NHTSA Complaint #11496639 — 2018 TOYOTA COROLLA

On the morning of 12/7 I tried starting my car, and the engine wouldn't start. There were no warning lights. Finally late afternoon it started up and I immediately drove to Toyota in town. They said my battery was probably dead and replaced it for $160. I then drove to Costco, parked, and then started the car up and went to Hyvee. When driving out of Hyvee, my car's big red battery light popped up, my car started shaking, and then it shut off and would not turn back on. I had to pay for a tow back to Toyota ($196). Today, 12/8, Toyota in town calls me and said it was never a problem with my battery (yet I can't get a refund for them not even checking it in the first place), and that the issue is a fuel pump malfunction. They said the part will cost $1,463 and I will not be able to start my car let alone be safe to drive without it fixed. I am a student and this was the first car I bought and paid off. I have not had any problems with my car, and pride myself in taking very good care of it. I could have gotten in an extremely bad car accident with my car stopping and shutting down, putting not only my life at risk, but other drivers as well. There have been hundreds of reports of 2018 Toyota Corrolla's having fuel pump malfunction recalls; however, my specific VIN has 0 unrepaired recalls listed. This is completely out of the blue and with how new my car is (55,000 miles), how great of a job I do at taking care of it (this is my very first issue ever), and how many previous reports exist for the exact same issue (fuel pump malfunction) with the same year/make/model, it is shocking that my VIN has no associated recalls and am therefore receiving no financial help. I am lucky that I am safe and unharmed, because if this were happening on an interstate (which I frequently take to get to school), I easily would have died.