I've had my 2002 GS300 for about 1 year and am approaching 15,000 miles.
Overall my impression has been lukewarm due in large part to what I consider a very poorly designed transmission. I guess I thought I was buying more of a sports sedan rather than the highway cruiser it's turned out to be.

Here are my complaints-
E-shift is very poorly designed compared to other auto manufacturers manual shift automatics. It has no provision for 1st gear and reverts to an automatic if you don't remember to downshift.

Upshifts so quickly you can't let your foot off the gas for a second or you'll end up several gears higher than what you want.

When pushed hard the transmission will either jerk or slip depending on it's whim.

I've taken the car to the dealer several times with complaints and each time they say it's "within specs". The last two times they've reset the ECU which as we all know is a temporary patch, not a fix.

To get to my point, has anyone else been dissapointed with the GS transmission?

I'm ready to get rid of this car. That's too bad because with a better transmission the car could be very good.

I'm sure an upgraded control module would probably fix it. Does anyone know of anyone currently offering such a beast?

Thanks for letting me vent..

Tad
Alabama

 

tadslc:

I have to agree with you.. I almost had my GS for a year and 15k miles is around the corner. Guys dont get me wrong, the GS is a great car and it looks da best for sports sedan.. BUt the tranny is poorly made for it. My car at 11k miles had a oil leak from the tranny, burned clutch.. Had to get the whole tranny assembly, clutch and differential replace by the dealer. =( i want to sell my car, and get something with a better tranny, unfortunately i can't because i havent paid it off yet.

tommy =(

 

Well I totally disagree there. What other manual shift auto do you prefer!? I don't know of any that have steering wheel buttons except high end cars like M3 SMG or 360 F1 (neither really like an auto).

When I'm in M-2 or any gear for that matter, even 'D', my car STAYS in first when I tromp on it until I ease off or rpms get real high and it shifts to second. I find no disadvantage that I can't force it to only have 1st available.

Er, huh? If you're in M5 you WANT it to be like 'D' right? If you don't downshift, then you're not doing it manually, is it supposed to read your mind?

Again only if you're not actually using e-shift and keep it in a higher setting than you really want.

Tad - I think ya need to get together with Brendanlim in Alabama, or come on over to see us guys in GA and we'll see if it's your car, or er, 'something else'.

I love the transmission and the e-shift has become one of the best features of the car for me.

Maybe the tranny works better with the V8 than the I6.

 

As much as I like my GS4, I do rate the control of the transmission to be its weakest point. I do like the e-shift and use it almost exclusively.

I don’t like the fact that I can’t got to 1st when e-shifting. And the gate shifting – pretty sorry gear arrangement and not at all smooth and precise – and to make matters worse, gate shifting from 3rd gets you 5th unless you’ve got it floored. If I’m gonna gate-shift, I want to select my gear and it stays there (like 4th). It doesn’t work badly if you floor it – but if you get on it – maybe 2/3 – ¾ throttle, but don’t floor it, it probably won’t do what I want.

Like I said, the car’s weakest point IMO.

 

I agree that the transmissions "behavior" could certainly be made better from the factory. I have found that most of the things that bugged me can be gotten around by adjusting my technique. For example, garnet92 mentioned going from 3rd to fifth when gate shifting. By tapping the down e-shift button as you leave third, you can cause the e-shift to hold the gear in 4th when the lever reaches the M position.

 

* 34K miles, no tranmission problem, smooth shift, very strong 3rd gear.

* Tranmission shift buttons are nice, but honda prelude or acura TL shift behavior is 10 times better, a lot closer to a real manual
(ie auto downshift to 1st or to a lower gear at trafic light or when engine rpm drop below certain level, will NOT up shift unless your push the button)

* Don't care about whether you can shift to 1st or not, don't want to change my tire too often due to exessive peel off

*Transmission shift sequence (in Auto) is not aggressive (even in PWR mode) CLK430 and CLK55 have a LOT more responsive transmission. (use eshift to compensate this problem)

else, TC and LSD should fix this hee hee hee.

Lexus GS3: I wonder if you are unlucky or your driving style is different from everyone.

 

I think the transmission is fair i suppose. i know i could add a tc and a lsd and i would not ever complain one bit...matter of fact thats what i am gonna do. also is the valve body work that rmm works on good, bad or ugly?

 

bitkahuna wanted to know what car has a better automatic.

Any car with the Porsche designed Tiptronic transmission for a start. This transmission is so far superior to what is in the GS300 that Lexus should be ashamed. For anyone that doesn't agree, just go test drive an Audi A6 3.0 and judge for yourself.

And bitkahuna's comment about just leaving your foot on the floor and it won't shift out of first, other than the drag strip where you have that luxury, I've found in real world driving that on more than one ocassion I've had to slightly lift and then continue acceleration only to now be in 2nd gear.

Self denial is no way to approach your GS ownership. The GS is a wonderful car, it's just that the transmission leaves a lot to be desired.

BTW- I've raced SCCA G and F Production for 10 years. My previous car was a Porsche 911 and I restore Alfa Romeo Giuliettas for fun.

 

Or perhaps others really do like the transmission... opinions do vary.

 

Fine. Trade in your GS, get an Audi, and have a nice day.

 

When are people gonna realize how Lexus goes at things, remember what the guy said, at the end of the day Lexus is still LUXURY-PERFORMANCE, not the other way around, can those other cars transmissions shift as smooth as the Lexus transmission, NO so then case closed, IM not always hotrodding my GS and when IM just driving casually it has such a perfect shift that u can barely feel it if anything, most people in my car can barely feel when the car shifts, another thing though does the LS430 have the exact same transmission as our cars or is it different? thanks

ShOwGS

 

I love how my GS shifts, I love how smooth it is, most the time I cannot even tell when it shifts during normal driving.

I agree with ShowGSLuVv, in my eyes it is still a LUX car that is sporty. Don't like it, go get a BMW or that Audi.

 

I completely agree guys!!!

So much whining on here...

 

Well, I agree with the basic message and with garnet92. The transmission is the weakest point -- when I'm zipping around corners it's a real pain in the **** to have the tranny downshift -- it prevents me from applying power through or out of the corners.

Guess that makes me a whiner, eh?

 

the only complaint I have is the damn auto learn.
There has to be a way to dissable this.
I would like to always have it in most sporty mode.
It takes to darn long for it to learn too.