2003 Lexus RX300 Transmission and drivetrain Problems

“The vehicle suddenly lost transmission on the road and was rolling freely. The gears does not work anymore and the vehicle rolls as if its in neutral. When search the internet I looked at lot of the customers complaining about exact same thing, about this vehicle having transmission issues especially for RX300. No wonder toyota has this many recalls and surprised that their premium brand has the same issues with safety. I am glad that this did not happen on a highway”

“I have a 2003 Lexus RX300 with 134,000 miles. The transmission failed on 2/20/09. After a couple of days of a slight whine, three lights came on the dashboard. I took it in to my local repair shop. They ran a computer diagnosis and it came back with transmission failure. I purchased the vehicle while still under warranty at 48,000 miles in 2006. I have had the transmission serviced twice at the recommended intervals. It was due for a 3rd service. Internet blogs report that transmission failure is a chronic problem with this vehicle after 70,000 miles. …”

“My wife drove the vehicle to work. She parked, turned the engine off, and removed the key while the shifter was in the neutral position. Thinking that it was in park , she exited the vehicle and began to walk away. The vehicle rolled backward and pinned her right let in between its rear bumper and the bumper of another vehicle.”

“During normal driving, with no signs of failure, the vehicle suddenly would lose power when pressed on gas, it acted as if it were in neutral---engine revs up, but car does not move. Then when switched to second gear or l, transmission still would not engage. Had it towed to a local transmission shop, it turned out to be the planetary gear broke. Searched online Lexus forum, found out very many people reported the same failure in transmission.”

“The contact owns a 2003 Lexus RX300. While driving 65 MPH, the engine shut off without warning and the vehicle was towed to the dealer. The transmission was determined to be the cause of the failure and was replaced at the cost of $3,922.40. A report was filed with the manufacturer and they stated that the vehicle was out of warranty. The contact did not establish a relationship with the dealer; therefore, they would not assist. The VIN was unknown. The failure mileage was 78,926 and current mileage is 79,000. Updated 3/9/09 the vehicle would not shift into reverse. Updated 03/10/09.”