My wife has a 2008 xB w/ automatic transmission. We went out for a drive today, and stopped at a spot on the Natchez Trace Parkway. When she backed out of the parking area, the car lurched in reverse. At first we just thought that maybe the car had slipped on something (mud puddle, etc).

Later in the day we had to turn around to catch a road we had missed. Put it in reverse and it just kept slipping and jumping while going backwards.

We drove home and let it sit for an hour before checking the transmission fluid levels. Levels look good. No trouble driving forward, only reverse.

The nearest Toyota dealer is around 30 miles away, and the dealership where we bought the car is around 65 miles away. We live out in the country, and the nearest tranny shop is around 20 miles away. She has 80K on it, so of course it's out of warranty.

What should our next move be - local tranny shop or Toyota dealer? Or something else?

Thanks,
Doug

 

Nobody? Well, it looks like I'm taking it to the nearest Toyota dealership, see what they have to say...

 

If your CEL light came on I'd check for error codes as that might provide some indication, however, even so, the best course is probably to take it to the dealership.

 

I have an 05 tC auto with 178,000 miles on it. I back into my parking spot at work every day - had the same thing happen to me a couple of times a while ago, but then not again for months now.
It's a big parking spot, up against the building - so I pull into the lot, make a U turn, and back in fairly quick. Not going slow when I back up.
I also thought I was on sand or pebbles on the asphalt or something at first, and the tires spun, but verified that was not the case when it happened again. It was definitely in gear, in reverse, and the engine reved, but car did not move normally. Felt like the tranny was 'skipping'.
Surprised me the first time, but i blew it off. Concerned me the second time, thought I may have a major issue.
I checked the trans fluid, level was fine. I had changed the fluid and filter at 100K, as recommended.
Has not happened again since, so I have not done anything about it.

Maybe the car heard me say I'm going to move on to an FRS if it happens again, so it decided to behave......