So.... I have a 2012 Lexus IS250. I知 about ready to drive it off a mountain and watch it explode. I知 2016 I replaced spark plugs due to bad gas. Toyota did that for me since I worked there. 2018 I replaced my battery. I moved from Oklahoma to Colorado in August of 2019. Since moving here my alternator has been replaced, new battery, and new spark plugs. Every time it snows I have to jump it. I have taken it to Lexus 3 times now. They did a diagnosis and told me everything I needed to replace. Did that. Still not running on its own. Please somebody help me. I would trade it but I still owe $6k. My payments are $400 a month for a car that does not run and it has 93k miles. I am losing hope and it痴 really interfering with my day to day life.

 

So Lexus told you what to replace, you did the work yourself?? If your struggling with getting the car going, why not let them replace what they're telling YOU to replace and have them get the car running?

A 12' with that many miles will last you a long time still so I wouldn't be stressing too much about getting rid of it. Clearly there is an underlying issue that hasn't been solved by any of the work you've completed.

If your battery is not charging with a new alternator and battery I would be looking into the circuitry involved with that. Clearly your battery is not charging if it won't start without a jump.

 

Sounds like you might have a parasitic voltage draw on the system. Have you (or anyone previously) installed anything aftermarket into the car? Stereo, alarm, head unit, radar detector?

 

^^ +10
A continuation on above is this: if the battery was ever connected backwards (the polarity reversed), some damaged components can drain the battery. Testing will show this. Mention the information in the post above!

These are good cars....

 

Keep your faith up Vickie.
If you ever find time. just make a day of it and have it looked at by IRF independent repair facility. 4 get the Dealer at this point. You followed them in to a rabbit hole. Get a honest opinion from a local trusted mechanic shop. I find that when you make that attempt things start to surface and problems begin to go away. i would give that a try , cause you don't wanna be upside down on your loan since you still owe. My 2010 IS250 owes $7k left and payments are 280.00 monthly with 130k miles. I plan to keep it until i am only owing 3k on the loan. Trying to avoid any major expense but at this point since your so close to paying it off, I would reach into my savings and attempt to get the vehicle repair 1 more time. Just gotta make it a bit further so then your options with this car will be more available as far as trading or even keeping the vehicle with the unknown issues.

2010 IS250
130k
no mods all stock

 

^^I totally agree with the above. ^^ It's probably a very simple problem, find a good independent mechanic if the Lexus dealership worked on it but it's not fixed. My Co-worker has a 2008 IS250 with well over 150K on it, and she has never had any issues with the car. I once had a VW Rabbit that did the same thing that you are describing....the battery would eventually drain. Testing showed both battery (new) and alternator were good. An electrician friend decided to look at it, it took him about an hour or so, but he traced it down to a grounding wire that went bad. He did a temporary fix by grounding it and told me to have the wire replaced, Your issue may be similar

 

Not saying this is YOUR issue, but on my IS350, the in-trunk light housing got messed up to the point that it would never turned off. So I had to disconnect the harness leading to it. Could be this simple; the hard part is finding out the issue.

 

^^ or as simple as door switch not being fully depressed while the door is in fact closed and/or locked.

 

^ or maybe everywhere you go(school, work, store) just disconnect the battery and take it with you so you know for sure that you aren’t draining the battery HAHA

 

Yes it can be something super simple draining the battery. I had a 90 ls400 as my first car about 6 years ago. A few months into owning it the battery started draining over night I went crazy. I was cleaning the inside and saw that the seat adjuster was jammed to recline the seat. I unjammed it and the problem went away. Can be something super simple

 

It almost sounds to me like you have another bad battery. If the alternator went shortly after replacing it, it may have been over charging it and damaged the internals. Does it simply die when it is cold out and need a jump? Does the car work when it's jump started and then immediately quit when you disconnect the jumper cables? Where in Colorado are you? There is an independent Toyota/Lexus shop in Centennial that is really good at what they do, and they would be FAR cheaper than any of the local dealers....