Just got my car back from the auto body repair shop. Had an accident and needed the right fender and front bumper replaced. Everything looked good until I started the car and the "Check Engine" and "Check VSC" light came on. The car was running perfectly fine and these lights weren't on when I dropped it off last week. Any possible explanations?

 

Without pulling the code it could be anyting.

 

ECM or dirty throttle body sensor. It's a warranty fix if you're still covered.

 

The body shop was nice enough to let me bring it back in tomorrow so they can scan the code to see what's up.

Are those located in proximity with the bumper or passenger-side fender? Maybe when they were taking off the old bumper, they might've messed up the sensors.

 

I'm not sure of the ECM location. How's the car running?

 

Initially, in Drive at a stop light, the car shuddered and the RPM dropped below normal as if it was about to stall. Reminded me of the symptoms in this thread: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...d-threads.html

 

Def sounds like an ECM. Still under warranty?

 

I say pull the code and see what come up. I dont think it the ECM.

 

If it still shows check engine. I suggest you check your gas cap and tighten it a little more. It came up on me once I went to my gas tank and it wasn't tighten all the way. After I tighten it, it went off. Let me know if this works

 

Yea, I tried the gas cap thing already. I actually had to replace the gas cap when I first bought the car from the previous owner because it would set off the Check Engine light.

 

get a code reader to find out what happened....you can "borrow" from most of the big chain auto parts store

 

I just got back from the shop and they said the code read that there was a cylinder misfire. This is the first time I've had that happen. Do I need to bring it to Lexus to have them take a look?

 

You should bring your car to Lexus dealer if you're still under warranty. Good Luck to you !

 

Warranty wont cover it if it is caused by an accident
That happened to me but it was my cruise control
They quoted me another 950 to get that fixed.

 

Can you elaborate more on when you saw the CEL? Were you able to drive the car after the accident? Was it showing up then? There are three periods of interest:

1) Before the accident
2) After the accident, before the repair
3) After the repair

It's clear from this thread that you saw the CEL after the repair, meaning after the body shop had it. Were you able to drive the car prior to the body shop having it but after the accident? Or was it not driveable?

I don't think you'll have any luck with warranty coverage as they'll claim it was related to the accident or the repairs from the accident, unless it ends up being something totally removed and separate from where they repaired but that's a stretch. I think you'll have more luck with the body shop, if you can show you didn't have the issue between the accident and their repairs. If that's not the case, then the fix might be out of pocket.

Also, don't just take the body shop's word for it that it's "cylinder misfire". Not that I distrust them, but there should be more info available. Go to Autozone or get yourself your own OBDII scanner. Get the exact code and the exact text of it, and there's more often than not more than one code.