NHTSA Complaint #10345095 — 2006 TOYOTA RAV4

'MODEL YEAR: 2006 'MAKE: TOYOTA RAV4 'MODEL: 4 DRIVE, 2 WD, V6 SPORT 'COMPONENT: POWER STEERING SYSTEM DESCRIPTION: I BOUGHT THE ABOVE CAR ON 12/16/2006. AFTER TWO YEARS OF DRIVING, I STARTED TO NOTICE THAT THERE IS A TWEAKING SOUND ON THE STEERING WHEEL WHENEVER I MAKE A LEFT OR RIGHT TURN OF THE VEHICLE AT A SLOW SPEED. I HAVE MADE A COMPLAIN TO CAPITOL TOYOTA AT THE BEGINNING OF 2009 AND DEMAND A FIX WITHOUT CHARGE, BUT THEIR MANAGEMENT INSISTED THAT THEY CHARGE ME A FEE OF $132.00 FOR DIAGNOSTIC AND ADDITIONAL REPAIR COST IF THEY FIND OUT THAT PROBLEM IS NOT WITHIN THEIR WARRANTY LIMITS; PLEASE NOTE THAT MY CAR WAS WITHIN WARRANTY AT 42K MILES. FRUSTRATED AND ANGRY, I BROUGHT MY CAR HOME WITHOUT ANY SERVICE. A YEAR LATER WITH 44.3K MILES, I BEGAN TO NOTICE ADDITIONAL PROBLEM WITH MY CAR. THIS TIME, THE CHECK ENGINE, VISCOUS, AND TRACK LIGHTS GET TURNED ON. I BROUGHT MY CAR TO CAPITOL TOYOTA AGAIN WITH MY ADDITIONAL COMPLAINT. THIS TIME, THEY AGREED TO PERFORM A DIAGNOSTIC SERVICE WITHOUT A FEE OF $132.00, BUT THEY CHARGE ME FOR $1083.00 TO REPLACE THE POWER STEERING ECU COMPUTER WHICH IS OUT OF RANGE AND CAUSING THE LIGHTS TO BE TURNED ON, AND $483.00 FOR FIXING THE FIRST, ORIGINAL POWER STEERING NOISE PROBLEM. THEY SAID THAT MY VEHICLE IS OUT OF WARRANTY. THE ONLY THING THEY CAN HELP COVER FOR FREE OF CHARGE AND WITHIN WARRANTY AT THIS TIME IS TO FIX THE CAM TIMING OIL VALVE WHICH IS STICKING OUT TO CAUSE THE ENGINE LIGHT PROBLEM. I BELIEVE MY TOYOTA HAS THEIR DESIGN AND MANUFACTURING PROBLEMS, AND I HAVE NOT ORDERED THE ECU COMPUTER AND STEERING WHEEL NOISE FIXES THAT THEY RECOMMENDED BECAUSE I DO NOT AGREE WITH THE PROVIDED COST. I AM EXPECTING THAT THEY SHOULD FIX THESE PROBLEMS FOR ME FREE OF CHARGE. *TR