NHTSA Complaint #10088964 — 2000 TOYOTA CAMRY

I HAVE A 2000 TOYOTA CAMRY WITH 62,000 MILES THAT HAS HAD THE OIL CHANGED EVERY 3000 MILES OR LESS, AND HAS BEEN PROPERLY MAINTAINED. I WAS TRAVLLING AT AROUND 65 MPH ON A BUSY HIGHWAY DURING A HOLIDAY WEEKEND WHEN WITHOUT ANY WARNING I HEARD A LOUD NOISE. FORTUNATELY I WAS ABLE TO GET THE VEHICLE OFF OF THE ROAD AND I DISCOVERED THAT THERE WAS OIL EVERYWHERE. WHEN A PASSERBY STOPPED HE SHOWED ME A HOLE IN THE ENGINE BLOCK. WHEN THE CAR WAS TOWED TO A TOYOTA DEALER AND EXAMINED, THEY OBSERVED THAT THE ENGINE HAD THROWN THE #4 ROD. SINCE THE CAR WAS 2,000 MILES OUT OF WARRANTY, AS A "GOOD WILL" GESTURE TOYOTA AGREED TO REPLACE THE ENGINE, BUT I WAS STUCK WITH LABOR ESTIMATED AT AROUND $1,500. I HAVE WRITTEN TO TOYOTA AND ASKED THEM TO PAY FOR LABOR ALSO, BUT THEY HAVEN'T MADE A FINAL DETERMINATION AS OF YET. THE ROAD I WAS TRAVELLING ON LESS THAN 10 MIN BEFORE THE INCIDENT OCCURED (THE PA TURNPIKE) WAS HILLLY, CURVEY AND CROWDED. IF THE ENGINE HAD BLOWN ON THAT HIGHWAY AN ACCIDENT WOULD HAVE ENSUED DUE TO THE LARGE VOLUME OF TRAFFIC AND ABSENCE OF ADEQUATE SHOULDER SPACE. I'M STILL WAITING FOR SHAFFERTOYOTA IN CUMBERLAND, MD TO REPAIR MY CAR. AS FAR AS I KNOW THEY HAVE THE DEFECTIVE ENGINE.*AK