bocha

I am curious about something.. has anyone an idea on how many ES 350's had the "bad transmission" with the flair issue? 1%,,,5%,,, even more?

NGG

Too many.

MD350

It depends on what your sample is. If you are talking about 07 models that were early builds in 2006, probably 50 to 75% had some kind of flare prior to the flash being performed. As time went on, they have gotten better. The 08s are even better, but not perfect per other members' accounts on this forum. My guess would be that 25% or less of 08 models have some kind of flare. Just my 2 cents, though, after reading pages and pages on this topic.

In 2007, I drove 5 different ES350 loaner cars all built in 2006 and all 5 flared.

Tarkio

No one knows but Lexus. People mostly post problems in forums like this, so like I said, no one really knows.

I do know that my 08 ES' transmission is perfect and has no problems, and the other ES350s that I test drove had no tranny issues either.

garsarno

Check e-bay motors: they have ES350s for sale and if you read the fine print, many of them are Lexus buybacks for transmission issues.

LJL888

IMO, it doesn't matter if it is .1% or 50%. If the unit I bought has the transmission flare, then it is 100% since there will be no probability of me getting another same exact unit.

MD350

Well, then there are owners who don't know what a flare is, own a car that flares and have no idea it is happening.

My wife, for example, gets in a car and goes. She drives my Lexus, the tranny flares, and she has no idea it is happening.

So, you are correct. We will never know. But, on the 2007 models, there were far more units that had a transmission issue reported than expected. And there are many units out there that are owned by people that either don't care or don't know what a normal operating transmission feels like. And that tranny flares each and every day and goes unreported in the statistics.

Tarkio

Good point, except there are no statistics to report in to. Internet opinions are not statistics and are very unreliable, as there are also many out there who have no flares, and don't care or don't know about tranny problems. They just enjoy the car immensely and never post on Internet forums. My belief is they are the silent majority.

MD350

This is just my theory, because I drove 5 06 build loaners and all 5 flared, in addition to mine which is an 7/06 build........

The majority (not all) of 2007 ES350s that were built in 2006 (early builds) had some kind of transmission flare, slip, issue, etc. Many trannys were replaced, many had flash updates, Lexus also bought back many cars under lemon laws, etc. I spoke to a customer service rep on the Lexus 800 line and she was very honest with me and agreed there have been several quality issues on 07 ES350s. (Engine knock, tranny, rattles)

Later builds of 2007 ES350s and 2008 ES350s seems to be trouble free for the majorty. But, I have still read some complaints of flaring issues. But, like yourself, most of them are trouble free.

The lesson I learned and something I will never do again is to buy a newly designed model during its first few months of production.

I am happy to hear many owners of 08s are happy and I may actually consider buying a 2009 ES350 in another year to replace my 2007 if I continue to read success stories like yourself.

Just my 2 cents.