I have a 2011 IS250 AWD, and since day 1, it does this strange/annoying behavior during a cold start.

When I drive around with a cold engine and come to a stop (while remaining in drive), the RPMs will settle, then steadily increase (usually >1000RPM). At this time, the car will creep forward and I can feel it shudder a little bit.

My reasoning is that the car is running the RPMs high in order to warm up the engine quicker, but none of the other cars I've driven have done this. I also never noticed this is the loaners I've gotten from the dealer (ES, CT, and RX).

Am I the only one experiencing this? Is this a known issue, or a "feature"?

I've taken it to the dealership before, and got the usual "could not replicate" response.

 

This happens to me, but ONLY in freezing temps and only within the first 5 minutes of driving.

How long have you owed this vehicle?

 

I leased it in December of 2011.

This happens until the needle is maybe 1/4 of the way up.

I'll see if I can get a video of this behavior later tonight.

 

Its normal for this car. See:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...when-cold.html

I have a 2012 IS350 AWD and it does the same thing. When its really cold, as it has been in Ontario lately, the engine will idle at 1500 rpm. You just have to get used to that and ease off the brake gently so you don't surge into the car in front of you.

 

yeah when its really cold out my car does the same thing. i figured this was normal since its idling so high until it warms up. just have to get use to it thats all

 

My 2009 is250 does the same

 

It's normal, 2011 IS350 AWD, same thing. It does this when it's below freezing. If you drive around a bit more you'll also notice that the top gear is limited too (can't get into 5th or 6th, something like that). Not a problem, just by design.

 

Thanks for the link, flavious. When I last searched for this problem, the only thing I found was the cold start rattle.

I feel better knowing that I'm not the only one experiencing this, and it was something that's bothered me for the past 2 years of having this car, so thanks to everyone that chimed in.

 

This has been brought up many times here, but it is 100% NORMAL (based on weather conditions). My car does it as well.

 

my 350 does the same thing. my friend who is a master tech at the local dealership told me this is how it works. If the car is not half way to operating temp it will not shift to 6th., also on the 350 it wont shift to 6th until the car reaches 40mph even if the car is fully warmed up. its kind of annoying when your driving 38mph and the car wont go into high gear, but im told thats how it was designed.

 

Try having a car with a manual choke and a carburetor in cold weather. Your computer controlled fuel injected problems won't seem like much of an issue.

 

normal. got a 350 ... this is the only car that i've owned that takes like 10 hours to warm up compared to the rx, gs, and bmw's i've owned. possibly since it has a drive chain or something i dunno... drove the car in cold temp and at the stop light, it rises higher then slowly drops down to when i first start the car, then down below 1k. i always manage to leave 15-20 minutes early to wherever i go so i can warm up the car first. no more driving it cold. scares me sometimes like, wtf is going on?!?! am i walking today or driving lol

 

isn't ANYONE gonna blame this on carbon build-up?!

 

perfectly normal.. i have a 2008 is250 and it does same thing.. every car does it

 

Happens to me as well. Once the car reaches it's operating temperature it goes back to normal at idling @750-800