Newbie here:

Just bought a 2011 Lexus RX350 with 109k miles. Beautiful car to look at. But I think it might have transmission issues.

Another post on this site suggested looking at the service history at the Lexus Drivers site below:

https://drivers.lexus.com/lexusdrivers

I created an account (did not have one before), entered the VIN on my new purchase, and up came a page that offered me a link to "Service History."

Then, I clicked Service History and saw the complete history of the vehicle's service all the way back to 2010. I also saw that at its last service visit before being sold, the customer stated "JERKING MOTION WHEN SLIGHTHEY [SIC] ACCELERATING BETWEEN GEARS" and "AFTER INSPECTION AND HEALTH CHECK, TECHNICIAN RECOMMENDED NEW TRANSMISSION. JERKING MOTION BETWEEN SECOND AND THIRD GEAR, BUT NO CODES SHOWN."

None of this was in the CarFax when I bought the vehicle, probably because was nothing was actually done at that time (the customer subsequently sold the vehicle, and I bought it about four months later).

Anyway, the car looks fantastic and drives beautifully on the highway (and off the highway except for a jerking in the acceleration between 2d and 3rd gear, as said). I thought the issue was driving style or software when I felt hesitation between those gears on the test drive, and the dealership didn't dissuade me in that thought. (It was a Toyota dealer, so part of me wonders if they knew more about the car then they let on.) As I said the CarFax made no reference to that although I realize those aren't always comprehensive and don't record complaints ("customer states" entries) that aren't acted on.

Other than the part quoted above, the service history wasn't too scary and I see they also replaced the oil cooler line with a hard version at about 90k, so having read some issues about that oil line I was happy to see that.

Am I screwed here or is possible there could be other fixes beside "NEW TRANSMISSION"? It is drive-able, and drives beautifully on the highway.

Thanks for any input.

Footnote: Interestingly, after I printed out the Service History from the webpage, I went back to the same link in my new account and the history read: "THERE ARE CURRENTLY NO HISTORY AVAILABLE FOR SELECTED VEHICLE." So I guess I got lucky sneaking a peak at the old owner's service records. Too bad I didn't know to do it before the purchase.

 

I'd start by checking the transmission fluid level, if the level is ok try draining and filling the transmission.

 

Thanks for your info. I explained the situation to the dealer and they weren't willing to do a repair themselves or renegotiate the price but they werewilling to take the car back and reverse the transaction, so I am getting my money back (and my trade-in). Pity because the RX 350 was a nice ride but I feel leery about the possibility of a $3500 repair and frankly the issue of the hesitation in shifting was already getting on my nerves. Thanks again for your reply.

 

Good for you. Buying through better dealerships does give you some protection for few days.

Salim

 

Count yourself fortunate. And now you know how to research the service history for any more Lexus vehicles you may be interested in.

 

You were very lucky to get out of that one. Good luck hunting for the next vehicle.

Your Lexus Drivers Site problem was just a quirk with their system. I sometimes have had problems with it but found that logging in again or later makes it work again.
FYI Toyota has the same feature to see service history. https://www.toyota.com/owners/my-veh...ervice-history

 

Thanks for that info Clutchless!