Automatic Transmission problems of the 1999 Lexus RX300 - part 1

The automatic transmission on my 1999 Lexus Rx300 failed at 165,000 miles. It constantly tried to downshift, and as a result it ran hot and burned transmission fluid. Prior to failing, it ceased shifting into overdrive while I was on the highway, forcing me to drive in a low gear at 4,500 rpms and waste gas while I drove as far as I could toward the mechanic.

Began with very rough idle. Transmission then refuses to shift to overdrive gear.

I bought a '99 Lexus Rx300 for my wife at 62k miles. I did all of the schedule maintenance including the expensive stuff (like the timing belt change). Unbeknownst to me, the engine rear main seal was leaking at the time that I purchased it. I figured it was simple and "its a Lexus, right?". I found out that it would cost $1700 to fix and that it was common on this model. I ignored the leak because my wife loved the truck otherwise. Unrelated to the oil leak, at 183,000 miles I'm driving on a family vacation with the car on cruise control and the transmission suddenly starts to slip. I manage to make it my destination, but after research and getting diagnostics from the dealership and trans shops, I found it would cost $3000-$4000 to fix. I decided to fix it and paid $3700 for it. No sooner than I took off driving, the car started smoking horribly and was now slipping in 1,2, and 3rd gear. These transmissions are a nightmare to repair, and I would recommend anyone that buys one to count your losses when it fails and trash the car.

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. . Read more...

I have a popping in the steering column. I hope that the steering is not lost from this popping.

I have had idle problems for over a year. Then abruptly while driving on surface streets my transmission quit shifting. The transmission had totally failed. This Lexus 1999 Rx300 has hundreds of consumer complaints with the same problem. I was lucky enough to get 142,000 miles before it failed. I had planned to drive this car for over 200,000 miles knowing it was a Toyota vehicle. In the past, Toyota's were valued for their durability and reliability. I was very lucky this did not happened at high speeds.

I have owned a 1999 Lexus RX 300 since it was new. Now has 98,000 miles and transmission went out yesterday. I have read and talked to service people that said the 1999 and 2000 models have transmission defects but the service people tell me it will cost between $4 to $5,000 to repair. This is on a car that is worth about $7,000, doesn't make sense to repair. With all of Toyota's problems this Rx300 should be on recall!.

I purchased a Lexus Rx300 in October 2009. The car has been maintained and proper fluids checked or replaced. On February of 2010 the transmission went out. No warning lights indicating that there was an issue with engine or transmission. Now I am told that it will cost approximately 4400k to replace. As I research I come to find out that I have purchased a top of line vehicle with a mid class transmission (camry). Car is sitting in driveway still no check engine or warning lights. Something is wrong with this picture.

I had some diagnostics run on the transmission, and the verdict was that the planetary gear would likely need to be replaced if the transmission was rebuilt. Apparently the original planetary gear had four gears mounted in an aluminum carrier. . . Who knows, heat, wear whatever the carrier fails and allows the gears to tilt, and then your tranny is toast. . The new replacement planetary gears are mounted in a steel carrier, with 6 gears instead of the original 4. . . . Very interesting. . . . And much stronger I spoke with the service manager at my local Lexus dealer (who himself had an Rx300 and had to replace the transmission, ironically), and he went to Lexus corporate and got them to pay for half of the replacement cost. This brought the estimated cost to about $2200 including tax. The estimated costs on the overhaul were between $1500-$2000. The Lexus service manager had said that when his own transmission went out, he'd grilled the Lexus engineers on the remanufactured part. He said that the engineers admitted that there were some "improvements" made in that transmission post-2001 and that they'd rather have a remanufactured 2001+ tranny than a brand new 2000 transmission. They never admitted to an issue, only that the 2001+ part was definitely better. I consider myself to be pretty darn good at knowing when someone isn't telling the full truth, and this guy was, so I believe him.

While driving my Lexus Rx300 I heard a slight pop under the front. And the car stopped. I was told the transmission went bad. The car has 128,000 miles.

'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.

I have a 99 RX 300 Lexus with 75,000 miles. The transmission just died today. I did all that Lexus recommended with fluids replacement (each 10k miles which is outrageous) and with all that the transmission died I hope that you can do something about it.

1999 Lexus RX 300 transmission broke on freeway. Seems this is very common among these cars. They know about it and are burying their head in the sand and not helpful at all. We need a class action lawsuit.

During normal driving - the engine started to rev higher than normal - barely got the car home (2 1/2 miles) - going down the road with a 55mph speed limit at 20 mph, the next day I took the car for a short test drive and it would not shift - will be taking the car (99 Rx300) to a shop to have it fixed.

I am trying to decide what to do at this rock and hard place with my 1999 Lexus RX that I purchased new. I love this car, however since the warranty ended, I've had a series of problems. Sensors mostly and a check engine light that always seems to be linked to co2 issues. It has been on and off for about three years now. Finally, I had a checkup done when my car started to infrequently shudder when it downshifts from 3rd to 2nd gear or delay reverse when put in gear. Nothing showed up engine/transmission wise. . . . . . Thought it was an alignment problem with the tires so had it realigned. Problem still remains and appears to be worsening and I'm getting concerned about driving it. The car has 86,000 miles on it and I have always had the Lexus dealership do the scheduled maintenance when appropriate. This is a very poor quality issue for a company who claims to have quality as their main goal. I guess they just don't claim to have "good or great" quality as their motto. I will be shouting this loud and clear to all of my friends.

My 1999 Lexus Rx300 transmission suddenly broke while driving. The rpms went up then the car would not move. Transmission fluid was full. The car service record is as recommended by Lexus. Mileage around 110,000m. I found on the web hundreds of similar reported problems but the dealership says this is an isolated problem. Please check it out and take action to have Lexus stand behind the car. Luckily no one was injured.

I have had continued problems, that at times left me stranded. The transmission has broke on various occasions. At this time it left me without the 3rd and the overdrive gear (4th) while driving on a main interstate causing a hazard due to the speed in which I was traveling. The posted speed was 65, but I could only travel at 35mph.

The transmission on my 1999 Lexus Rx300 failed. There was little to no indication of the problem before full failure occurred. My wife was driving the vehicle when it stalled and was almost in an accident. This looks to be a very common problem with this vehicle. It will cost me $5000 to repair.

The transmission on this car went completely dead last week. The car was running fine and then it suddenly would not go anywhere. You can put the car in gear and push gas but it won't budge. I got it towed to a Lexus dealership and they confirmed that the transmission was gone.

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!!.

My wife was driving home from work @ midnight in her 1999 Lexus Rx300 with 98,000 miles and transmission goes out with no previous signs of malfunction. Now a new transmission is needed at the price of $4000. Many other owners of the Lexus Rx300 have the same problems and feel Lexus should be responsible for poor product.

On December 29, 2008 the transmission in my 1999 Lexus RX 300 failed in rush hour traffic. I have since learned that this is an existing issue with the 1999-2000 Lexus RX 300 and has not been recalled by the Toyota motor company, USA. I am disturbed that Toyota has not taken the responsibility and recalled the vehicle. Please contact me.

While running local errands on 9-1-08, my 1999 Lexus RX 300 SUV experienced sudden failure of awd automatic transmission, resulting in rapid deceleration and momentary loss of control. The vehicle was towed to local Toyota dealer, which stated that transmission was destroyed and had to be replaced. Estimated cost is $5,100.

Noticed inability of the transmission to consistently upshift into overdrive in freeway conditions with minimum load, flat surface.

Transmission went out of my 1999 Lexus Rx300.

I purchased used 1999 Lexus Rx300 in 2008 and so far I've had to replace the transmission due to unexpected catastrophic failure, both air ratio sensors, both knock sensors, oxygen sensor, front strut mounts, and now possibly have to change the transmission again (not shifting correctly). I was not aware that the 1999 to 2001 Rx300s were so problematic. Since this is my only vehicle and I am still making payments on it, I am stuck footing the bill for all these repairs. Which from what I have researched are attributed to bad engineering. I am constantly having to repair a vehicle which is supposedly known for quality. The problems that I've mentioned are just the major repairs. I have other minor issues such as rear power window must remain locked or it opens on it's own, dashboard lights do not illuminate,and power roof gets stuck open intermittently.

My 1999 RX 300 has 110k miles on it. The transmission went out in the middle of street and almost got an accident. I did some research, its definitely a manufacturer's defect. There are so many other owners with same problem. Please let me know if you guys can investigate this.

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.

1999 Rx300 first heard knocking from the hood and cut off, next day the car would not go forward or backward.

Rx300 1999 transmission died at about 160,000 km (100,000 miles): engine will start and then from 50-60 kmph die down after driven for a little while. Got the car towed to a repair shop where it is waiting to be fixed. I live in ontario, canada. I went to Lexus owners forum and found numerous other owners of Rx300 complaining about the tranny failure at around 75,000-85,000 miles. Other owners are frustrated and complaining about the poor design by Lexus for this part and also strongly feel that Lexus should be responsible for the repair costs. I also own es300 1993 whose tranny also failed about 2 years ago at about 220,000 km (137,500 miles) and I got a used one replaced and paid for it myself about $2,000 cdn. One of the owners in the forum mentioned about "sludge" in the transmission admitted by one of the Lexus customer service representative being the cause of the tranny failures. My family only drive Lexus cars as mentioned above and are very disappointed with the tranny problems with both and feel very strongly that Lexus should pay for it's repair.

Transmission locked up at @55mph on rt 100 on a clear warm sunny day while driving in a straight line. The wheels locked up and the 99 Lexus Rx300 spun 220 degrees into an adjacent stone lined drainage ditch. Len stoler Lexus replaced the transmission.

The contact owns a 1999 Lexus Rx300. The contact stated that the he was unable to drive more than 5 mph. The mechanic drained the transmission fluid; however, the failure continued to occur. In addition, they recommended that the transmission be replaced. The manufacturer offered a $1,500 voucher towards the repair; but the contact declined the offer. The current and failure mileages were 87,082.

Complete transaxle failure - at 91000 miles, the transmission on the 1999 awt Lexus racks failed at 50 mph without warning. Although the engine was running normally, there was a sudden loss of power to the drive wheels and the car coasted to a stop. This happened on a narrow country road with heavy traffic and it was only luck that avoided an accident. The car had been routinely serviced as required by Lexus and had been in for a routine service the day prior. Review of the NHTSA complaint database suggests that this is not an isolated incident and, if so, it represented a serious safety concern for this model and year of car, in general. It was very troubling that any vehicle would have the type of defect that could lead to an unannounced sudden major failure at less than 100000 miles. The repair required replacement of the transmission. Lexus was contacted for more information, but was of no help beyond noting that the car was no longer under warranty. Lexus required that the removed transaxle be returned to them, unopened.

My transmission broke down on me and had to be replaced on my 1999 Lexus RX 300, with less than 124,000 miles. There was no indication that the transmission was going bad.

The contact owns a 1999 Lexus Rx300. While driving 55 mph, the vehicle suddenly began to decelerate. The contact attempted to depress the accelerator pedal, but the vehicle felt as if it was in neutral. The vehicle failed to accelerate and began hearing a grinding sound. The vehicle came to a complete stop and was towed to a mechanic. The mechanic was told that the transmission was no good. The current and failure mileages were 105,000.