Heretic

So an update for anyone interested, after 2 years and just over 44,000 kms of reporting back on every service a genuinely infuriating everyday driving experience and after no acknowledgement or help what so ever from Toyota in Western Australia the problem is resolved. It ended up to be an unintentional and simple fix. I moved house......... Now, whether it was the extra load placed on the transmission repetitively towing a furniture trailer back and forth or the change in terrain, or both not sure. We now live on the side of a rise, so to get home or drop the kids to school or go to work we have to drive up a short incline, its not Greenmount hill but short and steep where on the last house it was flat with very low throttle and short distance to a series of slow speed corners, a lot of slight positive , neutral or negative throttle. The gearbox is now working as I would expect, its on NO WAY the same gearbox. The transmission spins up and doesnt lockdown or hold the gears between 1, 2 and 3 as it did before to the point of shaking the gearbox when overloading it. Overall a lot smoother and far far more responsive to throttle input, as i would expect and It also doesnt shudder going up freeway onramps like it used to or lag downshifts to the point of me wanting to set fire to it on a daily basis. I guess putting the transmission under higher load regularly by driving up the hill and towing a trailer the AI "learnt" OR there was an issue or blockage or whatever from manufacture that has corrected itself due to the harder and different environment. So in hindsight it kinda makes sense and Im sure as **** glad its fixed because I decided to keep it for a few years instead of getting rid of it. But the infuriating thing was the complete lack of acknowledgement or help or even input or understanding from Toyota WA when the gearbox was clearly not operating properly in any way properly, when compared to how it is now. Its a total disgrace. Im sure if I was in the Eastern states I may have got a different result. Hope that helps for anyone with the same issue.

Tony I believe they are, but the Camry are also around 4-500kgs lighter, on my research i did see some comments in relation to Camry as well. 8 speeds is probably a great idea however theres quite a bit going on there, If you have a look at the design of the 8AT box it has both a clutch and a fluid coupling. To me? it feels like the problem is the software, or a dodgy sensor(s) input, is telling the clutch ( direct drive) to lock direct as soon as possible and stay there long as you can, I think the vibration, which feels like its twisting the car under light throttle in second is the clutch not being able to decide whether it should lock or let it spin up under the fluid drive part as it should, rapid partial engagement - disengagement cycles per second, it also explains the lack of throttle response, after locking it down and the engine holding on to high gears and finally dumping it "bang" when it shouldnt. I also found out from the US forums if you put it in "S8" it knocks out the "artificial intelligence" feature thats there in D and it seems to keep it in the fluid drive longer and lets the motor spin up more on acceleration and light on off throttle, but still functions as an 8 speed. It doesnt seem to knock the fuel economy much at all. To me it seems like the box was designed for a smaller diesel or a 4 cyl turbo, something with lower down torque, not peaking at 3200 rpm like the V6 motor. Your right the design is the design however its overloading the transmission and I believe it will ultimately lead to failure, probably second gear will eventually decide to hold up the little white flag, call it quits and go its own way in a year or two. That makes it a future safety concern for my family. Is that fit for purpose and what should be expected in a new car, no. The 2016 Kluger 6 speed I had was great, the 2012 5 speed Kluger I had was great, The 2010 RAV 4 speed I had was great. I drive it compared to my wifes HRV her car is more responsive and smooth to drive. **** even the 2008 Berlina I had before that was ok. The 8AT is a dog.

Tagged, Meant to quote you in my reply but forgot, as per my post I feel your pain, we cant be the only ones.

The 8 speed transmission in the 2019+ Klugers are a complete debarkle. The worst transmission i've ever driven. Ive owned the Kluger 5 speed and the 6 speed to compare to..... Massive lags, Hash downshifts, vibrations on light acceleration in second as told to the dealer from 10,00 k service, holding onto gears far too long, locking down the transmission to the point it overloads and shakes, unresponsive to throttle, gutless, jerky, unpredictable at low speeds and soft throttle. Rolling through give way signs or up to corners is pot luck between holding the gear too high and not responding to throttle, "smash" shifting it to first causing the car to jolt, or occasionally doing everything ok. Totally unpredictable. They have now hobbled the 218kw with the 8 speed into such a non responsive gutless pile of garbage. Its an embarrassment to Toyota. A complete mismatch. I got to the point that I took it back as a warranty claim with a thorough written account of the issue, printed out research from US forums, including the apparent class action against it in California and provided docs to prove the issue was there from new as this cannot be usual or acceptable for a purpose of a family SUV, maybe if it was an F350 towing a horse float thats acceptable, maybe thats the US market nowadays, make it drive like a piece of early 70's Russian agricultural equipment... I took out their head gearbox tech guy for a drive with his tablet and illustrated the issue ( particularly the hesitation and vibration which is hard to reproduce on the spot on demand ) which he noted on the log data timeline, they said to bring it back in, they had it for 2 days and then said it was "within manufacturer tolerences". Move on nothing to see here. It is not acceptable. The Toyota Klugers with 8AT transmissions are a complete pig and should be avoided.