nehal1802

Long story short, I just bought a 2008 IS250 for my dad with 98k miles from a Mitsubishi dealer with a warranty. Less than 150 miles later, he told me the car was shaking, barely accelerating, and not going above 40mph on an incline with the Check Engine flashing, Check VSC, and Traction light on. I diagnosed the car with codes P0300/P0301. Got the car over to a Lexus dealer the next day and they told me that I'm 4 months out of the extended warranty for the carbon buildup.

I let the dealer know about the issue and send them the paperwork for the TSB. They will let me know by Monday what my next steps are however this issue is covered by the warranty they offered so I'm not too worried.

My question, is it worth keeping the car or should I push for a full refund? From what I've researched, there is no fix as a replacement/rebuilt motor will exhibit the same symptoms again. We also want long term reliability; this would be replacing a 2002 v6 Camry that would have continued to be in service if it wasn't totaled (not our fault, texting driver).

MikeyK02

iTrader: (7)

Get a refund. It's 9k for an engine rebuild.

While there is no fix, there are ways to minimize it. Unless you're find with doing extra work, to keep it running okay, get the refund.

DallasLex

iTrader: (1)

I'd get rid of it.

https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/d...2560/overview/

nehal1802

So I'm fine with doing a bit of work to keep cars running but I'd rather it not something excessive.

@DallasLex, we were initially looking at ES models however my dad wanted the AWD which is why we choose the IS. From my understanding, the only AWD sedans from Lexus are the IS/GS models (correct me if I'm wrong)

bbaugher47

The 350 doesn’t have the same issue that the 250 does. Newer model 350s are available in AWD but I think its rare to find one. Do you feel (or trust) the warranty company to pay to fix it correctly? I imagine they will try to pay as little as possible and do the bare minimum. I would return it as well. What is your Dad’s budget?

nehal1802

The newer 350s are out of my budget. I found some older 250s that should work (2011+ fixed the issue right?). As far as the warranty company doing the work, this major of a repair would be handled by Lexus and the warranty company would pay them (according to the GM of the dealer)

Budget ideally would be under 20k. AWD is a must. Interior would ideally not be black. Mileage doesn't matter much, I work on my own cars and have done successful engine rebuilds myself.

bbaugher47

I wonder if Lexus does the work if it would come with a warranty. If so , it may be worth it to get it fixed. The issue would always lie in the back of my head though.

nehal1802

I would expect a warranty on the engine repair. We only got a 3 month/3000 mile warranty with the vehicle. That's not long enough to know if an engine rebuild was done properly.

Also as far as I know, once you start throwing codes there's no way to clean the carbon.

bbaugher47

Heres one that I found in NJ( your location I presume)

nehal1802

That's not a bad deal however I thought the IS250/IS350 both had the issue. I thought ES350 fixed it.

Not a bad price though, I do like the white. I also forgot that website exists so I'll do some research of my own.

bbaugher47

The 350 doesn’t have the issue. The 250 is the only one:-). And 100 more HP.

nehal1802

Let me look around and first try to push for a full refund on this car. I'm also liking the Legacy (If I can convince my dad to jump on the Subie bandwagon).

nehal1802

So we got approval to return the car. It's definitely going back.

What year Lexus cars should we avoid when looking for a new one? So far I've seen 2006 GS300 and 2006-2010 IS250/IS250C. Are there any other models that we should avoid?

MikeyK02

iTrader: (7)

Well if youre getting an IS, 2011-13 were the only years with awd in this body style

nehal1802

As much as I like this body style, I wouldn't mind the newer ones. I'd take reliability over looks.