Jebeda

Hello everyone,

I have a 99 RX300, have had it for about a month and a half, it has 90K on it. On the way to work this morning the transmission went out. Now, I am having it looked at as I type this, but here is what happened. I was on the interstate, cruise set to 70, there was some small jerking, almost like it was not getting enough fuel. Soon the tach began to jump, I turned off the cruise and there was nothing there, like as if it was in Neutral. I pulled over, turned the car off and waited a few (5-10) minutes. I turned it back on, it went into gear and engaged for about 100 yards then began to slip. I stopped and had it towed to an Autek transmission shop. Thay are looking at it now. Has this happened to anyone, and does any part of the warranty cover this? According to the seller, it was a CPO car. It also has an oil leak (rear main) and the struts are noisy. Other than that ( ;-( ) it is a good car. I am beginning to think I should have bought a 4 Runner. I expected some repairs with a used car, but I sure didn't expect this from a Lexus. My first Lexus (LX400) was a great car, and I got it in a similar manner. Any feedback is appreciated. Thanks

Handogen

Sounds like whoever had it before you drove the crap out of it. If it's a CPO car, you should have warranty good to 100k. Have you checked with Lexus to see if it's covered under warranty?

Since the Tranny went out at 90k, there may be other items to be concerned with... have them do the 90k check on everything (belts, engine, lube points, etc etc etc).

You're right about the used car thing... you never know what you're going to get. Just because it's a Lexus doesn't mean whoever had it before, didn't abuse it.

Good luck,
Hando

Jebeda

Thanks for the reply..

Called Lexus..no luck, powertrain warranty runs to 70K miles. Said no known problems with transmission or rear main seal. I have a feeling this could be expensive.......

Lexmexico

My thinking on this is the transmission fluid. I know several dealers including my previous dealer in Maryland who did not use the Type-IV Toyota synthetic ATF. Car felt awful driving down to Mexico.

Luckily, I a made pit-stop at Lexus of San Antonio and had it changed to Type-IV. BIG DIFFERENCE. Do not belive that when they say they changed your fluid they put the good stuff in, several of them have been shoveling Castrol ATF (non synthetic). Moreover, they may have just drained the fluid rather than using the pump or two-fluids method. This hardly gets any fluid out.

These transmissions are funny. Hondas are the same and require their own type of ATF. The wear over time could have killed the transmission.

I have a diplomat friend down here with an ES300 who had to have his car hauled to San Antonio, just because the mechanics at Toyota here thought all ATFs are alike, and they never heard of synthetic ATF. They had not even heard that Toyota had its own ATF fluid. Transmission gave out after some high speed adventures across Mexico. His was at about 85K.

Handogen

No Powertrain past 70K? I thought the CPO program covered the vehicle to 100K... that doesn't make sense. Can anybody confirm this?

Sounds to me like the runaround. You can't warranty a car and not warranty the drivetrain... what would be the point of that???

Jebeda

Thanks for the replies, it was a CPO car when the previous owners purchased it. According to Lexus, CPO coverage ends with the sale. What I now need is a transmission rebuild kit for it. Does anyone know of a distributor that sells these kits. Lexus, as I understand it, only sells the parts to do the rebuild independently. Very costly. Again, all input sincerely appreciated. It is a '99 AWD. Thanks.....

99rx300nj

this just happened to my 99 RX300. the dealer says 7k for a new tranny. my brother was driving it and says the car was just reving like it was in neutral.

Lexmexico

99rx300nj,

How many miles are on your RX?

I just had this happen to a friend with a Dodge Stratus here in Mexico. What was the problem? ATF fluid was nearly burned to a crisp. I had him change over to some imported Mobil 1 ATF.

parula

99rx300nj; sorry to hear of your problem.

Did you do the Lexus recommended expensive services at a dealer?

Jebeda

Sorry to hear about your RX. Aamco says 3200. for a rebuild, that is worse case scenario. I was quoted 4800.00 at one trans. shop, and didn't even ask the dealer about price. Hopefully, I won't have any other issues with this car. A far cry from my LS....

99rx300nj

i've got 78k miles on it.... the dealer says the clutch plate buned out... need a new tranny... or a rebuild...

99rx300nj

the dealer price is 6800... i think i should sell the truck off to the dealer and buy something else...

DJ SprinklesNJO

wow sorry man, i can help u though with another problem u stated. the noisy struts, the original 99 factory runs were defective and recalled. i had them replaced on my old 99 truck but it was under warranty.
but since it looks like u wont even keep it, i guess it really doesnt matter then.

toy4two

Did you have AWD?

Does Toyota use the same tranny in all RX's? Or is it like the MR2 that has a beefier E153 tranny for the Turbos and a weaker one for the non-turbo 5SFEs?

Hope this isn't a common problem...

99rx300nj

yes... it's an AWD tranny... i dunno if the trannys are different for fwd and awd...