Es/rx Transmission Hesitation

[Suealbert330]

We are the owners of an ES330 and have the same hesitation, etc that many others are having. Several service trip gets us no correction, only assurance from the Lexus dealer that nothing is wrong. The car has 5000 miles now.

My question is- are these (RX/ES) the only models with this engine/transmission that have this problem?

I don't see any posts in the GS forum regarding the transmission hesitation so is this model ok?

We are so unhappy with this car that a trade is not out of the question. As a previous Camry owner, that Camry beats this ES hands down.

Any thoughts from all you experts???? Is there a better Lexus out there with regards to the transmission issue?

Helen in Vegas.

[steviej]

I am reading more and more reports from owners with vehicles equiped with electronic throttle systems as having a hestitation. It may not be the same duration as that in the ES/RX but a hesitation nonetheless. It has been mentioned in the Lexus LS and Audi.

Lexus will tell you that it is performing the way it was designed. The car accelerates and shifts ultra smoothly and quietly.

They will not openly tell you that their design is flawed, and that they know it is flawed.

See the pinned discussion about the tranny hesitation at the top of this forum.

steviej

[Vicki_in_Florida]

I asked my dealer about this problem because I have read alot of posts from people saying they are having this hesitation problem.

One dealer told me the problem has been fixed???

Another dealer told me the reason for the hesitation is people are using regular unleaded gas in the car. He said the car runs better and won't hesitate if you use premium gas.

I thought this was kinda odd because the salesperson told me that regular unleaded was fine for the car???

According to this guy...the bix "fix" is to use better gas?

[SW03ES]

All Lexus vehicles have this hesitation. I've also felt it on the BMW7, 5 and the new Audi A8. I firmly stand by my assumption that its a characteristic of the electronic throttle on these cars. The only way to remedy it is to learn to drive around it, it is definately doable.

As for the Camry, the Camry has exactly the same engine and transmission as the ES (on the upper models) and I believe it also has the e-throttle. If this is the case it will operate the same. The reason you don't see people with GS' complain about it on this board is simply that our GS traffic isn't as high. I don't mean to sound disrespectful but did you not extensively test drive the ES before you bought it? I've heard this from several people, they just bought it because they'd had a Camry or an older Lexus in the past and bought it without driving it. This is very inadvisable as all cars are different.

[monarch]

All Lexus vehicles have this hesitation. I've also felt it on the BMW7, 5 and the new Audi A8. I firmly stand by my assumption that its a characteristic of the electronic throttle on these cars. The only way to remedy it is to learn to drive around it, it is definately doable.

In the past 2 months I've rented three 2004 4 cylinder Camry's while on business trips and noticed no hesitations whatsoever. I was highly impressed with the responsiveness and power of the 4 cyl Camry. Last spring I also test drove a 2004 ES330 (before I had ever heard of the hesistation issue) and DID notice the momentary hesistation when accelerating from a

crawling speed like 5 MPH. The hesistation did not really bother me because I am not a hurried and rushed kind of driver, but it does appear that even though all electronic throttles may have a trace of hesitation, it is a bit more pronounced on the ES330 & RX330 V6 that's sold in America. And enough of a hesitation to irk a small percentage of ES and RX owners with hard charging driving styles, though certainly not all of them. For example, my best friend owns a California emission 2003 RX300 and drives rather hurriedly, but has never mentioned noticing any hesitation.

[SW03ES]

But the 4cyl Camry cannot be compared to the ES300 or ES330 because they have entirely different engines and transmissions. The 4cyl Camry also does not have an electronic throttle, I believe.

[steviej]

Another dealer told me the reason for the hesitation is people are using regular unleaded gas in the car. He said the car runs better and won't hesitate if you use premium gas.

I thought this was kinda odd because the salesperson told me that regular unleaded was fine for the car???

According to this guy...the bix "fix" is to use better gas?

I have always used premium (93 octane) and have always had the hesitation.

I have learned to live around it.

In general, salesmen will tell you whatever the buyer needs to hear to make the sale no matter how ambiguous it may be.

steviej

[SKperformance]

I drove a new BMW 7 series a few weks ago, full of toys and it was the most annoying thing to hit the gas and wonder if the engine fell out, I understand the point you are making about the driver retraining to its system.

But the point is technology is supposed to help the owners and their expericance of it not hinder it,.

Never mind for the companies to make stupid excuses of a fully engineered product.

they should have labeled the US version the ES 330B for beta.

Easiest way around this it to get a Canadian ecu and pop that in instead as they do not have the issues.

[SW03ES]

But that voids the warranty. Several owners have tried that but Lexus won't do it because the canadian ECU isn't designed to be ULEV.

I totally agree that the technology is useless if it hinders the owner's enjoyment of the vehicle, I can think of no purpose for these e-throttles that outweighs the hesitation issue.

[steviej]

But that voids the warranty. Several owners have tried that but Lexus won't do it because the canadian ECU isn't designed to be ULEV.

not to mention the Canadian ECU was $1750 in 2003 and Lexus was not popping for any of it.

steviej