I'm thinking about purchasing a used ES330 from a relative that only has 45,000 miles on it. After reading reviews on the internet, I am concerned about the transmission problems that everyone is complaining about. While driving the car, I did notice a slight transmission lag when accelerating in heavy traffic but it was only barely noticeable. Will this problem get worse as I put more miles on the car? I'd also like to know if this problem leads to the transmission going out prematurely. I read a few complaints from owners who had to replace their transmissions but I didn't know how common this problem is. I don't want to spend $15,000 on 5 year old car if I am going to have some expensive transmission repairs in the near future. I'd also love to know if there is any other common problems with this model that I should look for before purchasing it.

 

Very seldom do I hear about transmissions being replaced. The lag/jerk is an issue due to software programming, not mechanical. I've had the same concern when we got and did get some lag/jerk at the beginning of ownership. Ever since we drove the car harder, the car was less confused and always shifted into the right gear at the right time. Maybe once in a while it has a hiccup, but overall it didn't really bother us. I find the transmission to jerk back and forth more when you're on a light throttle (ie. heavy traffic). It gets confused because it doesn't know whether it wants to upshift or not. But like I said, I usually give it more throttle so it definitely knows it should be in higher gear. You get use to the car and the car gets use to you

The powertrain warranty is good up to 7 years/70k miles so it's a bit more reassuring for the next 1.5 years.

 

$15k for a 45k '05 ES sounds really good to me, especially since you know where the car is coming from. Don't worry about the tranny issue, its pretty minor after the update (reviews are mixed regarding the update).