Vsc And Cel On - Need Some Help And Advice

[Zmiley]

Hi all,

I am new to the world of Lexus... I am a 1st buyer of a 2006 Lexus IS 250. So far I have had nothing but trouble with a car that is known to be very reliable in just a few days of owning the vehicle. I'm pretty disappointed....

We purchased this vehicle used a few days ago and it passed safety at a lexus facility. There is powertrain warranty remaining only as there is 55 000 miles on this American car. I was told that it didn't matter, that these were great cars. I'm hoping someone can renew some faith in me B)

The car was safetied and 3 recalls were done at the dealership while still in the old owner's name days ago. To make a long story short, we got the car back and changed it over into my name. Next thing ya know, the power steering failed (PS light came on) as my wife was driving it (my 20 month old was in the car as well). The dealer admitted to the F-up. Something to do with the power steering recall. One of the electrical connectors came loose. Imagine that - my family could have been killed. The dealer paid to have it towed to their facility and they fixed the problem. I was told they were going to tow it back to us. Next thing ya know, some ancient guy pulls into our driveway driving the car back to us, without our permission. They said they were going to tow it. Anything could have happened on that hour long ride to our place.

When my wife started the car, the CEL was on and it said "check VSC." Having things to do, as we all do, she pulled out of the driveway and the car stalled. It continuously did this.. Started, then stalled after 3 seconds...

I called the dealership the next morning as it was well past 5 PM ( dealership closed). The manager apologized and towed us a loaner vehicle and towed ours back to their facility, but after the end of the day Friday, they still couldn't figure it out.... he said he promised to make it up to me....Any ideas what this could be or has anyone gone through this????

I'm wondering if my next fight will be the bill they give me when it's all said and done..... Powertrain warranty remains, nothing else. Like I said, all this happened in their care. We hadn't touched or driven the car at all.. It went in for one of their serious mistakes, then came back with a slew of other issues.... Is this a normal thing with these cars? I fully checked this car. It isn't a lemon or any of the sort....Call me crazy, but it seems the lemon is the technician working on the car.

Any help would be appreciated....

[bartkat]

It seems you answered your own question.

[Zmiley]

It seems you answered your own question.

Though I appreciate you pointing that out, your answer was not helpful at all....

To make matters worse, the guy who sold me the car is completely ignoring my calls, voice mail and and my text message I sent him the other day... I would have answered my own question, yes, but the old owner not returning my calls is what is making me nervous.... We paid quite a bit of cash for this car. Is this something that could potentially cost us a lot of money to fix?

[bartkat]

It seems you answered your own question.

Though I appreciate you pointing that out, your answer was not helpful at all....

To make matters worse, the guy who sold me the car is completely ignoring my calls, voice mail and and my text message I sent him the other day... I would have answered my own question, yes, but the old owner not returning my calls is what is making me nervous.... We paid quite a bit of cash for this car. Is this something that could potentially cost us a lot of money to fix?

You said the tech was the lemon. You're pretty well stuck to keep taking it back till they get things right.

The check VSC will usually come on with any CEL. It sounds like the car has gone in to "limp mode" to protect the engine against some fault. Get the CEL read and we can look it up to see what it is. If it were mine, I'd clean the MAF sensor first and see if it starts running right after that. This would be the simplest and most likely cause.

[Zmiley]

I appreciate the second response so much more.... Thanks.

Car came back today with a new AF SENSOR. They didn't charge me anything at all ( called it a goodwill service ) and they also fueled up my car and did a vac and wash job on the car too. Nice to finally have a good experience with a dealership!

So for those of you experiencing what i just experienced, keep the AF sensor in mind... Apparently, a bad O2 sensor can cause this too....

Cheers