Postby TwilightMom » Wed Jan 13, 2010 6:28 pm
I bought a 2005 Sienna, brand new, in 04. About a month ago, the oil pressure light came on, took it to the dealer since it is still under warranty, who said required a new engine due to sludge.
Even though we're still under warranty (the warranty people said I should hug my hubby, since he bought the BEST warranty), they will not cover it, since they deem it's improper maintenance. Even though we had the oil changed according to their standards, we didn't have all of our receipts, so we're SOL.
We decided to try to go with Auto-RX, we figured we had nothing to lose. The dealer took the engine apart, to diagnose it, so we told them to put everything back together. We got the oil changed and added the Auto-RX. The guys at Jiffy Lube informed us that the dealership never put coolant back into the engine.
So my husband left for work the next day, and the car (which never gave us any trouble before the light came on), stalled on the freeway, and started making really strange noises when he got it started again. So he babied it the rest of the way to work (about 2 miles), checked the engine when he got to work, and it was BONE dry. No oil at all.
Our mechanic advised him to look at the tailpipe, and sure enough, it was dripping oil. We really feel that the dealership did a shoddy job re-assembling the engine, and putting the valves/valve cover on, as evidenced by their carelessness by not putting coolant in.
They have quoted us between $4500-11,000 for a new motor. Toyota refuses to stand by their product/warranty, even though the sludge is a known issue with Toyota engines, even with pristine maintenance.
So short story long, we just finished paying off this $30,000 van, and now we have to put several thousand MORE dollars into it to make it run again.
But, at least we have one decent car now, and I'm thankful my husband wasn't killed when the van died in the middle of I-95 during rush hour...