Well guys IS500 is supposed to be a perfect car considering that many models came before it like the original IS F, discontinued GS F and currently in production RC F and the technology of that transmission can be traded back to early to mid 2000s - i thought I was buying a gem - it is far from it. When I bought my car I noticed that the transmission hangs while shifting down say coming to a stop light and the it kind of slams into 1st gear. Well I thought it is a new car and it might need a bit of time to work itself out. The condition I am describing was only happening when the car was cold but once the engine and transmission are up to operating temperature the issue goes away. I thought ok - I will bring it to the dealer attention in Arlington Heights IL where I bought the car at around 2k and oil change. The dealer pretty much confirmed that issue the next day and said it is not right but could not resolve it on their own. They told me they located another is500 which did not exhibit the same behavior and reach out to Lexus tech support. To make the story short they had the car for about 1 mo and 1 week while I was driving their loaner car which was es250 but did have a 8- speed transmission which had none of the issues my car has. They did all kind of different test and Lexus authorized them to replace the transmission which they did. However that did not resolve the issue and perhaps it shifts a bit worse than the original in normal operations. Anyways the field tech allegedly drove my car and said the transmission works as expected while the dealer wrote that it was not. The dealer had no choice but to release unfixed car back to me after all of that time. As I said I reach out to Lexus customer service and they assigned a lady to my case by name “karma” and she said she will research it to see what further can be done. Well needless to say she took about 3 more weeks to tell me what I already knew - what a waist of time and every time I call her she was unavailable. Today I received a call who probably was her supervisor and he told me I am on my own. You guy tell me if you think I am wrong here. I said given this is an old technology it is inexcusable that the transmission shift that poorly while it is cold which could do damage long term. Second as I said the transmission after being replaced Eco it’s exactly the same behavior - why did Lexus authorized replacing it and later said it works as expected. I would prefer to have the original transmission the car came with from the factory. It is almost as if car gets in a accident and they replace everything with factory parts. Is it the same? Finally I said the transmission did not need to be replaced with we go with their latest conclusion and the field tech that made that bad decision made another one calling it all good! I asked for a second opinion and they basically politely told me to **** off. They did not provide any explanations at all. As I said Lexus does not care about their customers or their products anymore. It is a lost cause in my humble opinion and I might take my business somewhere else. Please let me know what you think.

 

- It is not a perfect car, nobody has ever said that.
- Just because the transmission is several years old doesn't mean all the issues are worked out and it's smooth. Intuitively, it should be quite the opposite, and it is.
- Lack of smoothness does not = faulty. The transmission may be jerky but it's still built to last.
- Everyone already knows about the transmission; car reviewers and owners alike. Your IS500 was normal, but your own neuroticism made you overreact and get the transmission replaced. Now you regret it. 100% all your fault.

 

Holy wall of text, man. The transmission does get better with time, in (large) part because you learn how to use it. In normal mode, yes, it can be a bit hard shifting. It's better in manual mode. I'm sure it's intentional. This isn't meant to be a smooth as butter cruiser. A bit of oomph on a shift can be fun.

 

Also the IS500 does not use the same transmission as the ES250 loaner you had. The IS500 uses the AA80E which is the "8 Speed Sport Direct Shift transmission w/lockup torque converter." I don't know the number for the ES250. It's not as easily found in literature, probably because not as many people care. Maybe Tony will find it. He's good as that stuff. (Tipsy, not DLP.)

FWIW, however, ES's also have jerky transmissions. https://www.clublexus.com/forums/es-...our-es350.html

 

I'm about 5-6k miles in and I used to think it was Jerky in Normal(auto) and Sport+(auto). But I must have got used to the throttle. Now it feels pretty smooth in all modes other than sport+ which is probably by design. I do however let my car warm up to the point where it drops to about 800-900ish RPM in Park from a cold start before driving it at anytime.

There is no such thing as a perfect car. I loved my BMW 328i, but to say it was the "ultimate driving machine" cmoooon now. Every reviewer pretty much nailed it with their reviews before the car even came out. SG stated you'd have to have screws loose to buy a car that feels "this old and dated". Even knowing this I purchased it. I'm loving it. Seriously, give it about 5k miles to get used to how to drive it and it becomes an incredibly smooth and comfortable daily drive.

 

You know me all too well. Yes the IS500 uses the AA80E while the ES250 uses the UB80F. Both are 8 speeds but both are very different. A quick google image search will show that. I would also like to add that I have an IS350 which has a third transmission variant: AA81E; that vehicle also suffers from the same "problem" you are referring to. When the trans is cold it's jerky. When it warms up it is much smoother. It is also worth noting that when your engine may be warm, your transmission may still not be warm. In my 10 mile commute, it isnt until around mile 7 or 8 that it starts getting smooth. However the engine is already at operating temp 2 miles in. It is just one of the quirks of the car that you need to learn to live with. Just how our gear shifters do a click a couple of seconds after we put them in park. Regarding your transmission being more jerky after replacement, the general consensus on the forum is that they are very sensitive to being over or underfilled. I am inclined to believe that your dealer may not have filled it properly. When doing a transmission oil change, TIS states that you must warm up the transmission to a certain temperature before you can do the oil change. Given that this was either a new or rebuilt transmission, your dealer had to fill it prior to being able to run it at all, thereby meaning that they couldn't have done the procedure with the trans at the proper operating temp. What you could try to do is ask them to flush it once more, this time getting the transmission to the proper temperature.

 

LOL.

http://www.bytemods.com/cms/images/s...-epic-fail.jpg

 

Well - thanks for letting me have it! You might be missing my point however and let me put it to you this way. I actually acted like a very rational person. Keep in mind this is the first Lexus for me personally but I did have experience with a lot of them and was always amazed how smooth they were - sure you can say I had high expectations but can you blame me for it. I did notice this issue right after I took delivery but did I go back to the dealer - no, I did not! I figured it is a new car and needs some break-in period but once I had 2k on the clock I took it to the dealer for an oil change and reported an issue. What is irrational about that? Now they had my car for over a month doing all kind of different tests. I actually thought the transmission was good and was low on fluid because once it warmed up it was doing a great job. There is no way for a user to check that level. Anyways the Lexus field tech authorized replacing it and I already said I would have preferred that it never happened! Then my dealer confirmed that the issue is still there but that same Lexus tech drove my car and said it is behaving as it should. It is the same or maybe a bit worse then before! The question is why did you authorized replacing it if it was performing as expected? The second point is it is not a DSG and my expectations should have been very different since I know they are not the smoothest but you do get lightening fast shifts. What is the point of a torque converter slash box that exhibits that kind of behavior? They had at least 15 years ti address that!!!

 

You can Lemon Law it, or sell it, and move on with life. It sucks that you are disappointed with the car. In the future you might want to do a test drive before buying a vehicle to see if any of these issues pop up. Buying a car without ever driving it, especially with several issues well documented on these forums, is a pretty terrible idea.

 

I agree with you however driving this car before buying it was never an option - I ordered it and patiently waited for about 4 months. I actually agree with all of you my expectations were high but at least justifiably so. I don’t regret buying the car - I regret the experience I have had so far!

 

I was in contact with the dealer 8 months ahead of time and I still test drove the car before signing any paperwork It is always an option.

One thing that might make you feel better is getting through the break in period and clicking off a few shifts at 7300 RPM, that always puts a smile on my face Then the clunky low speed behavior isn't as much of a problem anymore. I think this transmission is more on the side of strength and speed than refinement like the ES. The 1-2 shift is so fast it has made the *** end of the car wiggle several times from losing traction. Plus it will still shift into 3rd or 4th gear while holding redline if you're late on a shift. My previous cars would cut power if you hit redline, then shift, then let the power come back in. The C7 took like 3-4 seconds to shift if you missed one. This car is like "F it, send it!" and bounces off the Rev limiter while banging into the next gear

Go have some fun with it! And if you still don't like it then sell it. The market is still good enough that you won't lose much money, assuming you didn't pay a massive mark up.

 

I think the OP is more concerned about the transmission at low speeds like coming to a stop, as that's where it's most noticeable and annoying. How many times do you really reach 7300 RPM, even 6500? If it's frequently you're being pretty rough on your car. I can probably count the times I've hit redline on 2 hands still, ok maybe 4.

As for the lack of ability to test drive, I agree with the OP. They wouldn't let anyone test drive it without any serious skin in the game. You test drove the car before signing paperwork but by that time you were still heavily invested such as had your credit pulled etc (I'm guessing) - and you've already decided to buy the car. The only exception for me was the time I was at one dealership arguing against the markups and was about to walk away....I was offered to test drive the car....in the parking lot. What a joke.

 

I hit 6500 or higher almost every time I drive the car. It's good for the engine to be taken through its rev range.

I agree with you that test driving is unrealistic.

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I understand what he's talking about, I've complained about the same thing. I don't know if my car sees 7k RPM every day, but I'm not going to be afraid to do it. The whole point was to have fun with the car instead of dwelling on the imperfections. You don't always have to nitpick and be Mr. Serious about the small details and completely miss the main point, ruining even more threads.

As for test driving, a credit check doesn't mean you're buying the car nor does it mean you're heavily invested. You literally risked a couole points on your credit score, that is not heavily invested at all. You can "undecide" to buy a car just as fast as you decided to do it. If there is a deal breaker, walk away. Keep emotion out of it and it is pretty simple. I still hold that it is a terrible idea to buy a car without driving it first.

 

I appreciate all of your feedback as I have learned so much more from you guys that I did from my own dealer and Lexus. As I said AA80E (Aisin TL-80SN) became the world's first eight-speed automatic transmission and I drove a variant of it - that was I think a 2007 Lexus LS460 and it was butter-smooth. Why would I have expected a 2022 Lexus with basically the same transmission ti behave any differently? I wish the dealer or Lexus adjusted my expectations but they did not and replacing the transmission was their mistake -not mine as I never even asked for it. At this point I will just enjoy the car for what it is but I hope you see my point!