jujing

I recently picked up a '07 RX 350 AWD. On my way home from dealership, I've noticed that the car jerked when I accelerated from 0 to 20 MPH. It's like you can tell the gear is shifting from first to second. Isn't it supposed to be a rather smooth transition ??

I've never driven a AWD before, and am not familiar with this type of vehicle (SVU & AWD) as this is my very first one. When I test-drove the FWD, I didn't notice the problem.

Do any of you have this problem?? Is this something I should worry about??? Thanks!!

RXSF

first, welcome to the club...

second, theres something you need to know. THe lexus RX has a bad history with transmissions. Believe it or not, every RX is like that. You will experience a "hesitation" in stop and go traffic, you will experience weird shifting back and forth like it doesnt know which gear to give you. In the old RX300's, many AWD transmissions didnt make it past 100K miles. With that said, i had one that was perfectly find until the lease was up at around 90K.

i have the RX330 AWD and i think they use the same transmission. Its something you kinda have to live with. Maybe the car engine wasnt warmed up yet? cold starts are even harsher because the car isnt on over drive yet. Keep going with it, i believe the problem was kinda addressed in the new trannies unlike me who is stuck with an 2004 model.

learn to live with it. If you drive like a granny, you should not feel a thing actually.

p.s. worst case when you can really feel the hesitation:

rolling stops at stop signs is the WORST. the car wants to to shift down to first as you approach under 10 miles, but then you surprise it by accelerating and therefore, it needs to shift back up...and it takes it 3 seconds to do so. drive kinda aggressively with the car right now, the transmission is learning your habbits and if your habbits are quick driving, it will adapt to it.

1NICESC430

I wonder if my transmission will ever "learn" my driving habits.

I never just stick a car in D and drive around. In town, I use 2nd most of the time, but once it gets up to around 30mph, the engine seems to complain. Most of my driving is in 3rd. When it gets to 55, I shift to 4th. Over 55mph I use D. I like to keep the engine revving around 3000 rpm.

Husker4the

Thought they improved/fixed this for the 07s?

CK6Speed

iTrader: (1)

What I never got about these learning transmissions is how long is it supposed to take to learn? Often I hear a day or two. Too me, if it doesn't learn within a few miles it is worthless. Between my wife and I we both have different driving styles. How can the transmission learn both our styles in a timely manner and recall it? My bet is it can't and never will. Do manufactures think only one person drives the car?

Husker4the

"learning" is just a PR word for "bad tranny"

sdbrandon

RXSF

actually, regarding multiple drivers...

i remember reading something about the new LS and how each key uses a different driving habbit from the transmission. kinda neat...

i think the driving habbit learning process is like your MPG recorder. At first, any small move will change it dramatically, but as you get driving it for a few days/months/years, your sudden slam on the gas pedal wont even make a dent on the computer. I assume it works like that.

rxdriver

I never had a shifting problem with an RX 300; it didn't have any problems with hesitation or hunting for a gear. But you can find many complaints on the RX 300 sub-forum about the trans having a short lifespan.

The RX 330 definitely has that hesitation problem, though. It's explained away as a "learning transmission... optimized for fuel economy." Whatever. The net result is that the trans is irritating. I had a couple of software updates done, and it got better, but it still isn't 100% right.

The RX 350 should have a different trans than the RX 330, though I don't know that for a fact. The 3.3L V6 drivetrain has disappeared from almost all Toyota products. The only vehicle still using it is the Highlander, but this should be the last year. (Rumor has it that the Highlander will be re-designed for 2008.) The trans mated with the 3.3L V6 drove everyone crazy for the reasons mentioned above.

RXSF

sorry i meant all RX330s and 350s.

i think its the same tranny, the same 5 speed. I think the 6 speed will be introduced in the 2009 model.

p.s. rxdriver, i have the exact car as you. 2004 rx 330 awd, flint mica, black with nav. no ml though. i got the performance package instead.

Edison_Chen

I've gotten that in my RX350.

It happens around the lower speeds. IE: Turning 90 degrees onto another street at slow speeds. When I approach the corner I let go out the gas pedeal, and let it roll, and then as I get into the turn, I press down on the gas pedal like lightly, there's a slight hesitation for it to accelerate or shift gears. About 2 seconds later, the car decides to upshift, causing the jerk feeling.

srashid

I have a 2005 RX330, and while it was in for the 15,000 mile service a couple of weeks ago, I had them update the transmission. I was a bit reluctant to do this as mine was not bad before, just very occasionally the jerk when you are coasting to a stop light and it goes Green so you accelerate.

Anyway, the result is it worked very well for me. Since the update my transmission is very smooth and I waited a couple of weeks to be sure before posting this. The jerking problem described above seems to have gone, and so I would recommend the upgrade to everyone with the 330.

msmetz

I had a 99 RX and had the hesitation. My wfe just got an 07 350 and I don't notice any hesitation.

Husker4the

I had the update done as well and the problem wasn't as bad, but returned after a while ... still not as bad as w/o the update.

SlateRXMN

I noticed this jerkiness and hesitation when my RX350 was new, but now I have 10,000 miles on the vehicle, and it is gone. After reading this thread, I wondered if I had just gotten used to it, so I tried to make it happen and it is really gone. Maybe there really is something to this idea of the transmission "learning".....