Push Button Start Taking Second Attempt?
 

Several times now my push button start has needed a second attempt.

The first time or two I dismissed it as maybe I didn't have my foot on brake properly, but this morning I knew I did and it first time did not respond but second time it did and when I got home I turned it off and started it again no problem. First time it didn't turn anything on in the car either as otherwise happens when you don't have your foot on the brake.

Anyone else notice this happening at times as it may be no big deal?

I had no trouble unlocking the car, just took second attempt to get the push button start to work.

A bit off topic but isn't this about the zillionth problem/issue you've had with your car?

Maybe it's time to take a good hard look at your state's Lemon Laws.

Good luck!

Well, if it is a problem, rather than just something inherent that happens once in a while and with many other owners too, then it would be yet another oddity with my vehicle.

I do seem to have more than my share of problems for a brand new car, but as well, many others also have multiple problems with their car too.

This push button start item may be something that occassionally does happen and might mean nothing.

As for Lemon Law, if Lexus denies a problem exists, which they have on other issues, I would think that makes using that law harder to do.

Thanks for the good luck wish though.

Are you getting a green light when you push the button and it fails?

Good question MD, I'll be sure and watch for light on push button and let you know if this happens when button is green.

The only light I notice when this happens is on key FOB as before entering from a distance I hit unlock and that has never caused me more than one attempt and it confirms by flashing the red indicator it has unlocked the car.

I did just now notice that when you press the break before start it is not spongy at all, in fact VERY firm, but when it does start it gets real spongy with your foot heading to floor of vehicle while pressing on break as it starts.

ES350Bob, how about the power, heated/ventilated seats, are those working? That's about all that's left on your car. There's gotta be something that you can do about that thing. Contact an attorney, or something, even if it costs you some $$'s out of pocket. Life's too short.

Lex...there is plenty that works great, like power steering as far as ease of it anyway, AC, radio, seats seem just fine, entry seems fine, no clear coat peeling.

The AC is kick rear good better than MB AC and now that I think of it even the power steering is more responsive than MB.

I'm waiting for some info back from Lexus on this supposedly fine transmission.

But as I said the other day, I am going to take my time to be sure whatever course of action I take, is a complete and final solution.

The only serious issues I have are the engine and transmission with the balance I finally put under nuisance category. I now do not view in the same way as engine and transmission the wind noise, the steering, the wipers rocking it.

I am shocked that the valve problem diagnosis was taken back buy a Lexus official who sat in my back seat passenger side, never lifted the hood, and wore a hearing aid and claimed he had not heard anything abnormal coming from the engine during test drive with me, shop foreman in front of car, so that might not be the last of that as far as me stuck, but time will tell. As above, waiting for some info on this transmission too.

Please note under the poll of what problems.... that Riley also had this very same thing happen to him much faster than I did, he had his valves diagnosed as a problem for his engine noise too and then later, poof, abracadabra, taken back and pronounced normal too no doubt after dealer tech sought expense approval from Lexus to repair his car, only same day for him, weeks apart for me.

Engine noise
 

On my third visit to the dealership concerning engine noise, I asked to see the salesman who sold me the car instead of someone from the service department.
I asked him if I could drive another ES to determine if the noise I was complaining about was just normal to the car as the service rep stated. I described the noise I was hearing and told him that the engine noise is very noticeable when the air conditioner and radio are turned off. I did not hear the noise in the car he gave me to test drive.
To my embarrassment my salesman homed in on the problem. One item I didn't turn off was the air cooled seats. It was the sound from the fan for the air cooled seats and not engine noise that I was hearing. Have others possibly mistook this fan noise as noise coming from the engine? Check it out Bob!

Mine is for certain not anything to do with the seats but good to mention in case others have that noise you were experiencing.

Back to the original topic; I had a couple of days maybe a month ago where I had to press the start button twice. This happened three times in two days. I haven't had that problem before or since. So I chalk it up to just a random hickup - perhaps a bad tank of gas or an ill-tempered gremlin passing by.

Thank you dreyfus!

The first couple of times I was like what the heck, maybe thinking it was me, today though I knew I had my foot set right on the brake and it did it.

Maybe it's my turn for the gremlin for a few days as this just started last week. I'm hoping it pans out to be no big deal and vanishes like yours.

I appeciate you letting me know and that yours left nearly as quick as appearing.

I posted about my push button start failure a few weeks ago. When mine failed there was no warning. It had never hesitated before and had never taken 2 attempts to start before the complete failure. Nothing else (from the key fob) worked either- door locks, door unlock, trunk open. It was actually more than the starter that had failed.
I usually unlock my doors just by approaching with the key in my purse or my pocket- you don't need to press the unlock button on the key fob. (I'm sure that you already knew that.)
My car has been fine since the repairs- I have had it back 2 weeks now.
Good luck with your repairs. We all have great sympathy for you. It's exciting to have a new car and frustrating when everything does not work correctly.

Could there be something wrong with the brake switch? Mine has worked flawlessly except for the times I pushed the button before I stepped on the brake. I kind of do it simultaneously so, in my case, when if fails, it is usually due to pushing the brake pedal just slightly after pushing the button.

Sorry to hear you are having so many problems with your car. Mine was built in 4/06 and has had few of the issues you mentioned. I have a creak or two over speed bumps in the dash. I had some valve noise on cold starts around 1200 - 1500 mi. but that has gone away. I had a loose connection on the radio head unit that took 4 trips to the dealer and about a month to correct (they even disconnected the GPS at one point and told me that it was not repairable under warranty -- dofus-es). My tranny is fine and I shift in S mode while on the streets and D only when on the highway. I do not have a wind noise problem. My wipers never hit the hood and don't rock the car. The butt cooler works really well on hot days - the AC is really cold. I get an aggregate MPG of 26 with premium and I have 4800 mi since May 22. Funny that mine pulls slightly to the right too and I have never hit a curb or bumper in the parking lot.

Wow....all your issues with your ES is beginning the scare me. So far nothing wrong with my husband's ES (still cross my fingers).

There are numerous time when he forgets to press the brake pedal while pressing the start button....took time getting used to...and eventually got the hang of it. But never had to press twice. Good luck!

Push button
 

The other possibility is that the remote is RF, so anything that might cause interference with it in your pocket like a cell phone could keep it from working. A BlackBerry transmitting data might cause an (EMI) electro magnetic interference problem also. Our batteries shouldn't be low yet, but eventually that will start causing some intermittent problems.