Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

Chevron and only Chevron. /End

greg0126

iTrader: (2)

I'll clue you all in on a little secret in the industry (I work in petroleum). The vast majority of gas stations are using the same gas as each other. Now perhaps there could be differences in the stores' tanks in that maybe some are not maintained well or need a cleaning, but that's not really a brand issue. Or maybe you like the additives that are blended into the fuel at each store or in the truck on the way to the store, that's cool.

But this is a fact: The gas comes from the same place (a 1,000,000+ gallon tank that has all the refiners' gas mixed into it...if it wasn't already mixed together in the pipeline).

Stew4HD

+1.

I wanted to post that earlier but figure it'll be poo-poo'd. To add to yours, Valero is America's biggest gasoline producer. They just bought the big BP refinery here in Texas City (near Houston).
I work in the oil/gas/chem engineering biz.

praetor

Modern engines can also cope with a lot of "bad" gas. Besides, most of the people here will trade up way before their cars break down. I'm probably one of the few here that keeps a car 10+ years.

I change my oil once, maybe twice a year using conventional dino oil. And I fill up wherever it's convenient. I always follow what is recommended by the manufacture and so far never had any issues.

praetor

The GS though will get full synthetic oil as that's what's recommended. That and premium fuel.

SecPole14

Ugh. Sad to hear even the 4GS is experiencing these issues. I thought all this carbon buildup nonsense with the 3.5L V6 was lonnnnnng dead and buried.......

djpeakSD

Yeah this is not a carbon buildup issue! My car is still in service (going on 4 weeks) they are replacing the short block and both heads all valves springs and guides.

I am being told that it was a defective valve guide in cylinder #3 but they are replacing everything just in case it was a bad lot.

So when i first posted this I was being told that it was bad gas blah blah blah, and then they opened up my engine and we found out exactly what was going on.

BarrettF77

4 weeks? Time for Lexus to replace the car. Insane.

djpeakSD

Yeah I was in Hawaii for 12 days which made it a little easier for me to swallow.

SecPole14

So is there any evidence of carbon buildup in your motor, or did I misread/misinterpret something earlier in the thread?

djpeakSD

Initially my service advisor was telling me that before they opened up my car. Which was hard to believe because the direct injection and that my car was so new.

After they tore down my car it looks like defective engine components.

I will be picking my car up today too. 30 days this whole process took, hopefully everything is fine.