Lexless Again?

[james2210]

This is the third and possibly last week of owning my MK2 GS300SE :( . Picked up the car from Lexus Wolverhampton on the 7th and drove it home to Bristol without a hitch. The car seemed superb and I was extremely happy. Following day though, I started the engine and noticed it seemed to be running a little unevenly. Drove about 3 miles towards the M32 and the car started shuddering violently when the transmission shifted into 5th. Moved the shift lever to 4 and the vibration got better. However, when I pulled up at some lights, the idle was all over the place and was very lumpy as if the car was missing on 1 or more cylinders. Drove straight home and called the RAC to get the car trucked into Lexus Bristol. I've read that you should not drive with a misfire because it can damage the cats. Lexus Bristol kept the car until Friday and were sure that the problem was caused by condensation forming in the electrical connectors from when the engine was steam cleaned by Lexus Wolverhampton while they were preparing it. They assured me that they had dried out the connectors. given the car thorough road tests and a cold start and everything was fine.

Got the car back on Friday evening. Used the car once on the Saturday and things still seemed to be going OK.

Sunday, started the car in the morning-lumpy idle. Just in case Lexus Bristol did not believe me, I made a video recording of the symptoms and recorded off the audio and left it in the stereo so the techy could hear the misfiring problem and might have some idea on how to fix it. Drove down to Lexus Bristol and the car was juddering and missing on and off virtually all the way there, but seemed to run fine when I arrived. Left the car with them until last Thursday. They said that they had replaced the spark plugs and again, had thoroughly tested it. One of their techies even took the car home with him to give it a proper test first thing in the morning. I was assured that everything was now OK and that the gremlins had been removed.

Things were OK until earlier this afternoon. I'd been out to B&Q to get some stuff and decided to call into a petrol station to get a paper on the way home. The forcourt was pretty busy and while I was waiting for some idiot in a Renault to clear the parking bay, the engine started idling really erratically, almost stalling a few times. I went in and bought the paper, came out and had a really unpleasant and misfiring ride all the way back home again.

What should I do? I really like the car but I need a car I can rely on. This is the most expensive car I've ever bought, and it seems to be the least reliable. My wife is expecting our first kiddie in April, and I want a car that can get us to the hospital on time! It's also a major hassel to be without my new car again (luckily I still have my unsold reliable old Honda), but it's not the same and it's costing me £63 a month to insure. My wife has to keep picking me up and dropping me off at the Lexus dealer (she likes their cookies and coffee though). The dealers have been really helpful, but I just don't have much confidence in them or the car anymore. Lexus Wolverhampton kindly agreed to extend the 30 day trial period so that it now runs from last Thursday, and after that 30 days, have agreed to extend the warranty to 2 years in order to boost my confidence in the car.

Do I give them another chance?

Do I say enough's enough?

Has anyone else suffered from misfiring?

It seems to happen when the air is really damp like it was last night and today, or it might be something to do with weekends!

What does everyone think I should do? How does the Lexus 30 day exchange policy work? I can't seem to find any information about it.

PS. For the last 9 years, my wifes grandparents have got me Lynx in some form or another (shampoo, deoderant, shower gel, toothpaste, eyebrow polish), this year.......socks!

[Matthew_McNally]

Personally, I would make the most of the extended trial period and give them a chance to resolve this - especially as you seem to like the car.

tell them that you want it fixed and the trial period extended, so that you get to have 4 weeks trouble free with it.

if they won't go for it - walk away.

There are plenty of very happy GS owners on this forum - yours is clearly an abnormality.

You are correct - we all need and want a vehicle we can rely on - if this one is not reliable enough - choose another

[L3X JG]

Take it from me once a problem always a problem, cars are to technical to repair now I had 2 different lexus models in the past and I got rid of them because it was a problems that was fixed one min and back the next take it back under the 30 day ex policy if that is not up.

And if it is them create a bit as you had the problem from day one.

Let me know if you take it back and you still want a GS 300 se