I see lots of post for this issue. My wife has a 2007 Ultra luxury package with 51K on it. We bought it as a CPO and purchased an extended warranty. Good thing we have. I don't drive it much but when I have I've notice the transmission slips between 3rd and 4rth, I've seen "flares" posted but mine has not kicked forward but appears to slip when it's cold. I took it to the dealer who, "like everyone else" stated they could not duplicate the problem. I told them to keep it and I would go with them on a test drive in the morning. With the service manager in the car we started the car drove immediately and yes the transmission slipped. The dealer then reprogrammed and replaced the start button where they said this was linked to the problem. This worked for a little while, and then it started again. I again took it to another dealer and told them I wanted another opinion. The exact same thing happened, where I told them to keep it and try again in the morning. This time I get a call from the service manager at 5 pm, stating they got approval from Toyota to replace the transmission. It appears they spent all day completing paper work or calling Toyota to get approval to replace it. It is in the shop right now and the transmission is suppose to be in Monday 7 Dec, I'm told the problem has been corrected in the new transmission I'm getting We'll see. Does anyone have knocking in the engine? I have what sounds like loose valves when I start it, I’m told it's a defect in the design and it's "piston slap" and causes no issues. There is no design where metal to metal contact is designed. I expect I'll be fighting this issue soon.

 

Good luck on the lifter noise. To my knowledge, you will be the first to get something done about it if they fix it.

 

Yeah, good luck on the cold engine 'noise'. I'm an original '07 owner and have not heard of a single case where that has been addressed by anything other than...its normal. I also know some have it and some don't. Guess I was lucky there 'cause mine doesn't. Did have the tranny flare. Got the reflash and that corrected it...beautifully.

I assume the 'reprogrammed' you mentioned was the same thing. Interesting how that works on some, but not others. Good that Lexus is stepping up to the plate with a new tranny.

 

Lifter noise is normal on hydrolic lifters (assuming these cars have them as most overhead cam cars do). The lifters have to pump up to get solid and in the meantime they will tick. Use the recommended weight oil don't go thicker. I also had noticed that when I used mobil one in my other cars I got more lifter tick. Sometimes the lifter orfaces were in the oil galleys get dirty and it takes longer to pump the lifters up. Most guys I know would either take the noisy lifter out and clean it or replace it.