See this website for information on the 2004 ES300 transmission lag. I had Lexus do the modification a couple of months ago and the results have been great. The lag is gone. The dealer told me to run the car hard and not baby it for the first couple of days as the transmission learns my driving style. BTW - The bulletin recommends premium fuel for "optimal engine performance" but I am using regular fuel with no problems.
I had this "fix" done a few months back and my initial impressions were that it was cured also. Mine went back to its old laggy ways after it broke in for a while. Today's drive home was a real pain in the a** with the lag and lurching. I'm not impressed by any of Lexus' efforts to fix this defect.
I have a 2004 Toyota Highlander that was "reflashed" and the transmission lag etc has been completely eliminated.
I have had this flash done and it didn't work very well. Now, the car is stuck in lower gears longer and I STILL have the lag problem, though not as much or as often. I'll just have to wait for BMW to get its quality up and will go with those in the future. I'm afraid Lexus and Acura will continue to make the wrong tradeoff on the fuel efficiency versus performance debate.
And during that very, very long wait, you'll want the Lexus to get you around.
Beats walking.
If you don't mind being pissed every time the freaking ES3xx doesn't accelerate when you need it. I bought Lexus thinking it would be a relaxed and confident drive, yet I've experienced neither due to the tranny screwups. I've had each flash upgrade as it has come out over the past 4 years, and not one of them has permanently resolved the problem. The only thing that seems to help for a short period is when they reset the computer at oil changes. Once the car re-learns my driving habits, I'm screwed again until the next oil change. Not a very smart design, and very disappointing from Toyota.
It always amazes me that not more people complain about this. I'm not a hotrodder. Neither is my wife. We both hate the Lexus tranny and would never buy another Lexus because of the way they are handling this issue.
Did you ever notice who drives an ES?
I owned a 1997 ES and now own a 2004 ES. When I see a car like mine on the road, I often look to see who's driving it. I'd say about 9 times out of 10 it's a woman age 55 or older.
Apparently (and unfortunately), most ES drivers don't see the lagging/lurching tranny as an issue for them.
Agreed, but supposedly Toyota is blessing the Toyota-branded line with a similar shift-by-wire tranny, which would render their entire fleet worthless. And this opinion is coming from someone who has driven Toyota vehicles exclusively since 1982. I'm not pleased with their recent technological missteps with the onboard computer.
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