Bumbobee

Hey guys,

I might be in the market for an ES330. I found a nice 2006 Black Diamon Edition. Doing some research and reading up, I came across a lot of complaints in regards to surging during acceleration? Pressing the gas pedal, and having a few second delay before power comes on? Is this true? Does it affect the 2005/2006 models as well?

Also I heard a lot of tranny complaints and rough shifts/etc.

I just want to know what other trouble spots the car has? I drive a 2001 ES300 and love it, for me it doesn't have any of the above problems!

Thx,

Sorry if this is a repost, I did a search and couldn't find anything...

Timothyj

I have a 04 ES. 88000 miles and I would get the tranny jerk at low speeds shifting into 1st - 3rd. Been running 89 octane. 91 or higher made it worse. I just had the fuel injection system cleaned and big difference. No jerking, much better acceleration. Lexus dealer did it, they used the BG cleaning system. Check the car out real good, a lot of the "drive by wire" cars have this problem. My brother has a 07 Fusion, 4cyl. and had the same problem. Had his injection system cleaned with the BG cleaning system, fixed his problem. The 04 -06 are great cars, the only part I had replaced on mine was the alternator. Had timing belt changed and water pump also. Hope this helps.

Tim

dugw

this is going to sound kinda strange but i had the same problem on my 06 es330. i installed a new battery because winter was coming on and it was six years old. i suppose the battery was unhooked for 5 or so minutes. started up and drove down the road i thought i was in a different car. no more hesitation what so ever. smooth take off. some of you may try to unhook the battery for 5 or 10 minutes and give it a try. nothing to loose but the radio stations.

yeldogt

Modern cars do have mapping programs for systems so the transmissions and engine controls do "learn" to a certain extent. Also, you can "reset" the programs -- so the battery removal may have reset the car to the base setting. This ability can actually cause some problems when two regular drivers have very different driving styles.

And ........ any car can get a fuel problem -- like the injectors --- that causes a running problem.


What people are complaining about with the ES330's is the interaction of the electronic throttle with the engine/transmission. You need to drive the car and see if this is a problem for you -- some cars are better ....also .......... the way some drive does not cause as many problems.

The problem is most noticeable at a stop sign - or stop and go traffic ---- most noticeable in a rolling stop where the car does not come to a full stop and you wish to accelerate ... the faster you want to accelerate the greater the problem.


Cars with an actual linkage from the gas petal to the butterfly at the engine are always going to react the same way -- press the pedal one inch and the butterfly in the intake moves so much -- it is always the same. WIth an electronic throttle the computer can be programed to do different things depending on how fast you push the pedal to how far you push it. Some even take into account the steering direction -- angle of the car --- if you just hit the brakes etc...

Lexus did not do a good job with the ES330's. Our 05 has the problem. From what I am told the transmission will not go into first gear until the car is basically stopped -- even coasting down with no pedal pressure and at a walking pace ..... car is in 2nd. Then..... when you press on the gas you need to press farther than you normally would had the car been rolling .....at say 10mph. So what happens .........you press on the gas as you slowly roll through a stop sign and the car does not go. So .....you press farther on the pedal and then all of a sudden the car downshifts into first and the engine responds and you take off faster then you want .............. it is not a smooth operation. Sometimes it is the reverse with the engine responding and then the car downshifts -- happens in a split second ..... some of the cars are very difficult to drive smoothly in this situation because the throttle reacts a little differently every time.

You need to drive the particular car -- Lexus can't fix the problem. Our 05 is not a car I drive very often and the person that does has learned what do do. I would never have wanted this particular car as my daily driver. That said ........it has been completely trouble free since we bought it in 05 and now has 75k. Tires and a set of brake pads -- some fluids.

Bumbobee

Wow thanks for the replies. I would have to test drive one here for sure and see how I like the car. From what I'm reading on paper I don't like it...

coffee4000

I know that this is an old thread . . . but thanks for the great info.

pauloil

have an 05 and get around this by barely pushing on the gas pedal and accelerating very smoothly. I love driving the car this way!

coffee4000

Truely ? Or are you being sarcasitic ?

brucelee1

iTrader: (2)

I have an 06. When I first bought the car, I thought is was a bit jerky in certain spots. I changed the ATF and ran a gas cleaner though. Much better after that.

Also, I believe the program adapts to the driver over time. I noticed this also, such that the issue is gone.

coffee4000

I see that many people on this forum laugh at the "learning" thing ( i.e. adaptive ). They say it is just something that Lexus tells you to make you feel better. One guy says that he gave his car five years to "learn" with no luck.

The car should just simply respond to how you drive.

Maybe Lexus should "learn" from their mistakes.

Silver06ES

Just out of curiosity, does anyone know if the 2005-2006 Camrys suffered from the same issue? I know they started using the U151E on the Camry in 2005, did they start using DBW at that time too?