Comments: 1-15, 16-30, 31-45, 46-60, 61-75, 76-90, 91-105, 106-120, 121-135, 136-137
Another sad RX300 story. I bought my 2000 RX300 new in 1999. I have followed all guidance about servicing and have changed my oil at every 1500-2000 miles. Being that I am a military service member, I have not been stationed in locations with Lexus dealerships close by, but have all service documentation from certified Toyota service stations. Yesterday my transmission went out and I am looking at a $4600 bill to get the transmission replaced. I have contacted the Lexus service center and am awaiting comment from Lexus over whether they will help me out with that bill.
I have just paid $4,300.00 for a transmission rebuild at Cottman two weeks ago. My 99 RX 300 had just turned 100,000 miles. It is very apparent this type of transmission has design defects. Now I am experiencing audible alarms when I turn corners or ride over bumps... all of the doors are securely closed. What next?
Just a word of caution to RX300 owners: Change your transmission fluid every year or 12,000 miles regardless of what the owners manual recommends. Our 1999 RX300 developed a vibration when slowing down to stop and the transmission down shifted to a low gear. The car had less than 50,000 highway miles on it when I began reading about transmission problems. That's when I started changing the fluid every year. The transmission is now running great (vibration is gone) and the original transmission now has 160,000 miles. Another recommendation is accelerate gradually, especially after slowing down to a lower gear. Apparently the transmission is undersized for this relatively heavy car and too much acceleration causes excessive wear and tear on the transmission. Hopefully this was corrected in the newer models. Just my opinion.
I have a 200 Lexus RX300 with 75427 miles on it. The transmission suddenly went out while driving. The Lexus dealer wants $5200 to replace it. The manual claims that under normal use the transmission fluid does not need to be replaced. It even says this on the dip stick label. The dealer claims that it should have been replaced every 20000 miles. With the warranty only out be 5000 miles, this is extremely aggravating. I have found many similar situations on various web sites, including this one. I am now trying to figure out what to do with the car that is at the Lexus dealer. This car's transmission sounds like it should be recalled. Sudden loss of power is not a good thing, even in a parking lot at low speed it almost caused an accident.
<I have a 200 Lexus RX300 with 75427 miles on it. The transmission suddenly went out while driving. The Lexus dealer wants $5200 to replace it. The manual claims that under normal use the transmission fluid does not need to be replaced. It even says this on the dip stick label. The dealer claims that it should have been replaced every 20000 miles. With the warranty only out be 5000 miles, this is extremely aggravating. I have found many similar situations on various web sites, including this one. I am now trying to figure out what to do with the car that is at the Lexus dealer. This car's transmission sounds like it should be recalled. Sudden loss of power is not a good thing, even in a parking lot at low speed it almost caused an accident.>.
If you have proof that you performed normal maintenance and that the transmission fluid is indeed the root of your problem I would simply threaten a lawsuit since, as you state, the car itself says NOT to change the fluid. In most states the limit in small claims court is $5,000, or about the amount your dealer wants to charge for the repair.
Of course, start with Lexus the company, but I wouldn't wait too long since you obviously need to use the car.
Wow, I can't believe what I am reading on this website. My 2000 RX300 is in the shop right now getting a new transmission with only 90K miles on it! Yes, I will be reporting it to the website above.
Add another one to the list. My wife is currently at the dealership right now with her 2000 RX300. 85,000 miles and a bad transmission. I stumbled across this site and am completely shocked. I want to thank everyone for the advice on how they dealt with their nightmares. I am waiting to hear how nice the dealership is to her, then I am going to get involved. I'm just glad she dropped off our 1 year old daughter at her sisters before this happened. Has anyone that had their car towed been reimbursed?
Our 2000 Lexus rx300 just broke down the transmission without any warning at 68000 miles on it. We contacted the car dealer, but they said that the car guarantee expired at 6 years or 70,000 miles. They estimated the cost of repair was more than $4000. I have to send the car to a car repair shop to replace the transmission with a re-manufactured one for less than $3000. I will post a complaint on the government web site. We never load the car with anything heavy and maintain the car in good condition. I think Lexus needs to step up to accept the responsibility to keep customers.
I purchased a 1 owner '99 RX300 for my teenage daughter. Lexus has a great reputation, and it has side impact beams and side air bags for added safety. HA HA! The car has been very well maintained, and the transmission just failed at 87K miles. Evidently, the planetary assembly was completely chewed up! I will be posting in the nhtsa site. $4000 to repair at independent transmission shop.
I was right about to buy a 99 Rx 300 off of Ebay now I am just too scared. I owned a 99 Ml320 for awhile and it seems to have the same under performing, transmission problem. It would shift up until it was really heated up well even in 70'F degree weather it would take a while for the transmission to heat up to shift out of gear while first starting it. Then once you ere going the 3.2liter engine was severely underpowered for that car.
But I heard the Lexus wasn't as bad and handled well and it was good cheap car to own. Well it looks like scratch that I won't be getting one of those I don't think. I was getting a good deal on it too...
Wow this is pretty interesting. The transmission in the RX300 my grandfather gave me 2 years ago went out. It only has 66080 miles on it. I talked to my grandpa about it and he said he would pay for it to be fixed as I'm in college and need something nice to drive.
Yesterday my transmission went out while driving on the tollway. 2000 Lexus RX 300 69000 miles. I had it towed to the dealership and they fixed it... I paid 1026 to get other things fixed including a 99$ alignment.
Never will buy Lexus again! 78K and I have to pay $5K to
change Transmission. Lexus customer service is bad.
Lexus Dealer PLAZA the most expensive dealer in town and
they are sucks!
Wow! I had no idea so many people had the same problems I do. I have a 1999 Lexus RX 300 with 124,000 miles. The transmission has had a slow shift from 1st -2nd in cold weather since I purchased it in Jan 2005. When I called the dealership they said that was normal till it warmed up. 1-1/2 hours into a road trip, the transmission just gave out. Never had any warning or slippage except for a small whiny sound at start up. Now I am out of pocket $400 towing and $2800 rebuild!
I just bought a used 2000 rx300 from a dealer and within 1 week it started to stall on me whenever I slowed down, or even when I put it in reverse or drive as I'm leaving. I took it to the dealer I bought it from, but they're telling me they don't see the problem, and can't fix it if they don't see it, I think they're pulling a fast one because I told them I'd take it to Pep Boys for a diagnostic and they said they couldn't use that, any suggestions?