2001 Toyota Avalon

OIL SLUDGE BUILD UP IN 3.0 LITER IMZ V6 ENGINE. WAS TOLD THE ENGINE WOULD HAVE TO BE COMPLETELY REBUILT NEW PISTONS, RINGS, BEARINGS ETC. HAVE NOT BEEN TOLD OF ANY EXTENDED WARRANTY, WAS TOLD I WOULD ONLY HAVE THE REMAINING WARRANTY ON CAR. I WAS ALSO TOLD THAT THEY DIDN'T KNOW WHAT CAUSED THE SLUDGE BUILD UP. IF THIS IS TRUE HOW CAN THEY REPAIR THE ENGINE? IF THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT CAUSED IT TO FAIL IN THE FIRST PLACE. THEY CAN REBUILD THE ENGINE BUT IT WILL JUST BUILD UP WITH SLUDGE AGAIN IF THEY DON'T FIX THE PROBLEM....AND WHAT ABOUT RESALE VALUE? NO ONE WILL BUY THIS CAR WITH THIS ENGINE IN IT IF THEY KNOW ABOUT IT. AS FOR ME I WANT SOMETHING ELSE, I WANT BACK WHAT THIS CAR'S ENGINE PROBLEMS HAS COST ME!!

I HAVE AN OIL ENGINE SLUDGE PROBLEM THAT TOYOTA IS TRYING TO PLACE THE CAUSE ON MY SHOULDERS. MY HUSBAND PERFORMED OIL CHANGES AT REGULAR INTERVALS AT ABOUT 4500 MILES BETWEEN EACH CHANGE. TWICE WE HAVE HAD OTHER CHANGE THE OIL. ONCE THE DEALERSHIP AND ONCE A TEXACO EXPRESS LUBE, BOTH WHICH WE WERE ABLE TO OBTAIN RECEIPTS FOR. THE PROBLEM BEGAN WHEN WE DID NOT SAVE THE RECEIPTS FROM OUR OIL AND FILTER PURCHASES. ANY AND ALL WORK DONE ON THE CAR WAS ENTERED INTO OUR MAINTANANCE MANUAL. A FEW YEARS BACK WE RECEIVED A LETTER FROM TOYOTA EXPLAINING THE SLUDGE PROBLEM AND WHAT THEY WOULD DO IF IT OCCURRED. EVIDENTLY WHAT THEY SAID ISN'T WORTH THE PAPER IT WAS WRITTEN ON. THEY WANT ME TO PAY $750 TO THE DEALERSHIP BEFORE THEY WILL DO ANY WORK ON THE CAR. $250 IS FOR INCIDENTIAL WORK THAT MIGHT HAVE TO BE DONE IN RELATION TO THE SLUDGE PROBLEM AND THE OTHER $500 IS A DEDUCTABLE. EXCUSE ME BUT NO WHERE IN THE LETTER OR MY WARRANTY AND OWNERSHIP MANUALS DOES IT STATE THAT IF WE PERFORM THE WORK WE ARE REQUIRED TO KEEP OUR RECEIPTS. I SPOKE WITH THE SERVICE MANAGER AT THE DEALERSHIP, WHO TRIED TO REFUSE TO GIVE ME THE NAME OF THE DISTRICT MANAGER, AND DID REFUSE TO GIVE ME A PHONE NUMBER THAT I COULD REACH HIM AT. HE SAID OUR LOG OF THE WORK WASN'T GOOD ENOUGH FOR THE TOYOTA CORP., AND THAT PEOPLE HAD BEEN KNOWN TO FALSIFY RECORDS. I HAVE NEVER HAD MY INTEGRITY QUESTIONED BEFORE BUT NOW BECAUSE OF TOYOTA'S BUILDING OF AN ENGINE PRONE TO THIS TYPE OF FAILURE ALL THE SUDDEN I'VE BECOME A LIAR.

ENGINE WARNING LIGHT AND VSC AND VSC OFF LIGHT WENT ON WHILE DRIVING!. DEALER INDICATED THAT A VALVE IN THE CHARCOAL CANISTER ASSY. WAS SHORTING OUT. THE COMPONENT IS PART OF THE EMISSIONS SYSTEM AND THE VSC IS PART OF THE SAME CIRCUIT HENCE BOTH SETS OF WARNING LIGHTS WENT ON. DEALER INDICATED THAT IF YOU TOP OFF THE TANK THE EXTRA GAS SPILLS OVER INTO THE CANNISTER AND CAN OVERWHELM THE VALVE CAUSING EXCESSIVE USAGE AND POSSIBLE SHORTING. I INDICATED THAT I HAVE NEVER TOP'D OFF THE TANK IN THIS CAR, DEALER HAD NO OTHER EXPLANATION. PART IS NOT COVERED UNDER THE TOYOTA $1200 EXTRA CARE GOLD EXTENDED WARRANTY, AND COST TO REPLACE UNIT WAS $507.32, INCLUDING $85.00 CHARGE FOR COMPUTER DIAGNOSTIC. NOTE:53K ON CAR AND HAVE HAD NO UNSCHEDULED WORK DONE ON CAR SINCED IT WAS PURCHASED NEW. *AK

ENGINE OIL GELLING. MY 2001 AVALON XLS HAS 42,000 MILES AND IS IN THE SHOP FOR EXTENSIVE REPAIRS DUE TO OIL GELLING. I CHANGED THE OIL REGULARLY AND THERE IS NO REASON FOR THIS TO HAPPEN ABSENT A DEFECT IN THE DESIGN. I HAVE BEEN A LOYAL TOYOTA CUSTOMER AND THIS IS MY 4TH TOYOTA CAR. DEPENDABILITY IS THE NO. 1 PRIORITY FOR ME. TO ADD INSULT TO INJURY, BECAUSE I MUST DEPEND ON MY VEHICLE WHILE IT WAS IN THE SHOP I DECIDED TO TRADE IT IN FOR A 2004 LEXUS. IMAGINE MY DISGUST WHEN THE DEALER DISCOUNTED THE VALUE OF THE TRADE-IN BECAUSE OF OIL GELLING. A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE HAVING THIS PROBLEM. *LA