NHTSA Complaint #10296814 — 2005 LEXUS ES330

I PURCHASED MY 2005 LEXUS ES330 AS A CERTIFIED PRE-OWN IN SEPTEMBER 2007. AFTER DRIVING IT FOR A MONTH OR TWO. I EXPERIENCE A CONSISTENT HESITATION ISSUE. I TOOK IT TO THE LOCAL DEALERSHIP AND THEY SAID THEY WOULD RESET SOMETHING IN THE COMPUTER TO ADJUST TO MY DRIVING STYLE. IT DID NOT APPEAR TO HELP. SO I'VE TAKEN IT BACK 2 TIMES SINCE AND THEY SAY IT'S THE NORMAL FUNCTION OF THE DRIVE BY WIRE AND NOTHING THEY CAN DO. THE PROBLEM IS THE TRANSMISSION IN MY LEXUS ES330 APPEARS NOT TO SHIFT DOWN NORMALLY UNLESS THE VEHICLE IS BROUGHT TO A FULL STOP. WHEN SLOWING DOWN FOR TRAFFIC THEN ACCELERATING AND/OR SLOWING DOWN TO MAKE TURNS AT INTERSECTIONS OR CORNERS RESULTS IN GEAR HESITATION AND LURCHING FORWARD. AT INTERSECTIONS WHEN MAKING LEFT HAND TURNS IT APPEARS TO SLIP [NO POWER FOR A BRIEF MOMENT). I FEEL THE CAR IS NOW UNSAFE TO MAKE LEFT TURNS BECAUSE THE CAR MAY NOT HAVE ACCELERATION WHEN NEEDED. I HAVE ALREADY HAD THE CAR REPAIRED FOR THIS TYPE OF ISSUE WHEN THE LEXUS ES330 LOST ALL POWER. AND SINCE THE REPAIRS I AM STILL HAVING THE HESITATION ISSUES AND BRIEF LOSS OF POWER. I HAVE BEEN TOLD BY THE HENDRIX LEXUS SERVICE DEPARTMENT THAT THIS "HESITATION" ISSUE IS A NORMAL FUNCTION OF THE DRIVE BY WIRE SYSTEM. I CANNOT AGREE WITH THAT CONCLUSION. THERE IS A DEFINITE PROBLEM WITH THE ES330 AND A POSSIBLE SAFETY ISSUE. IF I WAS TO BRING MY CAR IN FOR THIS ISSUE, IT WOULD BE THE 3RD OR 4TH TIME AT THAT SHOP FOR THE SAME ISSUE. THIS IS A DAILY OCCURRENCE FOR MY LEXUS ES300. PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU RECOMMEND OR IF THERE IS A SOLUTION AT THIS TIME. AGAIN, LET ME STRESS, I FEEL THAT THE CAR IS UNSAFE IN MAKING LEFT HAND TURNS WITH ONCOMING TRAFFIC. THANK YOU FOR HELPING WITH THE SAFETY ISSUE. *TR