My transmission failed 5 yrs ago was not told why. They replaced it but I had to pay for labor. They put in new parts except for remanufactured casing. Now december 2015 with only 24,000 miles on it since I am retired, failed to go in reverse or go into second gear. Have noticed online alot of people are having problems with transmissions of lexus vehicles. Now I am told by lexus speacialist (800‑255‑3987) they only want to pay for half of parts and was told it just failed we don't know why and they refuse to investigate again unless I want to pay for labor. It seems from online complaints that they are making owners pay for diagnostics and or replacements & labor. I have never felt more unsafe in a car when my vehicle wouldn't shift into gear while driving on a road with 55mph speed limit while I could only drive 10 miles an hour. I had to pay $128 to have it towed to dealership on 01/04/2016 because they would not accept any diagnostics from any one else nor pay for tow. I was delayed in efforts because of holiday. Please make them accountable.
Lexus RX300 won't shift problems
29 of the 722 owner complaints about the Lexus RX300 describe stuck in gear or won't shift, most of them for the 2000 model year.
- owner complaints
- 29
- worst model year
- 2000
- typical repair cost reported
- $4,300
- typical mileage
- 103,671
By model year
Often reported together
Transmission failure 12Stalling 4Jerking 3Slipping 2Loss of power 2Hesitation 1
What owners say
Shifter lever moves freely (and loosely) but doesn't shift the transmission into any gear. This happened in a publix parking lot after backing out of a parking space and attempting to put the vehicle into drive. Aaa was called and the rx300 had to be loaded onto a flat bed and brought to a service center.
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.
Transmission will not shift into the last gear.
138,000 used vehicle. Upon purchase did timing belt, water pump and all belts. Then had a transmission flush. Went on a 500 mile round trip and upon returning lost overdrive. Made it home then next day a severe lose of power and trans would not shift. After restarting would shift but no overdrive. After investigating found hundreds of similar incidents when you query lexus transmission failure. I can understand losing a transmission but reading all these complainants it is clear that this product is defective.
Vehicle started losing power while going 35-45 MPH and eventually stalled. Was able to start vehicle but won't go pass 25 MPH. When stopped, and shifted on drive, vehicle won't move forward. Won't go into reverse either when engaged in reverse. I believe this was a transmission failure.
2000 rx300 lexus. Consumer writes in regards to transmission problems *tgw the consumer stated the vehicle would not shift into gear. The repair shop found metal in the transmission fluid. The consumer was advised the transmission was beyond repair and a rebuilt transmission was installed.
I went into my garage and got in my car (lexus rx300,2000). It started normally, but it would not shift until I pressed the override button and put it into reverse. As soon as the shifter hit (r) the throttle seemed to go wide open and the car bolted out of the garage. Luckily, since my foot was on the brake almost instantly I was able to stop the car before it got out of control. The car traveled about 30 ft before I could stop it. I think I put it into park and just sat there and tried to calm down. I was terrified because of the horrible consequences of blasting out into the street etc. After, calming down I was able to continue on with a great deal of trepidation. As I drove I was constantly trying to plan what to do if it happened again. This was extremely dangerous, if the car had gone into drive it would have blasted into the garage wall, or worse. Addendum: [xxx], I inspected the car after the incident and could nothing wrong. However, I am a controls system engineer and it certainly sounded like a classic bounding/ boundary problem in the control software. By this I mean that the inputs to the control loop exceed the allowed values. Or due to some unusual set of inputs there is an overflow problem , where the loop does a calculation that causes the value to crossover from all ones to all zeros, this overflow issue can have very unexpected results, like railing the controlled parameter. It turns out that this model lexus engine seems to have a mechanical throttle linkage, so the only software controlled throttle commands have to come from the cruise control box, since it also has an independent cable linkage to the throttle plate. I disconnected the cruise control cable to be certain this could not recur. This implies that any toyota with cruise control is at risk, but it should allow a quick safety fix, just disconnect the cruise cable. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).
Transmission had to be replaced @ 125,000 miles & still does not shift correctly... Aamco santa cruz california will not warranty it stating the problem is not the transmission it is the computer which has to be replaced even though toyota of sc did diagnostic and stated nothing wrong w/ computer in vehicle - aamco has had vehicle aprox 2 months.
1999 lexus rx 300 91k miles, owned since new, all service at dealer as required, transmission just went out. Found a website with many complaints, same thing, low miles. Obviously a dealer defect, this is not right! I bought a lexus so it would be reliable. My chevy silverado 1993 is going stronger than this car. Since I bought the car, it did not upshift right. Lexus always said this was not a problem. I notice other people complaining of the same symptom. This failure was sudden other than that. Just in a parking lot & suddenly it would not shift going forward. 1 1/2 years ago my mechanic happened to check my tranny fluid, it was black. He drained & replaced it. I was livid, I had paid for all dealer maintenance. That was at roughly 80k miles. Supposedly this was done at 60k miles by lexus (I'm not sure if they did the work now, or not) there were metal shavings in the fluid. Something appears to be wrong with this design, and looks like they did a bandaid in later models. I am seriously considering getting a class action lawsuit against them, I should not have to pay $5k for a new tranny now, that is why I bought a lexus. My celica was still going strong at 175k miles when I sold it. Check this website: http://www.carsurvey.org/reviews/lexus/rx300/r54694/comments/page-2/ [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the Lexus RX300 won't shift
Which Lexus RX300 years have stuck in gear or won't shift problems?
The model years with the most reports are 2000 (10 complaints), 2001 (9 complaints) and 1999 (8 complaints).
How much does it cost to fix stuck in gear or won't shift on the Lexus RX300?
Owners who mentioned a price put the repair at about $4,300 (median of 8 complaints that include a dollar amount). Costs vary with mileage, warranty and where the work is done.
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