Boris2010

I have problem with new RX350 2010 with transmission delay 3-4 seconds to down-shift while accelerating from 40 - 60 mph. In the same time RPM jumps 2000-3000 alaway up 5000. The issue becomes even more severe if I have to lower speed in the traffic from 50 to 30 and then try to accelerate - car does not move at all! This is my third RX and fifth Lexus all together and I've never had such a problem before. Not to mention American cars like Bonneville...Any suggestions?

Joeb427

iTrader: (1)

The RPM surging sounds similar to a problem Camry V6's and ES 350's were have in the '07-'08 model year.

sightdev

"3-4 seconds" is really long time for transmission to "react" to changes. electronic transmissions do have slight lag time and we all experience this at certain condition during down/upshift. My RX is first vehicle to be more noticible than all others I have owned in the past. if it is really 3-4 second delay, you would want to take the RX in ASAP as that is a serious hazard.

RVH

I notice the lag when I coast into an intersection and then have to accelerate out of it, sometimes there is a momentary lag (but nowhere near 3-4 seconds). I was thinking of asking them to check it at my 5k check in a few weeks.

This is my third RX, the first two had to have the transmission replaced at about 30k. The transmission is the one major flaw in the RX line.

Best transmission ever? My 1993 LS 400 which still is the fastest, smoothest, best shifting car I've every owned or driven. Why couldn't they put that transmission in the RX?

sightdev

except in 90's on certain models, it is rare I hear/heard of transmission failure on Toyo/Lexus vehicles. you must of had strings of bad lucks.

GrandSedanFan

iTrader: (1)

I don't like the way the trans hunts for gears either. What you're experiencing is the truck kicking down multiple gears and winding up the torque converter to smoothly engage those gears at the same time. Part of the problem with a 6-spd automatic. The 5-spd auto in the 07 RX350 I had before this was nearly as smooth and throttle input didn't confuse it nearly as much.

Ichthys

I was searching for TSB's or other 2010 RX owners with this trouble. When accelerating, it downshifts and speeds up nicely, but then stays stuck in the low gear. The RPM's remain high, it won't shift into the next gear right away. It won't shift then coast away when the throttle is let up. Anybody else having this problem? Anybody have anything done about it?

Joeb427

iTrader: (1)

I've had that happen once a week or so ago while slowing almost to a stop and hitting the gas while making a right turn.I remember it being a cold morning and I don't think the trans/engine was not warmed up.Hasn't happened since and mornings have be colder.

rbh1515

I have not been on this forum for quite some time, but my wife's 2010 RX350 has been in the dealer for a week for a transmission issue that has been going on for a while. The above description is I think what we are experiencing. Usually it happens in a residential area when you are coming up to an intersection--you slow down and as you finish the turn you slowly accelerate. Instead of the car accelerating though, it feels like the transmission slips, the engine revs up and then the transmission goes into gear and the car surges forward. When we first got the car new, I had my wife bring it in to get it checked out, and they could not reproduce the problem and told her that it was normal, and probably just the transmission "learning her driving patterns." Didn't make sense to me!?!? The problem is intermittent though, and started up again about a week ago. This time the dealership took it out with my wife and it did it 3 times. The car has been at the dealership for 1 week and they said there is definately a problem, but that Lexus is researching it, and trying to figure out what it is. Has anybody has this issue fixed?
This is our third RX. The first was the 400h--the hybrid system broke after 3 months and had to be replaced. It must have been a lemon because we could never get decent mileage out of it and we traded it in for a RX350, which was a great car (only annoyance was that it had the piston slap noise), but it was in an accident and was totalled.
Rob

outbid81

A friend of mine had a simiar situation with his RX. After checking everything over they cleared the transmissions memory and so far it's been a-okay.

happy1977

Hmm...never noticed anything like these on ours and I drive from home to work with 18 stops one way for the last 3 months, just gobbles my gas though.

mark4009

I write this comment with mixed feelings. I have owned four Lexus vehicles over the past quarter-century, including one of the first LS400's to arrive in this country. I currently own an ES350 (2009) which has been problem-free. However, earlier this year I purchased an LX350 (2012) and, for the first time, am questioning my allegiance.

Shortly after taking delivery of the car I began to notice on an intermittent basis a 2-3 second pause when I attempted to accelerate from a low speed to a higher one. After focusing on the circumstances in which it arose, I realized that it occurred most often on city streets, when I was attempting to accelerate out of a turn, to drive up a residential hill, or simply to move away from a light.

After attempting a left turn from a stopped position, putting pressure on the accelerator, and experiencing a delay in acceleration that nearly caused me to be broadsided, I took the car to the dealer, the first of what turned out to be several visits. Because they were unable to reproduce the problem they told me, in essence, that there was no problem. In the course of these visits they also said that (1) a delay was "normal" for the transmission in the 350RX and (2) that I should use only premium fuel.

As I experienced additional, sometimes dangerous manifestations of the problem, I returned to the dealer and left the car for several days, during which they drove it with test equipment attached. (as the mechanical among you have by now discerned, I am not a technical kind of guy). When I returned to pick it up, they told me they had still been unable to reproduce the hesitation problem.

I resigned myself to having a car with a defect to which I'd have to adapt. In the last week or two, however, my wife and I had independent additional incidents that have raised serious questions as to whether we should simply sell the car and write it off as a bad experience..

I've done some research in the last few days that makes it clear this problem, or its first cousin, existed in the "Generation Two" 350RX (and other model) transmissions. Through the Forum I've also found evidence that the problem persists in the "Generation Three" transmission. In addition to what's been said here, the Version Two update of the Lexus "Hesitation on Acceleration" Technical Service Bulletin (L-SB-0033-08 Rev 2) states that "Applicability has been updated to include 2009-2012 LS 460 and 2008-2012 LS 600h vehicles." The update is dated July 18, 2012. I've also found YouTube clips that reproduce the problem in another Lexus vehicle.

I'm going to bring the vehicle to another dealer in the coming week, although I'm obviously very frustrated by the fact that Lexus, having seen this very problem in countless vehicles over the years, is treating its manifestation in my vehicle as if it were a strange, if not miraculous coincidence.To suggest that it is pure chance that I have experienced symptoms that hundreds or thousands of other Lexus customers have experienced with other models of their vehicles over the past five years is simply absurd. They are well aware of how the problem looks and feels. They know that their customers have no incentive to report the problem if they are not experiencing it. By insisting that they see and feel the problem in one car--my car--I can only infer that they are are simply buying time until they can determine whether there are enough unhappy customers to warrant their attention.

Lexus is better than this. In my experience they have never turned their back on a legitimate complaint. With respect to this problem, however, I'm feeling that they have raised the bar on the definition of "legitimate." I hope this is not a sign of things to come.

RandomTech

They can't fix what they can't duplicate. Have you tried riding with the dealership's Diagnostic Specialist to duplicate the concern? Being on the other end of this (a tech), a Diag Specialist provides a lot of insight that helps me do my job better when s/he duplicates the concern with the guest.

mark4009

Why do they need to duplicate a problem that they've seen hundreds or thousands of times? What I'm experiencing is exactly what's been reported repeatedly over the last five years by both Second and Third generation owners. What, exactly, are they going to see that they haven't seen before?

Yes, they've ridden with me. Yes, they've had the car in their hands for a period of days (though the testing, I'm told, involved mostly freeway driving). And yes, I'm still having the problem. The question is upon whom does the burden fall when multiple models over multiple years manifest the same defect? At what point does it stop being my problem and become Lexus'?

dctex99

I don't know if you are kidding, or not aware of the weakness of the drive by wire system!!
This IS, of course, what failed also and has killed people and Lexus has ONLY admitted that we customers don't know enough not to put our feet on the gas instead of the brake! If they ever admitted its faults they would be open for many lawsuits! Til then we have trimmed floor mats and trimmed gas pedals and warning stickers. Maybe they will increase the voltage to mirror the Ford system and you will get quicker response but they have had a couple of years to do it and it has not changed. I have adjusted to it; but occasionally jerk on take off trying to compensate for its hesitation. Drive a Lincoln MKX sometime and see the difference!