1999 Lexus RX300: jerking or lurching

Filed Mar 5, 2013 · Brakes, Driver assistance · 228,000 miles · VA

My check engine light came on. I had the oil changed for the second time within 30 days because I thought it was an oil problem. The light went off as I was leaving the place. A couple days later the light would come on when I made turns, blink, then go back off. A few days later, it came back on steady, and the car started to jerk while I was driving on the interstate. It would jerk, then slowly increase speed. Last saturday, I applied brakes, and the car rolled another few feet. Had to swerve left to keep from rear ending a vehicle. Today, upon slowing down to enter my driveway, it did it again, and I nearly hit a brick column at the beginning of the driveway. It doesn't jerk frequently, but it seems to do it more often when I am on cruise control. I love my SUV and am always bragging about what a reliable car it is. I can't afford to replace it, retired and on disability.

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 May 20, 2010 · Brakes, Engine · 145,000 miles · WI

My 1999 -- lexus rx300 has about 140k miles on it. The car is now parked so I don't kill myself or my family while driving. A couple months ago, my car just started jerking as if it was going to cut off and my check engine light came on. I work off a major highway and I was really scared. My car speed would be 50-55mph but the rpms would be as high as 6. I have never experienced anything like that before. I went to the car repair shop - I had some mis-fires and they were fixed for $150, no problem. The car repair recommended I get my front brakes done because my miles per gallon had slipped to 15 in the city. A couple weeks later, I got my front brakes done, no problems until one evening, I was driving home when my check engine light came on again...this time I was at the stop light and my car started idling/jerking like I needed to give it some gas or it was going to die. My check engine light is now blinking on my dash board. My husband took my car to a transmission shop and the lexus dealership they say 2-coil ignitions have failed. And that my spark plugs need to be replaced. I also have some other transmission problems but in order to get the check engine light to stop blinking I have to fix, the coil ignition problem which cost between $515 to $775. Then they can run more test to see there is any more problems. My car is parked for now. There should be some sort of recall since this is a common problem with all '99 lexus rx300. This is crazy.

Filed Jul 17, 2009 · Transmission · 157,000 miles · CA

'99 lexus rx300 with 157,000. Transmission died. It started jerking and had trouble shifting. I was able to limp about 5 miles to the dealer. I had read about a number of these failing and paid extra at the last regular service to have the transmission flushed in addition to the regular service. That was 1,000 before failure. Lexus charged $4700 out the door to diagnose and replace the transmission with a rebuilt one.

Filed Mar 5, 2009 · Transmission · 125,000 miles · OK

I was just driving along and as I began to accelerate the rpms went real high and the speed would not increase. After stopping and starting again it began jerking and would not change gears. It turned out that my transmission had failed. I bought a 2000 reconditioned one to save money. Now I'm having problems with it!

Filed Feb 25, 2009 · Transmission · 100,000 miles · NC

I own a 1999 lexus rx300 fwd. I have had multiple problems with this vehicle. When I bought it jan 2008 ignition coil 1 and 3 failed. Two months later 3, , and 6 failed. Both times when vehicle failed I was driving on interstate 85 vehicle would not go over 45 and would not go into overdrive!!! Now the transmission is acting up. It is slipping and also decides to gear down when doing 70mph down the interstate. Was at a stop light and the light turned green and the vehicle wouldn't move, finally caught gear and jerked. Was almost hit by oncoming traffic. I do not feel safe in this so called "luxury vehicle". It is still under extended warranty, and is going to lexus dealership tomm. I cant wait to hear what they say the out come is. Car has been fully serviced and up to date. Just came out of lexus dealership 2 weeks ago having problems!!??? Now its going back. Lexus needs to recall the transmissions they are faulty!! I have read several complaints and not one action from the manufacturer yet?? They have already replace rear main seals, cam seals, and something else at 2000.00 dollars...ugh when its cold, it takes the car about 12 mins to go into overdrive. I keep hearing a whining sound, and shudder sounds. I only have like 16,000 miles left on warranty. So some one please tell me what to do or where to go!!! This is such a headache!!

Filed Jul 5, 2008 · Transmission · 130,000 miles · NC · 1 injury

Car begins to lurch both backing up and accelerating in the low gears. The computer erroneously tells the clutch to engage, thus blowing the transmission. I have neck pain from the lurching; it feels as though you are getting hit from behind. Because of the jumping, it could also be very easy to rear end someone. Many owners have reported this on various blogs, including 12 pages at edmunds.com. The cost to replace both the computer and the transmission ranges from $4000-8000 depending on whether or not you use the dealership. Toyota/lexus recognizes this as a common problem and has corrected it in newer models, however every older car has this dangerous problem.

Filed Jul 2, 2008 · Transmission · 130,000 miles · IL

Own a 1999 lexus rx 300. Engine transmission has been sluggish since I purchased the car in 2001. Since we have owned the car we complained the dealer that when you start to run the car in the morning it will take a few minutes before the car will shift from 2nd to 3rd gear. The dealer kept telling us that was normal for the model car. The transmission got continually more sluggish over the years meaning that there was hesitation or jerky ness when you would pull your foot off of the gas. Last week I started to hear a grinding noise when the car was shifting from 2nd to 3rd gear. I just got back from the repair shop where I was told that the transmission which just turned 130,000 miles was shot and that the only fix was to purchase a rebuilt one from lexus at a cost of $4,500 to $5,000. They told me they were aware that this was a common problem with 1999 - 2001 rx 300 transmissions but that there was never a recall or service bulletin issued. If this is a common problem then I think someone should do something about it.

Filed Mar 24, 2008 · Transmission · 60,440 miles · NY

I am the owner of a '99 lexus rx 300 with only 60k miles on it. I recently experienced serious transmissions problems. It first started when I tried to get out of my parking space and could not put my car in reverse. The car would not respond for the first initial attempts and then it violently jerked into reverse. I took my car to my mechanic and he diagnosed a transmission problem. I am having a rebuilt transmission put in the car for $2000, which appears pretty competitive compared to the average price of $4k that is being quoted over the internet. Lexus should be responsible for paying for this obvious defect in this make and model vehicle.

Filed Mar 19, 2007 · Transmission · 103,000 miles · WI

Tl* the contact owns a 1999 lexus rx300. At approximately 55 MPH with clear road conditions, the transmission unexpectedly shifted gears. The vehicle began to jerk followed by a loss in power. The vehicle was towed to the dealer. The failure was diagnosed as internal transmission failure and has not been repaired. The current and failure vehicle mileage were 103000.

Filed Aug 17, 2006 · Transmission · 79,103 miles · SC

When starting my 1999 lexus rx 300 after work, I noticed a "whining" sound coming from the engine. My commute home is about 15 miles. I noticed when driving that it would "jerk" when trying to change gears. It made me think back to a couple of months back when I was in a parking space and put the car into reverse and started to ease out of the parking space when it felt like someone has hit me or I had hit something. I got out, but nothing? I then got back into the car and started to leave and the car would go into reverse, but when applying the gas the car would not move. I tried again and the car finally "caught" into gear and made a terrible sound. I noticed in the weeks leading up to the day of failure that the car would have a hard time changing into second gear. It would "wind out" before catching. Now, the day of the failure, I was leaving work and I noticed a "whining" sound in the engine and in my commute home it got worse. The car started jumping back and forth and the rpms were randomly jumping. Even while coasting down a hill the rmps would jump and accelerate and slow down the car making it jerk. At times it would act as if it was in neutral and I was traveling at 45 miles per hour. When this would happen, the rmps wouldn't move? My car has approximately 78k miles on it. I immediately told my husband, we called lexus and took it straight to them. I had to get a rental car. I got a call the next day to tell me that the pump failed and the transmission fluid was black and the transmission was gone. It's going to cost $4,600.00 to repair. There are many other cases exactly like mine. This should be a recall!

Filed Jul 10, 2003 · Transmission · NC

While driving, the gear shift will go into neutral, if bumped. Also I've noticed the car jerking while driving. I've taken it to an authorized dealership, but they never observed the problem and thus was never able to fix it.