My RX 350 2011 just had the transmission go out at 80,000 miles. I've never had the transmission go out on any car and am pretty shocked that my Lexus had the transmission go out. It's gently driven and all maintenance was done religiously. Anybody else have this happen? Love the car but really don't want to buy another one with this type of reliability.

 

The bottom line with mechanical devices is that anything can fail at anytime, even on a Lexus. I am sorry to hear your transmission failed. What are your plans for the vehicle? New or rebuild your transmission? Trade it in as is? I would consider a used one as a replacement, then sell the vehicle. Depends on the trade in value running vs not running. Does it run at all?
Had you ever had the transmission fluid exchanged, or had a drain and refill performed?

 

Not saying this would have solved the problem.......did you change your transaxle fluid?

 

I had the transmission fluid changed around 5 weeks before this happened. The car is in perfect shape other than the transmission and worth much more than the repair so I decided to have the transmission rebuilt. It's been in the shop for a week and I'm picking it up this morning I went to a transmission shop recommended by my local Lexus dealership. Wish me luck!

 

Can you please elaborate on the process used to change the trans fluid.

Also it would help us if you explain a bit more about 'what failed'.

Salim

 

The transmission failed. It was rebuilt using Toyota parts and I was talking to the transmission mechanic about possibly selling the car. He advised me NOT to sell it, he felt it has another 200,000 miles in it. Felt the transmission failure just happened and that a brand new car would present much more costly repairs than this tried and true Toyota.

But he did add if I want to sell it to please contact him first.

 

You have a buyer already lined up. Good if you get a good price.
Transmission is a complex piece of machinery and if I may say so more complex than the engine. I am sure it would not help you much, but the readers here would certainly benefit if they learn, if the failure was a broken mechanical part inside or clogged valve.
Flush can also disturb the settled particles and send them afloat. That is why flush is not recommended [some still flush].

Salim

 

Broken mechanical part, just got old the mechanic said. He said nothing could have prevented this. But he was very positive about the car in general and felt with the new transmission I'm only out $$ the car should be good to go for a long time. Which was music to my ears because I like this car SO much better than anything I test drove.

 

I suppose it would be nice if all power train parts got examined like it was going to Mars, but then it would end up costing as much as a Mars space craft. For more earthly uses, we kind of rely on a statistical level of quality but that means occasional small individual part defects sneak through that end up with a shorter then typical life time. I'd say the power train is mostly a life of vehicle component so as long as it was fixed properly, no reason to think otherwise for the repair.

 

I'm with Salim on this...... drain-and-fill is better than flush........

 

The rx350 is a good car overall. It's nice that you know the maintenace history, so that is a plus towards keeping it. I think no matter what you decide, forums like this can be really helpful in deciding what car to get. I'm definitely going to sign up on a forum and spend time there looking into any new vehicle I'm considering. It gives you a really good idea of the known problems, so u know what you could come across and what to keep an eye out for during the inspection and test drive.
​I actually have some minor issues with my transmission. If you don't mind me asking, why did you change the fluid? Was the transmission having problems before the fluid change? Where did u get it done? Sorry to be so nosy, just trying to get info that may help me diagnose my situation. Thank you

 

Sorry to hear about the transmission failure. The auto transmission in the Lexus RX is the same as that in the Highlander and this gearbox is generally very reliable. So its a mystery indeed that your transmission failed, especially if the vehicle has been driven gently.

I presume you have not used the vehicle for towing?

If the vehicle has been serviced regularly by Toyota, then, by the book, the gearbox would have never been touched, as Toyota's service maintenance book does not include any provision to change out the fluid in the gearbox.

And I truly think for vehicles that are not towing, or driven at sustained high speeds, but driven gently, the fluid can last an extremely long time. I have personally done a fluid change on a vehicle that's driven gently for 250,000 kms (155,000 miles) and the fluid was dark red but seemed to be in reasonable condition.

The sorts of things that would cause premature transmission failures would be regularly shifting out of R into D before the vehicle has come to a full stop, even if the vehicle is driven gently.

Has the vehicle been driven through flooded areas? A very hot transmission can draw in water through the seals when it comes in contact with cold water. The resulting water contaminated transmission fluid could cause the clutch plates to fail prematurely. Yet another plausible situation is if the coolant radiator was damaged internally. Coolant could mix in with the transmission fluid (glycol contamination) resulting in gearbox failure. It would be good to know what caused the transmission to fail.

 

 

You did not state how many miles were on your vehicle. It may be almost due for a plug change.
Often a poor running engine is noticed because the transmission does not appear to shift properly when actually it is just reflecting the poor running engine as it shifts. I learned this from my late uncle who was a professional car mechanic and owned his own shop for over 40 years. So, the dealer may be correct but it would not hurt to have someone else run your engine on a diagnostic machine to see if it is firing correctly. I know the replacement spark plug cost is high, but this engine is used in so many Toyota/Lexus vehicles that many independent shops are very familiar with replacing its spark plugs. They will be less expensive than the dealer.
If you need to find a good shop in NH I suggest you try this link to the shops recommended by listeners of the Car Talk radio program ( the one with Click and Clack) https://www.cartalk.com/mechanics-files

 

Today's vehicles are essentially rolling computers. In the Jaguar world, failing batteries can cause transmission issues (along with a host of other problems). How old is your battery?