artwatts3

I am the original owner of a 2001 RX with 95,500 miles and just found out today that I have transmission failure. The dealership told me that a remanufactured unit will run me roughly $4100 and comes with a 12 month warranty. I was in shock when my service advisor told me this so I did not have the opportunity to formulate any questions. After reading the posts on this site as well as on the National Highway Traffice and Safety Administration site, I am upset because this appears to be a "known" problem, but there has not been any type of recall. I am going to talk to my service advisor tomorrow to find out if there is any help that Lexus can provide considering I have maintained the service on my vehicle. Does anyone have any suggestions on whether I should consider just trading it in as is to the the dealer and purchase something new? I have been a loyal Lexus owner, but now I am skeptical about purchasing another Lexus. I also worry whether I will have more transmission problems down the road with this remanufactured one that is only under warranty for 12 months? Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated. I estimate the value of my car to be roughly $11k to $13k. I REALLY love(d) my RX and am so upset! Is this a problem with the GX470s too?

ecrane

sorry to hear about your situation. There probably is no one good answer. I personally, assuming everything else is working well, would have the transmission repaired and see how it goes. A number of years ago we had a transmission go out on a 1993 Quest minivan at about 76k miles. We had the dealer put in a rebuilt one that was still going strong at 120k miles when we traded it in. Was your RX AWD or FWD? It appears the AWD vehicles are more prone to failure. I'm curious as we just bought a used 2007 RX350 and sold our 2001 RX300 to our daughter for dealer wholesale at 109k miles. One of my fears is the transmission in this will go out and I'll be stuck helping her with a repair. Ours was a FWD model

thomas1

If you have had all service done at Lexus, ask for a goodwill assistance. Many have received the tranny for free only paying labor ($1800) If you have not had all service done by Lexus I would suggest taking it to an independent tranny builder (not AAMCO) but some local shop that has good recommendations. You will pay a lot less and probably get more satisfaction. If so ask if they use the new updated planetary gear replacement. Six gears and a steel carrier. This part is what I suspect causes most failures.

ByTor

Trade it in if you can.

artwatts3

Thanks for all of the input! It is an AWD. I did call Lexus today and ask for Goodwill assistance and will let you know how it turns out!

2000LEX

iTrader: (2)

Also dont take it out on Lexus, every car has there problems. I have a 01 AWD RX with 130000 and the tranny is still going strong. I also have a 01 Acura CL and as many know the tranny in those cars were just as bad.

sktn77a

iTrader: (2)

Yes, but Honda were much more responsive to this problem than it appears Lexus has been.

gsenthil

Mine failed @130 (FWD) and there was no goodwill assistance. It cost me approx 4k to get it replaced with a rebuilt one. Yes it is a lot of money but much less over the last 7 years when compared to similar cars. Thats how i console myself

dkpnkc

I'm right at the 1 year anniversary of my failure. '01 AWD w/ approx. 90k when it died. No goodwill assistance on mine either. Cost $3.5k and came w/ a 3yr 50k warranty.

With the other minor issues I've had it hasn't been either the best or worst vehicle I've owned - but after spending $3.5k it's worth a whole lot more to me than anyone else. It will stay in the fleet for several more years.

Good luck w/ Lexus.

sktn77a

iTrader: (2)

Where did you get it repaired?

dkpnkc

It was done at a "Mr. Transmission" in North Kansas City, MO. I found them through another auto shop owned by family friends. Also, I was wrong - the warranty is 36k, not 50k.

lexina

...and it is important to mention that Acura extended the warranty to 100k/8yrs for those vehicles.

artwatts3

I wanted to give everyone an update on my original post. After many phone calls, I was granted Out of Warranty/Goodwill Assistance from Lexus, not the dealership. Lexus is paying for 50% of the total transmission rebuild and I am extremely happy! Although I am still disappointed in the way Lexus handled this "known" problem and also disappointed in the dealership refusing to provide any assistance, I am grateful for the help from the Goodwill program. I will definitely think twice about purchasing another Lexus, especially from the dealership I having been going to all of these years. Thanks again for everyone's advice and thanks to Club Lexus for providing this forum!

ecrane

well, that's good news. If you wouldn't mind, exactly where and with whom at Lexus did you plead your case? I'm sure there is a lot of interest in how you were successful with this.

again, congratulations

mikey00

Be sure and take a careful look at this offer. They offered me the same but 50% off the Lexus price brought it down to the same I paid at a local shop with a better job and warranty. Lexus just installs a rebuilt trans and from the posts I have read they don't have the best track record with these rebuilds.