1st Feb 2007, 18:59

Wow, I can't believe what I am reading on this website. My 2000 RX300 is in the shop right now getting a new transmission with only 90K miles on it! Yes, I will be reporting it to the website above.

15th Feb 2007, 13:40

Add another one to the list. My wife is currently at the dealership right now with her 2000 RX300. 85,000 miles and a bad transmission. I stumbled across this site and am completely shocked. I want to thank everyone for the advice on how they dealt with their nightmares. I am waiting to hear how nice the dealership is to her, then I am going to get involved. I'm just glad she dropped off our 1 year old daughter at her sisters before this happened. Has anyone that had their car towed been reimbursed?

26th Feb 2007, 11:18

Our 2000 Lexus rx300 just broke down the transmission without any warning at 68000 miles on it. We contacted the car dealer, but they said that the car guarantee expired at 6 years or 70,000 miles. They estimated the cost of repair was more than $4000. I have to send the car to a car repair shop to replace the transmission with a re-manufactured one for less than $3000. I will post a complaint on the government web site. We never load the car with anything heavy and maintain the car in good condition. I think Lexus needs to step up to accept the responsibility to keep customers.

26th Feb 2007, 13:21

I purchased a 1 owner '99 RX300 for my teenage daughter. Lexus has a great reputation, and it has side impact beams and side air bags for added safety. HA HA! The car has been very well maintained, and the transmission just failed at 87K miles. Evidently, the planetary assembly was completely chewed up! I will be posting in the nhtsa site. $4000 to repair at independent transmission shop.

1st Mar 2007, 15:39

Wow this is pretty interesting. The transmission in the RX300 my grandfather gave me 2 years ago went out. It only has 66080 miles on it. I talked to my grandpa about it and he said he would pay for it to be fixed as I'm in college and need something nice to drive.

7th Mar 2007, 14:37

Yesterday my transmission went out while driving on the tollway. 2000 Lexus RX 300 69000 miles. I had it towed to the dealership and they fixed it... I paid 1026 to get other things fixed including a 99$ alignment.

27th Mar 2007, 13:56

Wow! I had no idea so many people had the same problems I do. I have a 1999 Lexus RX 300 with 124,000 miles. The transmission has had a slow shift from 1st -2nd in cold weather since I purchased it in Jan 2005. When I called the dealership they said that was normal till it warmed up. 1-1/2 hours into a road trip, the transmission just gave out. Never had any warning or slippage except for a small whiny sound at start up. Now I am out of pocket $400 towing and $2800 rebuild!

3rd Apr 2007, 07:54

I just bought a used 2000 rx300 from a dealer and within 1 week it started to stall on me whenever I slowed down, or even when I put it in reverse or drive as I'm leaving. I took it to the dealer I bought it from, but they're telling me they don't see the problem, and can't fix it if they don't see it, I think they're pulling a fast one because I told them I'd take it to Pep Boys for a diagnostic and they said they couldn't use that, any suggestions?

6th Apr 2007, 17:10

My 2000 Lexus RX300 is starting to demonstrate signs of transmission problems, i.e. revs up before shifting into gear, especially when the motor is old. With over 100,000 miles on it, I feel like it could leave me stranded. Any suggestions?

7th May 2007, 19:43

I bought a certified used Lexus RX300 (2000) in late 2003. Learned within a year that the transmission fluid was "burned". Took car to dealership and dealer reimbursed the expense to have my transmission fluid "flushed". I asked them to check for problems with transmission since fluid burned for a reason! The answer I got... the problem would be internal and unless I wanted to pay the labor to tear the tranny down.. they would "wait and see".

Well, sure enough within the next 10 months the transmission seized one evening (82K miles)! premature problems!!

Lexus replaced my transmission (under warranty) with a REBUILT unit!! I was furious. Lexus advised they have the right to place rebuilt parts in the car.

Wow!! Not what I expected... nor what I paid for in a Lexus warranty!!

Its now a year later and the transmission is leaking at the rear main seal. Lexus only warranties the REBUILT part for 12 mo/12k miles... and I am 103 over the warranty!!

Just my luck!!

Its true... this car is too heavy for the transmission (and engine) in MY opinion!

11th Jun 2007, 11:57

Same happened to us - 99 rx300 97000 miles. So far the dealer has been very responsive, sent us a loaner car and towed the damaged car at no charge. The dealer is in contact with the factory, waiting to see what they are going to do. Keeping fingers crossed!

24th Jun 2007, 18:12

I just purchased my 1999 RX300 at 84,000 miles. The car looks absolutely mint. I have been noticing that when I let off the gas at speed, the transmission does not free-wheel at all; i.e. it reacts like a manual transmission. Out of curiosity, surfing, I stumbled onto this website. Brother, I am so glad these owners have been so gracious as to share their frustrations and experiences on line. I'm trading. It seems anything less than a 4,000 loss is a plus. It's back to Nissan Pathfinder for me.

1st Jul 2007, 01:11

The transmission on my 99 RX300 does the same, but its been that way since new. It slows down when letting off the gas rather than coasting like its in neutral. Mine only has 35k so I'm not worried about a failure just yet. Will probably sell at 50K. The car sits at my second home in Lake Arrowhead.

2nd Jul 2007, 09:00

The transmission on my 1999 RX300 with 110k miles just went out. I have all of the maintenance records and Lexus did the 90k service work. It's at the Lexus dealer so I waiting to find out the bad news.

12th Jul 2007, 13:27

I have a 99 with 70K miles on it and so far the car has been relatively trouble free. However I did have some typical RX300 problems:

-the D light is burnt out- no big deal

-Both rear suspension mounts were replaced around 40K miles

-the AC went out recently.

I change the oil religously with Mobil 1 every 7K miles or so. I have changed all the fluid every 2-3 years. I'm not planning to change the transmission fluid every year in the hopes of avoiding transmission failure. I know every car has some problems regardless of the price range- look at Mercedes Benz S class. I guess Lexus/Toyota has created a higher expectation and when something goes wrong. The consumer is much more disappointed.