twister

I would like to start this thread for all the present and the past ES350 owners where we can write about our own personal experience with this car. There is only one rule: you can make ONE post and that’s it. Feel free to come back and to edit your post, your experience doesn’t start or stop with just one post Also, I don’t want people to post only their negative experience, please make a post about how much you like your car and how much you enjoy your everyday trouble free vehicle. Keep in mind, only one post and no replies or comments about other post!!! So, let me start with my ES350 experience.

I started looking for a new car last April of 2006. I was always a fan of Acura TL and thought it was a car for me. While doing research on-line, I discovered ES350 and after test driving both ES350 and TL I was sold on ES. With more research I learned about initial tranny issues (those with a reversed o-ring problem). My dealership confirmed it and even mentioned that production was stopped at the factory to correct the problem. After a short wait, I got my 06/06 build at the end of July. Couldn’t be happier rolling in my new Lexus. Got it tinted, was even thinking about bigger rims, and… experienced my first 3rd-4th gear flare. I remember making that naive post “Is this a normal behavior?” Every morning, exactly 2-3 minutes into driving from cold start, a “demon” took over the control of my car for a second when tachometer jumped from 2k to 4k. Dealership had no problem recreating it, and even a few field engineers from West Coast flew over to record this. So, tranny was replaced and I got my car back. Less than a month later, it came back. Started with a small flare, jump by about 200 rpms, and went back up higher. At this point, I didn’t feel comfortable with a car anymore and shared my concerns with a service manager. I was offered either a new ES350, trade up to GS350 or money back. After test driving GS350, I made up my mind very fast. They worked out a great deal to make things right and gave me an offer I couldn’t refuse. I ended up paying just a small difference in price and taxes only on that difference. The rest is a history. Ironically, when I first found ES350, I thought GS300 was out of my price reach (GS350 wasn’t even available at that time_. But under circumstances while driving a loaner for a month during my 4 month ownership of ES350, things workout OK and I’m very happy with a new car. Those are really two different cars, and I found GS350 to fit my driving style much better (performance and handling).

OK, I might add or edit more in the future. This is just a start, something I typed in a hurry. I hope others will follow my example and we can continue this peaceful thread with each of our own stories. For those who started already with their “story” in Suggestion thread (osokuko and garsarno), can you please copy and paste it in here?

Alex, a.k.a. Twister

osokuko

Actually Lexus was not our first choice. Back in February 06 we were interested in the new Avalon Limited 06, a big car and had all the bells and whistles and a good value for the money. The only thing that held me back was it didn’t have blue tooth and the NAV was impossible to work with. The NAV was very important to me. Then in March I found on the internet the first look at the ES350 at the auto show. Wow, it looked really good, Ruby Red, black glass top, dual exhaust, from what I could see of the interior was a tan color (cashmere) with leather seats. I can’t wait to see it at the dealership when it comes out.

April 06 been to the dealership almost weekly waiting for word when the ES will arrive, I was told it’s due in but they have delayed the car date one week (Toyota held the cars at the docks until they could come to a decision to release the cars based on the engineers trans durability report). A week later back to the dealership, there they are, I looked at a black/black UL, The exterior really looked exciting but when I sat inside the car I was blown away with were is the luxury of the ES/06, so little wood! I left the lot disappointed and I had waited a month and a half to see this car. Later the ES would become a love the exterior – irritated with the cheap looking interior drama. We decided to wait for the Avalon 07 to come out, for surly Toyota will update it with blue tooth and probably move the NAV out from behind that plastic lens. I found on Edmonds Town Hall-Avalon, everyone was talking about the 07 and the possible updates, they were waiting for Toyota to release the 07 stats in Aug. At the same time I was looking at the posts on the just released Camry and the transmission failures going on. Wow they got problems.

I had good information the 07 Avalon was not going to change at all for 07 about a week before Toyota released the info August/06. That’s it for the Avalon. My wife had already fallen in love with the IS350 BB on pervious trips to the Lexus dealership so what the heck go for your dream to own a Lexus luxury car.

Purchase Day:
I had kept up with the ES forum news about the trans issues but felt maybe the July build had the new valve body fix already installed at the factory and I would have no problems. So we went to Newport Lexus, Newport beach the day after they open Aug 4th. They had a large section of models to choice from, we found the IS350 fully loaded BB first then I asked for a UL Ruby Red, they checked and there are none in Southern Calif. That’s one hard UL to find. But they did have one UL that just came on the lot that morning, it was SGM/Black, well that was my first original color choice, so OK. We wanted to test drive the UL but the battery was dead, they jumped started the car and it sounded find. The buying experience was first rate, we were having a lot of fun joking around with them, they kept getting us coffee, anything you wanted, no high pressure. On the way home we both agreed it was the best car buying experience we had ever been through.

An Oman??
We drove the IS home that night and the next day we picked up the ES and drove it home. When I got home I found the drivers side rear fender panel had became unattached and flapping in the breeze. I fixed that. The next night I tried out the power front passenger seat, when I lowered the seat the right side of the seat undercarriage got hung up on something attached to the frame. The seat motor could not break it loose. While trying out the drivers seat, suddenly the passengers seat let go with what sounded like a M-80 Firecracker “bang”. Oh-Oh what is going on with this car! 2 weeks later the drivers visor mirror light went on the blink, laterally would blink on and off. They replaced that. 2 weeks later the front alignment was drifting to the right on the freeway, not a big deal – they fixed that. 2 weeks later starting to hear road noise coming from the rear seat area – rear door molding. 3 weeks later on the first drive in the morning a flare of 150 RPM between 3rd and 4th 1,433 miles. That was hard, for nine weeks the trans was find, shifting so smooth any time of day. During that nine weeks I had found CL - ES350 forum and Toyotanation forum, more and more people were complaining about the flare issue in there Camry’s & ES’s. So many people were going through valve body fix’s that didn’t fix the trans problem then on to replacing the trans that didn’t seem to work either. I was so worried over all this that it took away the new car excitement. Now I had the flare problem too. It started it’s schedule of flares every morning, 200’s, then 400’s, then 600’s back to 400’s. A week later I noticed that the NAV screen was starting to look dimmer and gray after a half hour of use. Needless to say the stress over the things that didn’t work from the start, then trans flare and now the NAV dimming out was upsetting. I could see it now remove the engine and trans, remove the dash (NAV), remove the seats what’s left?? I lived with the flare every day for 8 weeks. During the eight weeks I had 1600RPM flares 2K RPM flares, one day the trans slammed it’s gear and stalled the engine. I finally took the car to the service center to be diagnosed and was confirmed has flare. The next step was to install the valve body. The reason why I lived with the flare for so long was CL-ES350 members knew there was no point in the valve body and the trans replacement didn’t work either. We would wait for the final trans fix from Lexus. Finally early December I decided to have the valve body repair, give Lexus a chance to fix the trans, besides it would be trip # 2 to the service center for the same problem. Lucky for me Wanderer99 alerted me just before my scheduled valve body repair date that Lexus is now saying the Valve Body does not work. From this point forward it’s replace the Trans only. That means I would have to go through 2 trans replacements before I could replace this car. That was to much stress, it’s a new car $47k with 2,500 miles on it why should I go through all that pain. I couldn’t sleep for three nights. No way! I purchased a new car, I’m not going to settle for fixing a defective car. I’m going back to my dealership and demand a new car.

Replacement process:
We went back to the dealership and had a lengthy meeting with the Assistant Director of Service. Basically - we had purchased two cars, the IS350 and ES350 on the same night and I felt the ES was a defective car from the start. It’s a new car with 2500 miles and I want it replaced. She knew we were not happy with all the ES problems so far, she would work for us and try to have it replaced. I received a call back two nights later they had called the Lexus district manager, they will buy me a new car. A week and a half later (mid December) we met with the Lexus district manager (very nice gentleman) we told him about the troubles we’ve had with the car from the start, but didn’t talk to much about the trans issue as it was just the final straw. Oh he said, we can’t have that, we’ll get you out of that car. He sent the fax and we were approve for a replacement car that night – same car, same options. We were amazed how Newport and Lexus really came through for us. Locating the replacement UL was hard to find because there not making to many of the UL’s now and the car I had was even harder to find – SGM/Bk. I received a call form the dealership end of December they had called Japan for a SGM/Black UL coming off the factory line 12/06 build, but I asked them to wait for a 01/07 build to come off the line because I just read on CL an hour ago that the new fixed transmissions are going into the 01/07 builds. I wanted to do everything I could to make sure this new car has the best opportunity to have a good transmission. They agreed to wait. Mid January, they located a SGM/Black coming in from Japan 01/07 build, will take some time to arrive off the boat. The car is here 2/15/07, now we need to do the paperwork, took about two weeks to complete. I have my new ES350/UL on 2/27/07. The next morning while driving to work the transmission “FLARED”.

Trade In:
I didn’t want to look at the tack anymore that week. The following week I took it in to the dealership and requested a flare check. They’ll kept the ES for 2 nights and check for flare in the mornings. Results, they did find one flare of less than 200. No computer codes tripped. When I pick up the car the tech explained what they found. One small flare less than 200 rpm, they tested the car in the mornings and afternoons. The flare is small, nothing to worry about, it’s a characteristic of the transmission. You can call Lexus or we can call for you. (A characteristic? Which means it’s unfixable. You can call Lexus or we can for you?!). No thanks. Obviously it’s out of the hands of the dealerships now. I’m not going to call Lexus and go through another 2 months of waiting for my case to be heard, then go through all the hoops too. It's to close to the end of the 07 ES run. I'll get stuck with a major devalued ES. I just made up my mind, I'm going car shopping this weekend! For the next 3 days no flare than it started again with 200's for 2 days then 300's even had a 600 in the morning and that afternoon another 600. The flares are following the same pattern my original car flares took. Been there, been through this before. Spent the weekend looking at several dealerships and gave them my deal. I’m ready to purchase a car, not today as I have other bands to look at this weekend. Take my new replacement ES350-UL with 400 miles as a trade-in. Discount the GS350 MSRP $51763 package, you do the numbers and give me a serious starting verbal offer on how much I would owe OTD today. If the amount I owe is with in my limits we can do a deal. I didn’t want them to waste my time with unrealistic starting offers. I’m welling to spend 10K so well see what happens. One Lexus dealer came in at 10K, My own dealership came in at 17K, Infiniti M35 is a beautiful car inside and out, I liked it and it’s a little less than the GS350 I’m looking at, but they would not make any offer unless we sat down and haggled, commitment. Acura, I looked at the RL it’s about the same MSRP. But the RL needs an update, can’t compare to the M-35 in comfort. 2 day later Newport came back with a better offer, they will match the other Lexus dealership deal "OTD cost to me around 10K" for the GS350. At the dealership they also discounted 45% off the "Hereborrani HR-2 rims" that were on the GS350 showroom car that I wanted. So we traded-in the ES350 with 474 miles and bought the GS350 3/26/07. I’m happy to say I'm still with Newport Lexus as they did go over and beyond what Lexus does for people. Newport supported me in every way with continues phone call updates and "don't worry were here for you" during the whole replacement car process. I guess things are changing now, Lexus will handle the ES problems now. I also noticed a few comments posted here on CL that the Lexus volunteer buyback program has come to an end.

The ES350:
The ES350 is a grand car, beautiful exterior design, lots of room for long trips, powerful engine, rides smooth, NAV has the best features. Unfortunately I had two bad luck experiences with the ES over the eight or so months of ownership.

I love my new GS350, a little smaller but has all the amenities I was expecting to find in the ES. A true Lexus, so far flawless like our IS350.

Update 12/1/08: The IS350 and GS350 both have been flawless to date. Not one problem. We would buy another Lexus.

love_lexus

I planed to buy a GS350 at the day that I bought my ES350. After sitting in both GS, IS, and ES, my wife pick up ES right away. After a test driving on both cars, we admit GS and IS are better on handling, but ES is more quiet and roomier.
We had GS before, we like everything it has, but we think this ES is not bad in handling, and it has more luxury.
The panorama roofing is amazing and Mark Levison Audio is superb. The only noise we heard is from tires, which we believe it can be corrected with summer tires.
After comparing side-by-side with GS, we decide to go with ES, and I would say this is my best buy ever.

jerfitz

We went looking for "the" new car that had the most and best safety features. Because of safety this quest led us to the 2007 Volvo. The April issue of Consumer Reports was a big help here.

The Volvo dealer had a take it or leave it policy of paying the full MSRP for the S80 model so we moved on to the the next car that had the most safety features and was already tested by both the Insurance Institute and the US Government. As a side issue, the S80 would have cost $11,000 more than we paid for our ES350.

Safety ruled so we bought a 2007 ES350.

So far no problems but I probably would NOT recommend the Lexus to my friends because Lexus intrudes to much in my life style. I say this because I have been VERY disappointed with the following:

I paid $4,050 extra for a Navigation System and a Mark Levinson audio system both of which disable the very features we want to use when the car is moving.

Also, Lexus restricts me from reprograming the "Lexus Personalized Settings."

Speaking only for myself, I do not like it when the auto manufacturer forces me to accept its "cover itself" rules. By the way, if I had known this BEFORE making the purchase I would have moved on to the third best "most safe" car.

I like my Garmin GPS and my Acura MDX NAV System better than the one in my 2007 ES350.

As a side issue, the Gamin has the same restriction on disabling features when the car is moving. But with Garmin there is an easily accessable screen where I can choose to take the responsibility for myself and override that restriction once and for all and it will never NAG me again, period.

The ES350 runs great, it's quiet, plenty of power, looks nice, the interior is nice, interior lighting is awful (especially up near the garage door opener buttons), and it's a pleasure to drive.

2007es350

I purchased my ES350 last fall and have really enjoyed the ES350 for its looks, driving experience, and features. Unfortunately, my transmission started slipping 800 RPMs between shifts starting at about 1,000 miles.

My dealership experience has been outstanding. In January 2007, Lexus of Stevens Creek promptly diagnosed my problem on the first visit and was able to offer the Lexus Corporate sponsored replacement program which gave me 2 options: 1) replace the transmission in my current car and receive a free extended warranty package; or 2) replace the transmission in my current car and have my current car replaced with a New ES350. I chose option #2. My dealership reassured me that per Lexus Corp, the new transmissions/cars would not have this slipping problem.

I have been told that this Lexus Corp buyback program has now been discontinued.

After my transmission was replaced, the slipping seemed resolved until I put about 200 miles on the new transmission. After this point, the transmission slipping returned. I was surprised and concerned about new transmission and cars still having this problem.

Lexus Corp took about 2 months to process my replacement ES350 paperwork which was fine with me since I wanted Lexus to sort out this transmission issue prior to delivering my replacement ES350.

When my replacement ES350 was ready, a representative from Lexus Corp discouraged me from taking a replacement ES350 and offered to refund my money. This representative was honest is saying that this transmission slipping/flaring was a "normal characteristic" of the ES30 and that my replacement ES350 would likely have this "characteristic" as well. Further, Lexus Corp could not fix my replacement ES350 should it have this issue (which is most likely would), because the transmission slipping/flaring is not considered a defect...but more of a "normal characteristic". I was absolutely shocked at the absurdity of this comment. I asked why would Lexus Corp authorize transmission replacements if the new transmissions would be the same. The Lexus Corp rep just answered that this was performed in the name of "customer service". I told the Lexus Corp rep that I fail to see giving people false hope for a fix that won't work to be good for "customer service".

I inquired with the Lexus Corp rep to help me coordinate a trade up to a different Lexus model. The response was even more shocking: I should just take my money and buy whatever I want. Clearly this Lexus Corp rep did not even care to keep a Lexus customer in a Lexus vehicle.

So this is how my buyback occured. I intended to get a replacement ES350, and ended up getting a refund towards the purchase of an LS460. After my Lexus Corp experience, I wanted to run away from Lexus. But my local dealership has provided exemplary customer service and has helped me navigate the poor customer service provided by Lexus Corp. I have confidence that my local dealership will take good care of me and my car.

ES350Bob

July 25, 2006, late afternoon, bought my third Lexus, an ES350. The next morning knew it had an engine defect due to the knocking tapping heard inside the car, excessive wind noise, ultimately transmission defect, never resolved by Lexus, the defects were claimed normal for an ES350 and I was shocked such defects would be claimed normal for any car, let alone a Lexus.

October 31st, 2006, bought second ES350, 4th Lexus, at fair price in trade by Lexus dealer who felt sorry for experiences I had with first including negative experiences with Lexus corporate. Within days knew it also had a transmission problem along with a milder form of wind noise and engine knocking than first though still annoying for any vehicle to have.

Decided there will be no reliable fix offered for any of the issues plaguing the ES350, traded out of 2nd one on March 31st.

The above are the worst vehicle purchase experience(s) of my entire life and I hope I will never experience anything like this again.

LexBob2

Next week will mark 1 year of ownership on our ES350, and it's been a good first year. In my limited interaction with them, the dealership has been good to work with. The car has been back to the dealership for routine service and car washes only. We've taken several trips in the car, and its performed flawlessly with excellent gas mileage as a kicker. I'm pleased with my purchase and would buy another.

Gumball

We have had our loaded ruby red UL (champagne interior) for 8 months with the same experience that LexBob2 describes but I would like to add that the car's performance seems to be improving with time.

mmrfr

Have Owned My Es350 Since 12/24/06. In The 4 Months I Have Driven It, I Have Seen The Transmission Problem Getting Worst At About 1000 Miles Increments, Its Now Up To 800 At The Least And Has Topped 1400 A Couple Times. Started Out About Once A Week Not Its A Couple Times A Day. No Help From My Dealership. I Have Puchased 13 New Cares In My 58 Years And In All Honesty This One Is My Biggest Disappointment. Its Not A Bad Car But With Lexus You Just Expect Much More. In Contrast I Bought A 2002 Altima 3.5 Not Expecting Much More Than The "new Style" And A Ton Of Power. I Felt At 25k Thats Was A Enough. Well I Drove That Jewel 65k Miles And Never Once Had A Problem Of Any Kind. The Oil -mobile One Was Changed Every 3500 Miles And A Set Of Bridgestones Was Put On At 35k And Thats The Extent Of Service This Care Required. It Never Flared-no Wind Noise-no Paint Chipping And Quiet Untill You Got On It And It Ran Like A Bat Out Of ----. Sure Wish I Had Gone With The M35. Not Only Did Lexus Blow It , I Blow It Too With A Bad Decision.

dunnojack

my car had poor build quality and structural defects. mustve been a monday or friday car. or maybe they had a malfunction at the factory.

also has diesel engine noise. not just cold engine knock. cold & hot & warm engine diesel noise, which I can hear in the cabin at the stoplight. That's not how a lexus is supposed to be. I guess, on a positive note, all 4 loaner cars I've driven don't have the diesel noise. I suppose this is just another "normal" characteristic.

other than these 2 things, the car was OK for a $34k car.
I won't be buying another lexus anytime soon, unless all other car brands fail me. This year's lexus is built worse than my 03 lexus and 98 camry.
the 2006 GS300 build quality was also a joke.

MD350

Bought the ES in August of 2006, build date of July 2006. My tranny does not have the 3rd 4th flare, but the tranny overall is not great. My car does have the cold engine knock, I call it a ES350 TDI. It also has many rattles, many of which have been fixed by the dealer after several service visits. My dash has been taken apart and lined with felt to stop the rattles, shouldn't be on a Lexus!! Now, I am waiting for a tire pressure monitor switch that needs to be replaced to stop a rattle in the headliner (TSIB). On a positive note, the car gets great gas mileage, has a large back seat for for my kids, and rides great. I love the Nav system, which helps me on sales calls for my job. The lines on the car are sharp, and I think it is a beautiful car. I have the UL package and love the dual sunroof.

Bottom line, if Lexus could put a decent tranny in the car and improve quality (rattles), and find out what causes the engine knock and fix it, the car is great. Customer service also needs to be improved, as Lexus is starting to treat their customers like General Motors or Ford customers. Quit trying to pretend these issues don't exist on the ES 350, be truthful with the customers, and lets work together to get our cars running 100%!! Instead, we are treated like we are idiots and are told our cars are running "normal" or our trannys are "learning". Who do they think we are? This ain't the first car I have bought, but it WILL be the last Lexus!! Back to Honda/Acura it will be once this diesel hits 50K miles!! I am not going to take a depreciation hit right now on a trade, I'll drive it to 50K miles and then kiss it goodbye.

ESDragon

My ES is 2/07 build date. Even though I heard about the tranny issue, I thought that it was fixed by the later built. Ever since it past 250 miles, it has the flare that everyone was talking about. I was very upset and went to 2 different dealerships, both told me that they are normal characteristics. I have contacted Lexus Corp and they are unwilling to take any actions since they believe the car is working as designed. Other than the tranny problem (MAJOR PROBLEM), I don't have any complaints. It does have some ocassional rattles here and there, but it comes away depending on the weather. All the electronics works great and little high on the wind noise, but I can tolerate it. If Lexus will permanent fix the tranny, I will give the ES a hugh But due to the experience I have with my dealership and the service I received from Lexus Corp, this will be my first and last Lexus. Never have I been treated so poorly in my life. I have thought about trading it in now, but will be taking a hugh hit. I will probably get rid of it something next year. In the meantime, I have gotten an 97 honda accord as a "beater" car and the Lexus as a weekend. Even though the honda is slow and lack all the good features, it has a solid transmission like any other honda I driven.

NGG

Pre July 2006: Owned eight Toyota products. Great cars (reliability, durability,performance and trade in value). Superior dealer service.

July 2006: Bought an 07 ES350. Smooth, quiet ride. Generally good interior materials...except for thin cheap carpet. Rattle trap (dash, console, passenger seat, back glass area, parcel shelf, interior trunk release, driver's door mirror, steering wheel airbag, windshield washer nozzles, and on and on).
Excessive wind noise. Engine diesel sounds. Never noticed the dreaded transmission flare...only kept car for 700 miles. Could not live with this lemon.
Lexus corporate offered no remedy, abdicated all their responsibilities...left it all to the dealer.

October 2006: Traded ES for a special order 07 IS350. Dealer gave full refund for the ES with a discount on the IS...no help from Lexus corporate. Great service from dealer.

January 2007: Took delivery of my IS350. Very satisfied (fit and finish, performance, quality). One small dash creaking noise...dealer to remedy at first service. Superb dealer service.

Conclusion: Lexus released the ES prematurely...did not determine and remedy bugs...seems to have taken a page from NA manufacturer's book where they let customers do the debugging. They then compounded the problem by not acknowledging responsibility and proactively taking ownership for a remedy that would satisfy customers, and not jeopardize their reputation for reliability and customer service. Both have now been diminished. Don't understand this strategy...extremely short term.

Lexus still has a long way to go in "The Persuit of Perfection".

CGLex07

On the 14th of this month I will have been driving my ES350 for a full year. I have already put 28,000 miles on the car (commute to work is 50 miles one way) and have not experienced transmisson flare or execssive noise. Maybe I am one of the lucky ones. In retrospect I do wish I would have gone ahead with my inital purchase decision and drove away from the dealer in a GS350 but it would have been for selfish reasons and not practical ones.

I will let you all know how the 30K service goes when I get it done in a couple of weeks.