VIP12

Hi guys,

I have been having trouble with my 2001 IS 300 for the past couple of months. This is the problem, when I am driving my IS at normal speeds like in the highway or on the streets the car runs great but when I come to slowing down it feels like my transmission is trying to catch up and my car makes some kind of thumping noise and it feels like I am getting hit from behind. It makes a hard thumping noise and it is getting annoying. It is hard to explain some one out there please help me. Has there been any recalls that I do not know of for the year of the car? What should I do? I almost want to trade my car in and get a new one but I bought the car last October and I bought it used.

Thanks again CL members

P.S.
Hopefully some could help me.

mmarshall

Do you know if the transmission is stock or if a shift kit has been installed? A shift kit will cause harsh shifting and bumping with the symptoms you describe.

VIP12

As far as I am aware of it is stock. The whole car is stock except for the rims and lowering kit that I put on when I bought the car.

tennis_8

For starters, I would take it back to whoever did the suspension work, tell them of your problem and ask them to ride with you to listen to the sounds to see if it might be the suspension. If they are knowledgeable, they should be able to point you in the right direction. And they probably won't charge you for the consultation unlike a dealorship. JMO

opmredwing

I think I know what you're talking about. I too have an '01 IS and am the original owner. I've got about 55K on it and I had the dealer reset the ECU which seemed to help out a little with this harsh shifting issue. The problem I had was mostly when driving slow through parking lots or rolling stops when the car would shift abruptly and kind of harsh causing a lurching forward sensation. Occasionally I do have a harsh shift when getting off the highway but that seems to be pretty rare or when the car is cold.

IS3CM

Yeah I have that same problem. I'm going to try that..