NHTSA Complaint #10532165 — 2004 LEXUS RX330

THIS IS OUR 2ND COMPLAINT REGARDING OUR 2004 RX 330. WE HAVE OWNED IT FOR 8 MONTHS AND HAVE PUT 7K MILES ON IT SINCE PURCHASE, AND IT ONLY HAS 85K NOW. SINCE PURCHASE WE NOTICED THE TRANSMISSION SHIFTING AND JERKING PROBLEMS AT ALL RATES OF SPEED WHEN STARTING/ DRIVING/STOPPING. WE CONTACTED OUR LOCAL LEXUS DEALERSHIP TO ASK IF SOMETHING COULD BE DONE, AND WAS ADVISED THEY COULD CHECK TO SEE IF THE PREVIOUS 1ST OWNER OF VEHICLE HAD EVER "UPGRADED" THE COMPUTER CHIP THAT CONTROLS THE SYSTEM. SO, WE TOOK IT IN AND THEY DETERMINED IT HAD NOT BEEN DONE SO WE PAID THE $100.00 FOR THE UPGRADE. WE HOPED IT HAD SOLVED THE ISSUE, BUT NOW IT IS EVEN WORSE. SEVERAL DAYS AFTER GETTING THE VEHICLE BACK, I WAS ON A MAJOR HIGHWAY GOING 70 MPH WITH THE CRUISE CONTROL ON AND ACCELERATED TO CHANGE LANES AND PASS ANOTHER VEHICLE. DURING MY ATTEMPT TO PASS WITH MY FOOT ON THE ACCELERATOR, FOR 5 OR 10 SECONDS THE ENGINE/ TRANSMISSION FROZE AND IT WAS LIKE YOU WERE IN NEUTRAL GEAR, IT DID NOTHING, AND FINALLY WITH MY FOOT ALL THE WAY DOWN ON THE ACCELERATOR IT KICKED BACK INTO GEAR AND I WAS ABLE TO PASS THE VEHICLE TO MY SIDE. IF SOMEONE WOULD HAVE BEEN BEHIND ME I'M SURE THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN AN ACCIDENT, AS THE TRUCK WAS IN MOTION BUT NOT ACCELERATING. I CALLED THE DEALERSHIP AND THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT SAID THEY HAD COMPLAINTS AND WERE AWARE OF THE ACCELERATION ISSUE, BUT HAD NO COMPLAINTS ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED WITH IT "FREEZING" LIKE THAT. HE SAID THE TRUCK WILL JUST HAVE TO "LEARN MY DRIVING PATTERN", AND UNLESS TOYOTA DOES A RECALL IT WILL ALWAYS HAVE THESE ISSUES. THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE THAT NEEDS TO BE RESOLVED, SOONER THAN LATER AND IT IS JUST NOT A "FLOOR MAT" CLIP FIX. I AM NOW AFRAID TO DRIVE THIS TRUCK SINCE IT'S A TOSS UP AS TO WHEN OR WHERE IT COULD HAPPEN AGAIN. *TR