I would like to know if anyone has had the software update or modification for the transmission to remedy the hesitation and jerk when you step on the gas after turning or slowing down? Lexus issued a technical service bulletin to the dealers on this. The service rep at my dealer told me that if I have them do it to my ES 330, it cannot be reversed afterwards. In other words, if I have them do it and then don't like it, they won't be able to undo it. I would like to know what the results have been from those having it done. Was it improved, stayed about the same, or did it get worse? My car is fine on the highway, but in slower city driving, I do get the hesitation and jerk at times. Al
That might be a good idea but, I'm not so sure it would give you a fair idea of how your car will react to the change. The way it was explained to me, the car (ECU) learns your driving habits. If the test vehicle is driven in a manner that is not consistent with your driving habits, it may give you false hope.
I like the idea others have brought up. They mentioned that no-one has had issues with a "new" ES. The complaints start after the vehicle has been driven several hundred miles. Why not just do away with the damn learning curve?
We had the "update" performed in early June. At first the downshifts were so bad I considered invoking the PA lemon law. We stuck with it as the transmission "learned". The downshifts remain noticable but are no longer harsh. The hesitation has been decreased noticeably.
I would do it again because otherwise the car was unsafe to drive because the hesitation was so bad and random. Is the fix up to the quality of the rest of the car, NO!
The worse part was waiting for 17 months for a fix and not getting a notice from either the dealer or Lexus but my having to call in (again and again).
Don't know Al. It was suggested by others earlier on that maybe it would be a good idea if the damn thing didn't have the ability to "learn" at all. My wife's car drove well until she started the short stop and go trips around town.
My car had the jerk in it from the beginning. I now have about 2000 miles and it's not as bad. In my case, the learning feature may have helped a bit. But this defect shouldn't be there to begin with. The service rep at the dealers told me that their loaners (ES 330s) don't seem to have this problem since they are driven by many different people and that apparently does something good to the learning feature. In my case, I'm the only one driving the car - my wife doesn't want to drive it. Either she doesn't like the mild jerk or she's waiting for me to put the first dent on it. With all the cars on the market, I would advise anyone interested in Lexus to wait till they at least get this problem really fixed. Right now, I don't regard that software modification a real fix (neither does the service rep at the dealer). Al
I purchased an ES330 in April and have 7K+ miles on it, with almost an equal number of miles in the city and on the highway.
I thoroughly researched the 330 and was aware of the reported issues with the "drive-by wire" before I purchased mine. In response to your post, my car does occasionally exhibit the very slight hesitation and accompanying jerk when the transmission responds. Being aware of it beforehand migated the problem as far as I am concerned. It is a small talley on the negative side of the ledger, with the upside more than overcoming this small minor annoyance.
The 330 is buttery smooth to drive, both in the city and on the highway, as well. To me, it is the perfect size and has the perfect blend of sportiness, power, luxury, quality engineering and assembly, value retention and low cost of ownership. I have owned a volvo, mercury grand marquis', two camrys, a celica, honda del sol, toyota echo, fords, chevys, pontiac, volkswagon and several others, and the 330 is by far (so far) the best.
It helped that a family member is employed with Toyota MM and I was able to purchase under their employee purchase plan. I got over 5K off sticker and bumper to bumper for 100K miles. I hope to have 5 or 6 worry-free years of driving.
Oh, BTW, a different thread implied that Toyota obtained their component parts from the same suppliers as "American" vehicles. While this is very true, one thing that fails to be pointed out, is that Toyota's specifications are much more demanding than Toyota or Honda. My son works for a company that supplies several parts for automobile assembly plants and he has commented several times to me that the Japanese are serious about ZERO defects.
Meanwhile, I'll keep an eye out for the service bulletin that will correct the hesitation issue, seemingly inherent in the drive-by wire technology.
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