cooltoront

I have a 2012 Lexus RX 350 bought recently (2 weeks ago) with 98k mileage . The care Hesitates when moving from start and is also slow to move after a stop sign/ red light.
when it goes from 0 to say 20 km i see the engine rpm going to 3000 - 3500 p/min then drops to 2000 and then again going from 20 to 50 km its shooting to 3500 rpm and then comes back to 2000- 2500 rpm. During this time i hear loud noise like the motor is putting more force to move.

I showed it to a Lexus dealership and they run the diagnostics and came back with nothing. They said it showed no codes.

Looking for possible causes.



Thanks

11bravo

It sounds like the trans is either slipping under acceleration, or not dropping into low gear when stopped. You did not say if they road-tested it for you, but it sounds like they did not. I don't know how much auto knowledge you have, but not all mechanical problems show up on diagnostics. If the car does this almost every time it is driven, a tech needs to take it for a ride to really get a feel for what is happening. Make sure you go along with him/her

Since you car is no longer under warranty, I would seek the advice of a reputable independent shop, or transmission-specific shop. Just be sure you get two evaluations, without telling either shop what the other said. You don't want someone to rebuild a trans that only needs a fluid flush.

I am not a trans. guy, but my hope would be that a thorough fluid flush would take care of it.

CanadianRX

Can you take a video to show? It may be the solenoids in the tranny. Also in my experience most shops will blindly recommend a tranny rebuild when complaining about a transmission. Don't take their advice at face value.

Back story : These same symptoms occurred on my Vw. Everyone said tranny rebuild. I bought the solenoid replacement pack for 250, oil for 100 and paid a guy 300 to replace them. The tranny shifted like new, no rebuild required but still cost some money.

Clutchless

Where did you buy the car from two weeks ago? Private seller or dealer? If dealer there should be some warranty.

I partially agree with the possible transmission issue and believe that your vehicle would benefit from a transmission fluid exchange. This can be done at a Toyota dealer for much less than a Lexus dealer. Do not go anwywhere else as they need to use the correct Toyota WS automatic transmission fluid. It runs between $200 and $300 and will improve shift quality.

On the other hand, I wonder why you did not notice this before you bought the vehicle and if it may not just be an issue of getting used to the way a different vehicle drives.

11bravo

Clutchless...before I posted my first reply, my thinking was, "It kinda sounds like the OP does not know how an auto. trans works", because the way the shifting was described was as it should be, and the dealer did not find anything wrong. I did not want to post that, though, as I would think everyone would know what an auto tranny does going through the gears. But, if he has always driven a manual tranny, or a fast car with auto tranny, maybe it is just the lack of familiarity.

I hope there is nothing wrong, as it could be pretty $$$ to fix.

Good luck to cooltoront. Hope it is nothing major.

Clutchless

I agree those RPM ranges and behaviors sound like normal automatic transmission shifting operation and comment that he hears a loud noise like the motor is making force to move sounds like the normal sound of this V6 engine when you accelerate. It is not always a quiet engine, especially if you put the pedal to the metal.

cooltoront

Thanks everyone your input. I was on vacations and came back late night yesterday. I drove the RX 350 with my family to Pennsylvania. The vehicle showed its character there also and on the way back I escaped by few meters away being hit by truck trying to move over and change lane to give safe clearance to a police car stopped on the shoulder. The car could not accelerate enough to maintain a safe distance from that truck coming in left lane resulting in that I had to return to the right lane again (to be safe) failing to move over to the cop. Was pulled over by the same cap and given a written warning for incident.

The vehicle almost declined to climb uphill on certain occasions during the trip.

Regarding the familiarity with Tranny or driving a fast car, i never drove a manual or a fast car. The RX 350 replaced a 2004 Hyundai Santa FE ,6 cyl, 2.7L, AWD. I alos drove wife's 2008 Nissan Altima 3.5L on some occasions. While the Altima (CVT) really feel much powerful than Rx 350 (put pressure on gas pedal and it just runs like a bullet) the Santa Fe used to behave much better than RX in terms of power, going uphill. So, there is certainly an issue.

11bravo

Yes, there certainly is an issue. You need to see a couple reputable trans repair shops, and get separate estimates. Good luck.

11bravo

Nate, considering you do not know the person who sold the car, nor the person who purchased it, nor the price, nor any conditions of the sale, nor the mileage of the vehicle, that is quite a charge to level against someone.

I would be wondering why the heck the buyer bought it if he test drove it, and it was acting this way. Maybe he got it for dirt cheap.

BTW, A Neuman was one of my heroes as a young boy, many decades ago.

11bravo

"I carefully worded my text"...hahaha, lol, roflol, etc.

Any recommendation you make to me will be taken with the utmost seriousness, and strongly considered....hahaha, lol, roflol, etc.

No problems here, mate, err, Nate. We both "call 'em as we see 'em"

bobys

cooltoront, I consider my pre-sale test drives to have been inadequate. I too felt that the RX is sluggish/hesitation from the line and wishy washy shifting at slow speeds after normal driving after about a week of driving/owning. Heck, I may have started a thread on the topic here..... The feedback I got was basically this is "normal". Mine even can do some sudden slow downs with RPM fluctuations when coasting to the stop light. A sleeping person's head would fall chin to chest without me even hitting the breaks. Dealer check says "no codes." Outside of codes, it seems that there is no other evaluation being performed by factory trained technicians, so we'll wait 40K miles for a tranny failure with a $7K out of warranty repair expense. I really hope I'm wrong. A later followup they checked the trans fluid and said it was high. High from the factory? How does that happen? The fluid isn't FRU to get wrong by some ametuer fluid swap tech. Wait what? Huh ....?

I don't race to the next stop light or have to enter the highway at 95 mph like some people, but I consider my porker 2002 honda odyssey to have been much smoother and silky off the line while at effectively the same weight (4300 Ibs) as this shorter 2013 RX. But that garbage honda transmission has failed for just about everyone.

Good luck.

lexus114

sounds like those grease monkeys at that particular dealership cant think past there nose because the ecm isn't telling them the problem? try another dealer!

11bravo

So, cool, what have you found out? Your car is out of warranty...there is no reason to go to a dealer, so I assume you have tried another approach. I would like to know what you have found out about your car.

cooltoront

Bravo, My understanding is that the vehicle is still under Powertrain warranty which is for 7 yr OR 110K Kms (not miles). Right now, i am at 101K km. Basic warranty is for 5 years which is expired as you pointed out. I am telling this all based on the manual of the 2012 RX 350 . I called Lexus Canada headquarters also but seems like they cant do nothing. They said they dont have a Tech person at their office which can resolve / direct my issue. Thats weird--- They told me to get second opinion and then update them.

So i wrote an email to the first dealership and updated them with the issue again. I got a call from their service department and scheduled a service appointment in 1st week of Sept. They told me that they will give me a loaner vehicle in the interim.

11bravo

" I got a call from their service department and scheduled a service appointment in 1st week of Sept. They told me that they will give me a loaner vehicle in the interim."

that is good news, cool. I thought you were speaking in miles, not km. Glad to hear the warranty is in effect. I do hope they test drive it and find out what is wrong. Please let us all know what they come up with. Good luck to you.
Jim