NHTSA Complaint #10521982 — 2007 TOYOTA CAMRY

IN MARCH 2013, I TOOK MY CAR TO MY DEALER FOR A SCHEDULED OIL CHANGE AND ALSO BECAUSE I HAD NOTICED A TICKING NOISE UNDER THE HOOD. THE SERVICE TECHNICIAN STATED THAT BECAUSE IT WAS A RAINY DAY, HE COULD NOT HEAR THE TICKING NOISE DURING HIS TEST DRIVE. I WAS STILL CONCERNED, AND ASKED HIM IF HE WAS SURE IT WAS OK FOR ME TO CONTINUE DRIVING IT BECAUSE I HEARD THE NOISE EVERY TIME I TOOK OFF FROM A STOP. HE SAID IT WAS FINE TO DRIVE AND TO BRING IT BACK IN IF THE NOISE CONTINUES. IN MAY 2013, AT 64,756 MILES, I BROUGHT THE CAR IN AGAIN BECAUSE THE TICKING NOISE WAS CONTINUING AND SEEMINGLY GETTING LOUDER. A DIFFERENT TECHNICIAN CHECKED IT, AND AFTERWARDS I RECEIVED THE DEVASTATING NEWS THAT MY CAR EXPERIENCED "INTERNAL ENGINE FAILURE" AND NEEDED THE ENGINE REPLACED. I WAS GIVEN SOME PRICE ESTIMATES FOR USED ENGINES, NONE OF WHICH WERE WARRANTIED FOR MORE THAN A YEAR. WHEN I INFORMED THEM OF MY INABILITY TO AFFORD AN ENGINE REPLACEMENT, TOYOTA SUGGESTED THAT MY CAR UNDERGO AN OIL CONSUMPTION TEST BY MY DEALER, WHICH I DID. AFTER 1,000 MILES, THE DEALER DETERMINED THE CAR WAS NOT BURNING OIL EXCESSIVELY. TOYOTA THEN OFFERED NO FURTHER ASSISTANCE; THE DEALER THEN OFFERED ME A DISCOUNT ON THE ENGINE REPLACEMENT. IN ALL THE YEARS I OWNED THE CAR, THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT HAD NEVER ONCE COME ON. (THE ONLY OTHER ISSUE I HAD WITH THE VEHICLE WAS A WATER PUMP FAILURE ON 5/22/2012, WHICH WAS REPLACED AT 56,891 MILES.) I HAVE ALL DOCUMENTATION SHOWING THAT TIMELY OIL CHANGES WERE PERFORMED FOR THE ENTIRE LIFE OF THE VEHICLE. *TR