NHTSA Complaint #10086188 — 2000 TOYOTA CAMRY

I OWN A 2000 TOYOTA CAMRY XLE, WHICH HAS 51.565 MILES. ON JULY 31, 2004 THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. I CALLED THE DEALER AND BROUGHT THE CAR IN TO BE CHECKED ON AUGUST 04, 2004. THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT TOLD ME IT WAS THE FUEL EVAPORATOR VALVE THAT NEEDS TO BE REPLACED AND WOULD COST APPROXIMATELY $220, BUT THEY NEED TO ORDER THE PART, SO WE SET ANOTHER APPOINTMENT TO HAVE THE PART REPLACED ON AUGUST 10, 2004. I PICKED THE CAR UP TODAY (JULY 31, 2004) AND PAID $114.50 FOR THE DIAGNOSTICS (I AM HOPING MY NEXT BILL WILL BE AROUND $110 SO I DO NOT GO TO FAR OVER THE ESTIMATED PRICE, BUT LOOKING AT THE BILL THEY ARE ESTIMATING $99.07 TO INSTALL AND 48.85 FOR THE PART SO I AM GUESSING I WILL BE WELL OVER THE $220 PRICE QUOTED). MY INVOICE SAYS THAT THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CODE IS "P0446 WAS PRESENT FOR EVAP SYSTEM TRACE TO VENT CONTROL MALFUNCTION SPECIAL ORDER VSV CONTROL APPROX 99.07 TO INSTALL". I THEN WENT OUT TO THE WEB TO DETERMINE EXACTLY WHAT THIS PART IS AND I DISCOVERED MANY COMPLAINTS OF THIS NATURE ON THE WEB. MOST OF THEM WERE TOLD THEY NEEDED TO REPLACE THE VALVE AND CANISTER FOR A PRICE AROUND $550. BY LOOKING AT THE NUMBER OF COMPLAINTS ON THE WEB RELATING TO THIS ISSUE (MOST OF THEM WHEN THE CAR REACHES APPROXIMATELY 55,000 MILES) I DECIDED TO FILE THIS IN THE HOPES THAT THIS PART WILL EVENTUALLY BECOME A RECALL, SINCE THERE SEEMS TO BE SO MANY ISSUES. *AK