Macklin

Bob, I apologize for my comment. I have to admit I'm not happy with this tranny issue and your quote above just got under my skin. That said, I truely don't believe there is ever going to be a total failure on these trannys. If true, that will certainly knock Toyota off their perch now won't it.

But that is not going to happen. And you know what, mine continues to surprise me with its improved performance. My flares continue to diminish...even when stone cold. And it definitely shifts smoother...way smoother, both up and down...than what I experienced over the first few thousand miles.

It may be wishful thinking...but what the hey.

Maybe it's still learning.

NJ, I say give it some more time. Maybe yours will learn too.

twister

@NJLexes: which dealership did you get your Lex from? I went through 2 replaced trannies on my ES350 last year (06/06 build) and Ray Catena (Freehold location) took care of buyback and put me into GS350 AWD under invoice. I had a very good experience with them, and their service manager was of a great assistance. They did everything possible to keep me as Lexus customer. Of course, this was last year around September/October time when no re-flash was available. But it sounds like you have a solid case now for a buyback. Before you start with Lexus Corporate, try to see what you dealership can do. If you are from up North and they don't want to help you out, try calling RC (Freehold location, don't bother with Oakhurst) and insist on talking to their service manager.

Good luck!!!

NJLEXES

I actually got my car from Warnock Lexus. As I mentioned earlier, between my in-laws and myself, we have gotten 6 cars from them since 1999.

They are generally pretty good about trying to satisfy the customer.

In my head, I had thought about maybe trying for a GS AWD... however in all honesty it's a little out of my price range right now even if they gave me "a great deal". Especially as I'm due to replace my wife's car early next year. She's got a 02 Camry XLE with 40k and 4 cyl with that "low tech" 4 speed auto transmission which shifts better (more responsively) than all these 5 and 6 speeds !
Because of this tranny nonsense, Toyota lost a potential sale for her new car.
Saw some complaints about the new HIghlander tranny too!

An IS which I'm not crazy about as it is kinda small on the inside. An RX has the 5 speed automatic which may not break, but is sluggish as hell. I looked in the RX forums and they are not happy campers.
My old 02 ES300 was like that.
No way in hell I'd let them put me in new ES350 at this point... not after this episode.

Think I may just ultimately go for another brand.
Not the dealers fault, but don' realistically know what more they can do to "fix" this problem.

The only persistent issue with it at the moment is that "slow right turn" where the tranny gets momentarily lost.

Maybe it will learn its way out of it, but I doubt it.

My old tranny before it self destructed never did that even when the car was new.

MD350

I know what you mean, you are turning at a slow speed, then give it gas and the tranny stops and thinks what gear to go into....then it makes a decision and slams it in gear. Sort of a hesitation.

It could be a minor adjustment. No matter what, I would take it back ASAP.

osokuko

Oh my god nothing has change here it's the same o same o but I do have to wonder just how many trans have been made to find a good one. And here's the really weird thing I miss about the es350 hbecause it has far better head lights then my GS. If it wasn't for the trans issue the ES is a really cool car.

2007es350

Wow! I thought the transmission issues were resolved with the latest TSIB.

ES350Bob

Thanks Mack, I understand.

Happy New Year to you and others here and let it be a problem free one for everyone.

NJLEXES

I have around 240 miles on the replacement tranny.

More tranny goodness (actually means badness) :

I drive my car approximately 1/3 mile from cold in the morning (first drive of the day)
Came to stop light and waited approximately 30 seconds.
Upon initial light throttle acceleration, car would move up to about 2-3 MPH and then engine would rev considerably up to about 3500-4000 rpm with no increased forward motion of the car (like trying to accelerate on ice) Car would not exceed this 2-3 MPH level. This would last about 10-15 seconds…. then the transmission would engage and the car would resume moving forward.

Once it gets warm, this does not occur.

Neither my orignal tranny for 19000 miles(before it self-destructed) nor the loaner Es350 (9/06 build with 12k) which I drove for around 150 miles had this issue along with the other issue "the right turn lag".
Based on this, feel well qualified to state what is "normal" and what is not !

I have an appointment to drop off car Thurs night so they can drive it "cold" in the morning.
Honestly, have no idea what they think they can do to fix this... however I will give them their chance.

twister

Only one solution: buyback!

That is close to how my ES350 used to behave from cold start. It felt like in the middle of driving car kicks in neutral and rpm goes up 2k-3k, although it lasted only 2-3 second.

MD350

I agree, buyback!! See if you can video tape this and show it to the dealer. Because, they could say the car is operating normal.

Good Luck

NJLEXES

MD350,

I decided to take your advice and use my digitial camera to make movie of the weirdness.

Figured that this morning (thurs ) would be perfect as it was good and cold here in NJ around +13 farenheit.
Really expected the tranny to go bezerk with this cold too.

I film for around 3-4 minutes from coming out of my driveway "ice cold".
The transmission knew it ! It didn't do anything strange....murphy's law.
Perfectly behaved (for a change).
All in all, the revving weirdness happened 3 times in the past week since I got it back.

I'm still dropping it off tonight for them to cold test it friday morning.

Looks like I may have to carry around my camera 100% of the the time to ward off the transmission gremlins.

MD350

Yeah, those trannys know when to act up and when not to. They also behave perfectly on new car test drives!!

Anyway, good luck and keep us in the loop.

2007es350

My ES transmission was the same way. It took only the third try videotaping a cold start to record an 800 rpm spike on my 2nd transmission.

NJLEXES

Ok gentlemen, here we go ....

I brought the car in last night and was going over the issues with the service writer. He exclaims...I'm glad your here and hands my paperwork with my detailed accounting of the types of issues I was having with the transmission to another gentleman.
I asked him, "are you the transmission expert?". The service writer said not exactly, but he knows alot about these cars.
After describing both issues (the cold revving and the getting lost issue) to the other guy, his thought was that it is "electronically related". Specifically, the "transmission compensation values". From what I had researched, basically the transmission can "self adjust" somewhat on its own based on wear characteristics, etc so it continues to run in a consistent fashion as the miles progress. He thought some of these values might not be where they should be.
I would have thought this was taken care of with the updated transmission flash, but he made it seem it was a slightly different thing.

In any case, I left them to it.

I spoke with the service writer later in the day... he said they checked the fluid level and it was fine.
The work order said "found transmission compensation values were off. Adjusted transmission compensation values"

Now the results: (tranny was warm)

For the moment, the "coming out of the rights turn hesistation" (getting lost) appears to be gone.
Of course, time will tell.

Cannot comment on the cold issue as of yet.

Did not think electronic trannies could be adjusted in this fashion so if there are any experts out there, please chime in !!

MD350

Fingers are crossed for you! Hopefully, that will fix it!