Not Good!
Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2003 2:45 amJust came back from a short golf vacation on the otherside (resort area) of the island. I've got some good news and some bad news. 1st the good, the car ran great, plenty of passing power even though I never redlined it (still have less than 500 miles). The car is very quiet on the hwy, very little wind or road noise on smooth pavement, tires on the SE can be a little noisy on rougher pavement. The ride is somewhat firm, I like it that way as opposed to Lexus soft and floaty. I averaged 27mpg about 80% hwy. And in Hawaii on the Big Island you're either going uphill or downhill.
Now the bad, after about a 70 mile return trip back to the east side, I pull in to my credit union for about 5 minutes, get back in the car pull out and the car barely shifted into 2nd. It stalled so bad that I almost hit my head on the steering wheel and almost got hit by another car. It shifted soooooo sloooow it barely made it into gear at all. The next 6 or so miles home weren't much better. The car was very sluggish and shifted horribly. It definately felt like the tranny overheated. After I got home I let it cool off for about 3 hours and tried it out and it seemed fine. I haven't tried to duplicate the problem again because I haven't had the time to drive for and hour then park it for a few minutes and let the heat build up. It goes to the dealer today, not much they can do other than look at it. I don't want then driving around for and hour in my car. Anyway I mainly just want the problem documented for future reference. I hope I don't have a lemon, or maybe this is the quality Toyota is going to get out of American assembled vehicles.
I really like the car, the ride, handling, power, sound of the engine when on the gas and yes even the tranny (as long as it's cool) are top notch. I'm sure that Toyota could've slapped a Lexus badge on it, charged another 10 grand and still sold em all.
I'll try and update when I get it back fron the shop. I think at the least they should install a tranny cooler (at their expense). Also if anyone else could try and duplicate the problem (drive for a while, the longer the better, then park for about 5 mins then take off and see how it shifts.
Thanks
Gene
Now the bad, after about a 70 mile return trip back to the east side, I pull in to my credit union for about 5 minutes, get back in the car pull out and the car barely shifted into 2nd. It stalled so bad that I almost hit my head on the steering wheel and almost got hit by another car. It shifted soooooo sloooow it barely made it into gear at all. The next 6 or so miles home weren't much better. The car was very sluggish and shifted horribly. It definately felt like the tranny overheated. After I got home I let it cool off for about 3 hours and tried it out and it seemed fine. I haven't tried to duplicate the problem again because I haven't had the time to drive for and hour then park it for a few minutes and let the heat build up. It goes to the dealer today, not much they can do other than look at it. I don't want then driving around for and hour in my car. Anyway I mainly just want the problem documented for future reference. I hope I don't have a lemon, or maybe this is the quality Toyota is going to get out of American assembled vehicles.
I really like the car, the ride, handling, power, sound of the engine when on the gas and yes even the tranny (as long as it's cool) are top notch. I'm sure that Toyota could've slapped a Lexus badge on it, charged another 10 grand and still sold em all.
I'll try and update when I get it back fron the shop. I think at the least they should install a tranny cooler (at their expense). Also if anyone else could try and duplicate the problem (drive for a while, the longer the better, then park for about 5 mins then take off and see how it shifts.
Thanks
Gene
