NHTSA Complaint #10438512 — 2002 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER

A COUPLE OF MONTHS AGO WHITE SMOKE EMITTED FROM THE EXHAUST PIPE. LAST WEEK, ON A TRIP WITHIN 400 MILES OF MY HOME, THE ENGINE AND VSC LIGHT CAME ON INTERMITTENTLY. I IMMEDIATELY CALLED TOYOTA AND WAS TOLD THAT THE CAR COULD STOP SUDDENLY AND LEAVE US STRANDED SO I MADE AN APPT FOR MONDAY MORNING. THE CAR RODE VERY ROUGH FOR THE LAST TWO HOURS AND IT SEEMED AS IF IT IS READY TO STALL ANYTIME. TOYOTA CHARGED ME $ 321.00 FOR A COMPRESSION AND DIAGNOSTICS TEST. TOYOTA FOUND THAT I HAD LOW COMPRESSION. TOYOTA ALSO OFFERED TO TAKE APART MY ENGINE FOR 2667.00 TO SEE IF THE RINGS WERE DAMAGED. I REFUSED THE WORK AND PICKED UP MY CAR. WE CALLED AN ENGINE REPAIR BUSINESS. THE OWNER KNEW THE MAKE, MODEL AND YEAR OF MY CAR AND ASKED IF WE HAD JUST HIT THE 100,000 MILE MARKER. WE HAD. HE TOLD US OF THE OIL SLUDGE PROBLEM, SETTLEMENT AND FAULTY ALUMINUM ENGINES. I HAVE RESEARCHED SIMILAR CHARACTERISTICS WITH THE HIGHLANDER AND SEE THAT IT IS A COMMON PROBLEM FOR THE 2002 HIGHLANDER. THE SLUDGE SITUATION WOULD ONLY BE COVERED IF IT WAS WITHIN 8 YEARS OF THE PURCHASE DATE. WHAT ABOUT THE MANY CONSUMERS WHO STILL HAVE THIS PROBLEM AND IT IS PAST THE EIGHT YEARS? I BOUGHT THIS HIGHLANDER IN 2005, HAD IT SERVICED REGULARLY AND WE ALSO CHANGED THE OIL OURSELVES. IN 2008 I BROUGHT THE CAR INTO THE TOYOTA DEALERSHIP FOR A TUNE UP AND AN OIL CHANGE PRIOR TO A LONG TRIP. ON THE WAY HOME, THE ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON AND WE PULLED OVER TO A LOCAL GAS STATION AND THERE WAS LITERALLY NO OIL IN MY ENGINE. TOYOTA DID THE OIL CHANGE BUT DID NOT PUT 5 QUARTS OF OIL INTO MY CAR FOR THIS LONG TRIP. WHEN I RETURNED I DID CONFRONT THE DEALERSHIP BUT THEY DENIED ANY WRONGDOING. WE HAVE, SINCE THAT TIME PERIOD HAD TO ADD OIL CONTINUOUSLY. IT TURNS OUT THAT I WILL NEED TO REPLACE MY ENGINE FOR 4500.00. *TR