turbo1

I have not even owned my gold 99 rx300 for a month and the tranny went bad. It has 101,000 on it. I bought it with cash, after saving every penny for a year. A little old lady owned it and used it to move large artwork from show to show with. I thought I had found a really good sound, reliable suv. She had all of the service work done at a certified lexus dealer. From what I have been reading its going to cost me roughly $4k to fix (let me know if I'm wrong on that amount) and lexus will give me a 1 year warranty on the new tranny. Should I have lexus repair it or try to save $ and go elsewhere?

Here is a good thread to read
http://www.carsurvey.org/viewcomments_review_79737.html

I am very sick over this whole situation. When I bought the lexus I thought I was getting a car that would be far more reliable than a normal toyota. And yet I feel I got far less with this vehicle.

Lexmex

It wouldn't hurt to have a transmission person look at it. In Mexico for example, it rarely makes any sense to have an out of warranty car get the entire transmission replaced. My uncle's buddy all the time opens them up and fixes them, even using customized pieces on vehicles that were imported but were never sold in Mexico. It can save you several thousand in the process.

salimshah

Sorry to hear that your first and short experience is a poor one.

It may seem I am rubbing this in, but there are two facts no one should ovelook:

1. Base Lexus Warranty is 60K. Your failure is almost close to twice the base warranty.

2. Lexus are among the most expensive Japanese cars to repair. So when something goes out your pocket book will be impacted. [In fact ALL luxury cars are bad as used car purchase]

Back to address your problem:
You may have legal rescourse if you can prove the last seller knew about the problem and did not disclose when you asked. [recovery of money may be impossible]

Second is getting the failing part replaced instead of tranny swap. I think the transmission shops will include an overhaul fee at minimum. This is what Lexmex is suggesting.

It will come back to the question as to how much peace of mind you want to purchase with your money. Not that the lexus work will be far above and beyond other shops. They are expected to be more familiar with the work. Alsp check who and where the rebuilt trans come from.

NOTE: Please have your main seal replaced when you opt for transmission work. The extra money on this is well worth the peace of mind. [Check out the long post on this by Fern].


Salim

Additonal info on repair:

The repair will consist of
removing transmission
fixing/replacing/repair
reinstalling.

When you let the dealer do it, most probably they will in thier shop do the
removal
replace
reinstall.
I doubt your RX will be sent any where. The rebuilt trans may come from a transmission specailist shop.

turbo1

Isn't the normal problem that the tranny is broken and needs to be replaced? I put the car in D and it goes nowhere. The tranny was whining the previous day before it went. When it went there was a huge lag between shifting from 1st to 2nd then started slipping rigorusly.
The 2 local tranny specialists but I don't have a clue to their abilities. Places near me are cottman and lee myles. I am in freehold nj.

Lexmex

Not necessarily that it needs to replaced. Depends on what occurred. Often it might just be a small part that failed and a tranny specialist can repair it. However, sometimes, the internals of the tranny will crack (god only knows why) and you will get large chunks in your pan. This when you have this issueis serviceable also, but it is balance between the cost of a specialist and getting an an entirely new tranny.

I don't know anybody in that area, though I use to live once in the NJ/NY area. There is a very good aftermarket group, http://www.ipttrans.com/ that has done work on Lexus/Toyota vehicles, usually for performance, but they are about 50 miles north of you.

toy4two

could be low on fluid.

thomas1

I would ask around for a tranny shop that is used by friends or acquantances. It will be a lot cheaper, The warranty is probably the same and you will save probably 2K in the cost. Lexus does not rebuild the transmissions, they have them done by an outside vender. As for experience, the tranny shops are probably just as good if not better than the lexus dealership. good luck and sorry about your misfortune, ps the changing the rear main seal on the engine when the tranny is off is a great idea and will save you 700 dollars if it fails later, Also the new seal is supposedly been redesigned to prevent further failure.

Carver

Lexus is going to pay some outside rebuilder about 1500 for a rebuilt tranny and charge you 4000.

Here's one on eBay for 1750 BIN It's all wheel drive AWD, but I'm sure they would have FWD as they are a rebuilder. They want a 250 core charge and shipping is 125.

Assuming it costs 125 to ship your transmission back to them you're at 2000 plus local installation.

The local installer can use the same crate for your old tranny to ship it back. Even if someone rips you off for 500 installation your're still 1500 ahead.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/99-03...spagenameZWDVW

Carver

Here's a rebuild kit for 750 OBO, I found them on line for around 550 so this guy might be a bit high.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/LEXUS...spagenameZWD1V

Lexmex

I think AAMCO is the one that is working with them.

Lil4X

There's nothing fur-lined or gold-plated in a Lexus transmission. See what a good local transmission shop will charge you to overhaul it. Many dealers are in the business of swapping whole assemblies rather than diagnosing the specific failure. It may make sense, considering their shop rate, but you should shop around nevertheless.

Why the failure at 99,000? "Little old lady" cars are often not driven enough to keep internal parts properly lubricated. Regular service at 5000 miles may only represent a change every five or six months on motor oil, but every three or four years on tranny fluid. Condensation and few long trips could have caused water and a few nasty chemicals to puddle in your transmission. It's not so often wear and tear, it's time that destroys a luxury car.

turbo1

She told me she had all the maintenance done by lexus. I just found out after them doing a history lookup of all maintenance that she only did oil changes and brakes at lexus. She never had the 30, 60 or 100 done. Lexus also informed me that I need the timing belt done and brakes/rotors and new tires and the d on the dashboard led is out. He said 14.4 hours and would be about 4k for the tranny. He said it fails when hot but when cold it tries to work or sputters.
I wanted to have the car looked at by a mechanic, which I ALWAYS do but a female who was with me said, just by the car now, she's a nice old lady. I am a dumbass.
Would anyone reccomend AAMCO?

Carver

AAMCOs are franchised and have variable reputations, check your BBB and see if they will give you customer refs.

Carver

...also, I would light that old biddy up with some *sincere* requests for assistance with these repair bills. She knew what she was doing.

thomas1

that is not fair, The way these trannies fail, you have no warning sometimes.Mine failied with no warning signs, and it had fluid changes every 30k miles, more than what the Lexus dealership or service manual recommended. He still got a nice car for a fair price, but didnt do his homework to discover the tranny potential failures. Get it repaired at an independent, and enjoy the car, sorry about your misfortune, been there, done that, but I got soaked by Lexus of Roseville, Ca for $4400 and poor quality to boot. Dont forget to file a complaint with the NHTS Board, the list is growing. You will need your vin number to do so...