lilcop17

im at 83k and this scares me.. guess im going to have it replaced soon then...

Just F Me

who knows.....If Lexus does decide to fix the transmission for me...or maybe even if they don't since i'm out of warranty...everyone might get notices in the mail to replace your transmission oil......

I just don't see how you can tell people you don't need to service it, but then now because I didn't service it, it has caused the transmission to fail.

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

I would politely say, "Where is this service in the maintenance schedule? From what I can see, Lexus says it never needs service. Are you suggesting you know more about maintaining the car than the manufacturer does?"

FWIW, there is another maintenance item gone the way of the dinosaurs a long time ago and at the time it happened everyone pitched a big fuss about it. What would that be? Ball joints with grease zerks. The engineers discovered the joints were actually failing prematurely because the "grease monkeys" were not cleaning the zerks before injecting the grease. So they were injecting dirt and fresh grease into a good ball joint and ruining it long before it would normally require replacement. Another cash cow gone from the maintenance udder. Same is true for wheel bearings. You can't buy wheel bearings for our cars. Is anyone up in arms about this? I haven't heard it here. But I have heard lots of folks complaining about the "sealed unit transmission" because they're used to having someone remove the old fluid and inject new fluid into their transmissions and for no other reason. I hear a lot of "I think" going on. Zero "I know" because AFAIK, no one else has bothered to send in their oil for analysis.

There is a reason I sent mine in to be checked. I can say "I know" not "well that's how it's always been and it worked for years like this" because I don't buy "we've always done it this way." If I did, I'd be needlessly changing my oil four times more frequently than I do and introducing four times the contaminants to the engine every time I did it.

JMHO.

lilcop17

so deffiantly change the tranny fluid?

vbb

iTrader: (3)

I don't know whether we helped convince you or not, but either way I'm happy to hear that you're making this decision. I think this is the right thing to do for sure. Glad you didn't pull the trigger on a brand new car while you were "stranded" and take a horrible trade in offer.

vbb

iTrader: (3)

And yet there are people who will argue until they're blue in the face that you MUST change your oil ever 5K, or even 3K miles, simply because that's the way it has always been done with their previous cars. I tend to like following data and evidence when applicable.

PhiDeltBee

iTrader: (1)

Man, just read this thread. Hate to hear of you situation. My wife and I were in a similar situation with her 2005 GX 470 last December. It needed several things done to it which could have ended up costing between $5-10$k. It had 115k miles on it. We ended up getting full trade on it for a brand new Escalade, so it work out ok for us. I do agree that it's tough to dump a lot into a high mileage car. Ours had a reverse gear though.

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

I won't unless Blackstone comes back and says the ATF is worn out. If they do, then I'll do a complete change, not just a few quarts. The fortunate thing is, this transmission has an external cooler with oil running from the gearbox to the cooler. The other 2IS have coolant running to a heat exchanger mounted on the side of the transmission, so it is extremely difficult to do a complete oil change unless you have an adapter made to fit in the same place the heat exchanger is mounted. While it's certainly possible to do this, it won't be easy or cheap. From what I have seen (at least the last time I looked), the transmission oil exchange devices do not have this kind of adapter (yet) because the demand is too small.

lilcop17

Good deal. Mine is fine, just a bit worried after reading this thread, i just got the damn thing lol.

bradhop15

iTrader: (1)

I was just browsing on Sewell Lexus, and I found that the Club Lexus price on a transmission is $3356 and an overhaul kit is $689. Not sure what exactly is included in those. You will have to call to get the details, but if you do it yourself or go to an independent shop it shouldn't be to expensive to have a brand new transmission afterall. I dont see how you got quoted over $10k. They must be replacing every transmission part including converter, pan, everything, and they also must be doing the max amout of labor because thats a big price difference.

Just F Me

I looked in the service manual and it looks like in order to replace the transmission, you have to take the whole engine out...that's a boat load of work! I wonder if I'm the first transmission failure for the IS F?

I'd pull the motor out of my BMW e30 3 series...but I wouldn't mess with pulling the motor out of this car.

I'm still up Sacramento CA area....Lexus is suppose to call me Monday. Depending on what they say, it'll help me make my decision. If they say they'll fix it...I'll keep the IS F....if they don't, then I'll trade it in and buy a 2013 GS350 F-Sport...drive it for a year or two, give it to my mom, and then get something else later (most likely an older car...something I can work on myself)

TheBatman

I wouldn't expect much from Lexus HQ since you're out of powertrain warranty. But I think if you keep pressing the issue with them, especially since Lexus doesn't have a maintenance schedule for the trans which means it should run the lifetime of the car on the same fluid, you have a very strong argument. I would hammer away at that point. Persistence may pay off, it may not.

Reverse is usually the first gear to go. But its going to get rapidly worse. I wouldn't drive it around and given time constraints, you may have to take the most convenient option here and take a financial hit.

I hope Lexus HQ has good news for you.

Just F Me

I feel the same way here. I don't expect them to do much...it's 17.5k miles over the power train warranty. If they had a thing in the manual saying...you need to change your trans fluid at 100k, but depending on your driving habits, then you may look at changing it sooner, then that's my bad for not staying on top of it.

So does that mean...since it doesn't say to make sure you always put gas in the car before it runs out, and it runs out...do i blame Lexus for not putting that in the manual? Maybe...but the transmission, it says it doesn't need to get serviced, and clearly...it does. So did i follow the manufactures' guidelines? I think i did.... and it still failed.... I understand following guidelines does not guarantee that the transmission will last forever, but it's a guideline.

Every dealership that I've called says that you don't have to change the trans oil until 100k miles. If a service advisor told you, you should change your trans oil, and you're at 87.5k, i don't think most of us would do it....that's a lot of life left...for some of us, that could be a years worth of driving....

We'll see what they say...though most people on the forum think I'm crazy for not fighting this to the very end, i really don't have the patience or time to fight a big corporate. Sometimes, you take a hit, move on with your life and that's something I would do.

Plenty of people PMing me willing to buy the car for 18k...i mean, that doesn't do anything for me. I can trade it in and be done with it. Where as a private sale, i gotta wait for the person to come look at it, you can't really test drive it, etc, might take months to sell it.

dmrios88

I had a similar situation happen to me with a vehicle that was not a Lexus/Toyota but it was under warranty, the problem was they didnt know what the hell the problem was so i just traded that ***** it and moved on. I tried fighting it and whatnot but when you work 40+ hours a week and go to school part time, you simply dont have the energy or the time. I agree with you, sometimes you just learn the lesson take the hit and move on, maybe you wont like lexus anymore after the fact, i know i sure as hell steered away from the other brand even tho some of their new stuff looks sweet. sorry to hear it happened to you but its just a car, it can be replaced, life is still good, no one died.

good read let us know what happens

MisterSkiz

iTrader: (2)

As someone who has an inside to Lexus...I would keep calling and keep pushing the issue if they do not take care of it for you. Be firm but polite.

Please let us know what they update you with on Monday.