My car '98 Corolla, purchased on 3/27/98 that has been regularly maintained as per manufacturers recommendations blew its engine while driving on the highway.
I was in the fast lane and had to dangerously veer the vehicle to the shoulder. The car had done only 51,000 miles. I have been regular with oil change and preventive maintenance and have receipts to prove that and this is a clearly a case of manufacturing fault of the car.
I finally paid $4500 for full engine replacement and sent the receipts and maintenance records to Toyota. Notwithstanding my furnishing proof of regular maintenance of oil changes every 3000 to 5000 miles, Toyota has refused to reimburse this amount, saying that I have not MAINTAINED my car.
Oil slugding was noticed at 33654 miles on 6/14 and I was advised to be regular with oil changes, which I always was. The CHECK ENGINE light used to come on. I have a receipt from Suburban Toyota, Troy MI that states this diagnosis. At that time Toyota was not running the goodwill reimbursement program for sludge victims, and I did not ahve any information who this should be reported to. Not realizing the consequences, I continued regular oil changes every 3000 miles, however the CHECK ENGINE light still used to come on every 3K miles just before an oil change. None of the service stations ever pointed out anything abnormal.
The engine eventually blew since the consumption of oil became very high. As per the report form the workshop, hole in the engine was due to starvation of oil. I was very regular with oil changes and had no idea that my car will consume oil very quickly and that I need to have my oil changes done even before the manufacturers recommendations. The engine had depelted to due oil sludging.
I have maintained my car regularly and have all oil change and preventive maintenance receipts to prove that. There is no reason for the engine to breakdown at 51,000 miles when it had been maintained in mint condition, driven sparingly and never abused. Toyota claims that their engines have longevity of 150,000 miles, however this is not the case with my car. This clearly is indicative of a defective engine. Sludging and/or other manufacturing defect has definitely contributed to this consequence.
I called the service rep many times and even wrote to the president, but they have only one answer that its my fault.
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