Transmission issues - Now needs replacement

[KorbsLC58]

I have owned my brand new 24 LC for 6 wks. I just did a road trip from Alberta to the Oregon/Cali Coast and she drove like a dream (mostly). I adored the adaptive cruise and her easy handling. I racked up 5500km on my trip with only minor hiccups during my drive time, which I chalked up to being a brand new vehicle.
During the last 2 hrs on my drive/return home, my LC made her first hard gear change while going up hill in auto cruise (at about 100km/h). It was so jarring, I thought I’d actually hit something on the road. About two mins later, she did it again while downshifting on a hill. I can confirm, I did not hit anything… instead my beautiful beast was acting up. It literally shook the car (and me) but she kept going. The rest of the drive home she had some minor clunks as I drove in normal city traffic to my home.
The following day, out doing errands, she had a full on fit. Never got her over 60km/h and she was shifting between gears hard and loud and shaking the car. Lucky my errands were close and I went back home right away and called to book her in at the dealership. I am scared to drive her now. I had one day between the appointment for her to be looked at, where I needed to do a quick errand… literally a 3 min drive up a hill and 3 mins down… the way down, she drove without issue. Leaving the parking lot and up the hill was cringe worthy. So bad I put her in manual and clunked my way home… at least in manual I know the shift is coming vs the random and surprise of whats she will do in automatic.
She’s at the dealership, their initial diagnostic shows nothing, but during the drive inspection, there is clearly something very wrong. They are keeping her for the next two days to dig in.
My issues arose at all ranges of speeds and gears and in both automatic and manual drive modes. It even began under the control of auto cruise.
The good thing is it didn’t act up fully while I was enjoying my road trip, but now I see those small clunky shifts between gears… were leading me and my girl to something more ominous. I’m glad I was so close to home when this all came to a head, because that’s be a full bag of dog poo had it happened mid trip.
Anyone in the same boat and severity?

Update -
Oct 30th - 1.5 wks ago the dealership showed me my transmission fluid was twinkling with metal shavings from my transmission. They were awaiting further directions from Toyota, but everything is indicates it’s a new transmission that is needed. They have been looking for a replacement transmission and there is nothing available and nothing in stock I was told.
Today - I heard back from the dealership and the transmission is on order… no idea from where but I honestly don’t care. All I care is they say it will arrive this coming Monday and they hope to have the repair completed a few days after… so fingers crossed I will have my girl back in a week and a half.

Oct 31- amending my updated from yesterday. Apparently the service rep who contacted me to say the fix was on the way, was wrong. Very wrong! The only thing arriving is fluid test kit from Toyota Canada for further testing. There is no transmission ordered or replacements coming next week. Not sure how much incompetence it requires to mess up something so significant as that… but it’s happened. I feel like I am in a sad comedy of errors and bad luck. I knew something was “off” for them to have a new transmission that fast.
Everyone I have spoken with agrees that a full replacement is the only solution. Toyota seems to be dragging this out for some useless and frustrating reason for me as their customer.
When I spoke with the service mgr and told him I want to reframe this - I need a new transmission and I’d like to just order one - take my CC info and we can deal with the financial ownership of this later, in order to get this moving faster… He told me they cant do that as their is no inventory and a formal request has to be submitted to Toyota to pull one off the production line and be diverted for this repair/replacment.
Nov 7th update-
Spoke with the dealership today and a replacement transmission and torque converter is on order for my LC. There is no eta. There is no stock in North America. They hope to get something from the US and it will take a few weeks at a minimum, but based on reading of others needing a new transmission and TC it will be more likely a few months. Hopefully there will be more information next week on that.
I asked about the core issue/what happened and they have no answers. I asked if they will do an autopsy of sorts and was told no, they are not allowed to take it apart, the transmission has to be returned to Toyota as is for their core charge to be refunded. He did say he will ask for them to look into it once it’s received by them for some answers… but I know there are a lot of factors there (if Toyota will investigate my transmission specifically, to what degree/effort they search for a cause, what info they choose to release, whom they choose to release the information to, ect ) and I am at the bottom of that list I feel. So my hopes aren’t high I will ever know what’s gone wrong, other than it went wrong.
I asked about if a new transmission and T C even addresses the issue. He said what’s happening with my vehicle is a complete one off. I understand that in terms of my vehicle be a new LC, but this transmission has not faired well in their other vehicles as the bigger issue.
I worry I won’t have much faith in my vehicle once it’s “fixed”. I do a lot of backcountry camping (overlanding for the US folks ) and find myself in very remote places. I’ve had confidence in the reliability and ruggedness of my previous Toyotas. This transmission issue has eroded that confidence. And I think that’s what makes me most upset about this all. My LC isn’t just a pretty commuter vehicle, it’s a significant component to my lifestyle. And my confidence in this vehicle right now is shot.

My daughter purchased a 2025 LC and literally had it for about 4 weeks with 2,000 miles. While driving it to my other daughter's house, the LC pinged with warning lights, etc., so she pulled over and called the dealership. They advised DO NOT DRIVE...WAIT FOR TOWING!! So, she did as advised. This was Friday evening on 1/24/2025. On Saturday afternoon, she received a call from the Service Manager that it indeed was a faulty TRANSMISSION!! My daughter was devastated... We drove to the dealership that afternoon and after I chewed them out in their lobby, they escorted us to the Service Manager's office. They assigned us to a Customer SAT manager. While listening to her the Service Manager told us that the TRANSMISSION had metal shavings in it so they were ordering a transmission and hybrid system. I guess they are somehow linked and require a total replacement. The LC has 2,000 miles so I told the dealership that they need to swap out this LC with a new one!!
On Monday 1/27/2025, we are supposed to hear back from them on the next steps- but I'm going to be livid if they make her accept a new transmission. Further, I checked and apparently, if they replace the transmission the history of this vehicle will show in CARFAX so it will be forever scarred and will affect her resale value. WHAT A TRAIN WRECK!
I'll repost once I hear back on their decision...

 

[ultane]

My daughter purchased a 2025 LC and literally had it for about 4 weeks with 2,000 miles. While driving it to my other daughter's house, the LC pinged with warning lights, etc., so she pulled over and called the dealership. They advised DO NOT DRIVE...WAIT FOR TOWING!! So, she did as advised. This was Friday evening on 1/24/2025. On Saturday afternoon, she received a call from the Service Manager that it indeed was a faulty TRANSMISSION!! My daughter was devastated... We drove to the dealership that afternoon and after I chewed them out in their lobby, they escorted us to the Service Manager's office. They assigned us to a Customer SAT manager. While listening to her the Service Manager told us that the TRANSMISSION had metal shavings in it so they were ordering a transmission and hybrid system. I guess they are somehow linked and require a total replacement. The LC has 2,000 miles so I told the dealership that they need to swap out this LC with a new one!!
On Monday 1/27/2025, we are supposed to hear back from them on the next steps- but I'm going to be livid if they make her accept a new transmission. Further, I checked and apparently, if they replace the transmission the history of this vehicle will show in CARFAX so it will be forever scarred and will affect her resale value. WHAT A TRAIN WRECK!
I'll repost once I hear back on their decision...

I’m glad that you are standing in the gap for your daughter! Best wishes for a satisfactory outcome!

 

[TheBat]

My daughter purchased a 2025 LC and literally had it for about 4 weeks with 2,000 miles. While driving it to my other daughter's house, the LC pinged with warning lights, etc., so she pulled over and called the dealership. They advised DO NOT DRIVE...WAIT FOR TOWING!! So, she did as advised. This was Friday evening on 1/24/2025. On Saturday afternoon, she received a call from the Service Manager that it indeed was a faulty TRANSMISSION!! My daughter was devastated... We drove to the dealership that afternoon and after I chewed them out in their lobby, they escorted us to the Service Manager's office. They assigned us to a Customer SAT manager. While listening to her the Service Manager told us that the TRANSMISSION had metal shavings in it so they were ordering a transmission and hybrid system. I guess they are somehow linked and require a total replacement. The LC has 2,000 miles so I told the dealership that they need to swap out this LC with a new one!!
On Monday 1/27/2025, we are supposed to hear back from them on the next steps- but I'm going to be livid if they make her accept a new transmission. Further, I checked and apparently, if they replace the transmission the history of this vehicle will show in CARFAX so it will be forever scarred and will affect her resale value. WHAT A TRAIN WRECK!
I'll repost once I hear back on their decision...

So you chewed out the staff at your daughter's dealership because her vehicle broke down, they gave you good advice and are working to resolve the problem? Or is there more to this story? Vehicles don't get replaced with brand new replacements because of a single repairable issue.

 

[Alpha Puppy]

I guess the question is how long it will take to repair the vehicle given the scarcity of parts. I think if this goes beyond 30 days it might qualify as a

 

[chris_in_phx]

My daughter purchased a 2025 LC and literally had it for about 4 weeks with 2,000 miles. While driving it to my other daughter's house, the LC pinged with warning lights, etc., so she pulled over and called the dealership. They advised DO NOT DRIVE...WAIT FOR TOWING!! So, she did as advised. This was Friday evening on 1/24/2025. On Saturday afternoon, she received a call from the Service Manager that it indeed was a faulty TRANSMISSION!! My daughter was devastated... We drove to the dealership that afternoon and after I chewed them out in their lobby, they escorted us to the Service Manager's office. They assigned us to a Customer SAT manager. While listening to her the Service Manager told us that the TRANSMISSION had metal shavings in it so they were ordering a transmission and hybrid system. I guess they are somehow linked and require a total replacement. The LC has 2,000 miles so I told the dealership that they need to swap out this LC with a new one!!
On Monday 1/27/2025, we are supposed to hear back from them on the next steps- but I'm going to be livid if they make her accept a new transmission. Further, I checked and apparently, if they replace the transmission the history of this vehicle will show in CARFAX so it will be forever scarred and will affect her resale value. WHAT A TRAIN WRECK!
I'll repost once I hear back on their decision...

As others have reported on here - folks are having to wait for toyota to pull a new transmission off the line and ship it to the dealer. I hooe they replace the car but I havent read of that happening to anyone (?) so your daughter will likely be waiting 2 months to get her car in working order. I would be so mad myself.

 

[Skidaddl]

My daughter purchased a 2025 LC and literally had it for about 4 weeks with 2,000 miles. While driving it to my other daughter's house, the LC pinged with warning lights, etc., so she pulled over and called the dealership. They advised DO NOT DRIVE...WAIT FOR TOWING!! So, she did as advised. This was Friday evening on 1/24/2025. On Saturday afternoon, she received a call from the Service Manager that it indeed was a faulty TRANSMISSION!! My daughter was devastated... We drove to the dealership that afternoon and after I chewed them out in their lobby, they escorted us to the Service Manager's office. They assigned us to a Customer SAT manager. While listening to her the Service Manager told us that the TRANSMISSION had metal shavings in it so they were ordering a transmission and hybrid system. I guess they are somehow linked and require a total replacement. The LC has 2,000 miles so I told the dealership that they need to swap out this LC with a new one!!
On Monday 1/27/2025, we are supposed to hear back from them on the next steps- but I'm going to be livid if they make her accept a new transmission. Further, I checked and apparently, if they replace the transmission the history of this vehicle will show in CARFAX so it will be forever scarred and will affect her resale value. WHAT A TRAIN WRECK!
I'll repost once I hear back on their decision...

This is very unfortunate, and bad luck for your daughter. Though I'm not sure why you felt it a good idea to chew out the folks at the dealership because of a manufacturing issue. THEY are your connection to Toyota, and the ones you need to rely on to get this fixed. I'd recommend that despite the frustrations you feel, you should try to exercise some restraint if you really want to help your daughter.

 

[dog]

It's too bad there are no relevant consumer protection laws for you. I think in my state, this would likely qualify for a refund or replacement under lemon laws if it drags on too long.

 

[HammerTheWall]

No doubt that would be incredibly frustrating, but I'm confused as how chewing out the dealership solved anything, or how not wanting to accept a new transmission/hybrid system is a good thing? You want her to keep using the damaged parts? I feel like I'm misunderstanding something.

I'd definitely be mad too, and would discuss with the dealer, who seems to have done everything that they can to help the situation, what the next best steps are. As previously stated - they're the link between you and getting it fixed by Toyota. Anything you do to damage that relationship will only hurt you or your daughter in the long run, not help it.