JERKY TRANSMISSION ON 2000 LEXUS ES300

raguilar99

I purchased a 2000 LEXUS ES300 back in 9/2000. The car is great. The only real complaint that I have is the jerky / slow shifting transmission. I believe that the shifting should be smoother since this is a luxury vehical. The abrupt shifting occurs at all times, cold, hot, whenever. I can accept sharp shifts in the morning after startup but the most annoying shifts occur in traffic or during city driving. Here are my experiences:
-After driving at freeway speeds for a few minutes I encounter traffic and slow to 5 to 10mph speeds. As traffic starts to move and I begin to accelerate, I notice that the transmission tends to lag a bit and then shift abruptly to the next gear.
-I have also noticed a lag in shifting when attempted to move out of a slow lane with a swift press of the accelerator. It lagged so much a couple of times that I thought the car was going to stall in front of the other approaching vehicals.
-Last: In approaching a traffic light at the bottom of a hill I sometimes notice that the transmission prematurely shifts down to the lower gear causing the car to slow down.

I plan to mention this to my service advisor the next time my car is in for scheduled maintenance. I would just like to know if anyone else had this experience with their ES300 or any one of the other vehicals that share the "Camry" platform.

Thanks,

-Rob.
robert_aguilar@yahoo.com

deuce56

Although I haven't noticed this problem on my '00 ES, I would guess that the tech will try to blame it on the vtec engine and gear ratios. I know that my '00 does not shift like my '93 ES did. Good luck and report back when you take it in for service.

yupyupyup

tranny jerks the same way.