We're considering a 2014 F sport that has the 8 speed transmission. I'm aware that some auto manufacturers are having serious problems with their 8/9/10 speed transmissions. Is the Lexus RX experiencing any problems with their A8?
We're replacing a 2005 Toyota Highlander that's had only four minor, non-maintenance repairs costing less than $1K in it's entire life (we're gifting it to our son & daughter-in-law). Our 2009 Lexus RX350 Pebble Beach, purchased in 2014 has had no, non-maintenance repairs in the 2.5 years and 25K miles we've owned it. I'm asking this question because we hope to continue our excellent track record with Lexus/Toyota SUVs.
Thanks for any feedback!!

 

no problems that i know of. people that own them seem to like them.

 

I've got close to 90k on my 2013 and haven't had any issues at all.

 

OK, thanks for the feedback.

 

I have the 8 speed and no issues..

 

Hello everyone

I know it's an ancient thread, but I wanted to revive it. I'm currently shopping for a Lexus RX350 2015, and recently, I came across a decent F-Sport model with a pretty good maintenance history in the Carfax report. The mileage is ~125k miles.

I did some googling and found a thread on this forum where people mentioned the transmission failures, which worried me. However, apart from that thread, after another hour of extensive googling, I couldn't find any other complaints or negative feedback, which is a pretty good sign, as people usually get very mad when major components fail in their luxury vehicle, so the absence of such comments makes me think that the transmission is pretty reliable.

That said, I still wanted to bring this thread to life and ask a few questions:
1. Is the reliability of the 8-speed transmission on par with the 6-speed one?
2. What's the most vivid indicator of a "dead" transmission? By reading the linked thread above, I got the feeling that cars were still drivable, but other folks in that thread advised owners with problematic transmissions to dump their vehicles.
3. Any other helpful info about the 8-speed AT you would like to share.

Thanks a lot for reviewing my message!

 

I’ve seen plenty of 3rd gen F Sport models with beyond 200k miles.

I recently drove a 2013 & 2014 F Sport with ~120,000 miles each and both transmissions shifted beautifully - both had the transmission fluid flushed at ~60,000 miles - which is the most important factor.

Around 5 years ago I did see the occasional buyback disclaimer on some of the F Sports I came across. The CarFax should tell you if that ever happened on the vehicle you’re looking into and I would stay away from those examples.

Overall, in my opinion, if the vehicle has gone 125,000 miles without issue (and has had proper fluid maintenance) it should be fine.

 

Hello @RadiantX45 ,

Thanks a lot for a quick and extensive reply!

Yes, I remember seeing several posts where people mentioned that transmission fluid flashing significantly increases the transmission's longevity. I will definitely try to find out if the previous owner did that in the past, but there is a chance that this information may not be available, as that car I'm going to be looking at is a certified pre-owned vehicle that a dealer sells.

So, if you don't mind, I have one more question: Is there a way to tell if the transmission fluid has been replaced? Would an experienced mechanic be able to determine that after inspecting the car in the shop?

 

Just rolled 213k on mine with zero issues. I was one of the original folks that replied to this thread back when it had just rolled 90k! Hah! It's been a great ride so far and my kiddo is now adding miles to it daily. I did always change the transmission, transfer, and diff fluids regularly (every 80k).

 

dost - the answer is probably not as it all turns dark after a few thousand miles. It is bright red when new, but quickly changes during driving to a darker color.
There is no dipstick, so they would have to drain some fluid to inspect it. Might as well do a drain and fill at that point. This drains a few quarts (not sure on the 8 speed) and refreshes the fluid. It should not cost that much to have done by an independent Toyota specialist or transmission shop.

​​​​​​You can go to the Lexus drivers site linked below, join for free and enter the VIN of any Lexus and then it lets you see the dealer service history and the car build sheet that shows its options. The site is a bit cranky and does not always work, so you may have to try a couple of times. https://www.lexus.com/My-Lexus/account/create-account

​​​​​​To see the service history at Lexus Drivers do the following:
On the page that lists the car whose VIN you entered there will be a line that states
Vehicle Health Report
Learn More - click this box
Then on the next page it will state
My Service
On the right side it will state Service History
View History - click this box to see the service history
Then it will slowly take you to a page you need to scroll down to see the service history
Each entry will be a line, click on the + at the side to see more about each entry

 

^^^ Definitely try the Lexus website first - the most detailed service history will be there.

If it’s not, hopefully it was done at an independent shop and the CarFax will usually show that info - although not all shops participate with uploading of records.

 

Hey folks

First of all, thank you all for the great suggestions and tips. Really appreciate your help on my car search journey

Speaking about the Lexus website and the service records, I registered an account and tried adding a vehicle, but the website kept showing the "Wrong VIN was entered" error message. I did some Googling and quickly discovered that such a message might be displayed if someone else already added the same car to their profile. In this case, Lexus advises contacting their official support, but since I'm not an owner yet, I don't think they will be able to do much.

And now, here's a quick update from my side. Today, I had a chance to test-drive the 2015 RX350 Sport F model. The ride was pretty smooth! I didn't notice any spurts or odd behavior from the transmission. Also, I took a friend with me, an experienced driver who was much more tech-savvy regarding the vehicle's internals, and he also didn't spot any abnormal shifting or any jerking. That said, our test drive wasn't super long (around 30 minutes), but we tried driving a car in a normal way without crazy acceleration, moved uphill, and also tried a bit of aggressive driving. It was all good. On top of that, just a few days prior to that, I had test-driven 2015 Lexus RX450h, and honestly, I liked the F-Sport model much more, as it felt a bit more zippy.

Now, to proceed to the following steps, I am going to drive a car to the local transmission shop for diagnostics. A positive test-drive experience tells me that the transmission may still be in a fairly good state.

Also, this car has been regularly serviced at the local Lexus dealer. Today, I visited them and attempted to obtain a detailed service history to determine if the previous owner had replaced the transmission fluid. Unfortunately, they couldn't share an in-depth report due to privacy considerations. Still, they were kind enough to answer my questions and told me that their dealership had not flushed the transmission fluid in the mentioned car.

As I mentioned, I still hope the transmission's condition is OK. I will update you guys as soon as I learn more.

Also, if you have any recommendations about what to look at during test driving to verify the health of the drivetrain, I'd gladly hear your advice!

 

Wrong VIN was entered - I had that problem recently and I contacted them and they added it manually. You might try - you’ll have to peruse their website for the corporate #.

Once again, I’ll say get the CarFax if you haven’t already it might show a transmission service on there. But if it was exclusively serviced by Lexus it sounds like it hasn’t been done. In my opinion that’s a bit of a gamble - however, it sounds like you’ll be doing your due diligence by taking it to a mechanic and that’s probably the best thing you can do in this situation.

 

I would suggest that separate the issue into "reliable", "quirks" and "maintenance".

Maintenance has been discussed and over-discussed, repeatedly here to point where I would say any further discussion is not adding any new dimension/value.

Reliable .. I am going to be on the limb and make a statement that the transmission is reliable enough. If any one thinks that without proper maintenance it will last 250K miles plus then it is dream. Without maintenance it will cross 100K.

Quirks: Should be on top of the concern for any one about to purchase. While chasing the emission standards (mpg) practically all manufacturers have added additional gears and the control is biased to shift into higher gear. There is lot more science involved into figuring out what the driver wants [throttle position] but imho all 8 speed auto trans constantly have to figure out which gear is appropriate [exception is cruising on a flat road].
Suggested solution: Do repeated test drives in areas-traffic that you would mostly drive. If you are unhappy then skip the whole model as you will regret the purchase.

Salim
PS: I have 450h which has a fantastic transmission with its own quirks.

 

My 2013 f-sport has about 130k miles on it now. Still drives like new and very smooth. I did drain and fill at around 50k and 110k. As others have mentioned, maintenance makes a big difference, especially when it comes to fluid. Contemplating on swapping out the rear trailing arm now with new bilstein shocks and it should drive like a rock star for another 100k