Hi everyone,

I just bought a 2021 ES250 few days back. I love everything about the car from the stylish the luxurious interior. Sadly the gearbox transmission is not luxurious. At lower speeds, it is jerky and stutters at times looking for the right gear.

When I go on the highway, the car is smooth. However for city driving at lower speeds the car is disappointing. When you slow down to a traffic light, the car jerks when it downshift. When you accelerate slowly from the traffic light the car is sluggish and jumps gear at times confused which one to use. At times when I am cruising on the road after you cross 40km/h, the car jerks when you touch the accelerator.

I took the car to the Lexus Dealer yesterday and was informed that this is normal for the ES due to the 8 speed gearbox. I find that very hard to believe and am quite disappointed with the purchase if the car is going to perform like this.

Not sure if anyone else has this problem and found a solution?

Thanks!

 

Here are 7 pages of reading to fill up a couple of hours of your time.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/es-...nsmission.html

 

Hi Lesz,

Thanks for the reply to this thread. Sure will start reading it right away, so it seems to be common issue for the ES models with 8 speed.

I have asked the dealer to write to Japan to check on any software updates for the ECU.

Thanks

 

Try putting it in shift mode and leaving it at S6 and sport mode. What this does is it limits the transmission to 6 speeds instead of 8. That should mitigate or maybe even eliminate the jerkiness of the tranny. At least that's what I've observed on my own.

 

Ah the infamous transmission strikes again!

 

On my ES350, I've found that going into Sport mode immediately after startup and even turning off Traction Control (unless driving conditions require it) greatly improves the shifting.

 

I go right into SPORT mode every time but that doesn't eliminate the harsh downshift as you slow down for a stop sign. This 8 speed is just not great at all for anything other than straight highway cruises.

 

How do you do that? I know how to go into manual but how do you limit it to 6?

 

I believe that the way that modern transmissions work is that, even if you can manually select a gear, if the rpms start to approach a level where damage to the engine is possible in that gear, the transmission will override your gear selection and shift into a higher gear.

But, even if you could limit the transmission to the 6th gear, I would think that driving with no higher than 6th gear would cause your fuel economy to take a significant hit (and, also, result in a higher level of engine noise).

 

I sure don't think that is normal. The only time I experience anything like that on my 2019 is occasionally starting to drive very slowly when in eco mode. No other problems like described in the original post.

 

Got it - with 6 as the limit, it's unlikely rpms would be high enough to cause that override. I used to do this with a GMC Acadia I had years ago. That one was a six speed and I would limit it to 5 on hilly highways to prevent the constant up and downshifting.

 

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.

Yup, the way manual shifting works in these automatics is not like the conventional manual transmission. When in manual mode you're just telling the computer how many speeds to limit the transmission to. That's why it starts you off at S4. You can downshift to S1 and do the conventional upshifting or you can just leave it at S4 or higher and the computer will automatically do the shifting up to the gear you've limited it to. If you stay in S1 or S2 the computer will override your selection to prevent damage.
When I'm on the highway I just put it back into regular drive to take advantage of all 8 gears.

 

Great info which I intend to try in my 8 speed ES. Thanks for the insight...

 

First, I really don't consider this issue normal behavior for the ES. I think you got the standard first response to any warranty issue. I always get "unable to duplicate" or "working as designed". from my service department at least the first time, and typically the first 2 or 3 times You can bet Lexus didn't intentionally design a poor shifting 8 speed trans! I'm also an optimist that really thinks that if Lexus hear enough complaints about it, they'll eventually address it. Probably not, but it makes me feel better to think so.

I had a similar issue in a 2016 NX200T, and traded it back in after just 2 years because they couldn't or wouldn't fix it. For a long time I couldn't duplicate the issue for them, but I eventually discovered the issue was worse when I was driving more at all aggressively. I decided that Lexus doesn't expect us to drive aggressively, so they don't think we'll notice. You might ask the dealer to reflash the computer. They'll probably push back pretty hard, but it's an easy task that MAY help. Next, (and I know I'll catch some flack for this) try driving in Eco mode. First, it stays in Eco mode when you turn the car off, so you don't have to change it back every time you get in the car as you do with Sport mode. It also really helps with my shifting issues. It took a week or so to adapt to the poorer throttle response, but now I don't even notice it. Just see if it helps.

 

Yes I completely agree. It's just a sad feeling when you buy a new Lexus.. hearing about it's silky smooth drive and then when you get your new car and drive it, you start to feel the hesitant transmission.

I honestly feel this is not how Lexus ES transmission are supposed to perform nor should they perform. If it seems to be a common problem, why do they continue to keep the 8 speed automatic? Even then, it does not seem normal for the Japanese to be approving of this type of transmission when they uphold excellence and perfection for Lexus.

I wonder if there is a software update long due to fix the ECU/ECM or if Lexus dealers in our countries have even contacted Japan to address this issue to get a software update.

Is there anyway to contact Japan HQ to enquire on this?