Hey all... I have taken my car to Lexus twice over this issue (it is there as we speak), but Lexus supposedly cannot get the issue to replicate when it is at the dealership.

If my IS has been sitting overnight or for a day or so, almost every time that I start it it appears to struggle. It turns over fine, the battery is fine, but it takes it a while to "catch on". I feel like this is a fuel pump issue or something, but I am confused because it has always ran fine and Lexus cannot get it to do this when it is in the shop, so it has yet to get fixed. I was wondering if you all had any insight or have also had this issue.

2016 IS200t, 20k miles, car has never popped up any lights or accelerated or idled weird. Video attached is one of the worst starts, it usually just stutters and then appears to catch on and start. I have more videos if they help!

 

Is the issue temperature dependent? What grade and brand of fuel do you put in it?

 

Nope, cold or warm weather. I'm in Arkansas so it's been above 70 for weeks. It changes, but usually Sunoco and always 91 octane

 

Yeah that has absolutely nothing to do with a battery.
Does it do it every time on the first start? I'd lean towards fuel pressure not building up right away. I'd have them diagnose the fuel pump, maybe there's leakage or some sort of pressure drop or something. Hard to say. The fuel pump is shared with the Tacoma V6 if I'm not mistaken. Maybe check those forums and see if similar stuff happens. That's exactly the kind of running you'd experience with lack of fuel. Or too much fuel. Guessing lack in this case. I'd make them replace the fuel pump.

 

I left it at the dealership for a week. They said they could never replicate the issue while it was there and sent me on my way. Basically, they told me that if I ever went on vacation or whatever to bring it by and they'd do more testing on it. So, naturally, every time after that that I started my car, I recorded it. I have all kinds of videos and all of my friends and family can attest that it does it. Dropped it off on Monday, emailed the videos, got a call from my service advisor today that it didn't start odd. I can attest to it doing it almost every time I start it in the mornings/after it has been sitting, so I feel like this situation is kind of off and I'm starting to get irritated with the service department. I think they are starting it too frequently even though I have explained this situation in depth. Thank you for your response! And I'm glad to be here! 🙂

 

I have been thinking the same thing. No other explanation makes sense. It always starts off on the first start, but they usually aren't as bad as the video I attached. I'll check the Tacoma forums.. thanks for the response. I'm getting irritated and trying to get this taken care of before my warranty is up.

 

Yeah if it's a first start thing then the fuel is having a difficult time pressurizing. Could just be a failing fuel pump. Next time without pressing the brake, turn the car into the (ON) position (dash lights on) and listen carefully for the fuel pump. Not sure if you can hear it in these cars, but should be a consistent hum. If its anything like most cars, should be under or near the back seat. Put your ear to it as a friend pushes the ignition button (don't start the engine)

 

Try a different dealership.

 

I think that since you agree with me, I'll bring this up the next time they call me with no news. I'll try that if I get my car back without the issue being fixed.

I think I am about to. This one is already 2 hours away, but I have another that is about 2 hours in the opposite direction, so I may. I really like this dealership (2nd car from there), so I hate to call it quits in a way.

 

In case anyone ever comes across this with the same problem, I wanted to update!

My dealer supposedly never got it to start weird. I told them to go ahead and replace the fuel pump because that is all that my service adviser and I could think of. I was excited to bring my car home, but it turns out that the new fuel pump didn't fix my issue. It continued to start weird. Because of my luck with taking it to service departments so far, I decided to start trying different gasoline brands as a last resort before I traded it off. I'm on my second tank of Shell V-Power (92 octane), and it has yet to do it on any startup. I'm not sure why this is all that works, but it seems to have fixed my issue for now.

 

I don't have a 200t, but out of curiosity, which brands have you been using that caused issues?

 

Sunoco, Phillips 66, Murphy USA for sure.

Where I live, 91 octane premium is about as good as you can find, so I never got to try any higher octane. My Shell's premium here is 91oct and 20 cents more than their 92oct V-Power fuel.

 

Idk about the 200t, but in the 300 93 octane doesn't seem to make any noticeable difference. Ethanol free, even 91, does feel a bit more responsive, however. I suspect it's better at lower RPMs due to the higher energy content of straight gasoline and worse at higher RPMs, due to the lower effective octane of 91E0 compared to E10. So it pretty much would even out. Anywho, I have no data to back this up, just drawing butt-dyno-based conclusions that happen to line up with science that may or may not be placebo effect.

 

It is odd how gas and driving perceptions are. I'm never sure if I am imagining it or if it is real lol. And I'm still not convinced that it will never start weird again. I do not really get how some brands of fuel can cause the issue and others do not.. not sure if there is any long term damage done or anything. I feel like my car does feel smoother, but again I am not really convinced that that isn't just my mind being more relaxed since I haven't heard that awful startup noise in a few weeks.

 

hi, i have a 2016 is200t @ 70K now. i'm having similar problem like yours. My car is at the dealer right now and they said they can't duplicate the issue. I was wondering how long does it take after you changed the gasoline to shell for it to go back to normal.