Hi,
My girlfriend has a 2009 Toyota Corolla S that she bought new at the dealership. She has been meticulous at getting every recommended service at the same dealership. her car is at 160,000 miles and Friday when she got into work it wouldn't shift into park and she couldn't get the keys out of the ignition. She always uses her parking brake and doesn't drive aggressively or roll into parking spots and throw the car into Park. She always comes to complete stops.
She pulled into the parking spot, was able to physically move the shifter inside the car up to Neutral but when she tried to push the shifter into Park it felt "spongey" and wouldn't engage. She could physically turn off the car but not remove her keys from the ignition. She spoke to her boss and took the car to the dealership.
They service writer there couldn't get the car into Park either and didn't want to break it so he gave it to a mechanic to put into a bay and then my girlfriend rented a car.
They called her later that day and said the car needed a whole new transmission and that her car was worth absolutely nothing but that if she bought a car from them they would give her $500 in trade.
I have the dealership papers and this is what they had:
"Please send out P&A for the following:
- Shifter Cable (Stretched)
- Park/Neutral/Drive Switch (on front of trans)
- Arm that comes off the PRNDL Switch (Bent)
- Transmission Assemble (Internal parking prawl/shift arm damage)
- W-S Transmission Flush"
and on the next page part numbers and prices (not including labor):
"33820-02600 : Cable ASSY, TRANS 1/EP 325.05
84540-46010 : Switch ASSY, NEUT 1/EP 273.43
35572-52030 : Lever, TRANSMISSI 1/EP 20.57
30510-12C60-84: REMAN ATM 1/EP 2788.93
30510-12C60-84-C:Core Charge 1/EP 1670.00
30510-12C60-84-C:Core Charge -1 1670.00
00289-ATFWS : World Standard Auto 12/++ 81.60
Total Parts [no Sales Tax] 3489.58
[With Sales] 3761.77"
That doesn't include labor which the dealership said would bring the total to around $5600.
She called a mechanic I use now and then and sent him a screenshot of the parts and he said his total, if all that is indeed broken, is $4995.00.
They started high pressure sales to get her to buy a car that day (I'll leave that story for another time) but she ended up having her car towed to her place so I could take a look.
I took apart the shift casing inside the car and din't find any food or pennies stuck inside the console. I put the key in the ignition and turned it to ACC, held my foot on the brake and I was able to shift through all the gear settings in the car easily. I started the car and and got the same result with smooth, resistence free shifting but the car couldn't move. I checked and the eye on the shift cable attached to the shift console inside the car is fine. Not broken, loose, or hanging off.
I then looked under the hood at the transmission link and saw that the shift cable was not attached to the shift arm on the outside of the transmission. The bolt was missing and it was just hanging. I could freely move the arm only between two positions and it would "click" each time.
I attached the shift cable by just forcing it into the hole on the little arm and had my girlfriend watch as I tried. With the car on ACC, my foot on the brake, She said that when I shifted it the arm moved but only between those two positions. Inside the car I couldn't get the console to shift past Reverse, meaning It goes from PARK to REVERSE but not past that. [with the list of possible positions PARK-REVERSE-NEUTRAL-DRIVE/3-2-L]
I disconnected the shift cable and had my girlfriend get in the car. She put the car into ACC and held the brake down and, using my hand on the little shift arm on the transmission where the shift cable was attached, I could only shift between two states on the transmission. I finally had her start the car and with it running and her foot on the brake I could only shift between those two states.
Finally, I checked to make sure that when she applied the foot brake all three brake lights (spoiler and both tail lights) came on (to rule out the fuse I had seen in a video).
Next week we are going to have the car towed to AAMCO for an estimate.
What are your thoughts on this? Is there something else I can replace or try?
Thanks,
NOTE: Around the 100,000 to 120,000 mileage mark the dealership recommended a transmission power flush. We declined after I asked them if they would cover any damage that the flush would do and they said "No." So the transmission has never been power flushed. Also, I am unaware if the transmission fluid has ever been just changed.
My girlfriend has a 2009 Toyota Corolla S that she bought new at the dealership. She has been meticulous at getting every recommended service at the same dealership. her car is at 160,000 miles and Friday when she got into work it wouldn't shift into park and she couldn't get the keys out of the ignition. She always uses her parking brake and doesn't drive aggressively or roll into parking spots and throw the car into Park. She always comes to complete stops.
She pulled into the parking spot, was able to physically move the shifter inside the car up to Neutral but when she tried to push the shifter into Park it felt "spongey" and wouldn't engage. She could physically turn off the car but not remove her keys from the ignition. She spoke to her boss and took the car to the dealership.
They service writer there couldn't get the car into Park either and didn't want to break it so he gave it to a mechanic to put into a bay and then my girlfriend rented a car.
They called her later that day and said the car needed a whole new transmission and that her car was worth absolutely nothing but that if she bought a car from them they would give her $500 in trade.
I have the dealership papers and this is what they had:
"Please send out P&A for the following:
- Shifter Cable (Stretched)
- Park/Neutral/Drive Switch (on front of trans)
- Arm that comes off the PRNDL Switch (Bent)
- Transmission Assemble (Internal parking prawl/shift arm damage)
- W-S Transmission Flush"
and on the next page part numbers and prices (not including labor):
"33820-02600 : Cable ASSY, TRANS 1/EP 325.05
84540-46010 : Switch ASSY, NEUT 1/EP 273.43
35572-52030 : Lever, TRANSMISSI 1/EP 20.57
30510-12C60-84: REMAN ATM 1/EP 2788.93
30510-12C60-84-C:Core Charge 1/EP 1670.00
30510-12C60-84-C:Core Charge -1 1670.00
00289-ATFWS : World Standard Auto 12/++ 81.60
Total Parts [no Sales Tax] 3489.58
[With Sales] 3761.77"
That doesn't include labor which the dealership said would bring the total to around $5600.
She called a mechanic I use now and then and sent him a screenshot of the parts and he said his total, if all that is indeed broken, is $4995.00.
They started high pressure sales to get her to buy a car that day (I'll leave that story for another time) but she ended up having her car towed to her place so I could take a look.
I took apart the shift casing inside the car and din't find any food or pennies stuck inside the console. I put the key in the ignition and turned it to ACC, held my foot on the brake and I was able to shift through all the gear settings in the car easily. I started the car and and got the same result with smooth, resistence free shifting but the car couldn't move. I checked and the eye on the shift cable attached to the shift console inside the car is fine. Not broken, loose, or hanging off.
I then looked under the hood at the transmission link and saw that the shift cable was not attached to the shift arm on the outside of the transmission. The bolt was missing and it was just hanging. I could freely move the arm only between two positions and it would "click" each time.
I attached the shift cable by just forcing it into the hole on the little arm and had my girlfriend watch as I tried. With the car on ACC, my foot on the brake, She said that when I shifted it the arm moved but only between those two positions. Inside the car I couldn't get the console to shift past Reverse, meaning It goes from PARK to REVERSE but not past that. [with the list of possible positions PARK-REVERSE-NEUTRAL-DRIVE/3-2-L]
I disconnected the shift cable and had my girlfriend get in the car. She put the car into ACC and held the brake down and, using my hand on the little shift arm on the transmission where the shift cable was attached, I could only shift between two states on the transmission. I finally had her start the car and with it running and her foot on the brake I could only shift between those two states.
Finally, I checked to make sure that when she applied the foot brake all three brake lights (spoiler and both tail lights) came on (to rule out the fuse I had seen in a video).
Next week we are going to have the car towed to AAMCO for an estimate.
What are your thoughts on this? Is there something else I can replace or try?
Thanks,
NOTE: Around the 100,000 to 120,000 mileage mark the dealership recommended a transmission power flush. We declined after I asked them if they would cover any damage that the flush would do and they said "No." So the transmission has never been power flushed. Also, I am unaware if the transmission fluid has ever been just changed.
