I’m in L.A. visiting my sister for a few weeks and I’ve been driving her 2007 Lexus GX 470. It’s a 2007 with only 61k miles and she is the original owner. It has been well-maintained and never abused in any way or used off-road.

When shifting into DRIVE from REVERSE, sometimes there is a lengthy pause (3-5 seconds) until it slams into DRIVE. She first noticed it a few months ago, but her husband and their mechanic were unable to duplicate the behavior, so they wrote it off as either ‘driver error’ or ‘figment of driver’s imagination’. She hadn’t mentioned it to me, but it happened to me yesterday after I backed out of a parking spot and shifted to DRIVE (after coming to a complete stop) and nothing happened when I pressed the gas. I took my foot off the gas, shifted into N then back into D and it was fine.

She says it only happens when going from Reverse to Drive and it doesn’t happen all the time. Her 72-month/70k mile Powertrain Warranty expired back in June when it passed the 72-month mark. I really want to get this resolved before I head back to Georgia next Monday because her husband will ignore it until it falls out onto the ground and costs a fortune to fix!

Any info will be greatly appreciated!!!

 

I think YOU HAVE NOT ENOUGH TRANSMISSION OIL.

 

What you are experiencing may very well be a loose CV joint in the drive shaft (a known problem with the GX470's). Likewise, it is possible that Lexus may still take care of that in warranty for you.