ES330 owners

Thanks, yeah, I had considered the tax wash benefits, it would definitely be better to trade than to sell through CarMax. I'll try to give the new programming enough time to settle in. I really don't like the idea of turning this car around so quickly and losing all the depreciation. Thanks for the advice.

Reply to
Steve Larson
Loading thread data ...

They TOTALLy redesigned the very first ES...the ES250 after 2 years. What's the big deal?

situations.

Reply to
B. Newman

Even with Toyota's reputation for quality, I'd NEVER buy anything that radical...a hybrid SUV in the first year or two. There is no doubt in my mind that Toyota will get it right...but not right away.

Reply to
B. Newman

Lexus didn't drop anything. They enlarged the engine and revised the electronics for the ES330, as they do at regular intervals on all their cars. There was no major defect, nor huge problem to be solved, and they weren't trying to sweep anything under the rug. The enlargment of the 3.0L V6 to 3.3L was just a natural progression in the improvement of their line of cars. That's it.

You're looking for a conspiracy where there is none. I agree the hesitation - which varies from car to car and whose perception varies from individual to individual - can be annoying, but you're making a tempest in a teapot.

And you can't have it both ways: You can't say that the problem isn't discernable on a test drive, but then turn around and say it is so major that it is a safety hazard and something Lexus which caused Lexus to "drop" a model and replace it with another.

- Mark

Reply to
markjen

If you think an ES is computer controlled, you haven't seen nothing until you see how a hybrid works.

- Mark

Reply to
markjen

I'll put you on I285 around Atlanta and let you merge into traffic on a short entrance ramp with an ES300. I've since learned not to trust the tranny in the ES300, and I've adjusted accordingly, but this is the first car I've ever driven that didn't give me acceleration when I needed it. I don't think a 2-3 second lag is very normal when Bubba is bearing down on you in his 4x4 and your car won't move. Try it sometime, it's a real hoot.

Reply to
Steve Larson

they've been doing pretty well with the Prius, but I know what you mean.

Reply to
Steve Larson

Of course there are many cars with an electronic transmission. The Highlander has an electronic control, but I don't feel the lag in that like I do in the ES300. It's clear that Lexus programmed it to try and provide a smooth ride, but they left out the ability to hit it when you need it. It's not that it does it poorly, it just doesn't do it. What people don't really get about this ES300 issue is that it's unpredictable. Sometimes it will surprise me and really take off, other times it won't. It's those times that it won't take off that get the heart racing.

Reply to
Steve Larson

Prius is a $20,000 experiment. RX330 is a REAL vehicle. Too much to gamble on RIGHT NOW. I agree that in 2-3 years it will be perfect I am sure.

Reply to
B. Newman

I drove my ES300 for a year. Seemed fine to me. I don't (didn't ) get it!

Reply to
B. Newman

The whole issue goes back to the adaptive control of the transmission. If you drive aggressively ( not stupidly) most of the time you will not notice the hesitation. If you drive with a light foot most of the time you will notice the hesitation more. This is why some people complain and others can't figure out what your talking about.

Myles

Reply to
msb

I don't know about the ES, but on my GS, keeping the transmission in "4" (which locks out the overdrive 5th gear) helps tremendously. For what I assume is better fuel mileage, the transmission would shift to 5th at ridicuolously low speeds and any throttle at all would require at least one and sometimes two downshifts. This could stack hesitations on top of one another as one's natural response during a downshift hesitiation is to press more throttle, which could cause a further downshift and a further hesitation.

PWR mode helps as well, although not as much as locking out 5th.

- Mark

Reply to
markjen

Why didn't you rent the car for the weekend before buying it? I can't see how people would spend $$ and buy a car after a 20 min test drive. If you are too cheap to spend the $$ to rent the car for a weekend, then this is nothing but buyers remorse.

Next time, do you homework. Make a short list of cars you are interested in. If the test drive is good, find out what it costs to rent the vehicles for 2 to 4 days. Spending a few hundred on a rental is better then spending thousands on something you will regret later.

situations.

Reply to
Car Guy

This guy is very obviously an employee of Lexus or some affiliate of the a Lexus dealership.

Jim

Reply to
Jimmy Smith

I swear I have NO relationship to Lexus or Toyota or any thing involving the auto industry other than being a satisfied Lexus customer.

transmission

Reply to
B. Newman

It's simple, I trusted Lexus. That should be pretty easy to understand.

Reply to
Steve Larson

And if we are to assume that all pro-Lexus posters have a relationship with Toyota, then shouldn't we also assume that all anti-Lexus posters have a relationship with a competitior? Doubting the veracity of a post cuts both ways.

- Mark

Reply to
markjen

Good point. I have owned so many other car makes over the years...I just finally realized that Lexus is truly the best all around car and ownership experience period. Funny thing is that I had a 1990 LS400 but didn't really "get it" until after that was long gone and I had other makes then looked back. I am glad to be back "home".

Reply to
B. Newman

Even though Lexus is a quality product, I personally never trust any car maker. I base my purchases by reading as many car reviews I can come across and then test drive the vehicles I plan on buying and then rent the exact make, model, options, etc, for few days and put about 500 to 600 miles of driving on it. If it feels like a sound car, I then look at all past repair data and info about the car before I buy it. Generally, my car purchases take between 2 to 4 months, and I plan on keeping my car for a number of years until:

a) I get 200,000 miles on the car

b) Too many visits to the repair shop

c) Just sick of driving a car for soo many years.

Reply to
Car Guy

Your diligence has to be commended, sometimes people don't always have that luxury of time and resources. I stretched to get the ES300, so dropping some triple digit amount of cash on rentals wasn't in my plan. It's also not easy to find unbiased and revealing car reviews, believe me, I read everything that was out at the time. In hindsight, I read back over some ES300 reviews and they did make mention of the underpowered engine, but I recall that they sort of glossed it over, instead saying that the ride and interior styling made up for any weakness under the hood. At the time I needed to buy, there weren't many other solid choices in the ES300's class. The Infiniti was due for restyling, the Acura TL was too small for tall people. I had been driving Toyota cars exclusively for 21 years, the next logical progression in the class of vehicle I wanted was a Lexus, and that's where the leap of faith came in. Not everybody is capable of making the perfect decision with every decision in a busy life. Sometimes in life you need to trust something by instinct and reputation, and not judge others' poor or uninformed decisions by our own individual standard, especially without walking in their shoes.

Reply to
Steve Larson

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.