Why sludge built up on 2014 Lexus ES 350

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My 2014 Lexus ES 350, begins to smoke from the exhaust March/April, 2019 @57,912 miles, and the "low oil light" continues to come on. I always had to add oil to the car. The problem got so bad I had to drive with quarts of oil in the car and add it as needed, which was frequently. I drove in to Lexus on April 13, June 7 and July 20, 2019, to have car repaired. I changed the oil according to Lexus oil change schedule, However, Lexus refused to repair car and indicated because neglected maintenance causing engine "sludge" and piston ring failure, they refused to repair my car and it is sitting in my garage since I had it tow from the dealership. I am aware that Toyota engines are prone to sludge built up and that Lexus settled 2.5 million class-action complaint in 2007. I provided receipts that the oil was changed, and that they supposedly changed the oil during 25,000 miles Service Maintenance Inspection. How can I get LEXUS to make repairs to my car...I have a balance I owe on t

What makes this problem better or worse?

The car is not drivable

How long has your 2014 Lexus ES350 had this problem?

March/April 2019

Visitor

in Decatur GA

Oct 21, 2019

2 Replies

Popular Answer

pushrodon Oct 21, 2019

The only thing I can think of that would cause “sludge” to develop is infrequent oil changes or using an inferior engine oil.. That’s the usual suspect. Good luck!

DaveJMon Oct 21, 2019

Hello, your best bet is to interface with the dealership service manager or general manager to advocate for you with Toyota to assist. You will need to provide all oil change records, and they will have to have been performed during a reasonable period of time / mileage. You also need to ensure you are underneath the 6 year / 70,000 mile power train warranty - this could be an issue as well. It could be submitted for goodwill consideration otherwise. Here is where loyalty with your dealership means everything. If you serviced at your dealership since day one and had all needed service performed as recommended -- then this would be a non-issue and it would be handled. Something tells me this is not the case...oil change intervals were too far apart, and/or performed not using factory parts or verifiable quality oil. Good luck!

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