m015778

Hi, my wife has a 99 rx300 and basically drives the car to take the kids to and from school, she doesn't work and has never towed anything. Her trans is blown with 76,200 miles on the car and this totally blows my mind that this happens on a Lexus that prides itself on quality!! I did not purchase the extended warranty when i bought the used car but the manual says that the engine and trans are covered till 75000 miles. My wife had the trans fluid changed at 75000 miles and corrected the trans from slipping for about 3 months until now and the car now has 76,200 miles, over the warranty by 1200 miles. Can anybody give me advice on how to rectify the problem without me paying out thousands of dollars to fix a "quality luxury car"? I also own a BMW and a MB and have never had this problem occur? If Lexus brags about its quality vehicles, how can this happen?

Fern

First thing I have to ask is who serviced the trani at 75000, was it Lexus?

If so 76000 isn't that far off from 75000 and I would stress that a failure that close to the warranty period surely indicates a pre-existing problem during warranty period...

Find out nature of failure, ie: inadequate fluid change, too low/high fluid level, mechanical failure, etc...

Who diagnosed the trani failure was it an independant garage or lexus?

I would try to put this forth with Lexus, through speaking to the service manager at a local dealership and then through lexus head office via phone and written followup...

You might also want to mention that you have elected to rent an alternate vehicle until the problem gets resolved and depending on the outcome ie: warranty non warranty, Lexus might be on the hook for the rental...

Lexus tranis don't have a history of failure, it could be that there was something inherently wrong with yours.

Tranis don't just fail, they fail for a reason... What was yours...

Cheers and good luck,

Fern

saber

The slipping is an indication the prior owner drove the car abusively or didn't maintain the transmission correctly. It's a chance everyone takes when buying a used car. Personally, I buy used cars from senior aged drivers that have extensive service records on their cars. Such cars have little mechanical wear and tear.

m015778

Hi, thanks for responding, maybe it was the previous owner but i still cant imagine someone beating a car to the point that my wifes car has a blown trans. Also, when i took the car to the shop initially when the problem started under 75000 miles, it was not a Lexus Dealership, it was an independent foreign car center. I am not trying to defraud anyone, but in my wifes case, and how she drives, it should not be fixed out of my pocket. If that is the case, I should have purchased a Toyota Corolla!!!

VVT-i

The trans on the RX is a well bluid transmission. Where did you buy the car? Any services history?
The power train warranty on Lexus is 6 years/70K which ever comes first.
You never know what you got from the used car lot. Plus the local shop you take the RX may not used the correct Type-T transmission fluid. The RX don't take Dextron tranny fluid.FYI.

autodriver

"Transmission Blown"

Please be more specific on the "Blown". I am sure your RX wasn't ambushed in Iraq.

Lexusfreak

I'm not 100% sure but I know some Lexus vehicles (my 01 ES 300 for example) can only run on certain transmission made by Toyota (Lexus) & NO other fluid will/should be used including synthetics. The fluid is called Toyota type IV (type 4) and is specifically for Toyota & Lexus automatic transmissions of certain years......check your owners manual for what your RX requires. It's agreed that the RX has a strong tranny but it also has to be maintained to specifications (with the correct fluid) in order to run "trouble free".

Lexmex

Lexusfreak,

I have a 99 RX, ando the ATF dipstick, it mentions Type-IV. So you are correct. I have had friends use Mobil 1 ATF in their RXs (and two Harriers) with no problem.

One of my previous dealers had actually put in Castrol ATF, and my newer dealer in San Antonio caught it, and replaced it immediately with Type-IV. Car drives really well, but one has to make sure about the right fluid. There was a recent discussion about some dealers using Valvoline ATF, but I believe that was for older model Lexuses.

Make sure that fluid is changed out every so often. I have seen intervals of 15K (my choice) and 30K over the life of the vehicle. The other point is to decide where to go with a drain and refill or a full flush (my choice). I always make sure they put in Type-IV.

I recently noticed that the Toyota dealers here south of the border no longer offer Esso ATF and now strictly moved to Type-IV for Toyota vehicles. Good move.

VSsc400

iTrader: (1)

my service person told me that fluids should be changed every 15k miles on the transmission... too short of an interval if you ask me... but if that's what makes the car last then i guess i have to do it.

I'm still not happy about having to shell out $150 for tranny fluid swap every year..

Lexusfreak

Thanks for clearing that up Lexmex I had a feeling a 99 RX might need that type of fluid. M0, do you know what kind of fluid was put in your wife's RX? That might be part of the cause of the problems your having.

saber

Draining and refilling the transmission oil pan yourself takes only a matter of minutes and costs just $7 for two quarts of TyoTypeT-IV fluid http://www.saber.net/~monarch/typet.jpg Just measure the amount drained in a plastic, graduated juice pitcher (these are 99 cents at Walmart) to take the guesswork out of how much new fluid to pour back into the transmission. It makes the job ultra simple.

SharpLS-96

He's referring to a full flush/drain ( I hope for the price of $150.00) and refill not just from the pan that holds two quarts.

saber

Well, just draining and refilling the transmission oil pan is exactly what the Toyota / Lexus engineers have always recommended.

VSsc400

iTrader: (1)

2 issues here.

$150 is full pump, clean, refill with toyota type IV. I don't feel comfortable with the just regular fluid drain and fill. I don't do it every 15k miles.. i do it every 25k miles, both on my RX and the SC. So far so good.

any DIY is hard to do if you are in NYC. Hard enough to find a parking spot, let alone jacking the car up.

XYZLexus1

You wear your transmission out quicker when you change the fluid often. The transmission has bands/clutches. These bands/clutches need friction to work. As your transmission wears and your fluid gets dark it is because it has band or clutch disc material in it. This clutch material in the fluid increases the friction coefficient of the fluid. If you drain and refill often then the clutches will wear more since they will "slip" more since the fluid has less coefficient of friction. There is a reason Lexus does not want a complete drain and refill.