I recently purchased a 2004 GS 300 and I found out about e-shift and thought it was cool until I tried to use it. My e-shift won’t change my gears, and when I’m in M mode it is the same as if I’m driving regularly. I also noticed that my steering wheel has the up/down buttons but my speedometer doesn’t have the cut out for the gear selection like I’ve noticed others having. Lexus website says my car does have e-shift. I’m either just stupid or it’s broken, but I do need some help.

 

As far as I remember, the odometer display shows the M-mode and the current gear number.

 

Thats what I thought but I found an image of what the cluster should look like I believe (sorry for the quality).

it shows the gear and m mode in that little section above the odometer. It’s just weird my car has an eshift steering wheel but not the odometer. I even used my vin on the Lexus website and it said it should have eshift. Maybe the old owner did something funky idk.

 

Is your Check Engine light on?
I'm beginning to suspect that the previous owner "fixed" all the problems by removing (or covering with black tape) the Check Engine, VSC, ABS lights from the dash.
This way, you won't see any indication of the actual problems, but the car won't go into manual mode for the automatic transmission. You also won't see any action from the VSC control button.

Remove the instrument cluster and check that all the indicator lights are in place and in good condition.
Another way is to connect an OBD-2 scanner to the diagnostic port and read all the stored errors from the ECU.

 

This is a photo of the instrument cluster of the GS300 / GS400 1998-2000.


I'll check it in a few hours on my car (GS300), on the way home. Will update later.
I know that on mine this mode works properly, and I saw the gear number indication.

 

Okay thank you I checked mine I didn’t take it apart too much it’s 30 degrees outside where I live. But I hope to figure this one out.

no tape maybe just bulbs? And my lights are only on like that bc I don’t have it on completely just enough to turn on battery.

 

I think I see what's going on with your car.
The previous owner swapped the instrument cluster with the one from the previous generation (1998-2000) of the GS.
Take a look on the differences:

That's why you don't have an E-shift display and the Power Mode / VSC indicators don't respond.
Sorry man, that's typical seller's scam. The junkyard dash probably had a quarter of the car's actual mileage or so.
The 1998-2000 GS300 models did not have the E-shift transmission.

 

Well that’s great…. I wish I would’ve researched the car more before buying. Is there anyway to tell the actual mileage besides the odometer?

 

Nope. It's only stored in the instrument cluster memory chip.

 

Dang so there’s really no way for me to know how many miles this thing actually has. I should’ve known something was too good to be true for $1300 lol. Anyways, thank you for all your help.

 

Well, then start by buying the right instrument cluster. There are plenty on eBay. Check your local junkyards, OfferUp, and car-part.com for out-of-state sellers.
And let us know when you get the right cluster installed on your car.

P.S. Don't worry about the mileage of the new cluster, as it doesn't matter anymore.

 

With proper maintenance, this car has endless mileage. Use the money you save to make it right!

 

I’ll look for one definitely. Thank you for the tips and tbh I just had the feeling of just selling it, but you changed my mind. I’m gonna make this car great!!!

 

No, no, don't sell it. It's the best car of the century. No other car maker makes anything like it. And it responds very well to proper maintenance (compared to new cars I've worked on).

 

I won’t be selling it or atleast not soon. I actually found one on eBay for $50.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/29678714640...mis&media=COPY