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I bought a 2009 Camry in Nov. It has 6100 miles on it and i changed the oil at 5k. The dealer is telling me that i have a blown head gasket due to a hole in the radiator hose. They are claiming that this is a "road hazard" and not covered under the manufactures warranty. They say this could have happened by either a rock or stick flying up from the road. We also bottomed out the front end going up a driveway and the dealer claiming that this may have caused the radiator to puncture a hole in the hose. It all sound weird and wrong to me. We bottomed out the front end ,barley, over 2 month ago and the loss of coolant just happened.
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
You are right. This does sound suspicious. Call Toyota corporate at 1-800-331-4331 and speak to customer service about the situation. If you can't get anything done with Toyota corporate, call your insurance company and discuss this with them. They may cover it, if it indeed was caused by road debree. They will want to come out and inspect the car.
If the radiator hose was ruptured, then the engine was not getting any coolant. You should have seen the engine temperature gauge go way up into the red. This could be a problem getting someone to pay the claim, because they could say that you should have seen the temp. gauge.
If the radiator hose was ruptured, then the engine was not getting any coolant. You should have seen the engine temperature gauge go way up into the red. .
Have they try putting a hole in the radiator hose? It is easier said than done, especially the radiator hose isn't that exposed to the elements and road debris, you have more chances of puncturing the radiator than the hoses driving down the road.
BTW, how did you go from a hole in the radiator hose to a blown head gasket? Did you leave something out in between? Like driving without coolant?
Heres the deal: Got in the car on my way to work. Got about 2 miles up the grade and noticed white smoke coming out of the exhaust. gages were fine. pulled over into the slow lane. about 1 mile later the engine stopped. this whole thing took less then 4 miles to materialize.
Had my insurance inspector out yesterday and he feels, without ant doubt, this is a manufactures defect. He actually cut the hose and there is no way, in his opinion, that it could be a road hazard, as the dealer claims. I have already hired an attorney and he thinks this will be slam dunk with Toyota. Thanks for the posts.
Heres the deal: Got in the car on my way to work. Got about 2 miles up the grade and noticed white smoke coming out of the exhaust. gages were fine. pulled over into the slow lane. about 1 mile later the engine stopped. this whole thing took less then 4 miles to materialize.
Had my insurance inspector out yesterday and he feels, without ant doubt, this is a manufactures defect. He actually cut the hose and there is no way, in his opinion, that it could be a road hazard, as the dealer claims. I have already hired an attorney and he thinks this will be slam dunk with Toyota. Thanks for the posts.
MH
if there is no coolant in the system then the gauge will not be in the red. the gauge works off of the water temp so if no water is making contact with the sensor then its going to be reading the air temp in the system and it will make it look almost normal. in seen this happen a few times on customer cars when i was a wrench turner and once on my old beater sentra when the heater hose cracked and let all the coolant out.
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Last edited by Twisted Sid; 01-19-2009 at 09:25 AM.
i had contact an attorney friend to get advice on this matter from the beginning. Heres the outcome:
The dealer claimed that they had some field reps out from Toyota looking over the car for "half the day". They determined that it was a "road hazard' but they would give me a "one time courtesy repair". They would not however cover the cost of my rental car. I called their bluff and said that i needed to speak to my lawyer and not to do any work until they hear from me. The service manager threated that Toyota attorneys will want to talk to my attorney and that he will get back to me ......BS......They called me the next day and said they would repair the car and cover the rental, but Toyota still denies that it is a manufacturing defect and this is a "one time courtesy repair". They would not cover the cost if it wasn't their fault.Right? I should get the car back this Saturday. Worst Toyota experience i have ever had and we have 7 Toyota's in the family. Thanks for your post.........I will be filing complaints with the following:
Toyota of America
BBB
DMV Investigative Services
Thousand Oaks Toyota
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