A transmission problem in 2002 to 2004 Lexus ES300 and ES330 sedans can cause hesitation before the car accelerates in certain situations -- and create some unsettling moments for the cars' owners.

	Drivers have experienced a transmission problem with the Lexus ES330, above, which caused the car to hesitate. Click photo for larger image.

McMurray resident Timothy W. Farabaugh was among those who experienced the problem with his 2004 Lexus ES330, and Consumer Reports has uncovered similar difficulties with the pricey model, which ranges from the mid-$30,000s to mid-$40,000s..

Farabaugh said his wife, Judy, experienced the hesitation problem firsthand when approaching a four lane highway with a yield sign. "After almost coming to a stop, and at the proper point in time, she pressed on the accelerator in order to merge into the far right lane that was wide open. ... Nothing happened.

"Then her car lunged into the intended lane, only to have a car that just changed lanes come bearing down on her, horn blowing, hands and fingers waving," Farabaugh said. "This was a very dangerous situation that almost resulted in the car being hit from behind. Impact was avoided by only inches."

David Champion, director of automobile testing for Consumer Reports said his staff also had problems with transmission delay when testing the 2004 Lexus ES330. "Your reader's experience does sound a lot worse than what we experienced, but that might be just the difference between cars."

Farabaugh said he was told that the problem related to a new "drive-by-wire" system in which the drivetrain went from a direct drive by cable to a system of commands that communicates between the gas pedal, the computer, the transmission and the engine." In other words, he said, "Instead of the gas pedal being connected directly to a series of cables and rods, the gas pedal now communicates with a computer and the computer tells the transmission and engine what to do."

Champion said he wasn't so sure that the "drive-by-wire" system was the problem.

"We've driven quite a few new cars that have drive-by-wire, and they don't have that problem,'' he said. "But we do know from our reliability data that both the 2002 model and the 2004 models seem to have had transmission problems -- a higher incident of transmission problems, than the average car."

A Lexus spokesman said the firm was aware of the problem and was investigating both the cause and the extensiveness of it. There have been no reports of accidents caused by the problem, but, "We did find a few complaints -- not a lot -- about the car hesitating excessively in certain conditions, after firm pressure was applied on the accelerator pedal and trying to accelerate quickly," said Brad Nelson, a Lexus public relations consultant said.

He said the problems were confined to the 2002-2004 Lexus ES300 and ES330 models, all of which are equipped with five speed automatic transmissions.

"The transmissions on the cars have a sophisticated system that learns driver habits and adjusts itself to fit their driving pattern. The transmission acts to minimize what we call shift shock by regulating the onset of power," Nelson said.

"One byproduct of this is that there is a small delay between the time that a driver pushes the throttle and a feeling of strong acceleration. This can vary depending upon the learned driving pattern."

Lexus has several options should it be determined that remedies must be made, Nelson said.

"One option would be a service campaign where all owners are notified that there is an issue and that there is a fix for it. Then there is what we call a technical service information bulletin that is sent to dealers, and when customers have a particular complaint, the dealers can address [it]," Nelson said.

"Typically, when there are just a handful of people and cars involved and it is not considered a widespread or major issue, we try to handle things through a technical service information bulletin."