I was travelling on Memorial Day and stopped in north Texas at a Valero station to fill up. I have a 2011 Lexus IS 250, bought it about three months ago and it’s the best car I"ve ever had. I still hope it is. About 5 miles or so after I filled up I noticed the car was having some trouble accelerating on hills wih the cruise control. The car also gets about 30-33MPG highway, and it was running about 24MPG, way below normal. I was in the middle of nowhere and after about 20 miles I came to a very small town with one stop sign. I stopped, and as I started back up, the car hesitated and sputtered before I made it through the intersection. I pulled over and stopped the car and tried to figure out what to do. First of all, nothing was open in the town. The next decent-sized town was about 10 more miles down the road, which would probably have some dealerships, auto parts stores, and mechanics, but being Memorial Day, I had serious doubts anything was open. I was pretty certain it was the gas, but I didn’t know whether I could get somewhere for help. As no idiot lights had come on, I figured my options were limited but I would drive to the next town and see if something was open. I got there, but the dealerships I saw were closed. Then I went by an auto parts store that was open. I went in and the first thing they recommended was Seafoam. Then a second employee said no way, that will void your warranty, and knew of cases where it had. Even another customer sugggested Seafoam. Finally, one employee called a Toyota dealership that was open about 25 miles away and got a service advisor to speak with me. He said it could be water, but it could also be that the ethanol mix was higher than it should be in the gas and, since it burns premium, it was taking a toll. Both he and the store employees suggested, if I felt the car was not going to stall out, to stop every 75 miles or so and fill up with “good” gas to dilute the “bad” gas. I stopped twice more on the way to Houston and ended up adding about 8 gallons to a 17 gallon tank. After both stops, the car was driving a little better and the gas mileage improved. By the time I got to Houston, I was only able to notice hesitation upon starting from a dead stop. I took it to the Lexus dealer the next day (after it took three times to start), and, of course they were “unable to replicate my problem” (love the language they use). I picked the car up as they were closing and, sure enough, it hesitated and sputtered at every start-stop on the way home. I went and put in 5 more gallons of gas. The next day I called the dealership again and they said bring it in and they would have a mechanic ride with me. But, I drove through my neighborhood and made about a dozen start/stops, but with little hesitation (still had some). I called them and cancelled the appointment, as it was obvious I wouldn’t be able to “replicate the problem”. They did say to put some Chevron Techron in it when it was nearly empty and then fill the tank.
So now I"m wondering. Do I have any permanent damage? Should I use the Chevron Techron the dealership recommmended or go with the Seafoam, which so many people have recommended? Are there other options I am unaware of? BTW, the gas station said they checked the fuel and it has no water in it, and that they had no other complaints (besides mine, of course).
Got 3/4 of a tank left, still have some hesitation, nothing at highway speeds, but need to know what to do when the tank gets low. Any input or advice would be much appreciated, and sorry for the long post!