2007 Toyota Avalon

IN JULY 2013, MY PERFECTLY WONDERFUL TOYOTA AVALON (2007, 67,700 MILES) RUPTURED A TTVI OIL HOSE AND WITHIN A MATTER OF MINUTES BLEW UP MY ENGINE. UPON CONTACTING TOYOTA, I WAS TOLD THERE HAD BEEN A SERVICE CAMPAIGN FOR THE EXACT PROBLEM FOR CAMRYS AND AVALONS INCLUDING MY YEAR AND MODEL, BUT THAT I WAS NOT NOTIFIED NOR COVERED BECAUSE MY VIN #WAS OUTSIDE THE PARAMETERS. I FILED WHAT I THOUGHT WAS AN APPEAL OF THIS PHONE AND LOCAL DEALER DETERMINATION. I RECEIVED ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF MY COMPLAINT (1307241937) BUT NO DETERMINATION. I JUST CALLED TOYOTA NATIONAL TORRANCE, AND WAS TOLD MY STATUS WAS CLOSED BECAUSE THEY HAD DETERMINED MY VIN WAS NOT COVERED-- MY APPEAL WAS TO THE POINT OF WHY MY VIN WAS NOT COVERED. I LIVE IN KY, 20 MILES FROM THE TOYOTA PLANT AND HAVE MANY FRIENDS THAT WORK THERE. MANY HAVE TOLD ME THAT THE VIN IS AN UNRELIABLE PARAMETER, BECAUSE OFTEN THEY HAVE OLD PARTS ON THEIR TRAYS THAT ARE INSTALLED ON LATER VEHICLES. EVERY PARTY AGREES THAT THERE WAS A SERVICE CAMPAIGN ON THE EXACT RARE DEFECT-ORIGINATED PROBLEM AND THAT MY DAMAGE WAS THE RESULT OF THE EXACT DEFECT DESCRIBED IN THE CAMPAIGN. EVERY PARTY AGREES THAT I WAS NOT NOTIFIED. THE ISSUE IS WHY MY VIN NUMBER (AND THOUSANDS OF OTHERS I AM SURE) WAS NOT INCLUDED AND WHY, GIVEN THE EVIDENCE THAT IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN INCLUDED, TOYOTA IS NOT WILLING TO REIMBURSE ME FOR THE REPAIR OF THE CAR---$307 FOR HOSE AND $6500 FOR ENGINE WHICH ENDED UP BEING THE MARK DOWN OF WHAT LOCAL TOYOTA GAVE ME FOR MY CAR TOWARD A NEW CAR. *JS

PURCHASED VEHICLE "AS IS" WHILE RECOVERING FROM SURGERY. COULD NOT INSPECT VEHICLE. ON FIRST DRIVE ON CITY STREET, COULD NOT SLOW DOWN TO MAKE A RH TURN. BRAKES DID NOT FULLY ENGAGE, AND DRIVER HAD TO SHIFT DOWN. VEHICLE ENTERED ADJACENT LAWN BEFORE STOPPING. VEHICLE WAS DRIVEN SLOWLY TO TOYOTA DEALERSHIP WHERE IT WAS EXAMINED. ESTIMATE TO GET VEHICLE RUNNING SAFELY: $4,719.11. VEHICLE DECLARED UNSAFE WHEN SOLD.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2007 TOYOTA AVALON. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING AT APPROXIMATELY 25 MPH, THERE WAS AN ABNORMAL ODOR COMING FROM THE ENGINE. THE CONTACT THEN DISCOVERED THAT THERE WAS OIL LEAKING FROM THE ENGINE. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT THE OIL LINE HOSE HAD FRACTURED. THE VEHICLE WAS REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 101,000.

WHEN DRIVING NORTH ON I-95, MY CAR BEGAN TO SLOW DOWN EVEN THOUGH I HAD NOT RELEASED PRESSURE ON THE GAS PEDDLE, SO I ACCELERATED. AS SOON AS I ACCELERATED, THE CAR THEN BEGAN TO RUN EXTREMELY ROUGH, THE RPM MONITOR FLUCTUATED BACK AND FORTH, AND THE BEGAN TO SLOW DOWN EVEN MORE. I LOOKED IN THE REAR VIEW MIRROR TO CHECK TRAFFIC AS I PREPARED TO PULL OFF THE INTERSTATE AND SAW SMOKE COMING FROM THE REAR OF THE CAR. WHEN I STOPPED AND EXITED THE CAR, SMOKE WAS THEN BELLOWING PROFUSELY FROM THE FRONT RIGHT SIDE OF THE HOOD AND UPPER RIGHT TIRE RIM, SO MUCH SO THAT I THOUGHT THE ENGINE WAS ABOUT TO EXPLODE. IT SHOULD ALSO BE NOTED THAT THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT NEVER CAME ON. A TOW TRUCK WAS CALLED AND NOW I'M WAITING FOR MY LOCAL TOYOTA DEALERSHIP TO OPEN SO THAT I CAN FIND OUT WHAT IS WRONG WITH MY CAR. A SIMILAR ENERGY SURGE AND ROUGH DRIVING OCCURRED APPROXIMATELY ONE YEAR AGO AND MY CAR WAS TOWED IN, BUT NO PROBLEM COULD BE DETECTED. THE PROBLEM STOPPED AS MYSTERIOUSLY AS IT APPEARED, WITH NO SERIOUS REOCCURRENCES UNTIL YESTERDAY, 9/7/15. IN 2014, THE MECHANIC CHALKED THE PROBLEM UP TO POSSIBLY BAD OR CHEAP GAS.

COLLISION WITH ANOTHER VEHICLE WHILE MAKING A LEFT TURN. DRIVER'S UPPER AND LOWER (KNEE) AIRBAGS DEPLOYED. DRIVER INCURRED SEVERE CUTS TO BOTH LEGS BELOW THE KNEE APPROXIMATELY HALF WAY DOWN TO ANKLE. CAUSE OF INJURIES HAS NOT BEEN DETERMINED BUT INSPECTION OF VEHICLE DISCLOSED THAT THE KNEE AIRBAG CONTAINMENT COMPARTMENT IN THE LOW PART OF THE DASH HAS A FLAP/DOOR THAT OPENS IN DEPLOYMENT, IS VERY EXTREMELY SHARP AND MAY HAVE BEEN THE SOURCE OF THE INJURIES.

THE RADIO STATION STARTED TO FADE IN AND OUT. THEN THE DASHBOARD CONSOLE STARTED TO SHUT DOWN AND DISPLAYED THE LETTER F (FOR FAIL). THEN THE ENGINE SHUT DOWN WHILE I WAS DRIVING ON A DIVIDED FOUR-LANE HIGHWAY IN THE LANE CLOSEST TO THE MEDIAN. THERE WAS NO TIME TO MOVE INTO THE RIGHT-HAND LANE. THERE WAS NEVER ANY BATTERY WARNING LIGHT OR OTHER INDICATION THAT THE BATTERY DID NOT HAVE ENOUGH CHARGE TO RUN THE ENGINE OR EVEN TO POWER THE EMERGENCY FLASHERS. THE PROBLEM WAS THAT THE ALTERNATOR FAILED. THE BATTERY DIDN'T NEED REPLACING. ONLY THE ALTERNATOR NEEDED REPLACING. I HAD THE TOYOTA SERVICE DEPARTMENT TEST THE BATTERY WARNING LIGHT AND WAS TOLD THAT THE SENSOR WAS WORKING PROPERLY. I HAVE HAD NO TROUBLE WITH THE CAR SINCE THE ALTERNATOR WAS REPLACED. I WAS TOLD THAT THE ALTERNATOR HAS THREE DIODES AND THE FAILURE OF ONE OR TWO DIODES CAN STILL PROVIDE SUFFICIENT CHARGE. EVIDENTLY EVENTUALLY ALL THREE DIODES FAILED. I WASN'T TOLD HOW MANY FAILED. MY COMPLAINT IS THAT I HAD INSUFFICIENT WARNING THAT THE ALTERNATOR HAD FAILED. AS FAR AS I KNEW, THE PROBLEM WAS IN THE CONSOLE WHICH I THOUGHT WOULD NOT REQUIRE IMMEDIATE EXIT FROM THE FOUR LANE HIGHWAY. THE LACK OF A PROPER WARNING MEANS TO ME THAT I COULD HAVE BEEN STRANDED ON AN INTERSTATE EXPRESSWAY WITHOUT A MEANS FOR GETTING OUT OF A HIGH SPEED LANE. THAT IS A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION AND WARRANTS AN INVESTIGATION INTO WHY TOYOTA PROVIDES NO WARNING FOR AN ALTERNATOR FAILURE.