I am a three time owner of Lexus ES. I have the ES 300 which I love but it is time to buy a new car. Ordinarily I would buy the ES 350 but the transmission problems in particular have me seriously considering the Acura RL and the Volvo S80. Is it time to bail on the ES or at least wait until next model year?

 

This is my first Lexus, and will certainly be my last ES. I can't imagine recommending this car to someone given the problems I've documented with mine. I won't let my wife drive it because it's too unsafe.

 

Good luck with your decision. You're the guy who has to make the call. I've had my ES350 for 14 months with no problems at all. Personally, I'm more than happy with the car. Its been back to the dealer just for oil changes and car washes. Obviously others have had issues with theirs. As mentioned elsewhere on this forum Lexus is on pace to sell close to 80,000 ES's this year, as with any high volume car, you're going to find satisfied as well as dissatisfied owners. The 08's will be out soon, for your peace of mind, might not hurt to wait.

 

If you are interesting in buying one, ask your dealer to let you take it for a 24 to 48 hour test drive. Make sure there are no rattles and that the transmission does not flare. If you have a good one, I feel you will be safe and continue to enjoy Lexus products. Or, as mentioned above, the 2008s may be worth the wait. Good luck.

 

My car didn't flare for the first 2,000 miles (with either transmission), so an extended test drive may not solve the problem...

 

I always suggest driving everything out there. Who knows - maybe you won't even like the new ES? Or...maybe you'll love it and the risk will be lessened as a result. Drive the Volvo, the Acura, and heck, go check out Infiniti, Cadillac, Lincoln, Audi...every competitor out there.

I think Bob nailed it - there are bound to be issues with any new car. I really liked the driving experience with the RL. That said, as awesome as SH-AWD is, it hasn't been proven in the long term yet. Splitting torque L-R as well as front-rear is complicated and frankly I'd be more paranoid about that than with the transmission issues on the ES.

Ultimately, we found that the ES is pretty unique in the marketplace, with no competitor offering a single vehicle with the combination of comfort, capacity, economy, and features at anywhere near the price point. That, combined with Lexus' excellent reputation in building quality vehicles - and standing behind them when something does go wrong - made it an easy decision for us. Your mileage may vary. Good luck...

 

I am waiting for the 08's, but as others have stated look at the volume being sold and look at the number in the poll for the "problems with your 350". A total of 197 votes out of 30,000-40,000 cars sold. Not a great sample size statistically speaking

 

Agree. My first flare starts around 1000 miles. Since then, the cold start flare occurrance has been rather random, though not daily as others. So far I put 14K miles on the engine already, still running fine and in the past two months, I haven't had a flare.

 

I agree too. My ES350 didn't start flaring until about 1,800 miles.

 

We are approaching 5k on our ES. To date it has been absolutely flawless.
The only issue so far ir a slight headlight misalignment. This will be handled by the dealer during the 5k service.
Do I still like the ES? Very much, it is one of the best cars I have purchased.

 

my car is great, there is not hundreds of thousands of ES350s and camrys out there with bad transmissions.

there is wayyyyyyyyy more satisfied customers then those with problems.

People scream and yell and do research when things go wrong, but when things are good they just go about thier lives.
Most ES and camry owners do not go to message boards to talk about thier super exciting sedans.

 

If that is the case, why has there been numerous TSIBs on the transmission issue, numerous transmission replacements performed, and numerous buybacks conducted? I don't have exact numbers, but neither do you. Lexus and Toyota know it is a widespread issue, they don't have the fix and have handled it poorly. So, to say there are wayyyyyyyyy more satisfied customers then those with problems, I would like to see where you got your statistics.

 

Regarding this subject, there is a post on another forum that for me puts this matter to rest.

It was written by _goatpunishment_ on July 11, 2007.

Check it out:

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zeropost?...how&id=3105629

The profile of the poster (_goatpusnishment_) indicates that he is a Toyota Tech.

 

Is this true?? Then why has there been another TSIB fix in Mayor June if it was fixed 4 months ago? Interesting eh?? Sorry I forgot when the TSIB came out.

I want to beleive but should I???

Cheers

 

you dont have any stats either, you are going by TSBs.

I get my stats from my dealership who I pass everyday on the way home, I dont see a lot full of crapped out ES350s.
I can see clear through the other side of the service bays, no lines of ESs getting the transmissions swapped out.
They happen to have the Toyota service next door, guess what?
No lot full of Camrys there either.

70k ES350s sold last year, I dont know how many camrys with V6 engines, but if the problem was all that bad there would be a surplus of cars sitting at the dealers.
Going by a few dozen people posting on a board versus the cars sold I dont think the problem is all that bad.

sorry if I do not jump on the bandwagon and bash the car, seems like if you dont agree with the car being bad people jump all over you on this board.



I just checked the sales stats for June, 47k+ camrys sold, and 7200+ ES350s sold. Record sales for both.

They must be doing something right, cant possibly be selling THAT many cars with bad transmissions, even if you figure 1/3 camry sales as V6s.