billycool

First time poster here, although I've lurked a bit.

I have a 2007 IS250 with 95,000 miles on it. I began having problems with the car idling rough occasionally, which from reading up on here, appears to be a common problem. Then, last month the Engine Oil Level Low light came on (wording may not be exactly right)........put oil in, but then took it to the nearby (Charles Barker Newport News, VA) Lexus dealeriship. They said drive it for 1500 or so miles, then bring it in to have them check the oil level to see if there's a problem.

So, last week I did just that.......the service advisor comes and finds me and hands me an estimate for new pistons, rings, etc.......$6600. I tell him, great, it's a Certified Pre-Owned, and I'm still within the warranty, so go ahead and take care of that for me. He says, oh, well, let me go make a phone call......(seems like he would've known that I was CPO and under warranty)........I guess he calls Lexus USA or whatever, then comes back to me and says that they have to do an engine "tear-down" to make sure that the problem is covered by warranty. I say, um, which part of the engine would not be covered by a power-train warranty? He hems and haws, then finally says they're going to check to make sure the problem isn't owner neglect or improper maintenance.

So, they're going to tear down my engine to make sure that I'm not the culprit, after selling me this "world class" "luxury" car where the engine ****s the bed at 95,000 miles. It seems to be they should be begging for forgiveness for false advertising of their product, rather than treating me this way...........anyway, I've taken care of the car, but have done a so-so job of keeping records. I might have two-thirds of the oil change receipts. Are these guys going to magically find "sludge" in the engine, blame the problem on me, and screw me? And, how would they prove that I'm the one that caused the problem considering I bought the car used at 54,000 miles? How do they know that the other guy wasn't the one that created the problem?

laobo979

iTrader: (5)

Is gonna be hard to say but I'm guessing they're gonna have to pay for it. Your car is stock and not modified any where in the engine bay? I've heard a few story of the same issue and Lexus replaced it under warranty. I think your dealership want you to pay out of pocket.

billycool

Yep, it's stock, not modified in any way.............I certainly hope they'll pay for it. It seems there's an enormous conflict of interest in them being the ones to come back and say, "oh, well, look we found some sludge......this is your fault."

badteddy

it's CPO it should be covered. in order for it to be CPO, it must pass a 161 point inspection or something covered by Lexus themselves. if they didn't inspect something then it would bite them in the *** it's their own fault. all you did was take it for oil changes. they may be trying to snake their way out of paying for it and make sure that they don't. an oil change can't mess up the car unless you purposely put solid metal pieces or something in conjunction with the new oil.

why did the service advisor not have known it was CPO? when they pull up VIN's this is all in their database. something is fishy already.

RangerJoe

iTrader: (1)

I've had 2 different dealers claim ignorance of my CPO warranty. In the end it was sorted out, but it seems to be a fairly common problem for whatever reason.

Sceanzo

Agreed with what badteddy said. If it is Lexus Certified, and it was slugged beforehand it is their fault. Now I don't know how meticulous with your oil changes are, but it doesn't take long to sludge one up. I put a motor in an accord 2 weeks ago at work that was sludged, it only had 56k on it.

But to reiterate, if you are CPO. You should be in good shape.

billycool

Thanks, guys...........what happens if they demand to see my oil change records and I only have, say, half of them? I've taken care of the car, and changed the oil every 3-5k, but have been a little haphazard with record-keeping. Could they say, well, if you don't have all of your records then you can't prove that you properly maintained the car? I mean, what if I changed my own oil? There wouldn't be any records.....

Sffd103

iTrader: (16)

I'm sorry to hear your problem. I say stand your ground. Dig up any records. If oil changes were done at Lexus then they should be on record. If its a CPO and there are many cases like this they should know its a somewhat common problem. Dealers get paid straight from Lexus for issues like this so I don't see why the dealer wouldn't do it. Good luck with whatever happens. Keep us posted.

dstun

Have you checked your VIN to see if your vehicle is impacted by the carbon build up issue recall? You can check for outstanding recalls on the lexus owners website, however I would think the dealer would inform you but better to do your due diligence, then assume..

dstun

I have attached a copy of the service bulletin (which may be outdated now - as i believe it has been increased to 9yrs unlimited mileage)

badteddy

how many miles was the car when you bought it? and now it's 95k?

Also, no one says that you can not change your own oil. The car is your property, you should be able to change it yourself.

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/5-engine-oil-myths.htm

billycool

Good stuff, guys, thanks..........I bought it at 54k and it's now at 95k

keyframe13

This sounds like a carbon build up and should be replaced at no cost to you even if the car was not CPO. The dealer is a scumb looks like.

billycool

So, the service advisor calls back and says, hey, you know, how about we change the work order so as to avoid any problems with Lexus, and make this thing 100% covered.........says if we change the work order to "Intermittent Misfire" and say that the car idles poorly (which it has), that Lexus will simply cover it all, no questions asked, no tear down required, etc.

I tell him, sure, as long as you're going to do the same work (replace pistons, rings, etc), I don't care how you get there, or what you have to call it. So, unless I'm missing something, I guess this is good news.

dstun

good to hear they are covering it (as they should) but it sounds like this is going to be covered under the TSB for the carbon build up as they are changing the wording to align with the TSB. be sure to get a detailed list of ALL work performed