I bought a new 2010 Toyota Corolla in July 2010. I immediately noticed a steering problem. Toyota admitted it and gave me a new car. I have had the following problems with the second new car:
3600 miles- serpentine belt blew and tangled in air conditioner unit (I was told the part alone would have cost me $3,000, but all was replaced due to warranty.
5,000 miles- I took car in for maintenance, and was told that I did not need oil change until 10,000 as it was synthetic.
6500 miles -I had serpentine belt replaced again due to recall
10000 miles- I took in for service and was told that they should have replaced oil and filter at 5,000…they were confused. .As it turns out I have traditional oil, not synthetic!!!
I am so worried about long-term damage that may have been done to my car due to going 10.000 miles without an oil change and due to the assault on engine due to serpentine belt problem. Can you tell me what kind of long-term damage could have occurred and any ideas you have about what I should do? I have owned Toyotas since the 1970’s and am so discouraged now.
" . . . any ideas you have about what I should do?" Don’t Listen To The Dealer. Read Your Owner’s Manual And Adhere To The Maintenance Schedule. Keep Up On All The Recalls.
CSA
Well you may want to call the toyota regional agent. The dealer seems to have made some serious mistakes. Toyota needs to be involved so that you can pursue your concerns in the future after the warranty expires. Get your paperwork together and make sure that they follow up on your concerns now, not later.
Actually she did bring the car for the book oil change, the dealer said she did not need it.
“Can you tell me what kind of long-term damage could have occurred and any ideas you have about what I should do?”
I doubt the car suffered any long term damage from either event. However, at the rate you’re going it may be a moot point. I doubt you’ll want to keep this car for long. I’d even bet that you’re thinking that when the steering problem resulted in vehicle number 2, you should have taken a refund and moved on.
I don’t think the newer Toyotas are up to the quality of the ones from the 70s that built a following of customers. Have you seen the news lately ?
CSA
I Know. However, She Listened To Some Kid At The Dealer.
CSA
I Don’t Think I’d Do That. The Dealer Will Probably Deny It And Toyota Will Void The Engine Warranty Because Of Poor Maintainence. They Hear Excuses All The Time. Let Sleeping Dogs Lie.
CSA
Find yourself a new dealer,or a good independent one.
I wouldn’t have that dealer doing work on my car.
You bought your car in July and you now have 10,000 miles. It seems as though you did more than just short trips of less than a block to the grocery store, but made long runs in the car. If this is the case, the engine would be warmed up completely and probably no harm was done to the engine. I bought a 2011 Toyota Sienna last March. The change oil light came on about 5000 miles which was the recommended interval in the owner’s manual. When I took the car to the dealer, I was told that the oil needed to be changed only at 10,000 mile intervals since it had synthetic oil installed at the factory. I was going to take it to my independent shop for an oil change, but I received a letter from Toyota that the oil change interval for the Sienna had been extended to 10,000 miles.
At this point, if the car is running well, do the 5000 mile oil changes and quit worrying.
I don’t think the newer Toyotas are up to the quality of the ones from the 70s that built a following of customers.
I bought a 2011 Toyota Sienna last March because Isold my 2006 Chevrolet Uplander to my son. The Sienna does fine, but so did the Uplander. I don’t see much difference in the quality of the vehicles. I would have purchased another GM minivan,but GM decided to get out of the minivan business.
Don’t go to the dealer for maintenance. You do not have to get the work done there for the warranty to stay valid. You only need to get the work done as the Warranty and Maintenance Guide tell you. The dealer already showed you that they don’t know how to take care of a Toyota.
Probably no engine damage, at least none that you will know until 200K miles. But you seems you have a lemon car and a lemon’er dealer. Make sure you keep all the papers, it will come in handy. Also might want to get the date of the 5000 mile visit along with the service writers name and keep it somewhere.
Using synthetic oil does not mean you can go 10k miles between oil changes and NEVER, EVER put any of your faith into what a service writer at the dealership tells you. Very very few of these people have any experience as mechanics or any mechanical aptitude at all.
These people do not want to appear car ignorant to you the customer so they often rely on pure, unadulterated BS to get through the day.
In spite of the perception, Toyotas do suffer problems and break just like everything else as you have found out.
While it’s probably too late to know why, it would be interesting to hear the story behind the steering problem on the first car and the 3000 dollar part on the current one.