregon, Seattle. We just drove back to Las Vegas again. We also had numerous trips between Las Vegas and Los Angeles while we were in las Vegas. It has 70,000 miles on it now. We changed the transmission fluid and brake fluid after the first Vegas trip. We have had oil change on the car twice (synthetic oil) and I am planning to replace the spark plugs soon. The car runs great.

It sounds impressive to list a bunch of cities you've visited across the USA, but this kind of driving is not hard on a car - it's the easiest time a car ever has.

If it could talk, it would thank you.

What's really hard on a car is sub-zero starts, short trips and lots of them.

I am another victim. A long term Lexus owner, I am shocked that my transmission stopped working (at 70 mph) and Lexus is willing to share half the cost of a new $5,000 repair. My 1999 RX 300 has only 66,000 miles.

Purchased a 1999 RX300 with only 20,000 miles and have driven and enjoyed the vehicle. Now at 80,000 miles, the transmission started acting up -- rough shifts. On the way to the dealer, lost the entire transmission. At just about $4,000, this is painful. Seeing the posts which preceded this one, is it possible the transmission if is poorly designed for this vehicle? Maybe we need Lexus to report how many times this has happened???

ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST... Just lost the tans-mission in the wife's RX300 99'. No warning, she was driving on the Hi-way with two little kids and out of the blue she said it felt like she was hit from behind the way the car jumped. 84,000 miles I think Lexus has a problem. How do we get them to do a recall???

I lost my trans at 99,000. I guess I ma blessed in comparison to some of these other people. Apparantely from what I have learned it is the coast down upshift that Toyota uses that may be the culprit. Since an automatic is a big hydraulic pump and the speed of the spinning impeller pressurizes it this low speed of upshifting is the problem. There is not enough pressure because it is a high gear and when you resume acceleration there is not enough clamping pressure on the clutches therefore it causes excessive slip. Heat and wear then eat away at the trans. In an effort to cut down on the downshifting and friction that comes with it to save fuel economy this has been their high tech computerized solution. However you take a 4500lb vehicle and program it this way and it will shell it. The newer 330 has a e-throttle by wire and it actually de- throttles it between shifts as a bandaid to this problem.

Those of you who have one with low miles do not accelerated hard after a coast down. Throttle it easy and roll into it. You may consider letting up Ala a manual type throttle letting up between gears especially under heavy throttle of even manually shift it. Change your fluid at your 5th engine oil change (15k) and go to a filter and chuck the factory screen. This is a mounting problem and hopefully a recall will happen soon.

Same here. Premature transmission failure, as soon as my PowerTrain warranty expired. This is ridiculous for a 40K luxury car. So much for that relentless pursuit of quality. Recall please!!!