ES350ULTRA

Please share your transmission issues here. Please be as detailed as possible, if you took your car in for service tell us how it went and what they said. The more details the better.

Thanks.

ES350ULTRA

My car started having the flare issues after only 400 miles on my car. I took it to the dealership and they said the "transmission was learnnig". I laughed at the guy and said "NO IT'S NOT". I know the difference between a car shifting harder or softer depending on driving style.

Here is what happened to me:
While leaving a stop sign the car felt like it went into neutral, then the engine revved up for about 2 seconds. I let me foot off the gas waited a seconds then stepped on the gas and it ran normally. Imagine if you were leaving a stop sign and slowling speeding up and then you put the car in neutral the engine would rev up to 2500 - 5000rpm in a second or two. That is pretty much how it felt to me.

I'm trying to figure out if this is the Flaring issue that I have read about or if this is something different.

onepointon

You should take it to the dealer and insist that it is flaring, they WILL know what you are talking about. You can even try to have a tech ride with you.

It is a known problem on the 2007 models, haven't seen many '08s doing it though.

Also, you can look into the other threads on this page that have a lot of useful information concern transmission flares.

ES350Bob

ES350ULTRA,

Your description sounds like gear 2 to 3 shift slipping/flare since it seems you said you left the stop sign as in under momentum of at least 1st gear and then this happened to you. In general what you described is the slipping/flaring no matter the gears involved though.


1st ES350--Slipped gears 2 to 3 most often, once in a while 3 to 4, typically in fashion you describe though numerous small RPM slips as well as 2k plus slips, trying to get under way or underway and this started at about 130 miles. October 06....Told it was learning, told my car had it's transmission update already when being made in Japan <---A lie, it had not. refused to listen to tape recordings of it slipping and was very rude about it in general denying 2 to 3 could be involved...see January 07 TSIB, somebody figured out old Bob here knew what he was talking about as it began to include gear 2 to 3 in TSIB dialogue. Refused previously scheduled repairs to valves as well to get rid of the knocking noise. Left stuck in it by Lexus corporate VP, FTS, others, in spite of my protests and my repeatedly warning them August, September, October that I felt gear 2 to 3 slipping could be/was dangerous and later stated it was unconscionable to leave me stuck in it.

Was just about to file Lemon Law and took a friend's suggestion as well that I relay my concerns to a local action reporter, some members on here as well had suggested I do that though I had not until a friend insisted it was a good idea, so I did. I honestly felt it was pointless and that nothing would come of it if I did and I had never done anything like that before in my life and I do not like asking for help, I'm usually the one asked for help or for my opinions on things.

I did in writing and first thing I heard from him--within 2 days--was a very nice answer and a name and contact info of a dealer who had NOT originally sold me the car. He had on his own contacted the original selling dealer and then went all out and contacted a second dealer too, first dealer..it's all normal, learning, blah, blah, second dealer wanted to do something. They got me out of that first one at under 500 dollars and into a new one and would have done it for free if they had sold me the first one. Corporate did NOTHING, it was only the kindness of 2nd dealer trying. The reporter answered me as well in his local reporting. I think his interest beyond my warnings to corporate may have played a role in the above mention of gear 2 to 3 got included in a later TSIB as he copied everything I sent him to these dealers who likely are required to contact corporate when an action reporter is "snooping" into things.

2nd ES350---developed gear 3 to 4 slipping near right away, maybe at most 130 miles on the car, and I was very sad this had happened again and livid at myself too that I went against the content on here-CL and did it a 2nd time. I chose to trade it rather than wait for a fix or subject myself to corporate after the first experience. The slipping of it similar as you described also with times of small RPM spikes and major ones of well over 2k plus at which time there was what I would describe as violent jerking at times though not each and every time.

Back to your car for minute: I believe that had you left your foot on the accelerator it would have gone into gear only "slammed" into it and pivoting the engine at the same time which you likely would have felt as a jerking. An auto engineer demonstrated what was happening to my car's engine at the same time the transmission is slipping and then catching so that's how I know to mention it and one reason they also have to change out the (?? torque converter) when they replace these--maybe onepoint can explain as I do not know the tech reasons but something to do with they are not designed to handle extreme RPM then right into a gear way above typical RPM for a gear change, it does something to them. I had gone to get a 2nd opinion at my own expense after and during the initial BS fed me on the first one and ended up with an auto engineer in the opinion heap.

If I had to do it all over again I'd do 2 things, the first hint of an excuse or claim of learning or normal operation or cannot duplicate, File Lemon Law right away as that does seem to get the best results and I'd still write local action reporter because it got results too, only I'd take the Lemon Law route and get all my money back, every dime I had spent.

At the time the route I chose was based on elderly family member issues and my desire not to be distracted from my patent pursuits though I do not believe I wimped out trading out. I would say to you that whatever route you feel is in your best interest is what you should do, ignore the usual feelings of unfair or outrage and get your life back as soon as possible absent dealing with a defective vehicle. Currently, I don't even think about my new car at all, it's as it used to be for me where car ownership is concerned and being distracted with a defect takes a toll on your time, you and your family, your typical interests, and it is flat not worth it.

MD350

Ain't it a shame that you went from posting several threads on how you were going to customize your ES to this! It is sad to see the owner experience shattered by this transmission issue. Then, the poor dealer experience to boot. With only 400 miles.

I have to laugh at some on this forum who continue to insist that the issues are very minor and there are a select few who continue to bash this car. Yet, owners of 08s continue to log on and tell their story. When will they wake up and realize this is a widespread issue?

I hope a simple flash will fix it for you. I, too, suggest searching this forum for a lot of great info on similar encounters with "slippery" trannys.

Good luck

And for the cheerleaders out there (and you know who you are)

GooooooOOOOOO LEXUS!!!

onepointon

While I don't have time to read that lengthy, but more than likely useful post from MD350 (I did skim through though), I could check for TSIB's on your car quickly.

If you would like, you can PM me your VIN # and I can check applicable transmission related TSIBs for your car. As I stated in another thread, you should have the updated hardware (transmission) in the 2008 car, you may just need a simple reflash.

NJLEXES

ES350ULTRA

You can read all about my transmission woes in the "ANOTHER TRANSMISSION GOES TO HEAVEN" thread.

I had an incident of that major revving (like in nuetral) coming away from the traffic light a little while after they installed my replacement transmission.
I also had that right turn "tranny gets lost issue" not knowing what gear to grab.

In any case, they said it was an issue with the "transmission compensation value" which maybe they forgot to adjust while installing the replacement tranny or they adjusted it a second time. I don't really know.

Can only say after they adjusted that, the tranny has been behaving pretty normally since.

Perhaps you can ask them to adjust that for you. NOTE: It is an electronic adjustement.

Good luck

MD350

So, she's running good? Glad to hear it.

ES350Bob

one...,

I believe it's mine, not MD's that takes the lengthy prize so far, he is just too gentlemanly to mention it to you, I was relaying 2 cars worth of experience so twice as long as typical I guess, same for volume of posts (the Rah Rah Sisterhood likes to point out ), 2 cars, twice the input as a one car owner.

MD350

LOL...thanks for the compliment.

PINESOL

i have worked for Lexus and Toyota parts for about 15 years at the technician counter .. i see and drive these cars every single day .. are there some with flare issues , yes ,, most all of them can be corrected electronically .. i have sold 1 new transmission to date . for 07 or 08 es350s
i have an 08 ES on a master lexus lease and im more upset with the rear brake squeak .. i havent had any flare issues yet. if i do i will post them and what we did to correct it .. TC005-07 is the latest trans flare tsib
the warranty parts info shows a new trans computer part number ..
the transmission itself does not use an updated number..

NJLEXES

MD350,

Up to around 1100 miles on the replaced tranny.

However, as mentioned in my other thread don't know what the long term prognosis is on me keeping my car beyond the warranty.

It was bad enough going through this without having to pay anything....
If it cost me out of pocket... fuggedaboudit !

MD350

Yeah, I don't think it is safe to own any luxury car without a warranty. Too many things can break or go wrong, and the cost of repair is high.

Glad to hear your car is running well.

YotaCarFan

My car was made in July 2007 (07 model year). The transmission had a couple cold-flares of about 400 rpm within a day or two of ownership. I took it to the dealer and they claimed the car "performed as designed". After a month or so, that went away. I've consistently had small flares regardless of engine temp -- about 100 rpm. After about 8K miles, I've started noticing a small momentary sag in acceleration when the flares occur -- Noticeable and annoying but not as bad as ....

My previous car: 2007 Toyota Camry XLE V6 (same drivetrain as ES350). That had horrendous flares, numerous repairs (valve body, firmware updates, new transmission, etc....) before I dumped it for the ES350. The Camry was built in Sept 2006.

ALALEX

I thought I had the cold engine 4th gear "spike" - it only happened sporadically. I took it in to be checked out and the transmission "flash" was applied. No more 4th gear spikes since then. It does surge a bit and rev higher before shifts when it's cold, but uniformly across the gears. One of the techs said part of the transmission programming is designed to warm the engine up as quickly as possible for economy and pollution control reasons. That's why it idles and shifts at higher RPM when cold. It all sounds reasonable and it all smooths out nicely once the engine temp is up to normal.