NHTSA Complaint #10021004 — 1998 TOYOTA SIENNA

APPROXIMATELY 5 YEARS AGO WE PURCHASED A NEW 1998 TOYOTA SIENNA BECAUSE WE WANTED A NEW VEHICLE WITH AN EXCELLENT REPUTATION FOR QUALITY AND SERVICE. BECAUSE OF TOYOTA'S REPUTATION, WE PAID APPROXIMATELY $10,000 MORE FOR THE VAN THAN WE COULD HAVE PURCHASED ANY OTHER VAN IN OUR AREA. RECENTLY OUR VAN STARTED EMITTING BLUE SMOKE. WHEN WE TOOK OUR VAN TO OUR LOCAL TOYOTA DEALERSHIP FOR SERVICE THEY SAID THAT THEY COULD NOT FIND THE PROBLEM, AND OFFERED TO TEAR DOWN THE MOTOR AND SEND PICTURES TO TOYOTA WITH A FEE OF ONE HOUR'S LABOR. WHEN WE SCHEDULED THIS SERVICE, AFTER TEARING DOWN THE MOTOR, WE WERE ASKED FOR DOCUMENTATION OF OIL CHANGES. ALTHOUGH WE HAVE HAD THEM DONE REGULARLY, WE DID NOT SAVE THIS PAPERWORK. SINCE WE ARE OUT OF OUR WARRANTY PERIOD, I THOUGHT THIS WAS AN UNUSUAL REQUEST. HOWEVER, AFTER RESEARCHING MY VAN ON THE INTERNET, I REALIZE THAT THIS IS A VERY COMMON PROBLEM WITH MY VAN. UNFORTUNATELY, I DID NOT FIND THIS INFORMATION SOON ENOUGH TO START SAVING ALL OF THOSE OIL CHANGE RECEIPTS. THE OIL IN MY VAN IS VERY THICK, AND WE WERE TREATED AS THOUGH WE NEVER HAD OIL CHANGES DONE. WE WERE TOLD THAT THEY COULD REPLACE THE VALVE COVERS AND CLEAN THE HEADS AND THAT IT MIGHT TAKE CARE OF THE PROBLEM OR WE COULD SPEND $5000 TO PURCHASE A NEW MOTOR FOR A VAN BOUGHT NEW AND STILL BEING PAID FOR! I WILL NO LONGER BE ABLE TO PURCHASE A VEHICLE BASED ON REPUTATION. NOT ONLY WAS THIS A PROBLEM THAT HAS OCCURRED OFTEN, BUT WE WERE NEVER NOTIFIED, AND THEN BASICALLY ACCUSED OF NOT MAINTAINING OUR VEHICLE. WE WERE CHARGED A $75.00 FEE TO FIND THE PROBLEM EVEN THOUGH THE MECHANICS SHOULD HAVE KNOW THIS WAS ON ONGOING PROBLEM THE FIRST TIME THE VAN WAS TAKEN FOR SERVICE. BECAUSE OF THEIR DEFECTIVE MOTOR, I ALSO HAVE NOW LOST THAT "GREAT TRADE IN VALUE" THAT TOYOTA VEHICLES ALWAYS "MAINTAIN". AGAIN, I AM VERY DISAPPOINTED IN MY VAN AND TOYOTA. I PURCHASED MY VAN BECAUSE OF THE HIGH RECOMMENDATIONS GIVEN TO ME, BUT I WILL NOT PASS THIS RECOMMENDATION ON TO OTHERS. *NLM