Very good info as I am looking to upgrade my 2016 ES. There is a ton of info on the Camry boards (same V-6 and trans). I will summarize one post from a couple of years ago, when I was looking at Camry's, that sounded helpful from a XSE V-6 member;

He states to gradually press the accelerator forcing the car to hold the gear longer. Continue to do this (basically spirited driving in D) when possible or make special trips to open roads. His experience after several trips to the dealership and case files with corporate seem legit. He states that the transmission ECU starts "learning" driving habits from mile 1. His XSE started out with terrible shifting as it had many test drives and was also located and driven many miles to his dealership. After finally getting Toyota to reset his ECU (basically clearing the learned behavior) and then spirited driving when possible, his performs much better.

I am only summarizing what I read from a Camry post. They too have been dealing with the same issue, but there are thousands more Camry owners to complain.

I hate that a car known for its smoothness is behaving like this. Folks who spend between 45k and 60k on a car known for being smooth and quiet should not have to deal with this.

If I can find the original post I will share the link.

 

[QUOTE=tike71;11047973]Go into manual shift mode and upshift (or press right paddle shifter) twice until you see S6. The default when you enter manual shifting is S4.

A couple of questions: Is the manual shift mode the "S" designation? And where will the number 6 appear to indicate 6 gears?

Never mind, I figured it out...

 

Yeah...it’s totally normal though unfortunately.

 

2020 ES350 F sport. Agree. I’ve adapted a bit to managing the throttle in a way that mostly mitigates the jerkiness, but I do still have instances where it gets clunky at low speeds.

A few main issues I typically experience:

1.) slowing just short of a full stop for a left hand turn often leaves me in 3rd gear, kick down to 2nd sometimes is harsh. If I manage the throttle well I can usually get a smoother shift, but it can be pokey to do so.

2.) on inclines when cruising my car won’t downshift soon enough and if I only add a little throttle it lugs the engine and causes some light bucking. A little heavier foot helps it kick down sooner.

3.) sometimes my car can’t decide on the right gear on the highway. Cruising at 70-74mph on cruise sometimes it moves between 7th and 8th often and botches the shift occasionally. Not very harsh but enough to notice as the driver when you’re otherwise cruising.

 

So it's been 2 weeks now since I got the car. I enjoy all the comforts of the car as I mentioned before. On highways, the car is a pleasure to drive. But for city traffic, the gearbox transmission rears its ugly face again. Start and go from traffic lights, don't give you a smooth transmission I'm not one to floor the pedal, so on slow pickup the transmission is again hesitant. There are downshifts felt, and sometimes when you drive a road that start to slope up a bit the car feels very underpowered. There are also some occasions when I enter a filter lane slow down to check and then accelerate normally, the car transmission jerks from the slow down to pick up.

These are all very very disappointing aspects of an otherwise great car. I found links as follows on both Lexus and Toyota 8 speed gearboxes:

https://www.classaction.org/toyota-h...ssion-lawsuits

https://www.cashcarsbuyer.com/toyota...sion-problems/

I am planning to find a way to write to Lexus HQ in Japan and ask if there is a fix or update for their 8 speed transmission. Not sure if anyone here has tried?

 

My current best fix for the jerk shift is to use S5 for around town and S8 for highway. I also turn off traction control. I still have to be careful to go easy and slowly on the gas pedal in the jerk shift situations. Makes it at least tolerable even enjoyable again. Hope this helps someone else.

 

The fix is to use the ES as a highway cruiser. If you do lots of city driving, you will eventually get disgusted and trade it in.

 

That sucks. I wonder if the current crop of Toyota RAV4 is using the same transmission?

 

Not sure but I know the eight speed in the current gen RX is a different unit and no issues like the ES. When I have to do stop and go driving, I just take my wife's RX or I keep Dramamine handy.

 

Or hate to be a broken record, but the ES Hybrid is supremely smooth accelerating at city driving. The engine will turn off even up to 75MPH so you run in pure electric. Look, ma. No vibnrations! An option for those who want the ES but read these threads and see the car drives jerky.

 

That's why I love my ES Hybrid. So glad I decided to go hybrid from the get go even before becoming aware of this issue.

 

I've had Lexus hybrids as loaners on several occasions - still prefer the ride of the non-hybrid jerkiness and all. I may become a hybrid owner eventually anyway when the price of fuel continues to skyrocket but for now, I'll stick with the ES jerkiness Most of my daily driving is highway where the issue is minimized.

 

^Any with the A25AFKS powertrain? the old lexus/toyota powertrains are no comparison. i've driven them all.

So if you've driven an NX hybrid, CT hybrid, GS hybrid, toss all those ancient dinosaurs out the window.

the new one is VERY responsive and smooth. it powers the highlander hybrid which is a 7 seater tank. so it has no problem moving the ES along.

old hybrids from toy/lex felt rubberbandy and laggy. not the case in the new model.

 

Loaners were typically RX Gen4.

 

As an owner of a former get ESh and a current gen ESh, not to mention an NXh and a current RXh, I"m not sure I agree completely with the "rubberbandy and laggy" comment regarding the older hybrids - especially since I cannot say that I see any huge difference with the current gen ESh. However, for the sake of clarification, the RX hybrids that you would have driven would have been using the older design CVT that E46CT argues have been improved in the newer models.