2010 Corolla Stranded Owner

[Corolla S]

I have 1800 miles on this car, have had it 3 weeks, haven't even made the 1st payment and it stranded me on the side of the road. The throttle stopped working, the rpm's dropped suddenly, the check engine light and the traction control light came on and the car would not respond. I lost all control of acceleration and had to stop, where it stalled out. I could NOT find ANY number's for Emergency Roadside Assistance ANYWHERE, I did NOT have a cell service and had to ask a kind home owner to use there phone. I called a tow truck, who couldn't come pick it up until after dark, found a ride home and looked up the damn # online and called Toyota "Emergency Roadside Assistance", they said they covered $100 of the tow, after that I was responsible! Then called back to say the tow was on it's way in 45 minutes, to met him there, we waited for a tow truck for 1.5 hours and then had to pay $75 out of my pocket! This was last night (sat.) and now it's Sunday and I am stranded without a DAMN CAR for the day, with no car to drive to work in the am!!!!!!! I AM NOT A HAPPY COROLLA OWNER RIGHT NOW!!!!!!! I am not real confident in the safety and reliability of this car anymore, frankly I am quit scared to be driving this car anywhere ever again.

[emerson323]

Originally Posted by Corolla S

I have 1800 miles on this car, have had it 3 weeks, haven't even made the 1st payment and it stranded me on the side of the road. The throttle stopped working, the rpm's dropped suddenly, the check engine light and the traction control light came on and the car would not respond. I lost all control of acceleration and had to stop, where it stalled out. I could NOT find ANY number's for Emergency Roadside Assistance ANYWHERE, I did NOT have a cell service and had to ask a kind home owner to use there phone. I called a tow truck, who couldn't come pick it up until after dark, found a ride home and looked up the damn # online and called Toyota "Emergency Roadside Assistance", they said they covered $100 of the tow, after that I was responsible! Then called back to say the tow was on it's way in 45 minutes, to met him there, we waited for a tow truck for 1.5 hours and then had to pay $75 out of my pocket! This was last night (sat.) and now it's Sunday and I am stranded without a DAMN CAR for the day, with no car to drive to work in the am!!!!!!! I AM NOT A HAPPY COROLLA OWNER RIGHT NOW!!!!!!! I am not real confident in the safety and reliability of this car anymore, frankly I am quit scared to be driving this car anywhere ever again.

you should definitely report the incident, or even better sue them! Then, you have to pay out of pocket for the towing? Wtf? That was ridiculous! Good thing your safe.. Imagine if that happened on the freeway.. -_-

[shotgunjimmy]

If the fear of a car breaking down on you scares you, then maybe you should work on being more prepared for the next time it happens.

Cars breakdown all the time, its a fact of life. Sure, yours was quite new, and shouldnt have broken down, but nobody makes a perfect car every time. Even manufacturers with the highest reliability ratings make a dud of a car sometimes.

Hope everything gets worked out and you get back on your feet (wheels) soon.

[thestone11]

Toyota roadside service should cover the tow for free to the nearest dealership. Coz I had mine tow last time and it was free. And you should find out what's the problem for now, not posting negative comment.

[Pie]

Originally Posted by thestone11

Toyota roadside service should cover the tow for free to the nearest dealership. Coz I had mine tow last time and it was free. And you should find out what's the problem for now, not posting negative comment.

+1

I think the emergency road side assistance is 3yrs/36,000 miles.

[aznstylez]

I think your Corolla is one of the many Corollas on the recall for the ECM problem. Toyota will fix it for free. I hope that you towed the car to the dealership instead of somewhere else and get your towing money back. A car is not a perfect machine.

[shotgunjimmy]

Originally Posted by aznstylez

I think your Corolla is one of the many Corollas on the recall for the ECM problem. Toyota will fix it for free. I hope that you towed the car to the dealership instead of somewhere else and get your towing money back. A car is not a perfect machine.

AFAIK, that recall covers 2005-2008 corolla/matrix models only. The OP states he's got a 2010

[aznstylez]

You never know, his could be affected by the ECM too.

[TFCommanderBob]

Originally Posted by aznstylez

You never know, his could be affected by the ECM too.

I hate to say it, but he could also be affected by nearly anything else as well. That recall is indeed only up to 2008 models.

I'm curious to hear what the issue turns out to be! No one wants that to happen to a brand new car, and yours happened at an extremely inopportune place. I do suggest purchasing AAA membership for preparedness as another poster mentioned. From everything I've read online, heard from mechanics, and found from personal experience/membership, it is extremely handy to have in those tough situations! If you are good with coupons and checking for discounts, they have tons of opportunities for you to save more than you pay for membership fees. I believe you might be able to save on towing if you have ERS on your auto insurance as well.

Let us know what the issue was, and I agree that you should be able to get reimbursed for the towing through Toyota if you complain. All I can find in a quick search is that they offer it on certified used cars or on dealer extensions; I don't see it on new vehicles.

[ej063090]

The tow wasn't completely covered bc a dealer wasnot open to cut a checck for the tow driver. You would be reimbursed by the dealer. The ecm recall was a tsb for several years, I believe even before our gen corolla was produced.

[msncorolla422]

the roadside assistance number should be in your glove box with your manual and other documents that came with the car......or under the hood somewhere or on the door jam..........thats where it has the number for my car

as for the tow, they should reimburse your money once they are available to see the car or whatever and sorry to hear that your new car is giving you troubles but you should be prepared for cars to break down heck my dads truck broke down for the first time when it was only 5 months old with like 3k miles on it and we had to pay for the tow and was not paid back and we had to fix the damn thing....and this went on and on and on for the next 10 years.........
the corolla is a VERY safe car no matter what people think or the public makes them think......they are just idiots for believing that any car is dangerous because someone else think it is, unless it explodes or something. IMO. I cant tell you how many different car manufacturers have recently recalled hundreds of thousands of cars for faulty equipment.......ford, chevy, nissan/infiniti, jeep/dodge/chrysler, VW, etc

P.s. sorry for the rant

[TLeong13]

When i asked my dealer (when i first bought the car) bout ers and towing it to the drl if it broke down they said that its not covered under toyota standard warranty, but people who purchased the extended warranty would have the ers and get free towing to the dealer...

[ej063090]

Only if there is no warrentable failure.

[TLeong13]

[quote=ej063090;3303863]Only if there is no warrentable failure.[/quote]
http://www.edmunds.com/advice/warran...4/article.html
on nissan, it shows 3/36000 for roadservice with the note of 6 which states "Towing service to the nearest authorized Nissan dealer is covered if your vehicle is inoperative due to the failure of a warranted part." but for toyota it just shows "none available"

[ej063090]

Tows are covered under a warrantable fault. I work for toyota. At least toyota pays them for warrenty claims.