LS430inDE.

Yesterday the wife was on a 4 hour road trip to her gf's in upstate NY. The final hour or so of nearly 100% highway driving she said the transmission was acting funny. It was 1am and she didn't want to call me, and she certainly wasn't pulling over to the shoulder when no CEL illuminated and all gauges were normal.

She described if she lifted her foot from the accelerator, it would slow down drastically. She also heard grinding noises at various times. Near the end of the trip it was difficult to gain speed from a stop light. Don't ask me why did she continue to drive it. It was midnight, no dashboard lights illuminated, and all gauges showed normal.

The 2014 has 105k miles. A tranny drain/filter/fill had never been done. I was trying to schedule this and do it myself. I do most of the work on her ES and my LS. Doing a drain and fill and filter change on the tranny most likely would not have prevented this disaster.

She was able to drive it to a dealer 15 minutes away from her gf's house. While she was driving to the dealership, a CEL illuminated. She realized at the dealership, the car wouldn't go into reverse.

The Lexus dealership (Burdick) called and said "a soleniod went bad" and it ruined the entire transmission. I forgot to ask what the code was.

Their fix is to replace the entire tranny with a remanufactured tranny. He said fixing the tranny would cost more than simply replacing it. Their cost to replace the tranny with a reman, and provide a 1 year/12k mile warranty is $8,000.

The vehicle was immaculate. I have documentation with all the maintenance I've performed on it. Until now, we were fortunate to only pay for wipers, oil, tires, filters, etc. We are 2nd owners, purchased it at 35k miles.

What are our options regarding repairs? What would you do for repairs? What would you do in this situation?

LeX2K

Is that a reman from Lexus? MSRP for a new unit is $8,000. It would be helpful to get a 2nd opinion from an independent shop or transmission shop.

LS430inDE.

Great question. I asked them the same thing. He wasn't sure if it was a Lex or JDM or something else, yet. I will likely talk with him again tomorrow. Thanks for the reply.

rmak

I have never had a solenoid ruin a transmission. I would guess a local transmission shop could rebuild it for around 2,500 depending on labor rates. A dealership will run it up in your backside without lube.

If it were mine I would call a couple of transmission shops and price a complete rebuild. I am shocked that a ES 350 with that mileage and has not been abused is requiring a total rebuild, but prepare for the worst case scenario. I would NOT spend 8k on a transmission for that car.

Call a tow company and have a rollback take it to the transmission shop. Lexus dealerships do not do anything but replace the trans and your wallet.

NdYAG

Given how reliable U660Es are - I would just go with a used one from a crashed car.
Prices start at ~$2k at junk yards.

jgscott

iTrader: (1)

Got check out car-parts. Many nice ones out of wrecked cars with low miles to. Don't try to repair that one. It's going to be another problem on down the road. You can find one from $700 - $1000 with really low miles. The Avalons and Camry's have the same Transmissions, just ask that they cross ref to be sure.

LS430inDE.

Thank you for the insight. I am shopping used trannies and yes they can be had from about $1900 to $2400.

LS430inDE.

Sound advice. Thank you. Shopping yesterday and today it appears between $1800 and $2500 for a used tranny.

jgscott

iTrader: (1)

About 4 years or so ago a friend of mine had the tranny go out on his 14 ES350 at about 125k. I helped him shop for a trans on car-parts. We found a nice low miles trans for $900. I just looked at what they are going for now. What a increase in prices! I know the used parts cost market has gone crazy. Did not know it had gone that crazy though.

dstarling

Probably error code P2757. Just got this code on my 2017 ES 350 with only 50K miles on it. Never noticed anything wrong with shifting or shuttering when braking all the years I have owned this car. I even brought it to the dealer for its 50K checkup and all was fine. After that, it sat at the dealer for 2 months waiting to get a fender replaced with a small dent. These enclosed transmissions with lifetime fluid are a mystery to me. I have never owned a car that had transmission issues and I have had manual and auto cars with high miles prior to this. I am still in shock over the $8600 price tag.

Turk54

Hi.

In Toronto area. My tranny went after 220000 kms. Very hard to find a used U660e here. Found a JDM with 65k miles usage. Cost ..$3500 plus tax. I got quoted from 2 places that didn't have in stock of $4500 .. craziness. Cost me $6000 with installation. If you find one for $900 consider yourself blessed!! Hope you find one at a reasonable price.

LS430inDE.

Latest update...my mechanic requested I purchase a JDM tranny (imported from Japan), so I just did! I found one for $1,500 by searching specifically JDM in the search parameters of your favorite search engine! Most of the sellers seem to offer a 30 day warranty.

Next up to purchase are a couple transmission filters and fluid. I'm guessing 2014 ES's take WS transmission fluid? Have you ever used an alternative? For me, I think now would be the time to start fresh with all new fluid of the same brand, if I were to deviate from what the book calls for? (I'm reading more and more that there ARE alternatives to the Toy/Lex WS?)

Does anyone know the part #'s to the transmission mount(s)? I'd like to also purchase all new mounts, but will ONLY buy Toy/Lex transmission mount(s)!

Do you guys suggest any other parts/pieces I should replace, transmission related?

NdYAG

I am not sure these transmission are all interchangeable. How do you know the one you have purchased would work?

ESully

I have an acquaintance that bought one of the Japanese transmissions for an Acura. It would not work at first. I told him to try changing all the sensors in the replacement with the ones from the original. Afterwards it worked well.

Nelexus88

If the replacement transmission comes with the TCM attached, you may want to swap it with your original TCM which would have your vehicle's parameters programmed.
I have used Valvoline Maxlife ATF for a drain and refill on my '14 ES350 with no problems but would recommend Toyota WS in your situation in case there is a warranty issue.