Interesting. Ordinarily, the car adapts/learns from you. In your case, you adapt/learn from the car!

The RCF has an 8 speed and the LS a 10 speed as you say. Found both to function OK and I drove the cars fairly hard. Drove the 10 speed LC at Laguna Seca and was impressed with both down and up shifts with no manual intervention. Of course, the gears above 5th were not used. Could be the Lagune Seca cars, RCF, GSF and LC had transmissions programmed just for the event.

https://genesisowners.com/genesis-forum/threads/jerky-auto-transmission-hard-downshifts-while-braking.31758/#post-401245

Looks like we're not the only ones with jerky transmissions.

Fiancee has Volkswagen Tiguan with 4 cyl. Turbo, it does the jerk shift with the best of them.

These problems have really been bothering me since I noticed them and I have been following this and other threads about it closely. I have also been in communication with my SA and the dealer about it. We know Lexus IS aware of it and I remain hopeful that they will figure out what’s going on and have a fix for it. My SA and one of the techs at the dealer have told me that they had similar issues with the RX and where about to fix it through software.

On that note, I was at the dealer for my 15k service earlier this week on my 2020 and while I was waiting, I decided to talk to a salesman about trading it in on a V6 GS350 f sport. I spent about an hour negotiating a deal I could live with despite loosing about 15k on my ES. I was excited that I had a way out of this car that had been disappointing me so much for the last 6 months that wouldn’t break my financially. I had even gotten them to throw in tinting and ceramic coating! Now there were only two things left to do. First and foremost, talk to my boss (read wife) and second... go drive it!

I got in that GS and drove for about 20 minutes. The salesman didn’t go with me. It was faster. It did handle way better. Most importantly, the transmission behaved it self. It was great except that as soon as I pulled it out of the parking lot I noticed that the ride quality wasn’t even close to as good as the ES. It’s interior is cramped and the tech is way behind. Its also far louder and not nearly as comfortable as the ES. It was like getting back in my 07 Corolla. All these things were reenforced when I got back in my ES after the service was completed.

I learned a valuable lesson and that is that I prefer comfort and quiet over performance and this experience has given me a new appreciation for my ES. I still remain hopeful that Lexus can work out the issues and if they do, the ES will be the best luxury sedan available for the money.

We can find lots of annoying things about our new ES’s but it is all relative. I enjoy mine more everyday I drive it. As I posted earlier, I have adapted to my temperamental tranny and now mostly enjoy the smooth powerful acceleration. I hate the feel and sound of a screaming 4 cylinder turbo.

The GS is a six speed I believe so of course it will shift better. So did our four speeds from yesteryear.

With you on that - will avoid the 4 cyl turbos as long as I can.

This is why I chose the hybrid. It has plenty of power for my needs - it feels just as strong a previous Avalon that had a six cylinder engine. The CVT transmission is silky smooth, although some people curse it as it is not performance oriented. For anyone that may be reading these discussions as they consider purchasing an ES, I would encourage you to try the hybrid before you decide. Don't automatically discard it from your consideration simply because it doesn't have a six cylinder gas engine. You might be pleasantly surprised. I was.

I think it's perfectly adequate for this type of car and kind of drivers who buy it. The V6 of course is much more push and fun but I was pleasantly surprised at the CVT and how effortlessly the engine kicks in after the battery. Granted I had a turbo 4 with DCT before this, while great for accelerating, it was terrible at low speeds and clunky in traffic, very jerky for a "premium" car.

I just bought an 18' and after 2 weeks had the upgrade to the ECM unit to address shifting issues.. It was a definite improvement I recommend to everyone with this vehicle and some 19's. See the service bulletin or just tell lexus and they'll check your car to see if you already have it

Which service bulletin would that be? My dealer tells me there’s no fix or update. Does it also apply to the 2020?

A 2018 ES has a 6-speed transmission. 2019 and > has an 8-speed transmission. As of yet there is no ECM update for the 8-speed transmission. I had my dealer keep my car for over a week gathering data to send back to Lexus corporate. If others do this they'll have more data points so hopefully we can get a future fix.

Yeah I knew the ‘18 was a different power train. I just got my hopes up for a second.

Does "Eco" mode alter any cabin and drive experience, besides MPG and air conditioning? Does putting in "eco" mode change quietness ? Will it increase the quietness or decrease it?