There is no answer to this because the ES350 has only been in production for a little over a year. However, anytime a transmission is slipping, it can't be good for it.

I don't believe there have been any forum members where their trannys actually failed due to the flare.

As to your Dad, he is one of many people who own a ES350 who would not know if the tranny is flaring or not. My theory is that the problem is worse than reported because of owners like your dad.

 

Heres a quick story for you guys with trans problems:

A friends of mines Maxima was having trans problems, thing is he owns a shop, they went to rental place and rented a Maxima for a day, they took the rental right back to the shop and swapped the trannys (bottle of brake fluid in the broken trans so the rental guys wouldnt know right away) Thing is this is hawaii, tourist city so as soon as cars go back to the rental place they go right back out.

NOW i dont recommend you do this with a loaner, just thought i'd share

 

WOW! Well, that would work if the loaners did not flare either. The 5 I have driven within the past year all flared one time or another during my 24 to 48 hour period I had them.

 

So, do you let this friend work on your car? I wouldn't want a mechanic who is willing to steal a transmission working on mine....

 

i just bought a 07 es 350 for my wife on tuesday,what is this flare?what does it feel like?what does it do?thanks

 

WOW, that is a loaded question. It is a slip of the transmission, usually between 3rd and 4th gear during the first 5 minutes of operation on a cold start. There are also minor slips between 2nd and 3rd. The RPMs will spike anywhere between 200 and 1500 during the flare.

My suggestion is to do a search on this forum on transmission flares and read the many forums on this topic.

Enjoy the car and I hope your tranny is a good one!

 

thanks it's the wife's car,she probably will never notice it,thanks for the info

 

thats the exact same issue with my dad. I know the flare is there, has happened to me once and duplicated it twice but my dad is still in denial. Maybe its never happened to him. Obviously him being old, his driving style is less aggresive and even if the flare occurs its such a tiny RPM surge that he doesnt notice it.

 

There are some people on this forum who think the tranny issue only pertains to a few units and it is not widespread. Myself, as well as others, have stated that there are many owners who don't know what a flare is or wouldn't even notice it. Both of your comments helped strengthen our theory.

I hope Lexus is reading. The problem is worse than thought, there are plenty owners out there that are living with a tranny that slips and don't even know it. Therefore, it goes unreported.

Thanks for your comments!

 

MD350, does your transmission still flare?

 

Yes, between 2nd and 3rd. I am not having the flash TSIB completed until I see some successful results from other owners on the forum. Until then, I just live with it. When the warranty ends just before 50K miles, I will get rid of this car.

 

Same here too.. hesitating to apply any TSIB until there is a confirmed fix. . I thought powertrain warranty is 70k miles though.

 

It is, but resale will be better under 50K miles. With highline units, they bring in much more money (and desire) under 50K miles. So, I'll dump it then.

 

Echos of the past.

This forum has been less a refuge for ES 350 detractors in recent times. Please remember that some of us have 350's that work and we are sufficently in touch with our senses that we can recognize a surge, flare or other malfunction of our transmissions.

 

My ES350 was purchased new 7/06 and the tranny was replaced due to flare in 4/07 with 9K miles on it. The flare was there from day one but because it only manifests itself during first drive of the day it didn't seem to be a big issue. I mentioned it during second service. The replacement tranny had the same issue and then they tweaked the TCM (after taking it back twice to have them confirm it was flaring again). Seems to be OK now except that the RPMs appear to be set higher (resulting in reduced mileage). Currently in the process of requesting a buyback. Also a loaner ES350 I had had flare too and when I told the service consultant he indicated that it wasn't a surprise to them.

For those of you who don't know the transaxle assembly for the ES350 is the same as that for the Camry V6 (LE) and it is also known to have flare issues. Not sure but it may also be the same as used in the Toyota Avalon (I had a 99 Toyota Avalon Platinum Edition before buying the loaded 07 Lexus ES350 - silver with black leather interior).