Problems with Automatic Transmission

I have a Toyota Corrolla Altis Cruisetronic Automatic transmission.

Car has done only 4000 km and is 8 months old.

Problem I am having is that when I release the accelerator pedal say while driving at 60 kph, the car does not freely coast but decelerates with a drag and tries to slow down to a stop. The drag is more serious with the a/c on. It does not like to remain in high gear. Previous auto transmission Corrolla’s I have driven never gave me this kind of problem.

It is very frustrating to live with this type of problem in a new car.

I have taken it to dealer twice but they are not willing to accept, probably dealing with auto transmission is like a can of worms.

Can anybody help.

Saleem

Were do you live (what country)? Have you contacted Toyota?

Weird problem. Never heard of that model. How many speed automatic is that thing?
Sounds like the lock up of the torque converter isn’t happening. Does it happen at all speeds?
What does the dealer say?

If your car is Corolla/Altis this
http://www.toyotabharat.com/cars/new_cars/in_corolla_altis/accessories/accessories.aspx

Then it might have a Super CVT-i transmission like this:

You really need to get this worked out with the dealer.

Have you asked to dealer to let you test drive another car like yours to see if it drives the same?? This way you can tell if its normal or not?

Saleem; appears ypu may live in Malaysia. I was there when the “Altis” was introduced; they called it that since the older model was still in production.

When you take your foot off the gas, the car is not supposed to coast freely; it will gradually slow down, because the transmission is still connected to the engine, unless it is in neutral. In any case a Toyota dealer should be able to find the problem. Do not go to a transmission shop which does not have a mechanic who knows Toyota transmissions.

Yeah, the engine is supposed to be connected to the transmission because they are locked together above about 40mph. He’s saying the thing seems to violently downshift. An automatic isn’t supposed to do that at high speeds, unless it has reason to…

Here’s another thought:
@Saleem, do you have your foot on the brake pedal while driving by chance?
Don’t take this the wrong way but many people here drive with their left foot on the brake pedal and their right food on the gas. Frankly, driving that way is bad practice for many reasons but putting your foot on the brake pedal would not cause that lock up to occur. If you tend to have your foot hoverning on the brake where it may intermittently turns the brake light on, it may very well release that torque converter lock, getting it back to regular shifting mode.
If you don’t have your foot on the brake pedal, maybe make sure that the car’s brake lights aren’t on all the time. Maybe it thinks you are braking because the brake switch isn’t adjusted correctly.

On most cars, when you lightly touch the brake at high speed, you will notice what feels like a slight downshift. If you let go, it will feel like it upshifts. That’s actually how you check the torque converter lockup. Maybe the difference of gearing ratio between gears on that Toyota is such that it feels more violent than most cars, especially at higher speeds.