Vehicle Speed Control Problems of Lexus ES300 - part 2

2003 ES 300 - transmission issues: I have been experiencing hesitation upon acceleration almost every time, along with hard shifting 50% of the time. The acceleration hesitation can be scary if I'm trying to enter the highway, or turning left. The hard shifting feels like I got hit from behind. Both problems have been going on for years and Lexus dealer has never been any help. I read many of the online forums and found that both of these problems are very common as are their results for getting these issues fixed - not much luck from the dealer - "it works as it is designed". Really? Lexus needs to stand behind their product. I can't believe how many complaints I have read (100s) and their hasn't been a recall. How does a consumer go about pushing for a recall, or class action or will the lemon law work?.

See all problems of the 2003 Lexus ES300 🔎.

While driving the car would speed up on own without pushing on the accelerator. I found my car going from 40 to 60. In park position the car will rev to high rpm but if I am in drive mode it will just accelerate. I took it to Lexus and the technician says the idle speed control valve was not working and the repair work would be $500.

See all problems of the 2001 Lexus ES300 🔎.

Consumer owned a 2002 ES 300. Consumer was getting into a parking place when he went over a speed bump, he stopped with vehicle in reverse, then, placed the car in drive and the vehicle surged forward, consumer tried to apply brake and brakes failed. The vehicle would not stop, ended up striking a concrete pillar. There were no injuries. No police report, but it was reported to insurance company. The vehicle was moving forward with great force and brakes could not stop vehicle. Consumer was aware of an investigation that was in progress on this matter. Although investigation was officially closed, NHTSA said that they would monitor these type of vehicles. Consumer said that investigation was on the electronic throttle control.

See all problems of the 2002 Lexus ES300 🔎.

I had pulled into my garage. I had my foot on the brake and lifted it a little to inch forward to my mark ( to allow for the garage door to close) when the car just surged forward! fortunately I applied the brake hard, since my foot was by the brake, but I banged into the garage wall and did damage to the car and the wall.

Lexus 300 hesitation. Stepped on accelerator, car hesitated and had to pump accelerator to go forward. This problem occurred many times. The consumer almost had an accident while attempting to make a left turn. The consumer applied the accelerator pedal, the vehicle hesitated and the consumer pumped the accelerator to go forward. The dealer could not find a problem.

The consumer stated at any time the vehicle accelerated without warning. No impact reported. Please provide additional information. The vehicle sticks in gear.

When backing out of a parking space the car went into a high acceleration. I rear ended two cars that were directly behind me. If there was anyone walking behind I would have killed them. I believe there is a throttle control problem.

Verification on the investigation of the 2003 Lexus Es300 involved in surging, reporting 30 crashes due to a possible defect.

The contact owns a 2003 Lexus Es300 purchased April 2004. She immediately began experiencing failures when the vehicle surged and violently lunged forward while it was idle. The dealer stated that the vehicle was a "Smart car" and was aware when there was a driver, other than herself behind the wheel, which would "confuse" the vehicle. No diagnostic test were performed. The failure progressed and the vehicle was taken back to dealer a second time. Although the dealer became familiar with the failure; they stated that she needed to wait a year until the "new programming" was available. One year later, the vehicle was taken back to the dealer for the software reprogramming and the failure became progressively worse. The vehicle continued to lunge violently while sitting idle, driving at speeds of under 35 mph or while coasting. When the vehicle lunged it felt as if she was being struck from the rear by another vehicle. There were no additional repairs made to the vehicle. The VIN was not available. The failure and current mileages were approximately 78,000.

Consumer stated while parking vehicle and depressing the brake the vehicle surged forward and ran into a street sign and barrier gate.

While entering a parking lot vehicle accelerated on its own. Consumer tapped the brakes, and speed increased even more. As a result, driver loss control of vehicle, and hit a wall. See voq 10062702.

When driving at a low speed, the vehicle surged forward. The consumer took the vehicle to the dealership for inspection on five separate occasions, but the problem continued the dealer acknowledged the situation but did not know how to fix it. There was excessive belt squealing in the morning, the brake pedal pulsated and the key would no turn in the ignition.

Consumer complained about unexpected acceleration. Consumer took vehicle to the dealer. Also, the Lexus corporation sent a representative to inspect the vehicle, and they claimed there was no problem. Consumer was pulling out from a parking space when vehicle accelerated forward as soon as consumer stepped on the brake pedal.

I was driving at about 35 mph on highway. When the traffic slowed down, I applied the brake to bring down the speed of the car to about 3-7 mph. After following the car in front of me for about 5 seconds at about 3/4 car distance, I saw the car in front of me speeded up slowly and I decided to follow up by pressing the accelerator moderatly. The car first shuddered, then paused for about 1 second, and finally accelerated at almost maximum power. This was a near miss. Before this happened, I brought our car to Lexus dealer to complain about shuddering/pausing when accelerating from low speed after the car was updated with TSB-tc004-03; the chief technician drove the car and reproduced the kind of problems that we had. However, he said that he could not do anything about it and was going to write a report to Toyota corp because it was a software problem. On the other hand, the receipt from the dealer said that they did not find any abnormal transmission shift during test driving, but would file a report. What a contradication! the danger of this transmission problem was further magnified by the fact that 2002 Es300 runs very smoothly at most times (>98%). This shudder/pause/acceleration or pause/acceleration that only occurs sporadically under very special conditions gives drivers surprise that is the last thing they want during driving. For curiosity, I tested driving the car for about 50 miniutes by repeatly slowing down to about 5 - 10 mph by applying brake, then allowing the car to roll for about 3 seconds without pressing gas paddle, and then accelerating moderately to about 20 - 30 mph. The probobility for the shudder/pause/acceleration is about 5%, while that for pause/acceleration about 15%. It seemed that this problem happended more often on down/up hill. .

While parking consumer depressed the brake pedal and vehicle lurched forward, hitting a building. The front of the vehicle was damaged. Vehicle was taken to the dealer, who could not determine the cause of the problem.

Since I purchased the car, I have been complaining about a hesitation and stuttering when accelerating after a slow-down or a stop. I was told there was nothing wrong several times and more recently have been told it is a design flaw in the computer-controlled accelerator and cannot be fixed. I have several times had a close call on the freeway when I needed to accelerate quickly and the car hesitated before accelerating. I have not had an accident, but have been very frightened by the delay in performance. I have had 2 previous Lexus ES 300's that did not have this problem.

Ltr fm brett woody (TX) re dangerous defective transmission software problems in the 2002-2003 Lexus Es300, reply attn Jan crow/ houston ofc. Consumer would apply more and more pressure to the brake pedal but vehicle wouldn't accelerated. The transmission failed twice. Lexus had given the consumer a new vehicle and it had similar problems. The vehicle almost had gotten the consumer into several accidents. On numerous occasions after the brake pedal was tapped, the vehicle would accelerate but the rpm's would fly up and the vehicle would barely move. In stop in go traffic the vehicle would surge forward. (this felt as if the transmission slipped then the surging occurred) there was an annoying rattle in the ceiling console.

Due to the design of the speedometer consumer cannot read the gauge during the bright daylight hours. The pointer is bright red, and with the bright sun shining down, it is very hard to see where the dial is on the dashboard.

When the gas pedal was applied, the vehicle paused for 1-2 seconds before proceeding forward. As a result, the consumer had almost hit pedestrians and rear ended other motorists. If the consumer attempts to switch lanes to avoid hitting or rear ending anyone, the vehicle stalls. The vehicle has been serviced 9 times by the dealership, in which diagnostic test have been performed, but no failure code was found. The dealership only conclusion is that this is how the vehicle is suppose to drive.

2002 Lexus malfunctioning brake system. The engine surged while braking. It was indicated that this may be due to an increase in idling speed when the a/c was operating. On one occasion the vehicle continued to move although the consumer applied extreme pressure on the brake pedal.

While pulling into garage, vehicle suddenly surged forward, went into garage and damaged wall, car and home. Dealer contacted.

See all problems of the 2000 Lexus ES300 🔎.

Engine throttle position sensor failed. Nlm.

See all problems of the 1997 Lexus ES300 🔎.

2003 Lexus Es300 with accelerator pedal, automatic transmission, and vehicle speed control issues. Consumer states that the when trying to accelerate from a low speed there is a delay before the engine responds. The consumer stated he experienced a significant abrupt downshift when slowing down from higher speeds and an abrupt upshift when accelerating from a slow speed. It felt as though the transmission could not decide what gear it should be in. The consumer was advised a computer patch was available for the problem, but it usually did not work and it could make the problem worse.

While parking vehicle surged, jumped a curb, and ran into an apartment building.

See all problems of the 1998 Lexus ES300 🔎.

The speedometer is not visible in bright sunlight. Consumer has no idea how fast the vehicle is going.

We have a surge or skip on deacceleration. This will happen from 40 to 60 mph. The dealer will only tell us they are aware of the problem but have no cure. I feel that after 7 months they should have a fix.

Vehicle suddenly lurched forward and veered to the right running into a wall. No injuries occurred, but there's damage in the vehicle's front end and the garage wall.