NHTSA Complaint #10351635 — 2006 TOYOTA COROLLA

I HEARD ON THE RADIO THAT YOU HAVE HAD OVER 1,000 COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE 2005-06 TOYOTA COROLLAS WITH REGARD TO ENGINE CONTROL MODULES (ECMS) AND POSSIBLE STALLS. MY 2006 COROLLA STARTED TO STUTTER WHEN I ACCELERATED FROM 45 TO 55 MPH. I COULD TELL THAT ONE OF THE SPARK PLUGS WAS MISFIRING AND I WAS AFRAID THE ENGINE WAS GOING TO STALL IN HEAVY TRAFFIC. THE ENGINE DID NOT STALL, BUT THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. I SEARCHED THE INTERNET AND FOUND THAT TOYOTA HAD A BAD BATCH OF ECMS IN 2005-2006 , BUT DID NOT TO RECALL THEM. INSTEAD, THEY WAITED TO SEE WHICH UNITS ACTUALLY FAILED BEFORE REPLACING THE DEFECTIVE ECMS. WHEN I TOOK THE CAR TO THE DEALERSHIP, I TOLD THE SERVICE WRITER THAT IT APPEARED TO BE A DEFECTIVE ECM. HE TOLD ME I WAS MISTAKEN ABOUT THE ECM AND THAT IT HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE SPARK PLUG MISFIRING. AFTER THEY CHECKED THE CAR, I WAS TOLD THAT A PLUG HAD FOULED OUT. I WAS CHARGED OVER $500 TO REPLACE ALL OF THE PLUGS AND THE IGNITION COIL, NOT JUST THE ONE FOULED PLUG . I WAS ALSO CHARGED $120 TO CLEAN WHAT I WAS TOLD WOULD BE THE FOULED FUEL INJECTOR, BUT IT WAS LISTED AS 'INTAKE CLEANING SERVICE.' I PICKED UP THE CAR AND DIDN'T GET 2 MILES FROM THE SHOP BEFORE THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON AGAIN. ON THE SECOND TRIP TO SHOP THEY RESET THE LIGHT AND SAID THAT THEY COULDN'T DUPLICATE THE CONDITION AGAIN. SO I TOOK THE CAR AND DROVE IT HOME. THE NEXT DAY ON THE WAY TO WORK, THE LIGHT CAME ON AGAIN. ON THE THIRD TRIP TO THE SHOP, THEY FINALLY ADMITTED THE ECM HAD TO BE REPLACED. THE ECM WAS FREE, BUT I AM STILL OUT OVER $620 IN REPAIRS FOR DAMAGE CAUSED BY A DEFECTIVE ECM. MY PLUGS HAD ONLY 70,000 MILES (MOSTLY HIGHWAY) ON THEM AND SHOULD HAVE LASTED UNTIL 120,000 MILES. ON TOP OF THE REPAIRS, I WASTED A LOT OF GAS. NOW THAT THE ECM WAS REPLACED, I AM GETTING 2 MORE MILES PER GALLON. *TR