Notchy Gear Box

[milopro]

Hello people i have just purchased a 11,000 mile, year old is250 from a main dealer,My prievious car was a 3 series which was ok but easy to drive. But the lexus seems to have a poor shift from 1st to 2nd and not great from 3rd to 2nd its a bit notchy and clunky after a few day of deciding if it was me or the car im thinking its the car it drives well and the clutch seems good , i just wanted some advice/feedback is to wether its normal or get it into the dealer?

[Boothby Coggles]

Hello people i have just purchased a 11,000 mile, year old is250 from a main dealer,My prievious car was a 3 series which was ok but easy to drive. But the lexus seems to have a poor shift from 1st to 2nd and not great from 3rd to 2nd its a bit notchy and clunky after a few day of deciding if it was me or the car im thinking its the car it drives well and the clutch seems good , i just wanted some advice/feedback is to wether its normal or get it into the dealer?

Welcome to the world of Lexus.

I presume you have a manual gearbox. 1st & 2nd on the manual are renowned for not being what they could be.

As for 3rd, I had some notchiness on the change between it & 2nd. My dealer fitted a modified selector fork under warranty and it's now better that it was, but not, again, as good as it could be when compared to other cars.

The service manager and adviser at the dealer I use both admit that Lexus are "not very good" at manual gearboxes. I can't understand why when they are an offshoot of Toyota - the Avensis box is far better and, in comparison, a joy to use.

[DJP]

Hello people i have just purchased a 11,000 mile, year old is250 from a main dealer,My prievious car was a 3 series which was ok but easy to drive. But the lexus seems to have a poor shift from 1st to 2nd and not great from 3rd to 2nd its a bit notchy and clunky after a few day of deciding if it was me or the car im thinking its the car it drives well and the clutch seems good , i just wanted some advice/feedback is to wether its normal or get it into the dealer?

This is a subjective view as people's driving experiences will determine what they perceive is a good or a bad box. From the forum comments I have read, the manual appears to be short of the expectations of drivers and doesn't come up top the standard a Lexus owners expexts from a car that is badged as executive.

I have the auto and it is fantastic, silky smooth and a joy to drive in traffic. If you want to drive as a manual then you can use the gearstick or the flappy paddles. I believe the car tax is cheaper too!

Unless you cannot even contemplate auto I would go back and test drive one and if you like it try and exchange. Again, from previous posts I believe you have 30 day "no quibble exchange policy".

Let us know what you decide to do.

[milopro]

Hello people i have just purchased a 11,000 mile, year old is250 from a main dealer,My prievious car was a 3 series which was ok but easy to drive. But the lexus seems to have a poor shift from 1st to 2nd and not great from 3rd to 2nd its a bit notchy and clunky after a few day of deciding if it was me or the car im thinking its the car it drives well and the clutch seems good , i just wanted some advice/feedback is to wether its normal or get it into the dealer?

This is a subjective view as people's driving experiences will determine what they perceive is a good or a bad box. From the forum comments I have read, the manual appears to be short of the expectations of drivers and doesn't come up top the standard a Lexus owners expexts from a car that is badged as executive.

I have the auto and it is fantastic, silky smooth and a joy to drive in traffic. If you want to drive as a manual then you can use the gearstick or the flappy paddles. I believe the car tax is cheaper too!

Unless you cannot even contemplate auto I would go back and test drive one and if you like it try and exchange. Again, from previous posts I believe you have 30 day "no quibble exchange policy".

Let us know what you decide to do.

[milopro]

Hello people i have just purchased a 11,000 mile, year old is250 from a main dealer,My prievious car was a 3 series which was ok but easy to drive. But the lexus seems to have a poor shift from 1st to 2nd and not great from 3rd to 2nd its a bit notchy and clunky after a few day of deciding if it was me or the car im thinking its the car it drives well and the clutch seems good , i just wanted some advice/feedback is to wether its normal or get it into the dealer?

This is a subjective view as people's driving experiences will determine what they perceive is a good or a bad box. From the forum comments I have read, the manual appears to be short of the expectations of drivers and doesn't come up top the standard a Lexus owners expexts from a car that is badged as executive.

I have the auto and it is fantastic, silky smooth and a joy to drive in traffic. If you want to drive as a manual then you can use the gearstick or the flappy paddles. I believe the car tax is cheaper too!

Unless you cannot even contemplate auto I would go back and test drive one and if you like it try and exchange. Again, from previous posts I believe you have 30 day "no quibble exchange policy".

Let us know what you decide to do.

Thanks for the good advice at the moment its a thing i could live with my worry is it gets worse.Just suck it and see for the moment.

[milopro]

Hello people i have just purchased a 11,000 mile, year old is250 from a main dealer,My prievious car was a 3 series which was ok but easy to drive. But the lexus seems to have a poor shift from 1st to 2nd and not great from 3rd to 2nd its a bit notchy and clunky after a few day of deciding if it was me or the car im thinking its the car it drives well and the clutch seems good , i just wanted some advice/feedback is to wether its normal or get it into the dealer?

Welcome to the world of Lexus.

I presume you have a manual gearbox. 1st & 2nd on the manual are renowned for not being what they could be.

As for 3rd, I had some notchiness on the change between it & 2nd. My dealer fitted a modified selector fork under warranty and it's now better that it was, but not, again, as good as it could be when compared to other cars.

The service manager and adviser at the dealer I use both admit that Lexus are "not very good" at manual gearboxes. I can't understand why when they are an offshoot of Toyota - the Avensis box is far better and, in comparison, a joy to use.

Cheers thats the impression im getting why make such a great car and put in a ratchety box.I would have thought by now they would have cracked it

[Paradroid]

To be fair it's not just Lexus, there's quite a few six speed gearboxes out there with this problem. I've known people with BMW M3 (manual not the SMG obviously), Madza RX-8 and Hyundai Coupe V6, all with this issue. My Hyundai Coupe had exactly the same second gear problem as my IS200, although it wasn't as bad.

I've always driven manuals but I must admit I'd go for an auto if I was going for the IS250. The tax and the better drive make it sound like a good idea.

Some Slick 50 is going in the gearbox of my IS200 at the weekend, which is known to help, so I'll report back on whether that helps :)

[dgman]

i remember back in the early days of my ownership that the gear box felt quite notchy.three years later with 50k on the clock there is no notchiness,so expect it to improve as the miles increase and investigate the gearbox modified parts as boothby says.

[milopro]

i remember back in the early days of my ownership that the gear box felt quite notchy.three years later with 50k on the clock there is no notchiness,so expect it to improve as the miles increase and investigate the gearbox modified parts as boothby says.

Cheers, after a couple more days of driving im getting used to it so as ive got a couple of years of warranty left i will suck it and see, its not hidious just not what i expected from a top end car,But i am loving the extra grunt the 320 i had last year seems very slow now just wish it had the same box!

[milopro]

i remember back in the early days of my ownership that the gear box felt quite notchy.three years later with 50k on the clock there is no notchiness,so expect it to improve as the miles increase and investigate the gearbox modified parts as boothby says.

Cheers, after a couple more days of driving im getting used to it so as ive got a couple of years of warranty left i will suck it and see, its not hidious just not what i expected from a top end car,But i am loving the extra grunt the 320 i had last year seems very slow now just wish it had the same box!

Just traded the old dog 3 weeks later for an auto mm sr and its chalk and cheese i cant tell you how great it is !!!!