Hi! I'm new here! I have a question, I currently have my car (2022 IS300) at the dealership because it was hesitating to start but it would start. The day I took it, it did not start the first time and a message came up that said Charging System Malfunction so I'm thinking it may be the battery, alternator, or starter... I unno. The dealership has had it for almost a week and they are saying it may be due to bad gas so they are checking the fuel pressure system. I only use premium gas, I never put anything lower but how does that message have anything to do with gas? I'm wondering if anyone else has had this issue.

 

That sounds like BS to me. Anyhow bad gas could mean it had water or other contaminants in it, not too low of an octane rating. Cars adjust the ignition timing to accommodate low octane gas if you use it to avoid predetonation you’ll just get worse MPG and power.

 

Most likely it's the battery, right? Kinda strange they'd jump to fuel. If it's a starting concern, I would suspect electrical issues or parts relating to the starting of the vehicle first.

 

Not buying their story. They might not of even looked at the car yet. Just sitting behind the building while they work on other cars. No reason it should take them a week if they were actually looking at it.

 

They're just finding excuses to probably charge you more, unfortunately. Agree with the responses above, esp. if the car had issues starting, I'd first be thinking the battery - weird though, given yours is a 2022.

For the dealership to jump to a conclusion to say it's "bad gas" without even indicating they tested the battery voltage (at rest) is a huge red flag to me.

 

Yeah so they said the reason they started looking at the fuel pressure system is because that's the code that came up when they tested it for codes I guess. They said the battery, alternator, and starter do not seem to be having issues which is weird because then why would that message pop up...? They are now doing a fuel injection test and said they have never seen an issue like this on a one year old Lexus which is why this is taking long apparently. So annoying!

 

Giving them the benefit of the doubt, I've never seen anyone complain about the error code you had so they're at least probably being honest about that.

 

omg please tell me what the outcome was! I also have the same car and it happened to me today.

 

if I can remember I think it was a leak in the fuel pressure system. They had my car for like 2, almost 3 weeks because they couldn’t figure out why a car w 20k miles was doing that. And they also tried to say it could have been caused by bad gas even though I only put premium.

 

Bad gas can mean many things. Premium is pricey and so it sits around more; especially in non-high traffic areas. Premium is just an octane level. Quality and caliber is dependent on age, distribution system...blah blah blah.

 

Why didn't you get it checked right then and there??

 

OP said the dealership had it for almost a week, and the issue has since been resolved.

 

Ohhh, I misread it.

In that case, it's more than likely the battery.
Take the car to another Lexus dealer, since it's a 2022 your battery is still covered by warranty. (get the battery checked to prevent it from happening again)