My baby went to the dealer on a rollback today, <snif> - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

Lumberg · 05-13-2008, 04:22 PM

There was a sudden and catastrophic failure deep within the engine and while it ran initially, it seized up overnight so I had to have it towed.

Luckily, I am still within 6 months of the end of the window for the oil gel warranty extension, and I made it clear to the service writer I have good documentation and stuff.

They don't make any promises 'til a tech pulls apart the motor, so I had to put $105 on the line as diagnostic fee.

As weird as this sounds, wish me luck that I have terrible, irreparable damage to my engine and that Toyota will give be a nice, brand new one for free!

I love this car, I have a bunch of nice performance mods in the suspension and have a set of lowering springs and a set of KYBs ready to go in it.

Normally I'd say screw it but this car I think I would like to own for a little longer.

Luckily I can do many of the upgrades to the I4 I have instead but I'll still have some unnecessary spare parts if it doesn't work out. I don't think I'd pay $6k for an engine for that car if it's on my dime.

Creeps228 · 05-13-2008, 06:15 PM

so have they told you anything about the car. AND explain how it seized up on you, did you try checking the regular stuff?

kpszar · 05-13-2008, 06:26 PM

Well I wish you luck and give you that new motor for free, I agree that I would not spend $6,000 on new motor while the car sells for $5,000. Do not get fooled on what they will tell you, they will pull a quick one on you because they are greedy. A car should not just break down that quickly, it is not like it 's motor have been modified.

Lumberg · 05-13-2008, 07:36 PM

No I literally posted this thread as soon as I got back. A tech will look at it tomorrow.

They have to pretty much tear down the engine to even check it out.

I hope he doesn't waste too much time after he looks down the spark plug holes.

***BMR*** · 05-14-2008, 03:52 AM

Wow, it's seized up now, eh? That bites. Good luck on getting a replacement engine.

Lumberg · 05-14-2008, 07:17 AM

Yeah she was running real ragged with one cylinder completely blown up but I think after the engine cooled down, the melting/spalling/contraction coefficients and whatnot kicked in and now she's seized solid.

***BMR*** · 05-29-2008, 10:11 AM

So what's up, Lum? What did the dealership decide to do?

Lumberg · 05-30-2008, 08:42 AM

The place decided to charge me $105 for popping the valve cover. Then another $210 for dropping the oil pan.

Then told me no sludge. You want your car back, you pay!

Venom_5 · 05-30-2008, 08:47 AM

did they tell you what the issue was?

Heat · 05-30-2008, 09:36 AM

What was the diagnosis? I mean, you did pay a $105 diagnostic fee plus $205 in labor (1.5 or 2.0 hours?)

And I'm not that familiar with the sludging problem, which years did it affect and was it in V6's only or also in I4s?

theStig · 05-30-2008, 10:10 AM

couldn't you just drop in a used motor? I've called a few local places and they'll drop in a japanese 1MZ for $1800 installed.

Lumberg · 05-30-2008, 07:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by theStig

couldn't you just drop in a used motor? I've called a few local places and they'll drop in a japanese 1MZ for $1800 installed.

I think things are different on the East Coast, unfortunately.

They didn't tell me shit. They showed me the pieces of piston in the oil pan.

I took a chance that they'd help out a loyal owner of two Toyotas and came up empty.

Rest assured I am no longer loyal to Toyota. I still own one of them, but I'm not the enthusiastic supporter I used to be. Kinda pissed cos now I have to join a Chevy forum, but whatever.

Toyota Motor Sales, USA doesn't care about me. I get it. There are lots of other brands out there. No biggie.

BTW There's definitely lots of varnish and hardened sludge in the engine. So it basically boiled down to the dealer not wanting to "deal" with it.

As soon as it's time to replace the I4 Camry, I'll be thinking long & hard about what marque to buy. Toyota won't get first nod, it will be on an equal footing with Honda, Mazda, etc.

It kinda sucks to know I'm just a problem that they want to go away, as opposed to a valued customer, but whatever. Not gonna lose sleep over it.

ryannel2003 · 05-30-2008, 08:11 PM

That really sucks how Toyota treated you. Customer service hasn't been Toyota's strongest suit lately, and it definitely shows with their dealers. I'm sorry to hear about your car though

Vagisimo · 05-30-2008, 11:55 PM

HEY! dont knock toyota, its hard to get good employees.

find a mechanic that loves toyotas too.

you haveto realize that there are alot of politics that go on behind a business.

I was lucky for a few years '89-'91 I knew a mechanic that loved toyotas

he worked for toyota stealerships, until they screwed him on money, so he went to work on saturns, he fixed my 22re 4x2 toyota pickup, changed out the water pump housing and put on a new chain for next to nothing, he did it while the engine was still in the truck too, he had my toyota up on a lift fixing it in broad daylight at the saturn dealership, in the front showroom no less, and on a saturday.

it all depends on who you know, and how freindly they are with you for paying them cash under -the -table

Lumberg · 05-31-2008, 10:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vagisimo

HEY! dont knock toyota, its hard to get good employees.

find a mechanic that loves toyotas too.

you haveto realize that there are alot of politics that go on behind a business.

I was lucky for a few years '89-'91 I knew a mechanic that loved toyotas

he worked for toyota stealerships, until they screwed him on money, so he went to work on saturns, he fixed my 22re 4x2 toyota pickup, changed out the water pump housing and put on a new chain for next to nothing, he did it while the engine was still in the truck too, he had my toyota up on a lift fixing it in broad daylight at the saturn dealership, in the front showroom no less, and on a saturday.

it all depends on who you know, and how freindly they are with you for paying them cash under -the -table

I am a mechanic who loves Toyotas. If anything, I could help fellow TN'ers and vice versa. I've worked with m52go, he's a really cool guy BTW.

But I don't have a lift or an engine hoist, so engine replacement is beyond me. Plus, the sludge settlement made me think Toyota would at least acknowledge that the engine died way prematurely.

The Toyota dealerships are the public face of Toyota and the way they're run is crap. I also called the Toyota Motor Sales USA headquarters in Torrance, CA. They put me through to the "Toyota Customer Experience" hotline. The CSRs and case manager I talked to were at least nice about it. But the result is the same: you're on your own.