I have an 06 IS AWD, which of course (unfortunately) has an automatic transmission.

I have had the car since June and I have put almost 6K miles on it.

This morning was probably the coldest morning here in Chicago since I got the car, 31 degrees F, according to the car.

After getting up to speed on the Kennedy (it was 5:30am, so there was light traffic) The car would not shift into 6th gear. I tried the 'manual shift' gate and it would not go into 6th gear. So I am travelling at 70MPH with the car in 5th and the engine spinning 2500+ RPMs just waiting for it to go into 6th. Finally, about a mile down the road, it shifted into 6th by itself. For the rest of my 17 mile commute, no problems. Just drove to lunch, same thing no problem.

I am wondering if this is just the way these cars operate when cold, or if there may be a problem with this car. I know from experience that Audis and BMWs with automatic transmissions shift at higher RPMs when the engine is cold to force them to warm up quicker. I have not really experienced this with the IS.

My first Japanese car ever. I bought it because I was tired of dealing with unrelaible German car problems. I hope bad car luck is not following me.

Thanks for any input offered
Mike

 

Mike,

I lived in Chicago for about 4 years and I remeber those cold days.

My RX300, also an AWD, has a similar feeling. It won't shift into second until it it is sufficiently warmed up. This is also partly an emissions reason (to get the cat warmed up sufficiently).

When I go to the track, I have to let it warm up for at least 3, usually 4 minutes so I don't have a pathetic run.

 

I have an 06AWD as well... I live in New England where it's also fairly cold this time of year, and this same thing happens to me all the time when I don't let the car warm up enough before taking off for work in the morning. Just take it easy with the car until it's warm.

 

I dont know about the IS250 AWD, but I cant image it being different than my IS350. My car does the same thing when I first start it, but after the engine oil gets to where it needs to be, then it will shift through all the gears. Just try not to push it too hard the first couple of minutes driving, then you should be ok.

 

I too just noticed this recently. On mine it stays in 5th gear until the temp goes up by about quarter. So I take it easy for the first few miles then it just kicks in to 6th.