Yes and yes. Still, there are owners who are very happy with it.

Whether it may fail prematurely or not we will see, but, this transmission is not so new. It was initially used in the Lexus RX 350 F sport in 2013 and was since used in many brands and vehicle types including BMW, GM, VOLVO etc. I don’t recall reports about how disastrous this transmission is (in contrast with the Ford’s PowerShift transmission for example). In think it is reliable but not user friendly as is made and configured for the best fuel economy.


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If you're not a bit heavy on the throttle, the transmission upshifts quickly for fuel economy purposes. This is 100% Toyota's programming and not the transmission's fault.

Downshifting is slow, not sure what causes this. But both of these things seem to be by design and I don't think will affect reliability.

 

What about just driving in S instead of D then?

 

The disagreeable behavior I experience at and near a stop seems mostly eliminated by driving in S. The problem with driving in S is that then it doesn't shift up as soon as it should for most of Toyota's customers (including me, BTW). Hitting the Sport button as I near a stop and then hitting Normal after I roll away is nonsense.

The ATX in our current-gen Mazda6 is much better behaved.

 

The transmission problem isn’t really an issue as long as you’re not flooring it. If you smoothly accelerate you’ll never really notice it.


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The transmission problem isn’t really an issue as long as you’re not flooring it. If you smoothly accelerate you’ll never really notice it.

Wrong. Tried that many times, as well as every other imaginable strategy. When the overwhelming majority of drivers have to adapt to 'adaptive' cars, that's a major red flag that something's wrong. The controller is just very poorly programmed for handling almost-stopped to stopped conditions.

 

 

i have a new '19 camry le, just got it on the 24th of august.

what i have noticed is that as i am leaving my driveway, it is like in low, low gear.

if i start off in S..it starts off in 4th gear....!!

i do not "hammer" on the gas pedal as i take off, but once on the road, i "might" gas on it a little bit, and frankly, notice nothing unusual.

my last camry, '17 only had about 27,000 miles on it (3 yr lease car) and the 6 speed transmission.

 

S4 does not mean 4th gear, it means up to 4th gear. The car still starts in 1st.

 

The Camry tranny’s programming issue is simply that it can’t decide what gear to be in when it is near a stop and asked to accelerate. Neither does it choose well when starting from a stop. The fact that switching to sport mode corrects those issues proves that it’s a simple programming problem. Unfortunately, sport mode introduces other issues.

This isn’t tough to see, and it isn’t a ‘government’ problem.

 

At a complete stop, mine goes to first every time. It’s the 2mph almost-stops that it struggles with.

 

It's a government problem if it regulates how much a cars MPG should be at. Thus, Toyota and other car manufactures will do anything to get to that mpg goal, which means making the transmission act the way it does for that sweet sweet mpg goal. Though I haven't looked to see if there is such regulation but i've read articles that there is.

 

It's a government problem if it regulates how much a cars MPG should be at.

They don't. They specify what the manufacturer's fleet's average must be, and even at that, they let them trade (sell) credits with (to) each other and pay fines if they don't meet the standard. That means the Camry is being sacrificed by Toyota, not the government, so that the Tundra can be different than it otherwise would have to be, or so that they lower their overall costs (penalties).

 

Guys, the stop-and-go bad behaviour will go away after several thousand miles. The rest of the hunting for gears and throttle lag at low speeds is there to stay. It’s made like that for efficiency purposes. This is a reliable, economic, family (?), sporty (??????) sedan. Treat it like that and you’ll be happy.

I hate mine when I want it to be a bit more sporty and she just coughs on me when I ask for that little punch.



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I hate mine when I want it to be a bit more sporty and she just coughs on me when I ask for that little punch.

This exactly.

 

Purchased a 2017 Camry LE August 4th and gave away my 2006 Corolla with 3 speed Auto w/overdrive. Immediately noticed the Camry drove like a "dog" compared to the older Corolla, it wants to shift to 5th or 6th as quickly as possible to save gas. I started to drive in "S" mode and now it accelerates on par with my older Corolla. At highway speeds I shift it into "D" for the fuel economy. For general city driving I would leave it in "S" mode.

 

Just to add my 2 cents worth. We are on our 4th Avalon plus a Lexus 400, they have all had switches for ECON, NORMAL, AND SPORT, or some variation of these. These change the RPM range of the shift points . If you are having problems with deceleration shifting or resuming speed from a slow down, why aren't people changing the switch from one to the other until they are satisfied with a different RPM range in each gear, both up and down. It worked on 97 Lexus with the 4 speed auto, on the 1996 Avalon 4 speed automatic, the 2005 Avalon Touring 5 speed, the 2014 Avalon Touring 6 speed automatic, and it works on the 2019 Avalon Limited 8 speed we now have. I've been in the Automotive and heavy duty OEM for 50 years, so I first hand knowledge of the technology built into these transmissions for this purpose. Good luck to all

 

Just to add my 2 cents worth

Here we go! I once had a bloody Dodge Caravan who didn’t have anything fancy on it and no buttons for changing damn shifting points and drove ten(s) times better than my buttonless-still-fancy-F1_style paddle-shifter 2018 Camry SE.

Also, my two(2) cents...


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We picked up a new '19 Camry XSE 4 cyl. that now has about 2700 miles on it. The biggest thing I've noticed in shifting is when you've slowed down to make a turn to say to 10-20mph and you've gone through the turn and when you accelerate it seems to have a hard time finding the gear for me and jerks to some degree. My wife has probably put 2100 of those miles on it so maybe it's learned her driving style as someone mentioned about these vehicles.

 

Mine still does that in those same conditions. She’s at 27 000 km on the ODO. So no, don’t blame the wife


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Class Action suit on the Direct Shift 8-speed AT filled in federal court on August, 22 (in the CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA):

https://news.bloomberglaw.com/class...tm_source=rss&utm_medium=CLNW&utm_campaign=0000016c-be7c-d189-a76d-bf7d88a90001

https://www.bloomberglaw.com/public...nt/MoralesetalvToyotaMotorSalesUSAIncaCaliforniacorporationetalDocke?1567560339

Docket available here:
https://www.pacermonitor.com/public...om/public/case/29755596/Raul_Morales_et_al_v_Toyota_Motor_Sales,_USA,_Inc_et_al

 

Let`s hope they win!

 

Oh look.. this thread... again...

 

Every few days, it comes back, in a different form. ? that keeps on giving.

 

Can I assume that this issue exists with all Toy vehicle equipped with 8 speed like RAV4 or is it just Camry?

 

I have 19 Camry LE and i can tell you that, yes this still exists and it gets more and more frustrating everyday.

 

I found that by switching out the original air filter to a k&n air filter the driveability problems all disappeared plus the added bonus of more power ,50 dollars for the filter.

 

FWIW Scotty Kilmer said that the new 8sp is crap and to not purchase a 2018 Camry. He recommends a 2017 or earlier since the bugs were worked out of the six speed.
W95c

 

How come this guy became a reference? Bloody flapper! He just keeps flapping about cars.

I’m sure a few years from now he will praise it as he does with anything with a Toyota badge on it!


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It looks like they are trying to get CVT-like mpg without using a CVT or auto stop-start and their solution is this wonky 8-speed.

I guess the only way to avoid it in a Camry is to get the hybrid or a used 2017 with the older 6-speed.

 

Deleted

 

I still miss the smooth shifting, deftly done, harmonius engine/transmission powertrain combo of my 4 cyl 2011 Camry.

 

I still have a smooth as silk shifting 95 4cyl daily driver. I guess I need to quit driving it to look at new ones. The 2020 shifts and jerks as bad as the 2019. I am on the look out for a low mileage 2017 but they are bring a premium price here because so many are rejecting the 8 sp horror trans.
W95c

 

I still have a smooth as silk shifting 95 4cyl daily driver. I guess I need to quit driving it to look at new ones. The 2020 shifts and jerks as bad as the 2019. I am on the look out for a low mileage 2017 but they are bring a premium price here because so many are rejecting the 8 sp horror trans.
W95c

The 8 spd in my 2018 LE shifts perfectly. None of the problems mentioned above. Just saying...

 

I'm curious to hear any info or speculation on this and whether or not it could be related to the TSBs we've seen for the 2018 and 2019 I4s.
A few people on FB are getting this message, seems like just TRDs and 18-20 XSE V6s so far. Pic borrowed from FB.

 

should i just bring this photo to the dealership and said my car was displaying it to get the update???

 

I saw this on reddit as well. I haven't gotten the notification on my v6. I also called my toyota dealer and he said there is no TSB on it.

 

I'll have to keep my eye out for that when my TRD comes.