1999 Lexus RX300 transmission problems

Filed Jun 16, 2016 · Transmission · 111,000 miles · FL

On 06/16/16 I pulled into driveway engage emergency brakes place vehicle in park and got off. Immediately I realized vehicle was rolling forward I attempted to start to brake and got nothing. I noticed that vehicle was in reverse I attempted to place in park and got nothing lever was free sliding not engaging any gears. I immediately got online to attempt to troubleshoot issue and ran into a handful of blogs relating to an issue in gear shifter cable with a plastic retaining clip which lexus uses on cable. I had no indication or any sort of warning of this issue before it occurred it just happen out of the blue and it could have been worse if I was actually on the road when this happened. I have read that lexus is not standing behind this mistake and feel that it is horrible to allow a company that sells such expensive vehicles to employ this practice and endanger consumers, specifically for such an inexpensive piece. I had to get under vehicle to manually engage trasmission into neutral to be able to start vehicle and properly park by again getting under vehicle and placing in reverse and the drive, I was unable to get back into park for some reason will lift vehicle in the morning and attempt to see why will also be attempting to repair and will then have more of an idea of the issue and pictures relating to this matter

Filed May 10, 2016 · Transmission · 14,200 miles · TX

I was driving down the street doing about 40 or so and all four wheels locked up at once suddenly. It causing the car to a come pleat stop in the road. The car behind me had to lock up all most causing a accident.

Filed Jan 9, 2015 · Transmission · 300,000 miles · OH

Tl* the contact owns a 1999 lexus rx300. The contact stated that the vehicle would not shift into drive or reverse. While attempting to make a turn, there was an abnormal noise coming from the hood of the vehicle. As a result, the vehicle seized. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 300,000.

Filed Nov 24, 2014 · Transmission · 195,000 miles · CO

At approx 195,000 the transmission has completely failed. I recognize mileage might be high but I believe that as engine is good for 250,000 to 300,000 the transmission should also be rated that high.

Filed Jul 18, 2014 · Transmission · NC

Transmission will not downshift.

Filed Mar 14, 2014 · Steering, Transmission · 120,000 miles · FL

This has been happening since 2013- the car goes up to 35 mphs and then loses power and then shuts off. I have to forcefully pull it over to the side. First time it was worked on replaced battery and thought it was the computer. A year later at 136,000 miles the car makes electrical noises and has difficulty accelerating and shifting above 3000 rpms. When brought it to the dealer, they said it was the transmission and solenoid. This seems to be a common complaint and needs to be investigated.

Filed Jun 15, 2012 · Transmission · 106,857 miles · FL

On april 25, 2012, my wife and I were driving to my brothers home, a distance of 50 miles. About two miles from our destination, we stopped at an intersection. When the light turned green, I accelerated and the car went forward about ten feet and lurched to a stop in the middle of the intersection. We were thrown forward, and the driver behind us had to jam his brakes. We were able to leave the intersection only by putting the car in low gear and slowly moving through the traffic to the far right lane and into a bank parking lot. We had the car towed to a nearby mechanic. The following day I received a call from the mechanic who quoted $3,766 for transmission replacement. I authorized the work to be done. On april 27, I told a friend who was visiting our area from canada of the incident. That day, he spoke with an acquaintance who is a service representative for a canadian lexus dealer. He said that failure at around 100,000 miles is a well known problem with the 1999 lexus rx300 and that lexus had been working with customers on this issue .I went to the internet to see what I could learn. There was no recall, but there were sites referencing the pervasiveness of transmission failure in the rx300. From what we have learned , we believe that transmission failure on the 1999 lexus rx300 occurs frequently at around 100,000 miles and is caused by a design flaw in that model year. That being the case, it seems to us that lexus ought to have taken preemptive action so that owners such as my wife and I would not have to suffer a near collision, not to mention unnecessary costs and inconvenience. Lexus offered a token service credit but was unwilling to admit to any inherent problem in the rx300 transmissions and offered no comment regarding our suggestion that the owners should be forewarned of the possibility of transmission failure at around 100,000 miles.

Filed Feb 6, 2012 · Transmission · 116,000 miles · PA

My transmission went out on this car on the freeway leaving me in a very dangerous situation with my 8 month old child. This transmission was just rebuilt a year ago. You are probably aware that this issue is beyond prevalent. Stories and complaints about early transmission failure are all over the internet. You are probably already aware. So is lexus and they refuse to do anything about it. Will someone have to get killed before you demand a recall? Me and my baby could have very easily have been killed yesterday.

Filed Aug 19, 2011 · Driver assistance, Transmission · 80,000 miles · CA

1. On 08/17/11 around 9pm, our 1999 lexus rx300 was suddenly failed in highway of the yosemite mountain. 2. The car was towed to lexus dealer san jose, ca. The technician identified that it caused by transmission failure. We need to replace the transmission which is caused us $5000. I told the customer service person to keep the replaced part till next tuesday which is 08/23/11. We goggled on the internet and found out that this is the known issue of rx300 between 1999 through 2002 model years. The transaxle (lexus transmission) would fail after 80,000 miles of driving according to owners who reported the transmission problems. Our car is just over 80,000 miles. We don't drive that much although it is 1999 model. According to the article on the ehow website, there is no factory recall has been issued to address the transmission premature failure issue. There are many moms including myself who drive this car everyday with young kid on board. My son is 7 years old. I personal know at least 3 moms with 4 kids (5-7 years old) who drive same model year car. Please work on this case asap. At lease please release the warning to the customer to check their transmission. We hope that we are the last people who experience this tragedy incident. Thanks god we were safe. This yosemite trip we planned to go during the winter time. Thanks god we didn't make it at that time. The car failed area, our att cell even couldn't dial out 911. Thanks god there is nice person stopped his car and saved us. Thanks god the car didn't failed at mountain fire area, my son had asthma reaction to the smock. Thanks god that there was no car behind us and there is a highway turn over right ahead of us. Thank god we are safe although we were scared to death and couldn't sleep well at night.

Filed Aug 19, 2011 · Transmission · 89,000 miles · CA · fire

Tl* the contact owns a 1999 lexus rx300. The contact stated while driving 40 MPH uphill there was a burning smell and the vehicle stalled. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact drove the vehicle onto the shoulder. The vehicle was towed to a dealer who stated the transmission failed. The dealer stated there were no recalls and the repair cost would be $5000. The manufacturer advised the contact that a representative would return the call. The failure mileage was 89,000.