kissbang

First off, I would like to say that I am quite disappointed in this car and have completely lost faith in Lexus altogether.

My story: The car is a 2006 GS300 RWD. It was bought brand new the year it came out. Admittedly, It was a great car until the problems started occurring. First, it was the intermittent VSC lights every once in a while but then go away. Then it became a permanent VSC light as well as the Check Engine light.
The troubles don't end there, as the car would start burning ludicrous amounts of oil in which the Low Oil Warning would come up every couple of weeks (topping it off every time of course). On top of that, the car has stopped shifting above fourth gear and possibly has trouble shifting down as it has trouble accelerating as if it were in too high a gear.

Took it to the dealership to have them inspect and this is what they told me:
First and foremost, the ECU is bad and so are the O2 sensors (this is what they got from the codes), so they would have to replace both of those and he quoted me ~$2,600.
Second, service advisor told me the tech said that until I get the ECU and O2 sorted, they are not able to diagnose the problem with the transmission. Although the advisor did say that it is very likely that the whole transmission will have to be replaced as well and he said that would run me ~$6,000.
Of course, after all that I still have a problem with the engine burning oil. I've read about the CSP but the advisor said there were no misfires detected and of course insists that the ECU and O2 needed to be done before they will even consider anything else.

So there you have it: $9000 and the engine repair would still be up in the air.

At that price (possibly more), I feel like it's not even worth fixing. So unless I can get the repair costs down I might just give up on the car. This is where I have a few questions for you all:

O2 sensors I believe I can do myself (as in I've done it before on other cars but not this one). So, if the ECU is "bad" as they say, can I purchase a used one to put in or would I have to buy a brand new one? Guy said the software that was bad, which, kind of irks me because that means it was bad from the start so why should I have to pay to replace it? Is there any way to tell if an ECM has the updated software?

Also, is it plausible to bring it to a shop and have them put in a used transmission?

Never did I expect this car to have this many problems at 80k and it's frustrating beyond belief. Needless to say, it'd take a hell of a lot for me to even consider Lexus for a car ever again.

Right now I'm trying to figure out what options I have at this point and I thought that I would ask you guys here if you had any advice for me.

Thanks for reading.

msgs350

iTrader: (2)

9k in repairs? I'd trade it in and start fresh on a new car with a warranty. Are you the original owner since new? When did the issues start? Were there any issues during the warranty period?

You can certainly take it in somewhere and get a "rebuilt" transmission put in for 2-3k, but that may not fix it putting you deeper in the hole. good luck!

XxGoKoUxX

I highly doubt the ECU is bad, but I would say get the o2 sensors changed. Those are the cheapest parts to replace....

These are usually theoretical guesses on the dealership's part. I would get an actual mechanic's attention, or a second opinion from, possibly Toyota to see if it IS the ECU or not.

Transmission, I would say this is common, as I've had a buddy come to me about it also, and he got his refurbished for $2k. It's a little iffy sometimes, but after the adjustments the transmission shop did, it runs tip top shape again.

If the ECU is bad, there's USED ECU's out there, I forgot the website, but I believe it was in the ballpark of ~$300-$450 for a working one.

Misfire or not, I believe your dealership is playing you about the engine eating oil. I'd call corporate and stress to them the problems you are having at ONLY 80k miles....

GL to you and hope everything turns out alright!

pman6

maybe the transmission isn't bad.

maybe the ecu will fix it. So it might just be a $3000 repair, or less.

but you got a first year model. bunch of bugs. You are beta tester

BinaryJay

If there is an issue with either of your rear o2 sensors, they will automatically tell you that you need a new ECU because the rear O2 sensor parts have been superseded with a different design which requires the new ECU design to read correctly. There is no reason why you shouldn't be able to replace the failing rear sensor with an original part (not the redesigned one) and continue as you did before.

I know this because while under warranty (I miss those days) they said they found no readings from rear o2 sensors and they got replaced per a TSIB about the issue which also came with a new ECU.

By the way the warranty campaign for the misfires specifically states that while misfires are covered by that warranty OIL CONSUMPTION ALONE is not even though the fix is the same.

kissbang

Thanks for the replies, guys!

The only issues that popped up within the warranty period were the VSC lights that would pop up occasionally but then go away.

Yeah, I think I'll change the O2's out first and then work from there. Then, maybe try to find a shop to do the transmission.

I definitely feel the pain on this, especially since they came out with a bigger and badder engine the very next year.

Wow, that's pretty ridiculous on their part. I'll have a look at the codes they pulled and see if it is the rear sensors or not. How do I make sure replacement sensors that I buy are the old model? Are there different part numbers?

Yeah that's what I figured from reading the posts on here. I figure if I can get the rest of the issues sorted out then I can live with having to fill up the oil regularly.

Thanks for the help

johnkol

I don't think this is going to work long-term. The reason your O2 sensors are not working anymore is probably because they are gummed up by all the burned engine oil; if you replace them without addressing the excessive oil consumption, the new sensors will not last more than a year.

Simmsled

I second this observation.

Here is an option to clean up the piston rings if they are allowing a lot of blow-by.

Get an oil & filter change less 2 quarts of oil and replace with 2 bottles of this:


Go 100 miles, then change the oil and filter. You'll see how much gunk it pulls out on that first change. I bet your oil consumption will have gone down quite a bit as well. The one thing that it can't do, however, is clean up the valves. But, this has worked for me on other engines before.
I have used this before in engines that I have brought back to life.
You should also be a bit more aggressive with the throttle to blow some of the carbon out of the engine.

There are more aggressive engine clean methods, but this is a solid place to start.

Ironman50

Send a letter to Lexus USA headquarters......may help with cost of repairs..