NHTSA Complaint #10000029 — 2002 LEXUS ES300

TRANSMISSION GETS CONFUSED WHEN SHIFTING INTO AND OUT OF THE LOWER GEARS, THEN SPENDS TOO LONG TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT GEAR TO BE IN. THIS CAUSES DANGEROUS DELAYS IN ACCELERATION, THE EFFECT IS THE SAME AS A MOMENTARY ENGINE STALL. WE HAVE HAD THIS HAPPEN ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS, FREEWAY RAMP ENTRANCES ARE CERTAINLY THE MOST DANGEROUS PLACE THAT THIS HAS OCCURRED. DEALER ACKNOWLEDGES THAT THERE HAVE BEEN COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE SHIFTING DELAYS BUT THEY SAY NO FIX IS AVAILABLE. THIS IS OUR THIRD ES300, THE PREVIOUS MODELS USED A CABLE BETWEEN THE GAS PEDAL AND THE THROTTLE, THIS NEW ONE USES WHAT IS CALLED "FLY BY WIRE", A POSITION SENSOR ON THE ACCELARATOR THAT A COMPUTER IS SUPPOSED TO USE TO FIGURE OUT WHAT TO TELL THE ENGINE AND TRANSMISSION. IT ISN'T WORKING VERY WELL. IF NOT RECTIFIED THIS PROBLEM WILL CERTAINLY LEAD TO A CRASH SOMEDAY, THEN WE'LL GET TO SEE HOW GOOD THE SAFETY EQUIPMENT IS.