NHTSA Complaint #10327334 — 2003 TOYOTA COROLLA

I PURCHASE MY TOYOTA PRE-OWNED WITH 46,000 MILES ON IT ODOMETER. A SHORT WHILE AFTER THE PURCHASE THE ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. I CALLED THE CAR DEALERSHIP TO FIND OUT WHY THE ENGINE LIGHT WAS ON. THE AGENT STATED THAT MY GAS CAP MAY NOT BE TIGHT ENOUGH. I TIGHTENED MY GAS CAP AND THE LIGHT WHEN OFF FOR ABOUT 20 MINUTES. IT NEVER CAUSED ANY PROBLEMS IN THE PERFORMANCE OF THE CAR. HOWEVER, WHEN I WENT TO GET IT SMOGGED FOR THE FIRST TIME, IT WOULD NOT PASS SMOG. THE MECHANIC AT THE TOYOTA DEALERSHIP STATED THAT IT NEEDED A CATALYTIC CONVERTER AND THAT IT WOULD COST AROUND $1,800 TO REPLACE. THEREFORE, I HAD TO GO THE REFEREE TO GET A 2 YEAR WAIVER ON MY SMOG. I AM A SINGLE MOM WITH 2 SPECIAL NEEDS KIDS, I CANNOT GO WITHOUT A CAR. MY CAR WILL BE GOING ON THE NEXT YEAR SOON. I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW IF THERE IS ANY FUNDING TO HELP WITH REPAIRS WHEN THE PROBLEM IS DUE TO MANUFACTURING DEFECTS. I KNOW THAT THIS IS A FACTORY ISSUE BECAUSE I HAVE READ MANY COMPLAINTS FROM OTHER TOYOTA CUSTOMERS WHO HAVE HAD THE SAME EXACT PROBLEM WITH THE SAME MODEL YEAR CAR. *TR