NHTSA Complaint #10401756 — 2005 TOYOTA AVALON

FIRST CONTACTED TOYOTA MOTOR SALES U.S.A., INC. IN TORRANCE, CA. AND ADVISED THEM OF MY CAR TROUBLES PRIOR TO GOING TO DEALERSHIP FOR SERVICE. I MADE THEM AWARE THAT I DO NOT TRUST DEALER SERVICE DEPARTMENTS. THEY ASSIGNED ME A CASE NUMBER AND DOCUMENTED MY ISSUES WITH ENGINE/POWERTRAIN MALFUNCTION THAT STILL EXIST TODAY AND BOTH THE DEALER AND TOYOTA MOTOR SALES HAVE NOT ADDRESSED PROBLEM. ALSO, I STATED TO DEALER THAT THERE WAS LEAKAGE SURROUNDING THE POWER STEERING PUMP. DEALER WAS QUICK TO RESOLVE PROBLEM BY TRYING TO INDUCE ME TO HAVE PUMP CHANGED WITHOUT PERFORMING TRUE DIAGNOSTIC PROCEDURES TO INCLUDE; FAILURE TO REMOVE FRONT R/H TIRE TO LOOK AT POWER STEERING PUMP FROM THE FRONT SIDE, FAILURE TO CLEAN POWER STEERING PUMP AND SURROUNDING AREAS TO INVESTIGATE TRUE AREA OF LEAKAGE. INSTEAD, DEALER SERVICE DEPARTMENT CAME TO AN IMMEDIATE CONCLUSION THAT THE PUMP MUST BE LEAKING FROM PUMP SHAFT BEARING. COST TO REPLACE; $750.00 WHICH I DECLINED TO HAVE REPLACED. WITH THE VEHICLE UP ON JACK STANDS AND WITH TRUE DIAGNOSTIC TESTING, I REMOVED FRONT R/H TIRE, THOROUGHLY CLEANED POWER STEERING PUMP AND SURROUNDING AREA AND STEERED LEFT TO RIGHT AND RIGHT TO LEFT MANY TIMES AND CAN NOT LOCATE LEAK AT THIS TIME. COULD BE EVEN ENGINE OIL THAT DRIPPED DOWN OR PUMP HIGH PRESSURE LINE THAT GOES TO STEERING CYLINDER GEARBOX/YOKE AREA. AS FAR AS THE POWER TRAIN/ENGINE PROBLEM THAT HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR A VERY LONG TIME, THE ENGINE AND TRANSMISSION ARE ALWAYS OUT OF SYNCHRONIZATION. TO BRIEFLY STATE, THE ENGINE WONDERS (HI AND LOW RPMS) AND THE TRANSMISSION WILL BE IN WRONG GEAR. FURTHERMORE, THROTTLE RESPONSE IS MANY TIMES NON-EXISTENT. I DEPRESS PEDAL AND NO ENGINE RESPONSE IS FOUND. NEED TO FURTHER DEPRESS PEDAL FOR ENGINE TO ACCELERATE. THIS IS A SERIOUS SAFETY FACTOR AS FAR AS I AM CONCERNED. HAVE OTHER ISSUES NOT ABLE TO STATE BECAUSE OF YOUR LIMITED WORDS ALLOWED.