gooch

Update on my eight month ordeal with the ES350s.
I took possesion of the IS350 on May 19. Have about a 1000 miles on it and can truly say it is a better designed car than the ES350. So far:

No tranny problems, shifting not even close to the ES350
No wind noise - amazed about how much wind noise the ES has vs. the IS
No rattles
Better ride than what I expected
Of course, it handles a lot better being a sportier suspension

Overall, still a nice experience from Lexus. As I said before, they want to keep you as a customer. After driving two ES350 17,000 miles, they substituted collateral twice with no charge and gave me upgrades. This IS350 listed for 1800.00 more than the ES.

So far, very satisfied.

meadoel

Can you share what steps you took to get the latest replacement done and what your issues were that sealed the deal?

gooch

here is what happened in a nutshell

first es350 - tranny slips at 2K replaced valve - tranny slips at 4k replaced tranny , got a 100K warr and new esport wheels - tranny slips at 6k - replaced with new es350, no user fee or anything

second es350 - tranny slips at 1k - replaced tranny and i told them i did not want the car. chose to go the is350 route and like i said it listed for more than the es and lexus accepted it. no user fee just a substitution in collateral

the last replacement took about six weeks since there were no is350s the color i wanted at the dealership. but i basically got to drive for free.

meadoel

Thanks. Did you manager this yourself or engage a lawyer?

gpension

It seems like almost anything can happen when you have a problem with your car, but it really depends on your dealer.

I have had basiccly the same issues (although only one transmission replacement) over the same period as Gooch, and my dealer has offered me nothing. No extended warranty, no rims, no replacement...nothing. In fact, I have had to fight all the way through this ordeal, and have finally hired an attorney to pursue legal action. We are awaiting their response, but I fully expect that they will fight me all the way to court, which I am prepared to do. If you haven't been treated right by your dealer, corporate will not help.

I'd call a lawyer. It's not costing me anything, so I have nothing to lose but a little time.

Yang1815

iTrader: (1)

Wow that sounds great!

twister

Gooch post sounds good, but gpension reply is very upsetting. I clearly remember Service manager at my dealership stating about automatic 100k warranty upgrade when tranny is replaced. When, I had my first ES350 tranny replaced, I got an official letter with extended warranty confirmation directly from East Coast Corporate Lexus office. Extended warranty is not a choice, they must do it. But, than it was back in September/October of last year, so I wonder if Corporate Lexus changed their policy?

@ gpension: are you continue having tranny flares? Either way, don't give up. Lexus will not take this case all the way to the court, the last thing they need is a bad publicity. Also, unless your replacement tranny flaring as well, I'm afraid there is nothing they can do. But, if you still have a problem with a new tranny (which is what almost 100% of us did), than a ball is in your court

gpension

Yes, my replacement started flaring at 7,500 miles. I brought it in twice, but they could not replicate. At the time, it was intermitent. I have several videos, which I showed them, but their response was "yes, we see the flare on the video, but we need to see it ourselves".

Now, I can make it happen almost every morning - so much that I've stopped video tapping it! I've been as patient as I can be, but I eneded up with a bad car, and a worse dealer. And I think the key to getting this resolved the "right" way is to have a good dealer - corporate won't budge without it.

What kills me is that I have responsibility for some of our quality programs, and people keep bringing up Toyota. Right after I picked my car up from trying to replicate the flare, I went to a seminar where they were discussing Toyota and their relentless pursuit of quality. I stood up and explained my situation, and we then started talking about the impact of Toyota's unbridled growth in their pursuit to be the largest auto manufacturer. Apparently, I wasn't the only one having issues...

twister

Since you can easily recreate the flare, don't wait and bring it into the dealership. Let them document it. In case of a buyback and due to miles you already put on the car, you will be charged for mileage. So, the sooner you report it and they admit it, the better. Beside, it wouldn't hurt to have a documented 2nd tranny flare in hand for your lawyer.

wanderer99

I feel for you gpension. I think we've seen this before here: good dealer vs bad dealer.

Twister had a great dealer that went the extra mile for him. Many others here have reported this type of support for their problems as well. gooch apparently has a good dealer too.

Others have got nothing. No extended warranty, no support from the dealer, little to no help from Lexus corporate. I thought my dealer was bad but if yours is looking at your video and saying that's great... but they have to witness the problem first hand then that's just a joke. You've got some credibility here as well as you've already had them replace the trans once. I think you've got a bad Lexus dealer.

Maybe we should start a list of good vs bad dealers. It shouldn't come to that, but sometimes there just seems to be a dramatic difference in service\support level offered and that shouldn't be the case.

I can only imagine what would have been the outcome if Twister or Gooch had ended up at our dealerships.....

e-man

Here's the thing I don't understand. Gooch had two ES350s, both had flaring transmissions. ES350Bob had two ES350s, both transmissions flared. I had an ES350 loaner a few months back, and it had a flaring transmission (the 300 rpm flare, from 3rd to 4th, just once after every cold start). Are the three of us really that unlucky? I know everyone says the problem is not that widespread, but how can that be when people like Gooch, ES350Bob and a few others have experienced flaring transmissions in more than one car, and I had a flaring transmission on the one and only ES350 loaner that I've ever had. I'm trying to be objective, but something just doesn't add up here.

LexBob2

e-man, you bring up some good points and it is hard to figure out. I bought my car in early May '06 (going on 14 months) and haven't had any problems at all. It's been a great car and I feel I got a good value for the price paid. About the only thing I can think of is that Lexus sells around 70,000 ES per year, so odds are there are a lot of satisfied owners out here. If you read owner reviews on Edmunds, MSN, Yahoo etc. they are pretty favorable. I think owners with problems might seek out a forum like this to see if there are others in the same boat, share experiences, and talk about getting issues resolved. So you may hear more from people with issues than from satisfied owners. Just my take on the question.

e-man

True, very true. I do realize that no one is going to sign on to CL to say, "Hey fellas, my ES350 started up fine this morning and drove great," and perhaps that explains away the frequency with which dissatisfied ES350 owners seem to pop in to CL to complain about their flaring transmission. But that doesn't account for the owners who have had two cars that flared, or, in my case, the fact that the one loaner out of 25 ES350 loaners that I was given from my dealership happened to flare. So I agree, more people come to Internet forums to complain than to compliment, but what about those like Gooch and ES350Bob who have had more than one car flare? How can we explain that away? Luck of the draw? And, was I really that unlucky to get the only ES350 in my dealer's fleet (1/25, or 4%) to have the flare? Again, I'm not doubting anyone here, but my instincts and common sense tell me that the problem is more prevalent and under-reported. Does that make sense?

meadoel

I agree it's under-reported. I have driven my ES and two loaners. 2 of the three cars had flares. I just think that people don't really notice it. If my wife was driving my car she'd never notice the flare.

dunnojack

cool deal

but there will be rattles. mark my words.

but at least it will drive smoothly.