1996 Lexus ES250 problems

Filed Apr 30, 2002 · Engine · NC

My car started smoking from the exhaust area when I started it every morning and in the evening after the car sat for a while in the office garage. I took it to the lexus dealership because I thought it needed the 90,000 mile maintenance. I told them the car was smoking and the engine jumped heavily when I started the car. I also told them the car made a strange noise when it would go up hill, especially excellerating up-hill. They charged me approx. $1500.00. I took the car back a few weeks after the maintenance and told them the car was still smoking when it starts and making the noise when it went up hill. They kept it overnight and gave it back to me the next day, saying they didn't see smoke when they started it. I took it back again in feb 2002 and asked them to look at it again because it smokes really bad. They told me it had sludge in the engine and it would cost up to $14,000.00 to replace the engine. They also told me that I could try to have it fixed for $2500.00 but the chances was only 10% that the problem would be fixed. I searched the internet for weeks to see if there was a class action law suit. I just happened to see the article in april's issue of automotive news and the problem mentioned was the same as what I have experienced with my car. The article says toyota has agreed to repair 1997-2002 cars with sludge. My car is 1996 but the problem is the same as what the others have stated.