10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 1 / 0
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 0 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 130,241 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.
Purchased from my mother in 2013 at 115K after she had purchased new from dealership. Babied, dealer serviced, my transmission gave out at 130K at a cost of $3800!!! then in less than a year it went again, and it was under aamco warranty. Then transmission went again in 2018, and just out of warranty. Why is there not a class action lawsuit!!!!!! car died 3 separate times without warning in very dangerous situations. $3800 was my entire savings, and now my Lexus was the only thing I had of value, and it is worth $250 as a junker!
- Bensalem, PA, USA
The vehicle was started and in park in a flat lot. When I shifted to reverse, it did not engage/roll back. As I applied pressure to the accelerator nothing happened until a it suddenly clunked and lurched back. I put it back in park and then it repeated the same synptom. The transmission has now begun to whine and there is rumbling and jerkily between rough shifts on the streets and highway. After hearing and reading numerous horror stories of these transmission problems, and how they have suddenly gone out or locked up at highway speeds, I'm sure this is a problem Lexus has known about and is defective, especially since it represents more than 70% of the nthsas published complaints on this vehicle. There should be an investigation into this. The sudden unreliability of this transmission and it's potential to cause harm is not a coincidence among these many reports. If this were a boeing max 8 plane it'd be out of commission for a failure like this!
- Chattanooga, TN, USA
My transmission is not shifting smoothly between gears. This happened about 7 years ago and I had to have the transmission replaced. Now it is happening again.
- Scottsdale, AZ, USA
Takata recall - transmission failed. Had to replace the transmission at 140,423 miles. There was metal in the transmission. Cost to replace the transmission was $2,875.10
- Surprise, AZ, USA
Vehicle has 133,890 miles on it, vehicle has been serviced every 5000 miles, according to the vehicle history and owners manual. We had transmission failure 100 miles from home. Pulled over to the side of the I-90, had to wait 2 hours for a flatbed on the side of the highway. Mass state police were not happy having to wait that long nor safety of being on the side of the road for 2 hours. We tried moving vehicle after it was off for an hour, moved gear selector had only park and natural, was at " full hot " mark on the dip stick, fluid is clean, doesn't smell burnt at all.towed to service department and needs a new transmission. Vehicle was on the highway at 70mph, and then had no forward movement at 70mph. Google " RX300 transmission problems" and you'll find thousands of links to people having same issue. Toyota/Lexus should be stepping up and fixing these transmissions, this is obviously a weak point in their vehicles and a major safety issue.
- Wallingford, CT, USA
While driving the car on city streets I attempted a U turn with the vehicle as I was completing the U turn the transmission made a weird noise and then there was nothing. No forward or reverse and when I put the vehicle in park it acted like it was in neutral. I had to put the emergency brake on to keep the car from rolling. Had to have the vehicle towed to my house 115 miles away. He car only has 145,000 miles on it. Car starts up and runs great but will not engage the transmission. The vehicle is still financed so I need to get it fixed however the cheapest rebuild I can find is $5,000. I called Toyota and asked if I could trade it in on a new car and they said not with the transmission fixed because they would lose money on it. I feel Toyota should fix this due to the fact there are numerous complaints about this issue with other Lexus owners. I still owe $5,500 on the loan and cant afford the cost of another transmission. I think Toyota should fix this since there are a lot of complaints about the drive train.
- Desert Hot Springs, CA, USA
The contact owns a 2001 Lexus RX300. The contact stated that the reverse gear was no longer operable in the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 147,651. Updated 06/02/2016
- Cordele, GA, USA
The transmission has been damage no power, no gears are engage total failure, the vehicle has in motion at highway speed.
- W Haverstraw, NY, USA
Transmission failure: Started to make noise couple of days ago and finally failed while on the road. Engine is running good, but no gear engagement. All drive train position seems like the car is in natural. Excessive transmission failures was reported by other RX300 owners. Cost to service re-build transmission is $3,551
- San Diego, CA, USA
Vehicle has been well maintained with regular oil changes and transmission flush. However, on 06/22/2015, under normal driving conditions in my 7 miles commute, the vehicle failed to accelerate after coming to a stop. The RPM/engine revved up, but vehicle did not move much (could not shift gears). Pulled to the sideway and called for help. Took it to local mechanic, and diagnosed with code P0770 (solenoid shifter E failure). Mechanic says new transmission is needed ($5K plus). Checking online, this seems to be a very common occurrence for this vehicle and probably model year. Toyota has to be aware of this major defect, and has probably intentionally said silent. I wish Toyota could be taken to task on this problem as it is wrecking family finances!
- Bowie, MD, USA
The contact owns a 2001 Lexus RX300. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to shift into reverse. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 162,000.
- Stockbridge, GA, USA
The contact owns a 2001 Lexus RX300. While driving 40 mph, the transmission seized and the gear could not be shifted into park. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 145,000. Updated 3/13/15 the vehicle was taken to a repair shop, where the transmission was replaced. Updated 01/25/16.
- Port Saint Lucie, FL, USA
Transmission went out, the vehicle jus stopped in the middle of the road thank god it was not the highway. There seems to be a problem with the transmission in these vehicle, a very serious life threatening problem.
- Port St Lucie, FL, USA
The transmission was rebuilt on 11/15/13 at 242,600 miles and has gone out again at 250,379. Many others on the internet have had similar problems with their RX300 transmissions. My brother also has an RX300 and his transmission failed too. The planetary gears are often the problem. There should be a recall by Lexus to deal with this defective design.
- Marysville, WA, USA
While traveling at 25 mph the car stopped accelerating forward and seemed to not be in gear. As I pressed the gas pedal the engine revved up, but would not go forward. Car was taken to the dealer who stated even though the car only has 123K, you need to replace the transaxle. I confirmed that their was no maintenance required.
- Cleveland, OH, USA
Left home to go to grocery store. As I entered a major road near my home the car lost power almost causing an accident. I was able to limp home. The repair shop diagnosed a faulty transmission and commented that they see many RX300's with transmission problems. The transmission was rebuilt at a cost of $3214. This car has been well taken care of, including recommended transmission fluid replacement. I feel that the transmission failure was very premature. Judging by the number of similar reports at or around the same mileage, I feel that the transmission was not engineered properly and Lexus did nothing to correct the problem.
- Fords, NJ, USA
The contact owns a 2001 Lexus RX300. The contact stated that when attempting to shift, the shifter would delay. In addition while driving at 35 mph, the vehicle lost power and failed to accelerate. The contact attempted to restart the vehicle and after multiple attempts, the vehicle was able to restart but the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who stated that the transmission needed to be flushed. The vehicle was repaired but the failure recurred. In addition, the vehicle failed to reverse after the repairs. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 192,000.
- Carmichael , CA, USA
The contact owns a 2001 Lexus rx 300. The contact stated that the while driving at various speeds, there would be a sudden loss of acceleration. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 150,000.
- Rio Rancho , NM, USA
Transmission failure at 145000 (approx) after performing all schedule maintenance at the dealer since purchase. I have read countless entries where the 1999-2002 Lexus RX300 has had premature transmission failures. This is a costly repair and a I feel Lexus should have recalled the vehicle and provided assistance.
- Raleigh, NC, USA
- Orland Hills, IL, USA