Transaxle Assembly Replaced at 57,000 Miles
08-29-09, 05:57 PM
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Transaxle Assembly Replaced at 57,000 Miles
Good news = $5500 replacement transaxle covered 100% under warranty.
Bad news = Grinding noise in right front wheel when turning sharply.
My wife was driving our 2006 RX 400h into a hospital entrance driveway when the motor quit and warning codes lit up the dashboard. She got the car to start up again but it bucked severely as she parked it in the adjacent parking lot. The display said the hybrid system had a problem.
We were planning on keeping the car another 40, 000 miles after getting a price quote on a new 450h two weeks ago and not getting any discount. Chances are this transmission is fine and we can get the noise in the front wheel resolved, . . . . . . . but . . . . . . I've not had good results with major component changes with previous cars I've owned. It has got us thinking about shopping around for a new RX 450h or possibly buying a RX-350 and not being nearly as green socially but greener economically.
Bad news = Grinding noise in right front wheel when turning sharply.
My wife was driving our 2006 RX 400h into a hospital entrance driveway when the motor quit and warning codes lit up the dashboard. She got the car to start up again but it bucked severely as she parked it in the adjacent parking lot. The display said the hybrid system had a problem.
We were planning on keeping the car another 40, 000 miles after getting a price quote on a new 450h two weeks ago and not getting any discount. Chances are this transmission is fine and we can get the noise in the front wheel resolved, . . . . . . . but . . . . . . I've not had good results with major component changes with previous cars I've owned. It has got us thinking about shopping around for a new RX 450h or possibly buying a RX-350 and not being nearly as green socially but greener economically.
08-31-09, 08:34 AM
#2
hmmm... any warning signs before this? our 400h with 63k miles is having issues with the steering system and suspension.. Lexus wants $200 just to diagnose the issue.
We might have to drop this car sooner than expected. Not too happy.. had the WHOLE steering system replaced twice in this car under warranty and now it's out of warranty.
sigh...
We might have to drop this car sooner than expected. Not too happy.. had the WHOLE steering system replaced twice in this car under warranty and now it's out of warranty.
sigh...
08-31-09, 08:29 PM
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Drove the car 45 miles at 75 mph today back to the dealership without incident. It still had the metal scraping noise when turning full lock left and right. It is in the shop again. I asked what went wrong with the transaxle and they said essentially something broke. The replacement transaxle was a Toyota rebuilt unit.
We traded the car this evening for a 2010 RX 350 front wheel drive with 9400 miles (untitled Lexus executive car). It had radio presets from the Atlanta, Charlotte and Triad, NC area FM stations so the previous driver was apparently in all three towns.
This is my wife's car and she is driving more than 400 miles each week in 90 mile trips to see her elderly parents and often coming home late at night, so no more screwing around with a significantly re-habbed car. Besides, she wanted XM. The Vaistech system and installation to make XM a reality was going to be several bills, so we had all the justifications we needed.
We decided not to go hybrid again because the purchase cost and future trade-in economics were not enough to goad us over the line, particularly with 80% of our travel being highway miles. We got a $23,000 trade-in allowance for our Silver 2006 AWD 400h with 57,000 miles with brand new tires. We looked at a 450h two weeks ago and were offered $22,000 prior to putting on new tires, so we got our tire investment back.
There was no discounting of the 450h whereas there was room to move on the 350. I am going to miss the raw acceleration and quiet ride of the 400h, but all good things come to an end. . . . . . . .
We traded the car this evening for a 2010 RX 350 front wheel drive with 9400 miles (untitled Lexus executive car). It had radio presets from the Atlanta, Charlotte and Triad, NC area FM stations so the previous driver was apparently in all three towns.
This is my wife's car and she is driving more than 400 miles each week in 90 mile trips to see her elderly parents and often coming home late at night, so no more screwing around with a significantly re-habbed car. Besides, she wanted XM. The Vaistech system and installation to make XM a reality was going to be several bills, so we had all the justifications we needed.
We decided not to go hybrid again because the purchase cost and future trade-in economics were not enough to goad us over the line, particularly with 80% of our travel being highway miles. We got a $23,000 trade-in allowance for our Silver 2006 AWD 400h with 57,000 miles with brand new tires. We looked at a 450h two weeks ago and were offered $22,000 prior to putting on new tires, so we got our tire investment back.
There was no discounting of the 450h whereas there was room to move on the 350. I am going to miss the raw acceleration and quiet ride of the 400h, but all good things come to an end. . . . . . . .
09-01-09, 05:47 PM
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The metal scraping noise when turned hard left was caused by a wheel bolt not being torqued correctly. It was strange seeing our car sitting the dealership yard, but my wife loves her 2010 RX 350. The interior, navigation system, audio and telephone controls/interfaces are much better than our 2006 RX 400h.
As we pulled away, a licensed white AWD 450h was parked out front and we looked at each other, said "oh well" and went on our merry way. The nearly $10K bottom line difference was the deciding point. With the gov't mandating 35 MPG, I've got a feeling the price differential between Lexus Hybrids and IC models will be less in 2014.
As we pulled away, a licensed white AWD 450h was parked out front and we looked at each other, said "oh well" and went on our merry way. The nearly $10K bottom line difference was the deciding point. With the gov't mandating 35 MPG, I've got a feeling the price differential between Lexus Hybrids and IC models will be less in 2014.
09-01-09, 05:54 PM
#5
Drove the car 45 miles at 75 mph today back to the dealership without incident. It still had the metal scraping noise when turning full lock left and right. It is in the shop again. I asked what went wrong with the transaxle and they said essentially something broke. The replacement transaxle was a Toyota rebuilt unit.
We traded the car this evening for a 2010 RX 350 front wheel drive with 9400 miles (untitled Lexus executive car). It had radio presets from the Atlanta, Charlotte and Triad, NC area FM stations so the previous driver was apparently in all three towns.
This is my wife's car and she is driving more than 400 miles each week in 90 mile trips to see her elderly parents and often coming home late at night, so no more screwing around with a significantly re-habbed car. Besides, she wanted XM. The Vaistech system and installation to make XM a reality was going to be several bills, so we had all the justifications we needed.
We decided not to go hybrid again because the purchase cost and future trade-in economics were not enough to goad us over the line, particularly with 80% of our travel being highway miles. We got a $23,000 trade-in allowance for our Silver 2006 AWD 400h with 57,000 miles with brand new tires. We looked at a 450h two weeks ago and were offered $22,000 prior to putting on new tires, so we got our tire investment back.
There was no discounting of the 450h whereas there was room to move on the 350. I am going to miss the raw acceleration and quiet ride of the 400h, but all good things come to an end. . . . . . . .
We traded the car this evening for a 2010 RX 350 front wheel drive with 9400 miles (untitled Lexus executive car). It had radio presets from the Atlanta, Charlotte and Triad, NC area FM stations so the previous driver was apparently in all three towns.
This is my wife's car and she is driving more than 400 miles each week in 90 mile trips to see her elderly parents and often coming home late at night, so no more screwing around with a significantly re-habbed car. Besides, she wanted XM. The Vaistech system and installation to make XM a reality was going to be several bills, so we had all the justifications we needed.
We decided not to go hybrid again because the purchase cost and future trade-in economics were not enough to goad us over the line, particularly with 80% of our travel being highway miles. We got a $23,000 trade-in allowance for our Silver 2006 AWD 400h with 57,000 miles with brand new tires. We looked at a 450h two weeks ago and were offered $22,000 prior to putting on new tires, so we got our tire investment back.
There was no discounting of the 450h whereas there was room to move on the 350. I am going to miss the raw acceleration and quiet ride of the 400h, but all good things come to an end. . . . . . . .
09-01-09, 06:17 PM
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Mr. Booby, my KBB reference for trade-in shows $22 - 24K to be the valuation. It seems residuals have take a big hit since early 2008.
http://tinyurl.com/n9mef8
http://tinyurl.com/n9mef8
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