[franknflorida]

I finally had to take my new 2014 HL in for an inspection of my transmission. I have been experiencing rough shifts at speeds of around 20MPH and45MPH and the frequency was starting to increase.
It felt like the transmission was trying to find the right gear but would cause shuddering of the car that passengers could feel. This started a few weeks ago but was a lot more subtle and has increased in frequency and intensity enough that I am concerned about potential damage to the transmission.
At first I thought that I was being paranoid about transmission and torque converter issues because I just had Nissan buyback my 2013 Pathfinder under Floridas Lemon Law due to "shuddering" problems with their CVT.
Toyota Tech support instructed the service department to drain and refill the transmission 3 times and to do a number of other procedures to fix the problem while they keep the car overnight.
Has anyone else had this problem??

 

[GregWest]

I haven't yet at 700 miles....what is your mileage?

 

[Phil Indeblanc]

Since this transmission isn't new, and only new to the Highlander, I hope it maybe a software issue...But maybe somthing that does need adjusting. Keep us posted! Good luck!

 

[franknflorida]

I haven't yet at 700 miles....what is your mileage?

I have about 2200 miles on it...the problems started when it was about 2000 miles.

 

[jung5864]

I'm at nearly 7000 miles no transmission problems. Like Phil mentioned, this is not a new transmission design, but hope everything turns out well!

 

[GregWest]

This is the same transmission/engine in Lexus RX, I believe, so it has been around for awhile... and that's a good thing.!!

 

[OUS]

I finally had to take my new 2014 HL in for an inspection of my transmission. I have been experiencing rough shifts at speeds of around 20MPH and45MPH and the frequency was starting to increase.
It felt like the transmission was trying to find the right gear but would cause shuddering of the car that passengers could feel. This started a few weeks ago but was a lot more subtle and has increased in frequency and intensity enough that I am concerned about potential damage to the transmission.
At first I thought that I was being paranoid about transmission and torque converter issues because I just had Nissan buyback my 2013 Pathfinder under Floridas Lemon Law due to "shuddering" problems with their CVT.
Toyota Tech support instructed the service department to drain and refill the transmission 3 times and to do a number of other procedures to fix the problem while they keep the car overnight.
Has anyone else had this problem??

I've got 10k+ on mine with no issues. It is the smoothest transmission I have ever had. But I always drove Chevys and Saturns. :>)

 

[sbt007]

The first thing I thought about after reading the thread title: Nissan Pathfinder!
And then I saw that you already had one.

 

[franknflorida]

The first thing I thought about after reading the thread title: Nissan Pathfinder!
And then I saw that you already had one.

Correct...and all the problems associated with the CVT....31 days in the shop in 3 months, 3 torque converters and 1 transmission changed out and reprogramming tries!!
We loved the Pathfinder but could not trust it anymore....so we buy a Highlander and experience similar problems!
Just hoping they can fix it so we do not have to go through the Lemon
Law buyback procedure again.

 

[franknflorida]

I finally had to take my new 2014 HL in for an inspection of my transmission. I have been experiencing rough shifts at speeds of around 20MPH and45MPH and the frequency was starting to increase.
It felt like the transmission was trying to find the right gear but would cause shuddering of the car that passengers could feel. This started a few weeks ago but was a lot more subtle and has increased in frequency and intensity enough that I am concerned about potential damage to the transmission.
At first I thought that I was being paranoid about transmission and torque converter issues because I just had Nissan buyback my 2013 Pathfinder under Floridas Lemon Law due to "shuddering" problems with their CVT.
Toyota Tech support instructed the service department to drain and refill the transmission 3 times and to do a number of other procedures to fix the problem while they keep the car overnight.
Has anyone else had this problem??

UPDATE!!.....Got a call today from my Toyota service rep....it looks like I will need a new transmission as per Toyota Tech....apparently the 3 flushings and refill did not resolve the problems with rough and erratic shifting. They will have more info for me tomorrow.
We just went through similar problems with our 2013 Nissan Pathfinder and were lucky enough to force Nissan to buy it back from us.....if it were not for bad luck I would have no luck at all!
A new transmission in a car less than 3 months old is testing my faith in Toyota!!

 

[jagbagri]

WOW!! With your kind of luck, you may need to start finding the ways to please the 'Transmission Lords'. I have checked Pathfinder very seriously last year but all the on-line forums persuaded me to not get one and ended up with 14 highlander. Now little over 4600 miles and no problems so far. Making my first appointment for the 5K service.

 

[Phil Indeblanc]

Mazda CX-9? LOL. But for anyone on the fence, you don't hear folks mention the Mazada. Easy to forget I guess.

Just saw a couple of the CX9's on the road in the past 2 weeks, and they are nice cars. We had a Mazda years back, and my bro had the Miata. No issues with either.

 

[OUS]

Mazda CX-9? LOL. But for anyone on the fence, you don't hear folks mention the Mazada. Easy to forget I guess.

Just saw a couple of the CX9's on the road in the past 2 weeks, and they are nice cars. We had a Mazda years back, and my bro had the Miata. No issues with either.

Its problem is that the CX-5 is such a great little vehicle. And the CX-9 gets nothing. Kinda like the slow older brother.

 

[Spheric]

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/333-3rd-generation-2014/779274-transmission-software-updates.html

Since my original post the transmission has got smoother. Perhaps it has an adaptive learning curve using gear shift points to match my driving style. Not sure.

 

[Toddsta]

I bought an 1989 Mazda MPV mini van based upon it's top scores in Consumer Reports in '89. It was hailed as the best minivan around.... came straight from Japan, so it had to be great right - because all domestics sucked back then.... at least that was the buzz at the time.

One of the worst cars I ever owned. Everything that could break, did. Hardware problems, electrical problems, started burning oil at about 89k.... not to mention the cruise control couldn't keep the speed steady if you were on anything but a completely flat highway.

Metal would ding if you breathed hard towards it..... POS.

Never bought another Mazda after that.... Japanese quality is not always what perceptions might indicate.... Taghauer would like this post..... he does make some valid points by the way.

 

[Toddsta]

Is this TRULY the EXACT same transmission that is in the Lexus RX? Has this transmission been vetted as pretty reliable? Anybody else having issues with their HL's?

Is this the first tranny issue that has come up in this forum? Can I ask any more questions?

 

[BUFFO]

Frank..considering your past problems I can only imagine what you were thinking when told "need new tranny". Any info. you can find out & post here would be of interest to all. Some thoughts I have....

Can you ask dealer/tec. or s a ...Does this tranny have DTCs (diagnostic trouble codes) If so, did one or more get thrown? If so, shouldn't trb. light flash on dash ? Are you getting new or "rebuilt" tranny ? Hopefully it gets fixed asap. Update when you can. B.

 

[tagheuer]

Never bought another Mazda after that.... Japanese quality is not always what perceptions might indicate.... Taghauer would like this post..... he does make some valid points by the way.

Definitely don't like this post. Our 2nd gen has 57k on it and I was considering purchasing a 3rd gen, but waiting about 12 months for availability to increase, prices to decrease and bugs to get worked out.

Would like the purchase of the 3rd gen to be a no brainer, I'm sick of researching forums, TSBs, recalls. Just want to buy a Toyota truck and have it be relatively troublefree for 150k.

I don't care about little things, but I do care about major powertrain things etc.

I appreciate you noting that I do make some valid points. My main point is Toyota isn't perfect and everyone should be realistic and expect some teething issues.

Problems will continue to crop up on this forum as time passes, most hopefully very minor.

I had always assumed Toyota's were bulletproof reliable with almost zero problems, and I just think that's a little exaggerated.

If you look closely at the Toyota/Lexus forums, you'll see plenty of issues with each model, for example, lots of people are complaining about the seats in the new generation ES350 and Avalon.

Many other long term Toyota owners (and posters here) claim that Toyota transmissions don't always shift that great, they have some built in lag, and that's just how they are.

Keep us posted on the transmission issue, sounds like a one off anomaly as this six speed is not new.

 

[nontoxicart]

UPDATE!!.....Got a call today from my Toyota service rep....it looks like I will need a new transmission as per Toyota Tech....apparently the 3 flushings and refill did not resolve the problems with rough and erratic shifting. They will have more info for me tomorrow.
We just went through similar problems with our 2013 Nissan Pathfinder and were lucky enough to force Nissan to buy it back from us.....if it were not for bad luck I would have no luck at all!
A new transmission in a car less than 3 months old is testing my faith in Toyota!!

Two new vehicles and the same issue. Either bad luck or your style of driving/reversing/combination.
An old friend of mine used to switch into driver while vehicle was still rolling back after reversing....tranny went after a while on his F150.
What about brake in procedures.??? took it easy first few thousand miles?

 

[Toddsta]

Definitely don't like this post. Our 2nd gen has 57k on it and I was considering purchasing a 3rd gen, but waiting about 12 months for availability to increase, prices to decrease and bugs to get worked out.

Would like the purchase of the 3rd gen to be a no brainer, I'm sick of researching forums, TSBs, recalls. Just want to buy a Toyota truck and have it be relatively troublefree for 150k.

I don't care about little things, but I do care about major powertrain things etc.

I appreciate you noting that I do make some valid points. My main point is Toyota isn't perfect and everyone should be realistic and expect some teething issues.

Problems will continue to crop up on this forum as time passes, most hopefully very minor.

I had always assumed Toyota's were bulletproof reliable with almost zero problems, and I just think that's a little exaggerated.

If you look closely at the Toyota/Lexus forums, you'll see plenty of issues with each model, for example, lots of people are complaining about the seats in the new generation ES350 and Avalon.

Many other long term Toyota owners (and posters here) claim that Toyota transmissions don't always shift that great, they have some built in lag, and that's just how they are.

Keep us posted on the transmission issue, sounds like a one off anomaly as this six speed is not new.

I would absolutely die if this happened to me..... it's a ton of money to spend to be faced with something that goes counter to Toyota's reputation......

That said - go peak over into the GM Equinox forum sometime,...... or the Hyundai Santa Fe Forum..... YIKES! You want to talk about niggling problems.... makes this forum look like perfection.

I purposely waited for several months to pass by before getting my HL..... thinking, "if I wait 6 months, chances are that some of the more serious issues will have become apparent and fixed before mine comes in."

I hope that is the case.