NHTSA Complaint #10349684 — 2006 TOYOTA COROLLA

DEAR TOYOTA CUSTOMER SERVICE, I REQUEST PROMPT REIMBURSEMENT OF EXPENSES IN THE AMOUNT OF $656.47 INCURRED DUE TO THE MALFUNCTIONING OF THE ENGINE CONTROL MODULE IN MY 2006 TOYOTA COROLLA LAST MONTH. WHILE A TOYOTA DEALERSHIP ULTIMATELY REPLACED THE ECM AT NO COST, I INCURRED RENTAL CAR EXPENSES FOR THE TIME I WAS WITHOUT MY COROLLA, AND PAID PARTS AND LABOR IN THE AMOUNT OF $521.76 TO MY INDEPENDENT MECHANIC TO INITIALLY REPLACE A TRANSMISSION SOLENOID WHICH HAD GONE BAD DUE TO THE FAILING ECM. I WILL NOT EVEN DESCRIBE THE AMOUNT OF MY TIME THAT TOYOTA WASTED BY FAILING TO NOTIFY ME, AS THE OWNER OF A CAR MODEL KNOWN BY TOYOTA TO FREQUENTLY HAVE PREMATURE ECM FAILURE, OF THIS ISSUE SO THAT I COULD RESOLVE IT AT A TOYOTA DEALERSHIP IMMEDIATELY. IN EARLY JULY I EXPERIENCED DIFFICULT AND JERKING SHIFTING OF THE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION IN MY TOYOTA. I BROUGHT IT TO MY INDEPENDENT MECHANIC, WHO DIAGNOSED THE PROBLEM AS A BAD TRANSMISSION SOLENOID (CODE P2716), AND SUBSEQUENTLY DETERMINED THAT THE SOLENOID HAD GONE BAD DUE TO THE ECM FAILING. AT THAT POINT, CONCERNED ABOUT THE STATE OF MY TRANSMISSION, I CALLED TOYOTA CUSTOMER SERVICE AND WAS TOLD THAT THE ECM IS COVERED UP TO 8 YEARS/80,000 MILES, AND THAT IF THE SOLENOID HAD GONE BAD AS A RESULT OF THE FAILING ECM, THE SOLENOID REPLACEMENT, TOO, WOULD BE COVERED UNDER WARRANTY. THE TOYOTA DEALERSHIP REPLACED THE ECM AT NO CHARGE. I BELIEVE THAT THE OUT-OF-POCKET EXPENSES I INCURRED, AS WELL AS THE CONSIDERABLE INCONVENIENCE I ENDURED, WOULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED IF TOYOTA HAD SHARED PROACTIVELY WITH ITS CUSTOMERS THE FACT THAT FAILING ECMS ARE UNUSUALLY COMMON IN COROLLAS. IF TOYOTA HAD REPORTED THIS INFORMATION TO ME, I WOULD HAVE RECOGNIZED THE SYMPTOMS DEMONSTRATED BY MY CAR, AND WOULD HAVE BROUGHT IT TO A DEALERSHIP IN THE FIRST INSTANCE TO BE FIXED. INSTEAD, I SPENT TIME AND MONEY USING A TRUSTED INDEPENDENT MECHANIC, AND LEARNED OF THE LARGER ECM PROBLEM THROUGH HIM AND THROUGH INDEPENDENT RESEARCH. *TR