aaa88

My car's engine warning light illuminated on the fourth day after I picked up the car. I went to the service department, but they couldn't determine the cause of the issue. They just performed a couple of test drives and then sent me home with the car. Last week, the same situation happened again. This time, I contacted headquarters because my communication with the dealer was not effective. However, the case manager told me I had to wait for the dealer to call me to discuss the issues and decide on a course of action. I now feel like they are passing the responsibility around and trying to ignore this matter.

Is there a better way to communicate with Lexus Corporate? Has anyone experienced a similar issue where the engine warning light illuminates and the service department doesn't know what's happening? Thank you!

oreon333

Maybe you discharged your battery little too much by running your car in ACC mode, or some other means? That will do it

Droid13

From your description, it sounds like you are having an intermittent issue and that you've only had it at the dealer once so far, and it recently occurred again prompting your call to Lexus Customer Service. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to solve intermittent issues that aren't actually occurring at the moment they are looking at the car. How to know if the problem is fixed, when the problem isn't occurring when they try to fix and test. The check engine light is shown when the computer detects a "symptom", but that symptom doesn't always directly indicate a solution. Kind of like chest pains being a symptom, but it requires further work to determine if its a heart attack or a bad burrito.

It sounds from your description that you called Lexus Corporate when the light came on a second time, but you haven't returned to the dealer again. I think its premature to involve Corporate, unless the dealer is refusing to do more, you really need to give them some chances to try to discover the cause and do the necessary repair. I know it sucks, but intermittent issues like that are sometimes a challenge and it may take them multiple attempts to work thru the possibilities. They may even call in a diagnostics specialist, but at this point you need to be prepared to give them perhaps a couple more opportunities to investigate. What you can do in the short term is see if you can find a pattern to the issue. Does it happen when its rainy, or hot, or cold. Does it matter if the car's engine is warm or cold, recently started, been driving for hours, bumpy roads, anything that could help provide a clue might help. Your best bet at this point is being willing to engage cooperatively with the dealer. Talk with them about their strategy, what they will try, what would be the next step if the next visit doesn't find the issue. What additional skills resources can they bring in to help. Its not quite yet time to try to have Lexus Corporate hit them on the nose with a roll of paper. That time might come, but not yet.

I know its disheartening to have trouble with a new car. Been there, done that. I had a Chrysler throw a check engine light on me within the car's first hour. I had a Pontiac go completely dead when it was 3 days old. Lexus should be better, indeed, but while they have a really good reputation, they are not at all perfect, no car is.

Sounds

Try a different dealer?

aaa88

Oh, I see, but the technicians didn't mention this situation. My car is in ACC mode, should I turn the ACC mode off?

aaa88

Oh, I see, but the technicians didn't mention this situation. My car is in ACC mode, should I turn the ACC mode off?

aaa88

I thought we were supposed to stick with the dealer we had when we purchased the car.

aaa88

Your response is reasonable. I visited the service department for the second time, and they reprogrammed something with the electrical part. But it's really frustrated to had the same situation twice under a year with a new car.

oreon333

ACC is your accessory mode when you run your car without turning on the engine, or turn on the car without stepping on the brake pedal. Basically what I am saying that you should never work on your car or do anything while it is in ACC, you need to turn it ON and let it run for whatever you are doing, even if you think it will take you 2 minutes to finish.

Droid13

If you can, please share the diagnostic code that triggered the engine light, and the details of what they reprogrammed. It might be useful for others in the future (assuming they fixed the issue).

TheCDN

This is always is a troubling situation to be in. Ownership of a new vehicle sometimes comes with a few bumps in the road so to speak.

The diagnostic work that a dealer needs to do to understand why the check engine light has come on is the root of the issue. I'm most certain that even though the light turned off in each case the data will be stored in your car's 'computer system' (commonly called an ECU engine control unit). These are referred to as a 'fault code'. And, even though the light went out the fault code would most likely be stored for the technician to retrieve and if they feel it's nothing serious they can delete it from the history log. But, they should note it somewhere in the record keeping for your vehicle history profile so that it is there to review in the future. Or they have the option to not clear it from the log so that it remains for all to see when they connect to your car's OBD (on board diagnostic) port in the future.

Now possibly it has been viewed by the tech but they're not 100% certain why the code 'was thrown' (geek speak for when a code is set in the cars computer). Or as others have mentioned it may have been something low level, like your 12 volt battery's state of charge was too low. This has happened to me with my '22 350h and the dealer said that with this particular type of code, since the simple correction is to recharge the battery which can be accomplished by driving it as one option, the check engine light will go off because the problem has been 'resolved'. The code however will still remain in the diagnostic software for the tech to see. So essentially these codes are kept in a diagnostic notebook for your car and when a tech connects to your car they can see the history of faults that exist. Another common check engine light issue is if you don't tighten the gas cap enough and when the computer does a routine pressure check of your fuel system it throws a fault for pressure leak in the fuel evaporator circuit. Tighten the cap and the light will go out after about 20 minutes of driving.

If after a thorough discussion with your dealer, possibly the service manager, they cannot explain why the light came on, not even what the code was for, then yes I would consider going to another dealer in your area if they're nearby. The simple act of knowing what the code is simple for the dealer to perform, they may be struggling with the 'why' it was set though and haven't been forthcoming with explaining it with you. They should at the very least put it in writing with an official work order and provide you with a copy. This is your evidence / proof of having the issue investigated by the dealer. This could be vital information to support your efforts to solve the problem down the road. And under normal circumstances this info is not readily shared with the head office, service data history is a 'gold mine' for the dealer. They can use it to show service history to the next buyer if you trade it in. They can analyze the data of all the cars they've serviced to enhance their ability to increase income for the service dept etc. If the service was covered by warranty then they will need to get prior approval from Lexus to go ahead and do the work and ultimately receive a reimbursement by Lexus for their costs. Some simple common work which is always covered they usually go ahead and do right away.

Always think of a dealer or any shop working on your car as your car going to see the doctor. Health records are a very important part of enhancing and extending your car's life expectancy, and may ultimately save you some out of pocket costs in the future if there's ever a recall or a replaced part has failed. Always keep your records in a safe spot, and no they don't need to be kept in your glove box, I put them in a plastic zip up folder in the house. We use our car for work and so I keep all receipts and shop records in one place for income tax records.

Tinkertech

Connect a 'good' scanner not a code reader.

You will see the history of DTC's.

Proceed from there.