Toyota and Lexus 8-speed transmission has been getting quite a reputation lately. In today's video, I'm going to go through it cuz a lot of folks are concerned and we're seeing some actual data from actual cars. I want to share with you everything, put it in one video so you can get all the information regarding the famous or infamous 8-speed automatic transmission from Toyota right after this. So, let's get right into it. The affected transmission or the offending transmission, let's put it this way, is called the UA80. This is a transmission that started in 2017 in the Sienna and the Highlander and had a lot of problems. In 2017, it was a very busy transmission year for Toyota well. Then, some of it in 2018, but then things got much better for a year or so. And then we started again. Let's first explain what the problem with these transmissions is. First, it starts with a very faint whining noise. You're driving, as soon as you accelerate, you hear a whining kind of kind of like a an airplane jet noise. It ramps up. As soon as you let go of the gas pedal, it goes away. Transmission shifts normally, everything is normal. Eventually, though, that whine gets so loud and it gets accompanied by grinding noises. So, you accelerate, it whines, you let go of the gas, a horrible grind. Eventually, you start having shifting issues and eventually complete failure. These are the symptoms. It is so important that you catch the symptoms because that whining noise, this is what something we've we discovered. When the car is cold, the whining noise will be less. The more you drive it, the louder it gets until it gets to the level it's going to get at. So, make sure, let's say you're going to buy a used car with a potential issue with the 8-speed, drive it when until it fully warms up to listen to any noise and tell the salesman to uh just let's keep it quiet for a moment so we listen cuz sometimes that faint that whining noise is super faint, but you'll hear it. It's a distinct whining noise that ramps up as you accelerate. As soon as you let go, it goes away. You hear that in one of the affected cars, I'd walk away cuz these transmissions and and and in addition to them being problematic, they are super expensive. We're talking $7,000 transmissions here with labor and everything. So, which models are affected? Let's talk about this because this is where things kind of are question mark. Officially, 2017-2018 Highlander and Sienna are 100% affected. However, those were actually a different issue than what's going on right now. Lately, it has been, according to Toyota, 2021 Highlander V6, 2021 Avalon V6, 2021 Camry V6, not four-cylinder actually, which is weird. So, let's put it this way. As far as the Highlander goes, I have seen so many 2020 to 2022 models have the whine. It is alarming. It's only the Highlander with the whining noise. Very few Camrys up to date, I have never seen a Avalon. And and the best part is the Camrys that have the problem, they're not even V6. They're four-cylinder. Talk about that in a moment, which has a different transmission, the U80, not a U8. That's That's the interesting part here. So, technically, according to Lexus, 2021 ES 350 is also affected, but I have not seen a single one. Let's put it this way. At the shop, for every 10 2020-2022 Highlanders that with a whining transmission, we maybe will see one Camry from 2018 and up with a transmission issue. That's the ratio. Nothing else. Let's talk about it because this is a interesting one. The four-cylinder Camry technically has a different transmission than the V6. The Camry though, they do have other problems with this transmission. 2018 all the way to actually the newest one we've done was a '22. Which is kind of alarming. Here's what the eight-speed does. It's good. It's either going to whine or it's going to have harsh shifting. Eventually, once you approach 200,000 mi, some of them failed without warning overnight. Complete failure, put it in drive, there's nothing. However, there is one thing to be said. Majority of the transmissions that we have seen fail like that, complete failure in the Camry, has been without service. But again, if you read the lovely maintenance manual, it says lifetime fluid, right? Don't replace it. Well, that's the biggest mistake. 60,000 mi, if you own a 2018 and up Camry, every 60,000 mi, you got to change that fluid. Don't worry about filter. This transmission is kind of involved filter replacement, so we're not going to go there. 60,000 mi, change the fluid. Your chances of not having issues just got increased significantly. That's That's how you increase your odds of not having issues with these. But I want to reiterate one important thing. 2020 to 2022 Toyota Highlander seems to be the V6 only, not the hybrids. Seems to be the most just involved in this problem. I mean, it is alarming. It literally feels like clockwork. Majority of them starts the with the whining around 60,000 mi. Conveniently right after warranty. And it leaves owners go back to the dealership hoping they get some kind of goodwill cuz they're literally a thousand miles out of warranty. That's a problem, folks. And it's just Of course, it's not programmed. This is not intentional like that. Toyota doesn't want to have problems, of course, cuz uh they may end up having it's affecting their reputation. But, this are the mileage where it happens. So, here's what I would do if I were you. First, if you're shopping for Highlander, get an extended warranty. If you own one and it's still low mileage, you don't have issues, get an extended warranty. Not a bad idea at all. It's it's kind of a the kind of insurance we get that we hope to never use. If we do, well, we got it. It's not a problem. We get it replaced and we're good. Now, have I seen cases of transmission gets replaced and starts again? We really the ones that we have done have not gone another 60, 70,000 mi to find out, so I cannot answer that with actual data. But, the number is alarming, folks. I mean, we are seeing one or two every single week. Whining, whining, whining. And And I know they only said 21, but we're seeing a lot more. I hope dealers are sending reports, so Toyota would actually look into it and see why are other models affected as well. But, we are seeing a lot of those. And it's it's alarming. It's usually right around that 60,000 mi range when they start. That's the problem. Let's talk about some models that are not affected. Cuz folks is what folks will do. They'll hear about this, read about this, about the eight-speed issues. They're like, "Wait, don't I have an eight-speed in my car?" Folks, that's not the case. There is multiple iterations of the eight-speed transmission. And some of them they have no problems. So, let's talk about those. For the longest time, the Lexus RX is basically a nice Highlander. They have the same powertrain, same everything, except when it comes to the eight-speed transmission. The RX started with eight-speed transmission way before the Highlander. So, before 2016, in the F Sport model, they had an eight-speed transmission. That didn't have issues. 2016, they started with the 2GR-FKS engine, so they updated V6 earlier than the Highlander. And that model had a different transmission than the Highlander ever did. They did not get a UAA80. That's the important part that you know. And that transmission is distinctly different than the one from the Highlander. The way you know it, look at the drain plug. It has a very strange hex inside of a hex. It's just a strange drain plug. And the pan is very different. They are not the same transmission. Hence why the RX does not have the same issues. You don't You don't hear RX 350 has having the same issue. Now, erratic shifting, we're going to talk about that a little bit a little bit later in the video, but as far as issues, whining, and failures, we do not have that with the RX 350. Equally, RAV4 2019 and up, RAV4 with the 8-speed and the non-hybrids. I mean, they have the same transmission as the Camry 4-cylinder, but they don't have issues. At least that I have seen. There is not really a pattern of issues like the Camry. Camry has a lot more issues than the RAV4 with transmission. The exact same transmission, but uh I don't know. That's That's one of those uh life mysteries, I suppose. And then the other one that is uh not affected, and this is just beyond me why that is the case. 2023 and to 2026 Toyota Highlander, cuz they That's when they switched to the 4-cylinder turbo. Well, that also got a different transmission. So, why can't we do this different transmission from the get-go, Toyota? Why couldn't we put the one from the RX, which is noticeably nicer materials and everything around it? Some mysteries in life, right? Folks, if you have some of the models that we listed, I mean, just because I haven't seen it doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Of course, you will hear, you know, when when something bad happens to your car, you're going to make the world hear about it, but is it a pattern? I do not see the pattern for these cars having issues. There's going to be cases, but not not like the Highlander. I mean, the Highlander is so alarming, the number of them that are having issues. It's Yep, that's that's a problem, but not the other models though. So, why is the 8-speed transmission have this erratic shifting and it jerks around and you know, a lot of people complain about that. They assume that that's a problem. Folks, let's just summarize it this way. No sugarcoating, nothing. The 8-speed shifts horrible. I I've really trying to find a nice way to say it. There's no nice way to say it. It shifts horrible. Once you pay attention to it notice that it shifts horrible, you can't un-notice. It's one of those deals. Some folks will drive their cars hundreds of thousands of miles with the 8-speed and never notice a problem. The minute you get in their car, it's like, "Wow, this is all over the place." And it is. And here's the reason why. See, most cars each gear has a ratio and you go in succession. First gear, second gear, third, so far and so forth till you get to top gear. Not the 8-speed. And this is the welcome to trying to do missions. That's another reason why this is all over the place. First gear in that 8-speed transmission is such a high ratio. It is alarming. Most transmissions ratio on first gear, you know, at least Toyota transmission or we look at the 6-speed that the 8-speed replaced, 3.3 to 1, something like that. This one is 5.5 to 1. I mean, it's it's literally meant to just get the car moving and you're in second gear. Not even like moving, just as soon as the wheel starts turning a little bit, we're in second gear. Well, that's the first weird feeling that you feel. Second gear is about the same as most transmissions first gear. So, that's really Sometimes it'll even start in second gear. Third gear is normal. Business as usual. That's when most of your driving will be. That's when you feel like, "Okay, it jerked around when you took off, and then it was fine." That's third gear. Then you get to fourth and fifth, and this is where we have problems. Fourth and fifth gears, they're such a close ratio that sometimes you don't even feel them shift because it's such a close ratio it hardly makes a difference. Sixth gear is direct drive. Seventh and eighth are overdrive. Here is a problem with the with the eight-speed. You start, first gear is so rapid that you immediately get the the jolt of it shifting into second. Okay, we get into third, things stabilize. Then you get into fourth and fifth and sixth. It'll start, it'll go into sixth gear. As soon as you touch the gas, it'll downshift to third. Uh, it'll rev up, and then go rev down, rev down, fourth and fifth, very close ratio, back to sixth. And then if you drive a little bit faster, seventh and eighth, and all of a sudden the RPM dips so much that it's almost like we're back at idle, and the car starts shaking a little bit. And then as soon as you touch it, it downshifts all the way to third, and it does this again and again and again. It's super annoying. But it's not a problem, folks. That's the takeaway. I understand I have so many folks bring me their eight-speed transmission, very concerned, "Why is this thing all over the place? Like, is there a problem? What do we do here?" Unfortunately, I hear you. It's horrible. I mean, once you notice it, it is something alarming. It's like, "Wow, why is this transmission all over the place?" And it is all over the place. That's we just uh we just explained why is it all over the place, and it makes sense. But it's not a problem. This is very important that you distinguish what is normal and annoying, and what is a problem. That part is completely normal. Whining on acceleration, big problem, folks. Especially if you have a Highlander. I'm sorry, if you own one of these Highlanders, I hope I did not raise your blood pressure, but you need to know the truth so you can look for it. If you're still within a time to buy an extended warranty, I highly encourage it because I hope once you're I hope you don't, but if you do run into it and you do get that transmission replaced, I hope we don't have issues after that. That's the hope. I thought we said that back in 2017, 2018, but here we are, but it happens. >> I just don't understand why the RX this time was so special and got the good one and the Highlander didn't. >> That's a million-dollar question I have for Toyota. I mean, you already have the good transmission. It's already made it to the same engine. Why don't we just leave that conversation for another day. Folks, now I hope after watching this video, you understand the details and these are not some I'm reading off of a TSB or document. This is what we see in the shop. It's alarming the number of Highlanders that we see here with the whining noise. So, if you own a Camry, change the fluid on time. 60,000 mi, 6 years, change it. Simple. You can even DIY it. Not a big deal. Use the original fluid. Same thing if you own a RAV4. That's also important. Just because we don't see problems with the RAV4s, don't mean they're not out there. They're just not common. So, take care of your car and it will take care of you. And if you happen to notice how the 8-speed shifts and how erratic it is, you're not alone. That's how they all are, unfortunately, but with the emissions and everything, I get it. They have to do what they have to do, but uh just wish they could have found a better way to make that a little bit smoother, but that doesn't mean there's a problem. Folks, I hope this video was helpful and informative. I hope you learned something new. If you like it, consider giving it a thumbs up. If you're not a subscriber, consider subscribing to the channel. Check out some other videos. Until the next video, folks. May the Lord bless you and keep you and you have yourself a wonderful day.