A month ago I had the Lexus dealer do a 50k mile service (although I have 68k). I work from home and rarely go anywhere. The miles are highway miles to North Carolina Mtns. I have a 2007 GX470 that I bought new. Tried going out last night to dinner and the car would not go into gear. The shifter would move freely but would not engage. When I tried putting it back into Park, there was a grinding noise, not bad but it was there. The car is UN-drivable. Before I have it towed to Lexus, is there anything simple I could check? The car drove perfectly the day before. Please help!!

 

Maybe a bad shifter cable or it just needs adjusting?

 

Probably a shift linkage problem. I know Range Rovers have a problem where a little piece of plastic breaks off and screws up the shifter. The truck has to be towed to the dealer to remove this minute piece of plastic. I doubt this will be an expensive repair on the Lexus either..

EDIT: Both posts at 3:09 LOL!

 

Hey guys, thanks for your comments. Wayne, my service consultant at Lexus called me and told me to check the four wheel drive shifter. It had been accidentally bumped into neutral. I put it back into high and the car works perfectly again...

 

Too funny. Glad it was nothing serious.

When I had my car detailed 2 Summers ago I was leaving the shop and once I pulled onto the road my RPMs were shooting up fast but I was going 20mph or so. I wasn't use to a manual transfer case so I didn't think to check it. I happened to read the visor 4wd card and had a moment. They bumped it in 4LO by accident when cleaning it.

 

So, you didn't even need a tow? Great. You own Wayne a Starbucks gift card.

I imagine those shift linkage actuator* problems are fairly common.

*actuator = GX470 operator

 

Yup, good on Wayne.