NHTSA Complaint #10315745 — 2000 TOYOTA AVALON

OUR 2000 TOYOTA AVALON 6 CYLINDER ENGINE SHUT DOWN DUE TO OIL SLUDGE. WE HAD IT TOWED TO THE NEAREST TOYOTA DEALER (CHAMPION TOYOTA) WHERE THEY TOLD US THE ENGINE IS DEAD DUE TO THE YEARS OF OIL SLUDGE. NO ONE TOLD US THAT THE 2000-2002 AVLON WAS IN A QUIET RECALL CALLED CSP TO "FIX" THOSE ENGINES. THE FIGURE FOR A NEW ENGINE IS $9000, WE DECIDED TO TAKE THE CAR TO A AUTO SHOP NEAR THE HOUSE WHERE THE OIL SLUDGE WAS CLEANED. WE GOT THE CAR BACK. WITHIN A FEW WEEKS, THE CAR BROKE DOWN ON A BUSY HIGHWAY INTERSECTION LATE AT NIGHT. WE HAD THE CAR TOWED HOME AS IT WAS VERY LATE. WE HAD THE CAR TOWED TO CHARLES MAUND TOYOTA WHO SOLD US THE CAR (CAR PREVIOUSLY OWNED BY THE OWNER CHARLES MAUND. WE BOUGHT IT WITH 7000 MILES ON IT IN 2000T. THE MECHANICS THERE CLEANED THE SLUDGE AND TRY TO TEST DRIVE, ONLY TO HAVE THE ENGINE SHUT DOWN AGAIN..THEY TOOK IT APART AND FOUND THAT THE ENGINE HAS BEEN DAMAGED BEYOND REPAIR DUE TO THE SLUDGE PROBLEM. WE DID SOME RESEARCH ON THE WEB AND HAS THEM TO MAKE GOOD ON THE REPAIRS EVEN THOUGH WE WERE NOT NOTIFIED OF THE CSP AND WERE NOT ABLE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT DURING THE TIME LIMIT PLACED ON THE CSP BY TOYOTA CORP. THE PROBLEM IS WELL KNOWN AND WELL DOCUMENTED. WE HAVE REGULARLY CHANGED THE OIL, THOUGH NOT ALWAYS WITH TOYOTA DEALER AS WE HAVE MOVED. THE ENGINE BREAKDOWN COULD HAVE CAUSED ACCIDENTS HAD WE NOT BEEN ABLE TO COAST TO A NARROW SHOULDER BY THE CORNER OF 2222/360 HIGHWAY INTERCHANGE. WE WANT TOYOTA TO REPLACE THE ENGINE AND CORRECT THE DEFECTIVE DESIGN. WE ALSO BELIEVE THAT MR. CHARLES MAUND MAY HAVE RECEIVED THE CSP NOTICE AS HE WAS THE "ORIGINAL OWNER" BUT FAIL TO COMMUNICATE THAT TO US. WE HAVE PURCHASED 2 VEHICLES FROM CHARLES MAUND AND WERE REGULAR MAINTENANCE CUSTOMERS SO THEY HAVE OUR RECORDS AND WOULD HAVE KNOWN THAT WE HAVE ONE OF THE OIL SLUDGE 6 CYLINDER AVALONS. *TR