RXGurl

Hi! I have a 2008 RX with 11,000 miles on it. I have had 2 new transmissions put into the car. Transmission has gone out on me 2 times and the rear axle fell off. I am extremely disappointed in the performance of my Lexus. I feel the car is very unsafe and unreliable. Has anyone else had troubles like this? Any suggestions?

Lexmex

Welcome to the Club.

11,000 miles on it. When did the tranny first go out and when did it go out the second time?

Also, under what circumstances did the rear axle fall off?

rxovermdx

I live in Illinois too, maybe I can come by your house and trouble shoot it for you. Where do you live RXGurl?

RXGurl

LexMex-
Tranny first went out about 4 weeks ago and just went out again Saturday morning. Inital tranmission replaced with new one (not sure if it was new or a rebuilt transmission). Rear axle fell off about 2 weeks ago. Circumstances unknown to me.
When my car was being fixed for the first trasmission problem, it snowed here in Chicago and the plow back into car. Thoughts of rear axle may have been jarred. They never gave me a definite answer.

I don't want to drive my car anywhere....it is unreliable and I am afraid of getting stuck!

Any suggestions?

Lexmex

Rear axle falling off any vehicle is rare and pretty damn dangerous. If there were something wrong from the factory this would have happened shortly after you bought it, but a snow plow bashing in the back and causing an issue with the axle would cause a problem on an AWD vehicle and could in turn cause a chain reaction of problems starting in the rear differential to the transfer case and then on to the transmission.

So, this issue with the plow happened at the dealer?

One other thing to keep in mind is that Illinois' lemon law will cut off at 12K miles for you, http://www.ag.state.il.us/consumers/lemonlaw.html

RXGurl

Issue with the plow happened at the dealer. Not too happy with the plow backing into car but what can you do. They fixed it! Plus McGrath gives you new vehicles for loaners. Can't complain there. But I think their rational for the rear axle is BS. I feel like something else has gone wrong and they aren't telling me. To have my car in the shop 3 out of 4 weeks is pretty damn annoying. Not to mention, dangerous!

Car is over a year old so can't be considered a lemon. Any other suggestions with corporate lexus?

rxovermdx

you can call Lexus headquarter and complain that youor car is unsafe to drive (under the warranty I assume). I live in Glenview, and I know about McGrath. They will give you every kind of run around (totally different faces after the car is purchased..)

Lexmex

That's a good question, has this all been covered under warranty?

RXGurl

Everything been covered under warranty. As it should be!

RXGurl

Could you let me know what issues you had with McGrath? They often times make me feel as if this is my fault!

salimshah

Can you please list chronologically how things happened. Please rearrange and answer each.

You had 10,000 reasonably good miles from your RX
You went to dealer for what problem/service?

While at shop, ? accident happened.

Dealership fixed the transmission.

You had the RX for ? miles/ ? days

Rear end fell off.

This will help us figure out, if your problems started with the accident and who should be paying for repairs and maybe you have another recourse (accident replacement).

Salim

RXGurl

Salim-
I had 10,000 good miles on my car. Then one day went to pull out of driveway and it wouldn't accelerate. Took to the dealer. They said transmission was bad. Put in a new transmission. While car was at the dealer, the snow plow backed into it. They fixed that.

Had the car back for about 2 weeks and rear axle fell off.

Took the car back into Lexus and they fixed that.

Week later, went to back car out of driveway and wouldn't accelerate again.

Took into dealership. Another bad transmission. Still sitting in shop.

Lexus has payed for everything because it is under warranty and the accident happened while they were fixing my car.

So...where do we go from here?

Angela

The G Man

Is there a lemon law in il ? I would contact a lemon law lawyer and find out what your rights are as far as getting a replacement. I would also call up Lexus USA and file a formal complain and ask them to buy back the vehicle.

Lexmex

She's outside of it because she had the vehicle for more than 12 months, even though she is within the mileage.

The problem I would have with this situation is if they didn't cover this under warranty and provide a loaner. Now, maybe Lexus is curious about what went wrong (since this is exceptionally rare if not unique to the RX350 of such a year) and wants to take their time in carefully examining the vehicle.

I'd worry that the plow in the back of the vehicle caused some structural damage that had led to a chain reaction event (and that would go for just about anything AWD vehicle of that size).

biff44

You know, it IS AWD. You really do not need that back axle. You can get along fine on the front one only.