I have complained numerous times and have written a letter to denny clements, group vp of lexus informing him of my safety concerns related to the 2004 es330. His office attempted to appease me by offering to send me 2 free oil change coupons or $1,000 off my next purchase or lease of a lexus vehicle. The vehicle has serious hesitation issues when attempting to accelerate. I have spoken to everyone at the dealer, including the service manager (who admitted the issue, but had no solution) and general manager. The issue has not been resolved.
2004 Lexus ES330 acceleration complaints
Page 3 of 3: complaints 41 to 53 of 53, newest first, as owners wrote them.
On numerous occassions this car had accelerated unexpectedly when putting it in gear both forward and reverse.n the last occurrence the car shot forward, jumping a low curb and hitting a tree.*ak I had no control over what happened and I am afraid to drive this car any more.
Vehicle surged when cruise control was engaged at 60 MPH. It surged up to 80 MPH. It felt like it was going down hill. Dealer could not duplicate the problem. Also, transmission hesitated at 0-20 MPH, it also jerked. *ak.......lexus has admitted the problem, but maintained that vehicle drove as designed. Hesitation problem experienced by many lexus es330 car vehicle hesitation, then will lurch forward when accelerating a tlow speeds. Lexus has admitted the problem, but insisted vehicle drove as designed.
Electronic gas pedal - when at low speed or immediately after coming to a stop the gas pedal is depressed the car hesitates for 1.5 seconds or more before responding and then accelerates very fast. This presents a serious safety hazzard when tring to enter or cross busy highways. The dealer says all the 2004 7 2005 models do it. It is a constant complaint. Lexus customer service says they are aware of it but have no cure. A safety warning and recall shopuld be issued.
Vehicle lunged forward when brakes were depressed.*mr while pulling into his garage the vehicle would not stop but lunged forward. The vehicle hit a corner wall, went over an eight inch step up, and hit the step to the house breaking it. The vehicle then hit the wall facing the entrance to the garage causing damage to the vehicle and the house (vehicle damage $9200. House damage $60,000.). The manufacture examined the vehicle and concluded that there was nothing wrong with the vehicle.
At most sppeds, especially when stopped or at speeds below 40 MPH, my lexus es330 has a severe hesitation/acceleration delay that when depressing the accelerator pedal, acceleration is delayed at least 1.5 seconds, is unpredictable and compromises safety and places the driver at risk in most day to day driving scenarios. It is also impossible to match the speed of a vehicle in front when in bumper to bumper traffic, when the accelerator pedal is pressed, the es330 will continue to roll forward for a few seconds then accelerate, it will not "creep" at the speed of traffic. I am told by lexus that this is normal and is inherint in the vehicle design. If this is true, one would think this design flaw will soon eclipse the firestone/ford explorer injuries of the past.
While driving at low speeds vehicle hesitated then surged forward. No impact reported. *ak the vehicle hesitated when the accelerator pedal was applied then suddenly after several seconds the vehicle would accelerated suddenly.
04 lexus es330 transmission hesitation is serious danger to driver. Engine hesitates when starting from a dead start. Car has to be floored to move and even then it hesitates even more. Also car has serious blind spots on left and right outer side mirrors (they are too small for the car). Also, cruise control light stays lit even when the brake is hit or you dis-engage it. The only time the cruise control light turns off is when you physically turn it off with the switch or shut the engine off completely. This gives the driver the impression that it is on all the time even when it is off or worse they think they have shut it off but it's really still on and you have a very good chance of rear ending someone. This is extremely bad engineering and extremely dangerous. How you guys let a car like this on the road is beyond me. Did you test it? If so, how did you let it pass thru to the USA? This car with it's hesitation, blind spots, and dangerous cruise control it's likely to get someone injured or killed in a hurry. Car doesn't get anything near the epa ratings under any condition. I've contacted lexus customer care and they say this all normal. No help or suggestions. Please get lexus to put out tsbs on these problems before someone gets injured or killed. I'm very concerned. I've been a driver for 34 years. I've never driven a car so dangerous in my life.
My 2004 lexus es330has a problem with shifting. When attempting to accelerate the car hesitates significantly before deciding to downshift. This is a notable problem when trying to avoid traffic or change lanes fluidly under crowded traffic conditions. Lexus says this is normal for the car.
When accelerating from an idle position vehicle hesitates.
Automatic transmission/vehicle speed control:accelerator pedal failed. *ak the vehicle hesitates when the throttle is applied while drining at 30 to 40 MPH due to poor transmission shifting. The dealer installed new software which improved (~50%) but did not eliminate the concern. The consumer says this is a common concern with these vehicles based on his internet research.
My lexus es330 was less than two months old and the mileage read about 950 the time when the accident happened.t occurred on the way to work at 8:40 am march 8th, 2004. It was a sunny warm day. As I was driving on the far right lane of south 5 freeway with speed around 65 to 70 MPH, a car next to my lane was trying to cut in front of me. In order to keep a safe distance, I tried to slow down the car by pressing the brake. The moment I pressed the brake the car swerved to the right. I couldn't control where the vehicle was heading and the car didn't slow down as I further pressed the brake. It bumped into the guardrail and turned 180 degree facing the oncoming cars. Luckily, I was able to make a turn and parked the car without hitting anybody. The car was damaged from the right head light all the way to the rear bumper. I immediately called the dealer and lexus sent a inspector to check on the car. One week later, I was informed the car is ok and there is nothing abnormal after their investigation. I requested an investigation report and the response I got is I have to "go through the legal system". There was no explanation for the exact meaning of this phrase. I am a good driver with excellent record. The whole experience was totally out of nowhere and unpredictable. I kept looking back to find any clues that might lead to the accident. As I studied the federal safety agency complaints, most of them happened during slow speed driving. My case happened on the freeway and all I remembered was the car didn't slow down as I applied the brake.
Vehicle does not always respond properly to driver depressing accelerator. In some cases, when coasting slowly e.g., under 10 MPH), suddenly pressing the accelerator sharply will have no effect for about 1.5 seconds. During the delay, the engine will continue to idle and vehicle speed do not increase. After the delay, the engine and vehicle speed increase in accordance with the accelerator pedal position. This can lead to an accident if the driver is making a left turn when there is oncoming traffic. There is another possibly related anomaly with the car: when driving, under some circumstances, when the driver sharply presses the accelerator, the engine and vehicle speed will not change for about 1.5 seconds. After the delay, the transmission down shifts and the engine speed increases.
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