1996 Toyota Avalon

I BOUGHT A USED 1996 TOYOTA AVALON. IT WAS COVERED UNDER 6 YEAR / 100,000 MILE WARRANTY. THE WARRANTY EXPIRED IN MARCH OF 2002. I NOW HAVE JUST OVER 100,000 MILES ON IT.*AK WHEN PUTTING THE AUTO TRANSMISSION IN REVERSE FROM PARK OR NEUTRAL THE TRANSMISSION ENGAGES VIOLENTLY. ALTHOUGH IT DOES NOT "BARK" THE TIRES, IT IS QUITE SEVERE. MY LOCAL DEALERSHIP SAID THAT THE TRANSMISSION VALVE BODY GASKET(S) WERE THE LIKELY CAUSE AND THEY HAD MY CAR FROM 9-3-03 TO 9-5-03 REPLACING THEM. THEY SAID THAT A TSB HAD BEEN ISSUED DETAILING THE REPLACEMENT OF THESE GASKETS, BUT NO RECALL HAS YET BEEN ISSUED. TOYOTA ENGINEERS CHANGED THE DESIGN OF THE LOWER VALVE BODY GASKET IN 1997 (TC00197 APR 1997) BECAUSE OF THIS. THERE IS A POSSIBILITY THAT THE DIRECT CLUTCH PORTION OF THE TRANSMISSION COULD BE DAMAGED DUE TO THE CROSS LEAK FROM THE GASKET. MY QUESTION IS- WHY DID TOYOTA NOT RECALL THESE CARS BECAUSE OF THIS? TWO VALVE BODY GASKETS ARE LESS THAN $30.00 (TOYOTA PRICES). I AM NOT SURE IF THE NEW GASKETS WILL INTERCHANGE DUE TO CONSTRUCTION OF THE VALVE BODY, BORE, ETC. ALL I KNOW IS THAT THE LOCAL TOYOTA DEALER REPLACED THESE GASKETS AND I HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM THAT I DID ORIGINALLY. THE LOCAL DEALER WAS GREAT TO WORK WITH (THEY CHARGED ME NO LABOR BECAUSE THEY DID NOT FIX THE ORIGINAL PROBLEM). I AM NOW STUCK WITH A CAR THAT I HAVE PUT ROUGHLY 60,000 MILES ON SINCE PAYING OVER $20,000.00 FOR IT (BEFORE TRADE-IN) IN 1999. I CAN'T TRADE OR SELL THIS CAR UNTILL I GET THE TRANSMISSION FIXED ( INSTALL A NEW OR REBUILT UNIT). THE COST OF A REBUILT TRANSMISSION AND INSTALLATION WOULD LIKELY BE OVER 30% OF THE CARS CURRENT VALUE.

I OWN A 1996 TOYOTA AVALON. MY CAR HAS BEEN PUTTING OUT A WHITE SMOKE DURING COLD START-UPS. I AM ADDING TWO QUARTS OF OIL A WEEK. I CHANGE MY OIL EVERY 3,000 MILES. I EVEN REPLACE SOME SEALS, BELIEVING THAT WAS THE PROBLEM. NOW THE PROBLEM HAS COME TO A-HEAD. MY CAR STALLED ON THE INTERSTATE GOING TO WORK ON JULY 13, 2003. THE CAR ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON AFTER IT STALLED. I WAS ABLE TO PARK THE CAR AND IT WILL BE MY MECHANIC. I HAVE READ ON THIS SITE THAT THERE HAS BEEN OTHERS COMPLAIN OF THE SAME PROBLEM. PLEASE HELP US IN NOT ONLY FINDING THE PROBLEM BUT FIXING IT. THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME AND HAVE A BLESSED DAY, MICHAEL T. MARCHAND.*AK

ENGINE CUT OUT/STALLED IN MIDDLE OF EXPRESSWAY WITH NO WARNING. PULLED TO EMERGENCY LANE, TURNED OFF ENGINE, WAITED A WHILE, TURNED ENGINE BACK ON, ENGINE LIGHT WAS ON. TOOK TO DEALERSHIP, WHO INDICATES IT IS OIL SLUDGE DUE TO FAILURE TO CHANGE OIL. OIL HAS BEEN CHANGED EVERY 4000 MILES. GETTING NO SATISFACTION AT THIS POINT FROM DEALER, WHO INDICATES MINIMUM REPAIR COST WILL BE $3300 - $3500 FOR REBUILT ENGINE. MADE COMPLAINT TO TOYOTA CORPORATE, WHO ALSO ARE NOT PROVIDING ASSISTANCE. GETTING RUN AROUND AS COMPLAINT WAS FILED, WHICH THEY ARE SENDING BACK TO REGIONAL OFFICE FOR HANDLING. REGIONAL OFFICE ALREADY INDICATED THAT THEY PROBABLY AREN'T OFFERING ANY ASSISTANCE. ENGINE HAS LESS THAN 65,000 MILES ON IT. BOUGHT IT ONE YEAR OLD WITH 29,000 ON IT. THERE IS NO REASON FOR THIS CAR TO HAVE ENGINE TROUBLE WITH LESS THAN 65,000 MILES ON IT. ONLY 35,000 MILES HAVE BEEN PUT ON THE CAR IN LAST 6 YEARS. TOYOTA NEEDS TO STICK BY THEIR PRODUCT, AND MAKE REPAIRS THAT ARE REQUIRED. CONSUMERS AT BEING PLACED IN VERY POOR POSITION, AND WE ARE BEING TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF.

I OWN A 1996 TOYOTA AVALON WITH 53K MILES ON IT. IT STARTED CONSUMING OIL AND BLOWING SMOKE ON COLD STARTS OVER THE WINTER. I HAVE DONE NUMEROUS MAINTENANCE AND REPAIRS TO RECTIFY THE PROBLEM. BEFORE THEN, THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON 15MONTHS AGO SO I ASKED MY TOYOTA DEALER TO CHECK THE ENGINE. THEY DID SOME MINOR CHECKS AND TURNED THE LIGHT OFF. CURRENTLY MY CAR HAS BEEN DIAGNOSED AS "ENGINE INTERNALL DAMAGED NEEDS ENGINE" BOTH THE SERVICE MANAGER MIKE AND THE DISTRICT SERVICE MANAGER ACKNOWLEDGED SLUDGE IN ENGINE THAT CAUSED DIAGNOSED ENGINE PROBLEMS. I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO RESOLVE WITH TOYOTA CORPORATE PERSONELL AS I BECAME AWARE OF THE 1997-2002 TOYOTA VEHICLES WITH THE SAME ENGINE THAT ARE CURRENTLY BEING REPAIRED BY TOYOTA UNDER THE "SPA CAMPAIGN" THAT TOYOTA SAID THEY WORKED OUT WITH YOUR ORGANIZATION. I HAVE BEEN OFFERED 50% REPAIR FROM TOYOTA CORPORATE DESPITE BEING ACCUSED OF NEGLECTING MY VEHICLE(I PROVIDED TOYOTA WITH ALL OF MY SCHEDULED MAINTENEANCE AND OIL CHANGE RECEIPTS AT WELL WITHIN THEIR RECOMMENDED TIME/MILEAGE INTERVALS. I AM AWARE OF MANY OTHER 1996 TOYOTA AVALON OWNERS THAT ARE EXPERIENCING HE SAME PROBLEMS/FALSE ACCUSATIONS AN GRIEF FROM TOYOTA. SOME HAVE RECEIVED FULL PAYMENT FOR THEIR ENGINE REPAIRS. TOYOTA NEEDS TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE OIL GELLING(SLUDGE) PROBLEMS MANY OF THEIR VEHICLES ARE HAVING. I FEEL THAT MY 3 SMALL CHILDREN AND I ARE AT RISK OF SERIOUS PERSONAL INJURY DUE TO THE PROBLEM WITH TOYOTAS 6 CYL ENGINE. I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW IF THERE IS ANY ASSISTANCE YOU CAN GIVE ME AND WHY 1996 AVALONS ARE NOT INCLUDED IN THE "SPA" PROGRAM WHEN IT IS THE SAME ENGINE AND SAME ENGINE PROBLEMS OCCURRING. PLEASE HELP. MONICA AT TOYOTA SAID IT WAS WITH YOUR ORGANIZATION, GUIDANCE AND APPROVAL THAT THE CURRENT "SPA" CAMPAIGN WAS IMPLEMENTED. TOYOTA NEEDS TO STAND UP TALL AND SUPPORT THEIR LOYAL CUSTOMERS IN GOOD TIMES AND BAD. IT IS WAY TOO EASY TO BE A "FAIR WEATHER FRIEND" . NOW WE ARE "NEGLECTFUL OWNERS" HMMM.*AK