A parked vehicle, assuming it was in park or in gear, could certain suffer drivetrain damage by being struck by another vehicle. The impact could seriously damage the transmission, in my opinion. I doubt such an impact could lead to the rear axle falling off. I think the vehicle would be totaled before the rear axle would be damaged to the extent that it would fall off. I think a much more likely cause would be one or more errors by the mechanics who replaced the first transmission. I don't know how far the next closest dealer is, but I would have serious concerns about ever going back to that dealer. If they repair your car again, even without a major accident with a snow plow, how could you have any confidence that they put it back together correctly? In general these vehicles are of very high quality and competent mechanics should be able to fix the problems that do occur, especially when they completely replace the problematic parts. Raise a good fuss with the corporate folks and see what happens. Good luck.

 

The first repair should be covered by warranty.

The damage due to accident [immediate discovery and related items discovered soon after like axle falling off] should be an insurance issue. The insurance should be either the owners or the dealership or who ever drove the snow plow (city?).

From my vantage point, Lexus corp should not be paying for warranty repairs when it was caused by the accident.

For accident repair:
As an owner, you have the right to accept the repairs or ask for equivalent vehicle. You are even entitled to loss in value due to accident. All this can be complex and to recover the value loss, you should flat bed it to a reseller. All this is easy as the reseller is the dealership. But you may need an attorney.


You should ask the dealership for an equivalent used RX.

Salim

 

was the damage from the snow plow to the rear of the car? would it be a bad enough damage to remove or replace suspension components .. i am leading to a possible body shop blunder.. an axle cannot fall off a car unless it was broken off or installed incorrectly. if it was manufactured loose then you would have had a vibration or noise getting worse over time. i would ask to see the repair bill or estimate for the body damage and look to see if the axle was removed during repair. long shot...

transmissions installed on cars are rarely "new". all new transmissions are installed into production cars on the assembly line. the transmission installed into your car was a rebuilt trans = new internal parts in a reconditioned case. i have seen parts installed into cars malfunction ranging from light bulbs to transmissions. this has been a horrible time for you and your car.. good luck.

 

McGrath mechanics might have used your SUV at night..'to impress their girlfriends' on a date or something on a joy-ride, because they know that the girls have weak spot for guys driving Lexus. Some gy told me that he found some suspicious looking stains and hair partcles in his back seat, after getting in back from the service department. If I was your b-friend, I would raise hell at McGrath!!!