katzjamr

I appreciate your clarification of how you feel and i cannot dissagree with what you have stated. If you have the time one day i urge you to take a look at the other two major Lexus forums. I have learned alot from each one.

mmahamm

I do not dispute that these transmissions fail at a higher rate than the average transmission. However, I have no statistical evidence to either support or refute that assertion. I simply do not know, and unless you work for Consumer Reports, or JD Power or something like that, you provably don't have the data either.

Look at a Honda Odyssey forum. People there complain about transmission failure. Look at an Acura forum. People there complain about transmission failure. Every manufacturer has problems with transmission failure. I don't doubt that these transmissions may fail more frequently than, for example, a Dodge Caravan transmission. Best we can do is have preventive maintenance performed and cross our fingers.

If you were to re-read my posts, you would see that I am not trying to argue the relative reliability of the Lexus RX-300 transmission. My purpose is merely to humbly offer advice: 1) Keep pushing on Lexus to have them replace it on their dime, and 2) consider taking it to a reputable independent transmission shop for a second opinion, or another cost estimate--or worst case, if Lexus won't cover it, to have the repair or replacement performed.

minty99z

I can give you some data....at our dealership....we are an average size dealer.......we have done 25 in the last year....>So figure 2 a month roughly....If I really wanted to see which ones were customer pay or warranty/goodwill I could but no need.....I know they could all get goodwilled if you tried....

mmahamm

minty99z - That's interesting information, but begs a few questions: What is an "average sized dealer"? How many service bays do you have? How many hours of labor do you bill in a month? So how much of the dealership's work is transmission repair/replacement, as a percentage of total labor?

Now, what is the "industry average?"

I am not presuming that you know the answers to these questions, nor am I asking you to get them. (You have other work to do fixing transmissions. ) Only pointing out that when someone says that the failure rate is lower than the industry average (an assertion I am neither disputing nor supporting), there must be data out there to back it up, or it's just someone flapping their jaws.

MrShoop

Hi-

Just wanted to post an update on what finally happened. I went back and forth a couple times between the dealer and Lexus corporate and got no love. I finally got into a good conversation with the service manager and they agreed to pay half. Since it was out of warranty, I thought that was a good offer on their part. It still was painful and expensive, but maintains some good will.

I still strongly believe there is some defect in either the design or maintence schedule of the 1999 RX300 transmission. It may not be a worse transmission than a dodge caravan, but way way way below Lexus standards. I certainly would warn anyone away from buying a used 1999 RX300, and if you have one, I'd suggest you sell it and get into a more recent model. We picked up an RX330 which is awesome so far. If you want to ignore my warnings, I'm selling an RX300 with a brand new transmission. It's probably good for another 60k miles before the tranny dies again.

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/car/119031436.html

03RX300

I sure as heck hope the 2003 RX tranny is better, this is my first Lexus on if it goes South, it will be my last.

I drive @ 30K+ per year, so I will know a lot more by sumer.

salimshah

We have seen two/three more posts on this issue in last 3 weeks. There are still nagging questions that I have...


1. Is the problem limited to RX300, awd or fwd models?
2. What is the proportion of problamatic_transmission/perticulat_model_sold?
3. How many failures happened before base warranty ran out?
4. Transmission is a complicated beast. Can the problems be traced down to one or two failing components leading to a root cause.

Some may question my fixation on item 3. My rationale is "All things designed have a projected life time". To me the minimum ought to be the warranty period.

Till the above information is gathered and shared, all we have are sad stories and nothing more.

Salim

03RX300

Can we buy an extended warranty for the tranny?

katzjamr

Its clear that if you are willing to go to other lexus forums you will find more premature rx300 transmission failures. These are failures that happened to people who seriously maintain their vehicles. Some have happened at 48K miles most at 60 to 80K. Many have black or burnt smelling trans oil as early as 30 to 40K. All of those people are changing thier fluids at 15 to 30K intervals now even tho this is not mentioned in the manual. Basically these transmissions are finding themselves in the wrong gear in a high tourqe situation and burning themselves out. Lexus fixed this in the rx330 by introducing a hesitation that allowed the trans to shift gears first..
Most of the failures happened just after the warranty ran out but way before one would reasonable expect in a well made transmission. People who complained the loudest got their failures covered by Lexus in some cases and partial coverage in others. Most got no financial help. The 'sad' stories you mention are happening to real people who trusted a company that holds itself above the others but is not willing to publically admit there is a problem. The 'sad' stories amout to huge financial consequences for these people. And lastly no responsible car company should live with a transmission that only lasts for the 50K of the warranty, when in the real world these components commonly last 120 to 150K from any manufacturer.

salimshah

I will write here and then hold off from posting more [cool off period]

I have tried to keep emotions out of my post, but clealry for folks who have lost money & time (investment? maybe) emotions are understandable. When I say "stories" I certainly do not mean made-up stories. Maybe a better set of words would be "what transpired". Please use these to replace the word story in current or past postings.

1. There is still no compiled data

Yr Model; AWD/FWD; Units_Sold; Units_with_transmission_problems; Milage; part_failing

Without this info, no one can make a claim that there is a design/production flaw. Hear me when I say, the calims would fall into "I ran into this problem + story". The only common thing in the stories that I have come across is that transmission died. The variation in description still does not lead to a common sourse of problems. Can we enven narrow down to model/transmission-type? It would be really helpful if folks who had the repair done would list the failing component.

2. Manufacturer's responcibility to repair at no cost finishes the moment the warranty runs out. Good will and compassion is clearly the manufactures choice beyond that point.


I would suggest that some one should collect the data and broadcast it.
Get an extended warranty if you think the base warranty is too short.

Salim

Lil4X

Well said Salim!

Certainly any individual problem is frustrating, especially when the problem involves a large investment, and the repair is similarly expensive. We have to remember that there are thousands of CL members, a good percentage of which own, drive, or have friends or relatives with an RX. When a mechanical problem is posted here, it is certainly a matter of concern, but it is usually a statistically rare problem.

Example: the sludge issue on the early 1MZFE (3.0L) engine. A very few owners experienced oil "gelling", usually when observing extended oil change intervals using dino oils. Particularly when the vehicle was operated in high-humidity climates, for short intervals, usually in stop-and-go urban driving, a few examples of the engine (that also appeared in the ES 300, Camry, and Sienna) experienced oil starvation as the oil in the pan thickened into sludge. Toyota/Lexus was aware of the problem, and by mid-2000 engineered a production fix that eliminated the problem in future models. Incidents of failure have been exceedingly rare - only a handful of documented cases have been reported. It is certainly a concern, particularly as many of these engines are now reaching the 100K mark, but considering the number of 1MZFE's in service, the chances for a well-maintained engine to experience "gelling" are statistically minute.

If you have DIRECT experience with an engine or transmission problem - either you or a family member has experienced such a failure, post it here - along with all of the data Salim noted:

Yr Model
AWD/FWD
Milage
part failing

It would be well to have your VIN # available (for production sequence), as well as any or all dealer or Lexus Corporate correspondence, written evaluations by service shops, and of course your service records. If you have a legitimate complaint, Call Lexus customer service and get them involved if your dealer is not responding in what YOU believe is a proper and timely manner.

Anything else is simply rumor mongering. If you want action, do the groundwork, invest some shoe leather in collecting all of the pertinent data and press your case. DON'T complain about "funny noises" or "odd smells" and expect them to be covered under warranty. You are going to have to do some detective work, and document, document, document.

If you purchased your RX pre-owned, check into signs of the previous owner's neglect or misuse. Was the vehicle mistreated or were service intervals ignored? Check Carfax (no, you can’t get “free” reports from the CL forums). Check your local Lexus dealer for any service records. Strange as it sounds, some cars are simply driven by owners until the fuel runs low, then refilled – that’s the extent of their service. Several RX's have been "flat-towed" behind large motorhomes - without the requisite transmission oil pumps and coolers required for this use, and may exhibit transmission or differential problems (center diff problems in AWD) once put into regular service.

As the RX moves into its EIGHTH model year, consider this: NOTHING lasts forever. I sold my step-mother’s ’85 Olds Ciera back in ’95 with only 38K miles on it. I had driven it for its last two years, so basically the car had fewer than one thousand miles per year on it for its first eight years – all slow urban driving. When put on the road in regular service, it fell apart: Three AC failures, Compressor, evaporator, condenser came in rapid succession. All four tires rotted out and blew. Mini-spare blew in first 100 yards of service. Transmission failed, giving up one gear at a time, until only second gear was available. Hundreds of minor problems, wiper motors, power steering, brake switches – all failures when I put the car into “normal” daily service - despite the fact that it LOOKED like it just rolled off the showroom floor. I am convinced that today’s cars are more affected by age than mileage.

03RX300

Just came from my local dealer, the only one in Indy, they said they do @ 20 tranny's a year mostly on the 1999-2000-2001 RX's, he said that he does not thnk they have done any on the 2003's

The believe it is maintenance related and they insist on flushing the tranny per the Lexus schedule.

bob2200

If you look in your Owner's Manual, I think you will find that Lexus recommends not changing fluid as long as it remains a red color. I suspect the dealer is talking about that dealer's recommended schedule. For our benefit, what is it?

03RX300

Here is a dealers schedule
http://www.parkplacetexas.com/Page.a...ge=ServiceMenu

My 2003 RX manual shows 45K miles for diff & transfer case oil change. I dont see the reference to the color of the fluid in the manual.

minty99z

They can insist on anything they want but they are just bull****ting you...The past few weeks I did a lot of research on cars we replaced trannies on....and out of 20 of them only 1 didnt have a consistent and perfect service history...And that one guy said he changed it himself.....Go figure...