2005 ES330 premature Trans Failure?
08-09-16, 10:01 AM
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2005 ES330 premature Trans Failure?
I was wondering with all the erratic behavior of the trans that are in these cars.
Won't it cause a premature trans failure.That has to be hard on the components.
Reason I ask is because I am looking at 2005 ES330 with a 100200 on it.
The timing belt has been changed 20000 miles ago.
It is a southern car phenomenal condition inside and out.
I test drove it and it is going to need struts and tires sometime soon.
I did notice the oddway the trans behaves.
They are asking 7500 for it.
Should I worry about the tran in this or its a crap shoot.
By the way I live in the rust belt.So southern cars to us are Gems
Won't it cause a premature trans failure.That has to be hard on the components.
Reason I ask is because I am looking at 2005 ES330 with a 100200 on it.
The timing belt has been changed 20000 miles ago.
It is a southern car phenomenal condition inside and out.
I test drove it and it is going to need struts and tires sometime soon.
I did notice the oddway the trans behaves.
They are asking 7500 for it.
Should I worry about the tran in this or its a crap shoot.
By the way I live in the rust belt.So southern cars to us are Gems
08-09-16, 10:13 AM
#2
I've seen people complaining about transmission shifts for years, that being said I have never seen a transmission failure on this generation ES. To try to lessen the rough shifts, I suggest a drain and fill as well as unplugging the battery for a few minutes. It made a big difference on mine.
08-09-16, 12:21 PM
#3
People complain about the shift points, not about transmission failures. There is no reason a slightly different shift point is harder on components (mainly the friction discs would be the concern).
And +1 on all that 02SDGS said.
And +1 on all that 02SDGS said.
08-09-16, 02:37 PM
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Here is the link to the website of the car I am looking at.
http://www.suburbankia.com/bargain/L...7f6cb7bb08.htm
Tell me what ya think and if it is worth it.
Also it says 7900 but they are giving to me for 7500.
Opinion appreciated.
http://www.suburbankia.com/bargain/L...7f6cb7bb08.htm
Tell me what ya think and if it is worth it.
Also it says 7900 but they are giving to me for 7500.
Opinion appreciated.
08-09-16, 04:36 PM
#5
I say good deal, looks to be in excellent shape minus headlights. I'm sure people will tell you to offer 7k, but for the money and the condition of the car (at least cosmetically) you can't go wrong. I also like that it is being sold by a larger dealership. In my experience, larger higher end brand dealerships tend to sell cars they feel will be less problematic. If the car looks to be in bad shape, or there's a high potential of something failing in the near future, they send it to auction to be sold at a smaller corner lot.
Last edited by RXGS; 08-09-16 at 04:39 PM.
08-09-16, 09:20 PM
#6
My suggestion is to go to Edmunds.com and figure the value in their computer. I have found it to be very accurate and a valuable negotiating tool. I have not done it for this car, but you can at their web site. I aim to pay PPV, but this is a dealer sale so you may need to pay more. If you can get within cussin' distance of Edmunds' PPV with them, then go for it.
It looks clean, the major maintenance (T.Belt) is done. The headlights are a sad fact on these, particularly southern cars. Our car spent the first 3 years in TX, then the rest in the PNW. Ruined. They can be rehab'd but only with sanding and clear-coating - polishing does little on this particular plastic compound IME. OTOH, the results are very good and improvement in the beam coherence and clarity makes it well worth some elbow grease and time.
You need to do normal maintenance of TB service, radiator drain fills, AT drain/fills, PS drain/fills, quality synthetic oil (I have tried A LOT and our car loves M1 10w-30 HM - awesome oil). Besides that normal maintenance, our car needed nothing out of the usual but between 200k and 240K I had to (prices are parts; I did all the work myself)
Replace rear springs and all struts, ($500)
Replace Alternator (125)
Replace PS pump (100)
Replace OCVs. (100)
Replace torn side window gasket (65)
Replace 1 lower and the upper motor mounts ($75)
Replaced 1 ignition coil ($30)
The car is at 260k and drives great, uses little to no oil, and looks excellent. With a sum total of $995 in "unexpected" maintenance (parts only) to get to knocking on 300k, I call that awesome. We put about 700 miles on the car last week on a vacation in central Oregon and it was a pleasure to drive and spend hours in each day, never fatiguing or irritating. That is very important to me in a car. As to "oil use," I find it fairly remarkable. I am 4,200 miles into this OCI ( I run the M1 HM 7,500 miles each OCI) and it is down about 5 ozs. That is with a majority of high-speed highway miles, which is the worst for oil consumption. This is since redoing the VCG's, which do start leaking in the rear about every 150k; the back bank is jammed tight against the firewall and runs hot. But with all new seals, a car with 260k on it and still performing by all measures (compression, mileage, oil usage, etc.) within "new" spec. This is rare among vehicles in general and I do not view our car as anything other than a well-maintained example.
One thing to be aware of is that the plugs on these are good for 100 to 120k. They need to be replaced at that point and it is not a simple job. It requires extended life iridium plugs ($50) and an intake manifold set (~$25), but the entire intake system has to come off to get to the back bank. At which point you should do the valve cover gaskets while you are there. Because they will start leaking a year or two later and you will have to repeat 90% of the labor. You will need to do all that work yourself or hire it out. If you hire it out it is not cheap as it is several hours of labor. If you ignore it, you end up with irritating oil leaks and reduced performance/mileage and increased wear on other components.
My opinion on long-term maintenance on these is do the valve cover gaskets, plugs, timing belt (and water pump and upper/lower radiator hoses, etc) all on a 100k schedule at the same time. It syncs up a lot of labor and relatively minor parts costs. At every 200k along with that big service, I would replace the OCVs (because if they have not failed, they will), and replace the BACK bank coils. They are subjected to much more heat and are inaccessible without repeating most of the above labor. The front bank ones I would replace case-by-case as they are right in front of you and fail much less frequently.
Sorry I got verbose, I was bored tonight.
It looks clean, the major maintenance (T.Belt) is done. The headlights are a sad fact on these, particularly southern cars. Our car spent the first 3 years in TX, then the rest in the PNW. Ruined. They can be rehab'd but only with sanding and clear-coating - polishing does little on this particular plastic compound IME. OTOH, the results are very good and improvement in the beam coherence and clarity makes it well worth some elbow grease and time.
You need to do normal maintenance of TB service, radiator drain fills, AT drain/fills, PS drain/fills, quality synthetic oil (I have tried A LOT and our car loves M1 10w-30 HM - awesome oil). Besides that normal maintenance, our car needed nothing out of the usual but between 200k and 240K I had to (prices are parts; I did all the work myself)
Replace rear springs and all struts, ($500)
Replace Alternator (125)
Replace PS pump (100)
Replace OCVs. (100)
Replace torn side window gasket (65)
Replace 1 lower and the upper motor mounts ($75)
Replaced 1 ignition coil ($30)
The car is at 260k and drives great, uses little to no oil, and looks excellent. With a sum total of $995 in "unexpected" maintenance (parts only) to get to knocking on 300k, I call that awesome. We put about 700 miles on the car last week on a vacation in central Oregon and it was a pleasure to drive and spend hours in each day, never fatiguing or irritating. That is very important to me in a car. As to "oil use," I find it fairly remarkable. I am 4,200 miles into this OCI ( I run the M1 HM 7,500 miles each OCI) and it is down about 5 ozs. That is with a majority of high-speed highway miles, which is the worst for oil consumption. This is since redoing the VCG's, which do start leaking in the rear about every 150k; the back bank is jammed tight against the firewall and runs hot. But with all new seals, a car with 260k on it and still performing by all measures (compression, mileage, oil usage, etc.) within "new" spec. This is rare among vehicles in general and I do not view our car as anything other than a well-maintained example.
One thing to be aware of is that the plugs on these are good for 100 to 120k. They need to be replaced at that point and it is not a simple job. It requires extended life iridium plugs ($50) and an intake manifold set (~$25), but the entire intake system has to come off to get to the back bank. At which point you should do the valve cover gaskets while you are there. Because they will start leaking a year or two later and you will have to repeat 90% of the labor. You will need to do all that work yourself or hire it out. If you hire it out it is not cheap as it is several hours of labor. If you ignore it, you end up with irritating oil leaks and reduced performance/mileage and increased wear on other components.
My opinion on long-term maintenance on these is do the valve cover gaskets, plugs, timing belt (and water pump and upper/lower radiator hoses, etc) all on a 100k schedule at the same time. It syncs up a lot of labor and relatively minor parts costs. At every 200k along with that big service, I would replace the OCVs (because if they have not failed, they will), and replace the BACK bank coils. They are subjected to much more heat and are inaccessible without repeating most of the above labor. The front bank ones I would replace case-by-case as they are right in front of you and fail much less frequently.
Sorry I got verbose, I was bored tonight.
Last edited by Oro; 08-09-16 at 09:54 PM.
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08-11-16, 07:41 PM
#8
Lexus Champion
I gave up my ES330 because of the transmission's behavior in stop and go traffic. I too would think that erratic shifting like that could cause the tranny to prematurely fail, but apparently these trannys have held up really well over the years. It might give more stress on the engine and transmission mounts though.
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