Well, I'm primarily in New Jersey. But, I make trips to Michigan every other week or every month. So, I basically live there too. LoL

 

Thanks for the info. Mine has 190k miles and still going fine. I hope to get another 150k miles w/o any rebuilt.

 

I am thinking about driving habit. For me, I rarely step heavily on the gas pedal, and rarely let the engine RPM above 3000. I am not sure if it is good for transmission. I don't know the driving habit of previous owner.

 

Of course, there are many things that can lead to transmission failure or no failure. I only mentioned Climate as we don't usually talk about that when it comes to tranny failure.

I for one, have a heavy foot. Redline at least once everyday. Makes no difference for the tranny, as long as you don't downshift excessively, more damage can be done to the engine than anything (ie, driving hard when the car isn't warmed up).

 

93B18....I appreciate you sharing your tranny experiences!

 

Not a problem. I hope my post will help others as well.

 

My wife's driving habit was a daily 12mile commute mostly under 50 mph with lots of stop lights. that is probably considered a tough drive considering the tranny is always looking for overdrive. In the summer the temp gets over 100 degrees for days. our tranny failed two states away on the great salt lake on interstate 80 driving around 75mph. Lost fourth (overdrive)....check engine light came on. Drove back to Salt Lake city and diagnosed with a shift solenoid failure...Tried a flush, no good....Drove back to California without overdrive, a very nerveracking trip home....Dropped pan and had metal debris everywhere...Ended up in stealership and cost me $4400..

 

I had mine replaced by the dealer at 225,000 miles. The cost was a whopping 5,000! And lexus paid for the labor. I'm not sure if it was worth it yet (driven about 15000 miles since) but this car hasn't really given me any problems so I figure If I can get another 200K miles with out problems then it will be worth it. I have always followed the scheduled maintenance on the car (2000 rx300) But now I think its old enough for me to start doing some work myself and/or taking it to toyota shops.

 

Sorry to hear of the other tranny mishaps. The cost for repair is definitely nothing to laugh about. I have also never had any major problems with my 99 RX in the past. Given the car has gone 247K without a hiccup and still runs smooth, I was not hesitant investing in the repair. I plan on running this car for a long time.

Well I have had my car back for a couple weeks since it has been repaired and it shifts really nice and smooth. Kim at Coliseum Transmission did a wonderful job and added a few extras at no charge. I looked under the hood and the entire transmission housing was all cleaned up and new like it just came from the factory. Compared to the engine itself, I almost felt like the newly rebuild trans was not worth being hooked up to the 250K mile old engine haha.

He rebuilt the entire transmission which included a basic rebuild kit, a new gear set, rebuilt converter, new shift solenoid, new plug kits, new filter/screen among other incidentals. He even put in an external transmission cooler and changed a leaking rear main seal at no extra charge. I'll be back to have him regularly change the transmission fluid, differential fluid and filter every 20K. If any of you in the SF Bay Area needs trans work, Kim is the guy to go to.

 

thank you for the wonderful reference...Hey moderator we need a listing of good tranny rebuilders in the stick notes...It could be a great national resource for RX owners....

 

Thomas1, I totally agree. My tranny is shifting fine at 137K miles, but I know it is just a matter of time before it will need to be rebuilt. I feel similarly to the other owners here in that this vehicle is so solid in every other way that a re-investment in the transmission actually makes sense. I just would love to have a shop in my area which gives the same service as is described given by Kim. Can't we start a sticky (site administrator??) listing Transmission Shops by state who gave a quality job and value to fellow forum subscribers? In fairly short order we could have a list compiled on who to use. We may be able to use this to negotiate a better rate? Anyone else have comments?

Scott

 

I appreciate the info.