Is this dealer telling all?

We had the "update" performed in early June on our 2004 ES. At first the downshifts were so bad I considered invoking the PA lemon law. We stuck with it as the transmission "learned". The downshifts emain 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). Contacting Lexus directly was almost useless. For example they do not maintain a database of customer problems and then contact the customer when a TSB comes out, nor does my dealer.

This Lexusis the best riding car we have owned. Of course I'm driving Jeeps for the last 17 years as our second car. Unfortunately Lexus customer service isn't at the factory level.

Here's a comparison--When I bought my 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee Orvis I noticed a gear whine in the rear axle (I'm a former mechanical engineer). The dealer blew it off so I asked for a factory rep to drive it. He did and admitted that the gear noise was there but not ready for replacement. He made a point of noting it on the factory log for my Jeep. At 48,000 miles (12,000 past warranty) and four years after the purchase the rear became very noisy on a cross country trailer towing camping trip. I brought it to a local dealer (we had moved) and the tech said "needs a new rear $1800."

I asked the service manager to look up the factory log and in 4 minutes he returns and says that since I had found the problem in warranty the repair would be on Jeep's nickel. That's the factory service I expected and didn't get from Lexus with my transmission problem.

Howard

I had a similar experience with a '97 Buick Park Avenue. The transmission had a harsh shifting problem. Without too much hassle the transmission was replaced and everything was fine.

I have a new ES 330, purchased in June 2005. It has the "Jerk." I decided not to get that TSB modification of software installed since the dealers service rep told me that, once installed, they can't undo it. If it is worse than before, I'm stuck with it. Although the hesitation and jerk isn't real bad, I regard any defect in the transmission as serious, particularly on a Lexus. We have been led to believe you don't get those kind of problems with a Lexus. Also, I'm disappointed with the tires I got with this car. I opted for the 17" wheel (an option). It came with high performance tires (Bridgestone) that can wear out in 20,000 miles. There was a little placard on the rear window (about 2" by 4") stating this, but the salesman said nothing about it and I missed reading it before accepting the car. I wouldn't have wanted these tires if I knew about it, and I would have wanted the standard 16" wheel instead. It's looking like my first Lexus experience may well be my last. Al PS - Just found out that the price for routine maintenance service at the dealer was just raised even though it was extremely high to begin with. It's looking more and more that I got sucked in by the name.