I have been having the same transmission issue with my 2011 Toyota Corolla. On downhills or nearly flat roadways the transmissions will do 1 of 2 things.
It will shift into a higher gear, dropping 200 - 1000 RPMs and causing the car to noticeably decelerate and give the driver a lagging feeling. This then causes me to need to accelerate the car (Often times going down hill) to maintain speed.
It will shift into a higher gear, dropping 200 - 400 RPMs for a split second. This causes the car to have a quick lagging feeling and then returns to a lower gear and the original RPMs.
Currently, the car has approx. 350 miles on it and it does this rather consistently. As I am writing this the car is at the dealership I purchased it from being checked out. I spoke directly with the service manager before I dropped the car off about the problem and he is telling me this is “feature” of the car known as Downhill braking assist. After a little more digging on the “feature” I found this.
“A five-speed manual transmission comes standard with the 1.8-liter engine; a four-speed automatic Electronically Controlled Transmission (ECT) also is available. Its torque converter uses flex lockup for enhanced fuel efficiency. Uphill/downhill shift control selects the proper gear for conditions and helps provide moderate engine braking during downhill driving.”
So to me this sounds like it was indeed “by design” however there is still an issue here that isn’t being addressed. The service manager admitted to me that the system engages sporadically. He said, and I agree with him, that you can go down the same hill, at the same speed, 3 different times and have it happen 1 time, 2 times, every time or never. To me this says that there is an issue with the way the system detects the need for this assisted braking and that Toyota seriously needs to look into the issue.
I am due to take my Corolla by another Toyota dealership tomorrow to have it looked at once again. If neither dealership fixes my issue, I am going to approach both Toyota Corporate as well as my state attorney generals office to report the problem and the lack of interest in resolving it.
Hurray for you guys. I just bought a 2011 Corolla LE w/5ooo miles and it’s doing exactly what you all say it does. AND the service guys say there’s nothing they can do. Armed with this loooong string of like complaints, I’ll be returning to the dealer.
“AND the service guys say there’s nothing they can do.”
Have any of you disgruntled Toyota purchasers gone to the sales department (salesperson, sales manager, dealer principal/owner) and voiced a complaint ?
Are they aware that their service department and Toyota are not helping customers with the defective cars they’re selling ?
What have they done or said to help ? Have any of you asked for/demanded a return and a refund ?
Sure, if you don’t mind taking a bath on the car. The dealership I am working with is basically saying there is nothing wrong with the car, thus there is no reason for them to buy back the car and lose money. This is after the fact that I offered to only take 75% of my down payment back just so we both took a loss. Suddenly the dealership doesn’t have the money to be refunding me my money on the car.
Toyotanation.com currently seems to have latest news on the uncontrollable trans shifting for 2011 Corolla’s. I hope this is true, the RPM jumping is making the ride comfort level TERRIBLE.
Wow, I am so glad to find you. I am having the same problem with my 2011 Corolla. It has 1,200 miles and it just started happening a few hundred miles ago. When I am driving at a constant speed, suddenly for no reason, the RPM goes down by about 500 and I feel like suddenly a load was put on the car. I have to press down on the accelerator to get back up to speed. Yesterday on the interstate it happened 6 times in one mile. What a terrible ride!!!
I took it to the dealer today. They drove it and couldn’t find any problem. Next, had me drive it. It only did it slightly twice which they didn’t notice. When I kept insisting there was a problem the said the mechanic would look at it. 45 min later they said there was no problem. The said it has a sensitive gas pedal and I must be shifting my foot a little and that is why it was doing that!!!
Also when driving, I can take my foot off of the gas pedal and it will continue to go at the same speed for 10 - 15 seconds before it starts to slow down.
This car is no longer enjoyable to drive. I hate it. I will look into complaining to Toyota. Hopefully, with enough complaints, something will be done.
Sounds like Toyota built a car with features that owners don’t like. I’m not sure what the dealer is supposed to do about it since it is a design feature. It’s not really a defect or a problem, just a feature people don’t like. Whether or not it does it every time under the same circumstances I think is irrelevant to it being a defect or not. There was a similar issue when they first came out with lock up torque converters. Everyone thought there was a problem, and it was irritating, but in future years it was improved to be less noticeable.
I can understand where you’re coming from about it not being the dealers problem which is why I have taken my case up to Toyota Corp. However I disagree with you about it being just a “feature people don’t like” regardless of the fact that it sporadically engages and diminishes ride quality. This would be similar to the anti-lock breaking system randomly engaging when braking under normal conditions without reason causing the car to vibrate and brake peddle to shake. Then just explaining it away as “Yeah, that happens. Just don’t brake so hard” after a customer just dropped $20,000+ on the vehicle.
My problem additional to the tachometer jumping around while the cruse is on. At hills the transmission will kick into the next lower gear, and then into the next lower gear. The car will speed up, and then in 5 seconds will kick into a higher gear. The transmission will kick back and forth every 5 seconds until I reach the top of the hill. I took the car to the dealer, as I only have 3800 miles on it. The ride is jerky. The tachometer also jumps. The dealer got the tachometer problem fixed and this is fine on some-what level roads however NY State hills are the problem. I will return the car to the dealer tomorrow. If not fixed I will contact Toyota direct and lodge a formal complaint. I feel the ride quality should be better that my old Corolla with 174,447Miles, and original transmission which was VERY smooth from purchase to retirement.
As far as features that people do not like is a crock. I am happy to say I put a deposit on a credit card. If the problem is not fixed I will call my card company and protest. I will then file NY state Lemon Law, after 3 tries to repair the product. At a $20,000.00 ticket I expect quality, such as Toyota PREACHES…!
I wounder of those who live in Mountain areas have to say. I plan to keep my mileage on the car under 5,000 until fixed or replaced to my satisfaction. I can also stop my car payments which is through Toyota Corp.
Ron R
Rochester, NY
There is a fix. It requires a reprogram. TSB 0124-11 covers the problem I had my new 2011 Corolla done this morning and the throttle works perfectly. The only time the RPM changes is when I take my foot off the throttle. The driving experience is greatly improved.
I stumbled across the same TSB-0124-11 reference on another website yesterday and had the software upgrade installed yesterday afternoon. So far, so good, the problem seems to have gone away. The whole thing took about 1 hr. One note, bring the reference number with you when you go to your Toyota service center. Just in case they have trouble locating it on their computer systems.
The 2011 corolla problem concerning rpm issues at cruising speed now has a fix! I have 2 corollas with the same fluctuating rpm problem at cruising speeds. Here is the TSB# from toyota! Take your corolla to the dealer and give them this number for the fix! It fixed mine today! Most dealers dont know the fix because the TSB has never came out as a campaign! It only applies to those who actually complain about it. The fix only takes 30 mins. It is a PCM recalibration! Here is the number…T-SB-0124-11.
We had the problem addressed on Tuesday. The car is running normal, no more RPM dancing. Thanks to all for your information and experience with this. Oh yes…for anyone else dealing with this…have your information handy (TSP#) When they realized you know your stuff…they react differently.
A followup on the TSB-0124-11 fix. My car no longer has the fluxuating RPM but it seems to me that when I take my foot off the gas it just keeps cruising at the same pace for about 3-4 seconds before it starts to slow down. Anyone else with the TSB applied having a similar experience?
All these people complaining on here about how this can happen with so little miles, or why does this happen when its a toyota and they are supposed to be reliable need to understand supply and demand. All of the recalls that toyota is having…Im not saying necessarily that it is normal. But it kind of is and here is why. The bigger a manufacturer is the more vehicles they have to produce a year which sadly then leads to lower reliability because they do not have the time to put into reliability as much anymore. Back when GM was top seller in the USA the same thing was happening to them. They had to make so many vehicles (supply) to keep up with consumers (demand) that reliability time went down. Now toyota is leader in the world and their reliability is dropping. GM’s reliability is going up. Hyundai is increasing very rapidly in sales and when they lead their reliability will drop. History repeats itself. I have been a Toyota mechanic for a few years now and have seen the drop in reliability. Im not saying toyotas suck now. Toyota still makes a great vehicle. But you can tell they are missing some things that never would have been missed at their peak reliability years.
I’m with McParadise on this one . . . document everything and call a Lemon-law law firm. If this problem is so severe that it does what you describe (and others describe) something has got to be wrong. The transmission shifting when it doesn’t have to indicates that something is amiss. You’ve given the dealer a shot at it, now make your complaint “up the line” two more steps, and keep the Lemon-Law lawyers business car in your wallet. If they (the dealer, the zone rep and whoever is above that rep) all tell you to “drive-on!” . . . then document your problem and drive on. I’ll bet a recall is coming on this problem. Good luck! Rocketman
