2000 Toyota Corolla

IT HAS BEEN "PURE HELL". YES, THEY PULLED A FAST ONE ON ME, AND I'M NOT HAPPY RIGHT NOW. WHEN I LOST OIL COMPLETELY OUT OF MY ENGINE THE FIRST TIME, I WAS TOLD THAT THEY WOULD REPAIR THE ENGINE BY REBUILDING BECAUSE OF THE OIL SLUDGE PROBLEM, AND BESIDES THAT, I WAS UNDER THE 60,000 MILES WARRANTY. THE SECOND TIME IT WAS THE REAR END SEAL IN THE ENGINE THAT THEY SAY WAS CAUSING FURTHER OIL LEAKS, THAT I PAID FOR BECAUSE I WAS OVER THE 60,000 ON THE SECOND RETURN TO TOYOTA. THEY ORIGINALLY CHARGED ME $850, BUT THEN SAID THEY WOULD GIVE ME A BREAK BECAUSE THEY BELIEVE IN CUSTOMER SATISFACTION, THEY CHARGED ME $336. WHEN THEY GAVE ME THE LOANER, I THOUGHT IT WAS COVERED TOO, BUT FOR 9 DAYS I END UP PAYING $330 FOR THE RENTAL. I SENT A CERTIFIED LETTER TO THE OWNER, BUT YET NO RESPONSE.

THE CAR WAS GREAT UNTIL 01/22/03 WHEN OUT OF THE BLUE IT DECIDED CHOKING DOWN, WHITE AND BLACK SMOKE COMING FROM THE TAILPIPE. TOYOTA OF HOLLYWOD (FL) THE DEALERSHIP SWEARS IT IS FROM MY FAILURE TO PERFORM REGULAR OIL CHANGES. I PROVIDED THEM WITH OIL RECEIPTS FROM MY LICENSED MECHANIC OF 30+ YEARS. THEY ACCUSED ME OF DUMMYING UP THE RECEIPTS, IN ESSENCE CALLING MYSELF AND MY MECHANIC A LIAR. WE MET WITH FACTORY REPS ON 01/29/03. THEY \\RAIDED\\ MY MECHANICS GARAGE ARMED WITH CAMERAS, DEMANDING TO SEE INVOICES -- OLD, NEW, NUMBERED AND NUMBERED. OF COURSE, MY MECHANIC REFUSED. THEY CONTINUE TO REFUSE TO PUT A NEW MOTOR IN MY CAR EVEN THOUGH THEY HAVE DETERMINED THE REASON MY MOTOR BLEW IS FROM \\SLUDGE\\.

CAR WAS PURCHASED FROM USED CAR "SUPERSTORE"; PURCHASER PAID FOR "128 POINT INSPECTION" AND CAR WAS DECLARED "CERTIFIED" BY DEALER. DEALER ISSUED 100,000 MILE POWERTRAIN WARRANTY WITH PURCHASE OF THIS "CERTIFIED" USED VEHICLE, MEASURED FROM FIRST OWNER USE OF VEHICLE; WARRANTIED UNTIL 2005; VEHICLE HAD 32000 MILES WHEN PURCHASED. FROM TIME OF DELIVERY IN MARCH 2003, CAR HAD "SHIMMY" IN FRONT END AT 68-74 MILES PER HOUR. ON RETURNING TO DEALER FIRST TIME ON 3/20/2003, DEALER SAID IT WAS WHEEL BALANCE PROBLEM, BUT DEALER SAID COULD NOT TEST ABOVE 65 MPH BECAUSE THAT WAS ABOVE LOCAL SPEED LIMIT. DEALER ALSO SAID THAT THEY SPIN BALANCED WHEELS AT ABOUT 55 MPH EQUIVALENT BECAUSE SPIN BALANCE MACHINE DID NOT SPIN ANY FASTER. PROBLEM WAS NOT CORRECTED AT ALL; OWNER THEN WENT TO ANOTHER SERVICE SHOP ON 4/12/2003 AND PAID FOR ALL WHEEL ALIGNMENT AND TWO FRONT WHEEL SPIN BALANCE; PROBLEM STILL NOT CORRECTED. OWNER RETURNED TO DEALER ON 5/06/2003 WITH SAME COMPLAINT. DEALER SAID COULD NOT DO ANYTHING FURTHER. OWNER SUBSEQUENTLY TRIED ROTATING WHEELS FRONT TO BACK, PROBLEM NOT CORRECTED. OWNER BELIEVES THAT ALIGNMENT AND BALANCE ARE NOW RULED OUT AS PROBLEMS; THAT, MOST PROBABLY, FRONT SUSPENSION WAS AND IS DEFECTIVE, CAUSING "SHIMMY", NOW READILY DETECTABLE BETWEEN 65-75 MPH. PROBABLY A SAFETY ISSUE AT CURRENT HIGHWAY SPEEDS.*AK

IN FEB 2002 MY CAR ENGINE SIEZED UP 58 MILES OVER THE WARRANTY. I HAD TO REPLACE THE ENGINE BUT STILL HAD A PROBLEM WITH MY CAR. AS A MATTER OF FACT, SINCE I PURCHASED THE CAR, THE ENGINE LIGHT WAS LITE UP AND IT WAS EXPLAINED TO ME THAT IT WAS BECAUSE OF THE GAS CAP NOT WORKING PROPERLY. SINCE THIS IS THE 1ST CAR I HAD PURCHASED, NOW BEING SEPERATED, I ACCEPTED IT. ANYWAYS, AFTER I REPLACED THE ENGINE, THE CAR STILL HAD A PROBLEM OF BURNING OIL. I KEEP OIL IN THE CAR BECAUSE I COULDNT TAKE IT BACK TO A SHOP SINCE I JUST PAID $3000 FOR AN ENGINE. SINCE FEB, I HAD TO HAVE MY EMISSIONS TEST DONE IN MAY, I FAILED, EXPLAINING MY CATALIT CONVERTER OR SOMETHING WITHIN THERE WAS CAUSING PROBLEMS. SINCE THEN, MY CAR RUNS GOOD BUT STILL HAS THE OIL PROBLEM AND TAPS WHICH NO ONE COULD TELL ME THE PROBLEM. NOW TODAY, MY CAR BREAKS DOWN AGAIN, ENGINE SEIZED AND NO WARRANTY OR NOTHING AND I STILL OWE ON THIS CAR. IS THERE ANY HELP I CAN GET ON THIS SITUATION? *AK

I ALSO CALLED TOYOTA ABOUT A RECALL. I HAVE 72,000 MILES ON THE CAR AND I HAVE ALREADY REPLACED THE TIRES 4 TIMES THE FIRST SET (ORIGINALS) AFTER ONLY 12,000 MILES I HAVE HAD IT ALIGNMENTS FRONT AND BACK TWICE. I CONTINUE TO HAVE TIRE WEAR AND THE CAR IS ALL OVER THE ROAD AFTER HITTING 55MPH I SHOULD BE ON MY SECOND SET OF TIRES THERE IS ALSO NO SHOCK ABSORBANT ON THIS CAR EVEN GOING SLOW YOU JUST HIT HARD REGUARDLESS. I CAN NOT KEEP THE ALIGNMENT RIGHT OR THE TIRES FROM WEARING QUICK. THE PAINT IS ALREADY PEELING AND FADING WITH RUST COMING UP IN SOME SPOTS I HAVE A SIX YEAR PAINT PROTECTION BUT THE DEARLER SAYS ITS MY FAULT THE WAY I WASHED IT OR ROCKS IN THE ROAD ALOT OF EXCUSES. MY # 1 COMPLAINT WITH TOYOTA THOUGH HAS BEEN BURNING OIL I CAN NOT KEEP OIL IN THE ENGINE I AM REPLACING A QUART TOO TWO QUARTS A WEEK I HAVE REGUARLY SERVICED THE CAR AND AFTER A OIL CHANGE AND ABOUT 400 MILES I AM BONE DRY OF OIL MY CAR HAS DEVELOPED A KNOCK FROM THIS WHEN I CALLED TOYOTA DUE TO MY SERVICE MANS ADVICE THEY SAID WELL SOME CARS ARE RECALLED WITH THIS (BURNING OIL)BUT NOT YOURS AND GAVE ME A CASE NUMBER. THERE ARE NO LEAKS I PARK THE SAME PLACE EACH DAY, NOTHING ON THE ENGINE THE OIL IS JUST BURNING UP AND FROM WHAT MY SERVICE GUY SAYS THERE ARE "SEVERAL" DOING THIS AND HE TOLD ALL TO CALL TOYOTA BUT TOYOTA DOES NOT WANT TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT OR RECALL ANYMORE ENGINES FOR THIS PROBLEM, ALTHOUGH THEY HAVE ADMITED SEVERAL OF THEIR MODELS BURN OIL AND HAVE BEEN RECALLED. I BOUGHT THE CAR NEW WITH 5 MILES ON IT, IN MY OPINON THIS CAR SHOULD NOT BE BURNING OIL AFTER 2 YEARS NOT TO THE POINT YOU HAVE NO OIL IN YOUR ENGINE 2 WEEKS AFTER AN OIL CHANGE. THE CAR IS 3 1/2 YEARS OLD NOW BUT THIS PROBLEM STARTED WHEN THE CAR HAD ABOUT 40,000 MILES ON IT. I WOULD SIMPLY JUST LIKE TO STOP CHANGING TIRES SO OFTEN, KEEP AN ALIGNMENT (WHICH OF COURSE MY WARRANTY ON TIRES IS VOID SINCE THE PROBLEM IS ALIGNMENT WEAR) AND STOP PUTTING SO MUCH OIL IN MY ENGINE, OR HAVE IT BLOW UP SOON.

I BOUGHT A 2000 TOYOTA COROLLA VE IN AUGUST 2001 WITH 33,000 MILES ON IT. THE CAR HAS BEEN SERVICED REGULARLY, OIL CHANGES ETC. ON MAY 27, 2003, THE VEHICLE STOPPED ON THE INTERSTATE AFTER MAKING A TERRIBLE NOISE IN THE ENGIN. THE TOYOTA DEALER NOW SAYS THE ENGINE NEEDS TO BE REPLACED BECAUSE OF LACK OF LUBRICATION. THE VEHICLE HAD AN OIL CHANGE TWO WEEKS BEFORE AND THERE WAS NO OIL IN THE CAR TWO WEEKS LATER. THE ENGINE HAS BEEN USING EXCESSIVE OIL. WE HAVE HAD TO ADD OIL REGULARLY. THE DEALER NOW WANTS $2500 TO REPLACE THE ENGINE IN A CAR THAT IS THREE YEARS OLD. THIS IS RIDICULOUS. I FOUND ONE OTHER COMPLAINT ON YOUR WEBSITE OF EXCESSIVE OIL CONSUMPTION IN A 2000 COROLLA, BUT I AM SURE THERE ARE MANY MORE TOYOTA ENGINES OUT THERE WAITING TO BLOW UP.

WHEN TRAVELING IN RAIN OR ON WET ROADS SUCH AS I-95, STEERING, AIR CONDITIONING, ALTERNATOR AND BRAKES FAIL. APPARENTLY WATER ON THE POWER BELT CAUSES IT TO SLIP AND RENDERS THE COMPONENTS TO BE INOPERATIVE UNTIL THE WATER IS REMOVED. THIS HAS CAUSED MANY CLOSE CALLS SUCH AS MAKING A LEFT TURN ONTO ANOTHER STREET AND LOSING THE STEERING WHEN HALF WAY THROUGH THE TURN HEADING ME TO PEDESTRIANS ON THE SIDEWALK. AT THE SAME TIME THE AIR CONDITIONER/DEFROSTER QUITS AND THE WINDSHIELD FOGS UNTIL THE A/C IS MANUALLY RESET. ADDING TO THE PROBLEM . I REPORTED THIS PROBLEM TO THE SERVICE MANAGER WHO REPLIED THAT HE HAD NEVER HEAR OF A SIMILAR PROBLEM AND THAT HE WOULD CHECK FOR INFORMATION WITH TOYOTA AND GET BACK TO ME, SIX MONTHS AGO HE NEVER DID. I BELIEVE A RECORD OF THIS MALFUNCTIONING COMPONENT SHOULD BE MADE AS I CAN NOT BELIEVE THAT OTHER COROLLA OWNERS DO NOT HAVE THE SAME DANGEROUS PROBLEM. DT