2013 Es Transmission Problems

[mutt151]

Just purchased 2013 ES 350 a couple of months ago, my wife is complaining that between 20 to 40 MPH it seems to search for the correct gear depending on the type of terrain and if you are coasting or giving it gas but back and forth looking for what it thinks is the correct gear, and sometimes seems to shift hard she says, also I have noticed a slight whining noise that sounds like the transmission, almost like the noise you hear from a hydrostatic mower or tractor. It is a very slight noise and you have to roll the window down and turn off the radio to hear the noise.The car has approx. 3k miles on it have not had it to the dealer yet just wondering if anyone else has noticed either of these problems.

[retired00]

post deleted

[pj8708]

Hi John and welcome to the LOC!

I've had my 2013 ES for almost exactly the same amount of time and miles. I have not had this problem and so far haven't heard of any other member posting the same problem. But your right. There is something wrong in a big way, and if memory serves me, the 2013 went to a 7speed trany from the 6 speed unit wich was in the previous 2012 and back.

I wonder if the gear searching might be taken care of by a software patch and not a tear down.

Let us know how things come out.

Paul

[LexBob2]

The 2013 ES350 has the same 6 speed auto as the 2007-2012 generation (the hybrid has a CVT), so it should sound and perform the same. John, it sounds like something you should bring up to the dealer. Maybe they'll say it's normal but it should be mentioned and entered on the cars service history just in case something develops down the road.

[Dan IN]

I purchased my 2013 ES 350 about three weeks ago and I am having a similar problem with the (I assume) transmission. The car seems to have trouble downshifting smoothly. For example, sometimes if I am travelling at 30-45 mph and let up on the gas, it feels as though I am gently applying the brake even though I am not. Sometimes the car will then downshift and the braking feeling will go away, sometimes not.

The problem is not consistent from day to day or even minute to minute. Sometimes the sensation lasts longer and is more severe; other times it's pretty minor.

I started noticing this at about 300 miles and it remained an issue until 900 miles at which time I called and made an appointment with my dealer. It was at about 1,000 miles that the mechanic at Lexus drove my car and he noticed the downshifting but my car was on it best behavior during our test drive; the feeling was noticeable but not objectionable. At his suggestion I test drove another another ES 350 to see that the slight sensation during downshifting was normal.

However, on most days the sense that someone is pressing on my brake pedal during coasting, and that the car often seems to take a very long time to decide if it wants to downshift, is more pronounced and maddening.

John, I encourage you to take your car to the dealer and report back. Perhaps we can get to the bottom of this.

Dan IN

[mutt151]

Dan,

I took my car to the dealership a couple of weeks ago for its 5000 miles service and complained about the shifting problem between 20 to 40 mph and the hold back problem when letting off the gas. They put the car on the computer and told me they could find nothing wrong their suggestion was to drive it in different settings the wife has been driving it in the Eco mode most of the time and they suggested to drive it in the normal mode or sport mode and change it up from time to time. I do not think they know what the problem is and granted it is not a horrible problem but I am concerned it will get worse with time. Keep me posted if your dealership finds something that finds does not.

[Dan IN]

Thanks, John. I have checked and not noticed any difference whether I was in Eco, Normal, or Sport mode. Even tried S-mode driving but no idfference. Dan IN

[mutt151]

I am the same here I cannot tell the difference between the modes, I am lost at what to do, I am going to keep complaining when I take the car in for the 10,000 mile check. If you get any answers from your dealership please let me know.

[KarDM56]

Thank goodness for this post. This is exactly what my 2013 Lexus ES350 is doing and the dealership can not find the problem. I am going to take this tread when I take car in for 10K mile check. Like you I have tried different driving modes and different grades of gas. Problem is intermittent and sometimes more sever than others. Then I can go for days without a blip. It is very frustrating and irritating. If anyone has answers, please let us know.

[mutt151]

Karen,

Please let me know what they find or what they tell you, also the name of a contact person that you will work your problem with, will be helpful , if they get it fixed, I am taking ours back for the 10k service bit it will be November timeframe before it hits the 10k miles.

Thanks john fuller

[KarDM56]

John, I am getting ready to make appointment for 10K checkup. Still having surging and shifting problems. Was wondering if you have had any luck in diagnosing same problems in your car? I have made copies of this thread to take to our mechanic at Lexus and will let you know what I find out.

[mutt151]

Karen,

Please let me know what they do and a contact person with telephone number if they get the problem taken care of , I will be taking my car in the next month or so also for its 10k checkup and we are still having the transmission problems. Hope someone can figure it out.

[Dan IN]

I last posted on this topic three months ago. My car continues to have this problem although the severity has diminished a bit. But it is still aggravating: not quite bad enough to get rid of the car but aggravating enough that this is likely to be my last Lexus.

Last week, I took my car in for its 5,000 mile maintenance. I mentioned the problem again, and the mechanic drove the car again, but, like before, indicated there wasn't anything wrong with the car.

I'm at a loss about what to do next.

Dan

[Lewis-1]

After owning and loving an ES300 for many years, I purchased a 2014 ES350 and immediately was bothered by the same transmission problems that all of you have noticed. My one additional problem that none of you have described is that after the transmission down shifts, if I continue to coast, the car will upshift, giving a slight surge in speed on its own.

I phoned to make a service appointment and after I told my problems to the telephone receptionist, she immediately replied that there is nothing wrong with the car and it is operating the way it is designed to operate. She then connected me to someone who appeared to have been chosen specifically to deal with this exact complaint. This person told me that the ES350 is different from an ES300 and that the ES350 has a computer controlled transmission that is designed to operate exactly as I described.

I brought the car in for service and went for a test drive with a repair person who appeared to have been specially selected for this problem. He already knew the issues. The problems did occur during the test drive. Although the Lexus service person minimized the problems, he did admit that all my problems were occurring. He said that the car was operating exactly the way it was designed to operate and if I didn't like the way is was driving I shouldn't have purchased it. He suggested that if I don’t like the way it drives, I should purchase another brand (not a Lexus), and trade in my two month old car. A computer check was done on the car, probably because Lexus pays the dealer to perform the check, and the computer verified what I had been previously told, that the car was performing exactly as designed.

Up until two months ago, I would not have expected that I would ever purchase any car but a Lexus.

I wonder what some other Lexus owners think of my experience.

[KarDM56]

I last posted about 8 months ago right before 10k checkup. Again dealership could not find any problems related to surging. Car now has 20k miles and we still have this problem at low speeds. It is no fun to drive in town. It is frustrating that Lexus is not recognizing issue. We also hear car is performing as intended. Any answers or comments out there?

[Lewis-1]

Karen, based on my experience and all of the above experiences it does not seem that we will get any help from Lexus or from the dealers, unless there is some dramatic change, such as someone getting killed because of the unexpected acceleration (hopefully not,) or unless there is a bigger uproar from Lexus owners. Lexus obviously knew about the issues in 2013 and
continued to use the same transmission in 2014. My dealer has a prearranged set up to deal with these complaints and his strategy is to wear out the customers and to tell them that the car is behaving properly. I was even told that a big part of the problem is that I am not driving the car properly and that I should learn how to drive. And I was also told that the deceleration is intended to address a problem of premature wear in the breaks. Can you believe that? The only strategy that I can think of
right now is to keep writing about these issues on as many appropriate web sites as possible. There must be many more unhappy Lexus owners and they need to be encouraged to make their feelings known in public.

[CSAS1]

I have a 2013 ES 350 that has about 20k miles. When I was driving it earlier this week, it seemed to start slipping out of gear around 35 mph and then get back into gear as the rpms went down. As I went higher in speed, when pushing on the gas pedal, it didn't seem to accelerate the car. I called the service dept at my dealership and they told me to bring it right in. Next morning they called and said they got a "code" indicating a potential issue with the transmission but wouldn't know until they took the "plate" off and inspected for shavings. Said he had to make a report to Lexus. Today he called and told me my whole transmission was going to be replaced. Then he told me that there were none to be found in the US. I now have to wait until one could be shipped from Japan. I was happy at the quick attention to the issue, but shocked that my NEW car, less than a year old, needs a new transmission.

[nicotrol]

I am having exactly same problem with you guys.

Have 14000k. Talk to tech and he told me it is normal.

He reset memory for tranny to see if it make better.

Resetting memory did not fix issue but makes tranny more jerky while up or down shifting. It might takes some time for tranny to learn again.

[KBRX330]

I last posted about 8 months ago right before 10k checkup. Again dealership could not find any problems related to surging. Car now has 20k miles and we still have this problem at low speeds. It is no fun to drive in town. It is frustrating that Lexus is not recognizing issue. We also hear car is performing as intended. Any answers or comments out there?

Yes have them check the transmission atf level. This has to be done with the car 100% cold level on a lift with their computer hooked up. The ATF has to be 114F when checked. My 2012 Avalon was doing the same thing and my dealer added 8oz of atf to the trans and it stopped. Try that and see if it is underfilled from the factory.

BTW my 2008 ES was underfilled from the factory as well.

[Lewis-1]

I have had all of the transmission problems that have been described by other members and have continued to try to have my problems addressed by various Lexus personnel.

Not satisfied with the visit to the dealer’s service department, I phoned Lexus’ main office and asked to speak with customer service. I spoke with Vaughn Wendlestadt, who scheduled an appointment for me to meet a main office service representative,
when he would be at my dealer’s service department. I met with John Loira and Prestige Lexus’ service manager on August 4. After explaining all of my issues, I was told that there is nothing wrong with the car. I was told that the stalling action when accelerating from stand still or slow speeds had intentionally been built into the car for safety reasons. I was told that I must be operating the car with two feet and the car is designed so that if one foot is on the accelerator before the other foot leaves the brake, the accelerator is neutered by the car’s computer. I was told that this action was designed into the car for my own safety because accelerating while a foot is on the brake will cause premature wear of the brakes, and driving with worn brakes is not
safe. I was told that the ES 350 is "designed to be driven only by one foot drivers." Pertaining to the breaking and self acceleration of the transmission between 45mph and 20 mph, I was told that this action was intentionally designed into the transmission for various reasons such as fuel economy and cost. I was told that I should never be coasting with my foot off both the accelerator and the brake. Rather, Mr. Loira said, this car is designed to be driven with the driver’s foot always on either the accelerator or the brake. I was told to relearn how to drive so that my driving habits will conform to the car’s design. At the end of this meeting it was decided that a test drive was not warranted since none of my issues indicated any defect in the car.

So far it appears that the company is determined to deny that there are any problems and to avoid the issues with pre-packaged replies that are so stupid that they are insulting.

[Charleyct]

I purchased a CPO 2013 ES 350 in May and had the same "searching" problem with the transmission shifting; going up and down in the 36 - 42 mph range. I took it back to the dealership and one of the top techs drove it with me and he could not feel the problem. We went on the highway and it was hard to simulate the problem even slowing down to the problem speed range. He hooked up the computer to the car and did a transmission reset and said that maybe the car remembered the driving habits of the first owner or recent test drivers. The reset was supposed to erase the memory of any of that from the car's computer. The car still does this. Based upon the posts in this community that all explain the same symtoms, it is hard to believe that Lexus has not put our a service bulletin to its dealers. I'm frustrated and don't want to hear a dealer tell me to go buy another car. If they want to give me my original purchase price back, I am happy to do that.

[Lewis-1]

Charles:

I doubt that you will get any satisfaction from Lexus. Everyone in the company knows how the transmission operates and they consider our issues to be irrelevant. They told me that the transmission operates exactly as designed, including all of the characteristics to which we object.

I actually think you are quite lucky because you seem to be bothered by what I consider to be the least troublesome of my transmission issues. I mostly worry about the "stalling" action when the car accelerated from a stand still. I am really bothered by the hesitation when I try to accelerate quickly from a very low speed. And I am concerned with the self acceleration at 23 mph, when slowing down while coasting. I have gone as far as I can tolerate with Lexus. They've taken up a great deal of my time and I have received nothing but insults, and intimidation. I hope you have better results than I've had.

[KBRX330]

I have owned 2 ES350's and a 2012 avalon all with the same driveline. The transmissions do seem to "hunt" between gears at stop & go "city" trafic speeds. Mine have all done it. They also shift slow when cold until they get to operating temperature. Nature of the beast. I think it is the shift logic built into the vehicle that uses speed sensors and other driveline/chassis/braking input data to mange shift interval.

You might try asking the dealer if they can clear the memory on the transmission ECU so it can "re-learn" your driving style.

[KBRX330]

1. I am really bothered by the hesitation when I try to accelerate quickly from a very low speed.

2. I am concerned with the self acceleration at 23 mph, when slowing down while coasting.

Answer to 1. : All of mine do or have done this. (2008, 2011, 2012) it is the nature electronic throttle control programming. Not the transmission.

Answer to 2: If you are coasting in any downhill angle (even slight) and touch the brake pedal the brake ECU sends a signal to the transmission ECU that you are attempting to slow down and the transmission will downshift which will increase engine rpm and act as an engine brake. (all 3 of mine do this)

This is all normal.

If you are coasting downhill (not touching brake pedal) and your engine reaches too high of an rpm the trans will downshift as well.

[GhostRyder]

Lord have mercy I am so glad I found this thread. I thought I was going crazy I have had my Lexus ES350 for under a month and this transmission lag and accelerate issue has been driving me insane. I am really wondering if i made a mistake on this purchase.