The manual states that the car will not shift into 6th gear until the engine has warmed up. Don't understand why, but I can live with that. What I cannot live with is the following: Whenever you start the car cold and start driving, the transmission refuses to shift out of first gear unless you gun it enough (3000 RPM on the tach), then it behaves normally.
This occurs whether it is 100 degrees or below 0 outside. I frankly hate to gun a cold engine that hard if you do not have to. I asked my service manager if this might be a software problem, as it seems to be getting worse with time. His response was that the dealership could not do anything about the software of the transmission controller, but suggested I drive in S-mode, which disables the fuzzy logic used in the transmission, what Toyota calls "ECT-i the i stand for - with intelligence".
I did do that and from now on always drive in the S-mode, makes it easier to downshift, but the PROBLEM remains the same. Any thoughts out there?