As I drove my ES350 for the last time (today is the day I completed the Lemon buyback), I had a chance to reflect on the two cars, and boy, am I happy with the Acura! For anyone cross shopping, there's really no comparison.

Just wanted to get that out of my system. Three weeks, and no complaints.

The Lexus dealer just moved into a new, beautiful buidling with a breakfast and coffee bar. Too bad it wasn't there the 25+ days my car was out of service last year. ..

 

congrats! Glad to hear your happy with you RL. post some pics

 

What exactly were the issues with your Lexus? Transmission, I'd guess?

BTW, I agree - the RL is a helluva car, and after a year I'm still enjoying the heck out of it!

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My ES had Transmission issues that they couldn't fix.

 

Another happy RL owner here, it's a fantastic car!

 

Two years into my RL this month. Have never been happier with a car, it's just the best. Would buy it all over again, and again.

 

Was that your ES350 Review I saw on MSN Autos?

Congrats on the RL. It is nice to get some Lexus Love over here.

 

No review on MSN, but here's a detailed explaination of what happened and how it was settled...

http://clublexus.com/forums/showthread.php?t=296549

 

OK. There was a recent review on MSN Autos from an ES350 owner who succeeded in a buyback from Lexus and he purchased and Acura RL (and quite happy!). We have brethren.

 

I followed the ES 350 Club Lexus board for six months and read about the transmission flare problem as experienced by numerous owners. I, too, am a happy 2nd generation RL owner. I came close to buying an ES 350 Ultra package, but the RL was a better value for my money. The RL also fits my personna better, too. The ES 350 is a bit too, how do I say it, femine for this one time country boy. I've had a 1st generation RL, love my 2nd generation RL and am looking forward to the 3rd generation RL.
wstr75

 

I remember the first test drive I took in an '06 IS350. The tranny did what I later learned was called "flaring", so I turn to the salesman and say, "What the hell was that?" He just shrugged and said, "That's normal" (the standard car dealer response anytime anything does something weird).

So I said to myself, "My ass. This just must be a demonstrator with a bad transmission." Months later I bought one, and it did the same thing. When I asked about it in the Service Dep't., I found it had been promoted from "normal" to a "feature". "Oh, yeah", they said with a straight face. "That's a gear-holding feature to keep the revs up."

I sold it 3 months later.

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I came very close to buying the 2007 Lexus ES350 also. When I started to see post on forums about the transmission issues, that made my decision to go with the RL even more easy. I spent a few more thousand over the ES350, but I got such a better vechile. Love everything about the RL. I think the only thing now that the ES350 has over the RL.... is the better mileage, but then again, I have a 10 minute commute to work each way.

 

You guys are killing me. Please stop saying "I love my RL" because that IS the car I could or should have bought, but my nagging wife put a chokehold on my purse string, forcing me to buy the TL and use the savings toward our son's college fund.

When I was car shopping last year, I also drove the ES 350 and GS 350, but did not notice any transmission problem with either car. Do they use the same engine/transmission?

 

kenny, LOL! You poor guy.

I love my car, too. I'm still getting the shakes just thinking about being without her for ten days. I wish my wife had followed the plan and allowed me to buy/lease an MDX (which is just a tall RL) for her.

 

I can't wait for the weekends to drive my baby in the mountains or along the coast. Every weekend and I mean every weekend we take a day trip or overnighter at least 250 miles round trip. A couple of weekends ago was the exception. We had to take our daughter some stuff for her apartment. Even though I wanted to cram furniture and other items in the back seat and trunk of the RL, one item was just too long to cram without doing potential damage to the seats. So we had to take the Audi station wagon, nice car but overall experience not even close to the RL. We are spoiled with the overall comfort, handling and ride, especially after owning it for 9 months. It just keeps getting better.

My wife and I were both miserable, and I was a horrible grouch. So Doc try to be nice to the wife, ten days without her (the RL) can be rather trying.

 

You talking about the new Walpole, MA site, that moved from down by the mall?

That place is HUGE.

Did you buy your RL car at Clair? I get mine serviced there.

 

Stupid 5 minute edit rule...

So what exectly is "flaring"...does the engine race between shifts?

 

Yep, the RL is one hell of a car. My previous car was an IS300 and I think the RL handles better than it and the IS300 was one hell of a handling car.

My parents own a loaded LS430 (which I love as well) and I feel the RL is the better overall car and in terms of interior quality/luxury the RL is close or on par.

I got to drive a GS300AWD overnight last year and the RL simply kicked the crap out of it in terms of overall package and again, better interior quality and far better handling.

I have driven an IS250AWD and again, better interior quality in the RL.

I do need to see the new LS460 though and see how the RL compares to it.

 

Don't feel bad, the TL is a wonderful car. Just about the same interior space as the RL. I would have bought a TL if it had AWD, one of my requirements.

LL

 

My mom just got a GS350 AWD. . .. it was my suggestion as I felt that the car suited her better than an RL . . . .

The RL does many things better . . better AWD system, better nav, better bluetooth implementation, better voice recognition, better ergonomics, self closing doors.

GSAWD does some things better . . .. rear door handle sensor, rear sun screen returns to up position after car moves forward.

I would agree that the RL is as good as LS 430 (dad's car)

 

Yes, Lumpy, in the case of my IS350, it went like this: Get on the throttle, either running through the gears or just using passing gear, and when you back off the gas, the transmission just seems to forget what to do ... it hesitates a long time (several long seconds) just hanging there over-revving and trying to decide what to do next. Finally, it goes ahead and upshifts and settles down, but only after a seemingly long time of being essentially in neutral. It's a whole lot like you're in a manual trans car and miss a shift under heavy throttle.

Explanations range from "It has to do that for emissions reasons", to "It's just keeping the revs up in case you need to get on it again" (NOT, since it's not really in gear), to "Oh, that's normal". Then they try to fix it by replacing the the vacuum valve body that controls shifts, but that usually doesn't work either. Then they end up exchanging your transmission for a rebuilt one ... that often does the same thing.

Why Toyota and its transmission supplier (Aisin?) can't track down the problem and fix it is beyond me.

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Bob, you refer to your RL as "her", treating it as if "she" is your second wife. LOL

Is it just our wives who don't appreciate driving more luxurious cars? I know cars are not a good investment due to depreciation, but I would rather spend the extra money on a better car than on a piece of jewelry (ie. diamond ring) that costs 5k more. Perhaps men and women have different needs

 

gpension..good to see you on the acura forum...you and I talked quite a bit on the ES web site, and as I said, I was torn between the es and the rl....now that you have owned both, I want to hear your specific comparison.

thanks,

Larry

 

WOW! I'm shocked to hear all of this talk about the poor transmissions in the Lexus products. My best friend's dad just purchased an '07 ES350 Ultra Luxury package. He loves it but I tried to steer him into an RL. Unfortuantely, he found the Lexus better suited towards his needs but if his transmission falls out on him, I'll bet he comes crying back asking why he didn't listen to me and buy the Acura.

Good for you for being so persistent in getting the vehicle bought back by Lexus. Best of luck with your new RL!

 

I've heard this is not limited to just the new ES but the new Camry as well. Toyota has been having a lot of buy-backs for bad Camry transmissions. Correct me if I'm wrong but they probably share the same tranny, yes?

 

In my case it was the other way around. I was considering the TL and she insisted on the RL. She didn't have to twist my arm too much. She loves the RL and looks to drive it any chance she gets.

 

My RL is in storage for the summer, I drive it once a week.
I've got to get over my S 2000 addiction!
I'm sure the first inkling of foul weather will be the deciding factor. I love my RL but it can't compete with a zip-zip open air convertible in the summer, plus the S is THE chick magnet. Definitely the wheels you want if you are craving attention, everyone is fawning over it wherever I go. I work once a week at a site 70miles away of straight highway driving, for that drive the RL, is king