2011 TOYOTA SEQUOIA — Problems, Recalls & Safety Data

The vehicle fuel tank was punctured and then patched with JB Weld Epoxy. This vehicle was sold to me by a private owner that did not disclose this information to me. The safety of my family as well as thousands of others were at risk as the vehicle was parked in several parking garages of large buildings. The fuel tank and fuel pump has been replaced by Lewis Toyota of Topeka, KS. Several occurrences of a strong fuel smell had taken place for the two week time frame from the previous owner selling it to me. A fuel smell was present at inspection before purchase, however the owner stated that he had spilled fuel.

On [XXX] while driving our 2011 Toyota Sequoia 4x4 Limited (5.7 iforce non flex fuel) my wife was preparing to stop at a traffic light. Completely unexpected and with no warning, the vehicle started bucking, the engine began making a knocking noise and numerous dashboard lights started flashing. It immediately stalled while attempting to stop, thus, causing a very dangerous situation, losing total control of the brakes and steering, nearly causing a collision with the vehicle in front of her. The vehicle had to be towed from the middle of the road, while in heavy traffic. Eventually it was diagnosed (at my mechanics shop) and determined to be a broken valve spring in cylinder #7. This caused the valve to drop into the cylinder bore, making contact with the piston, known as "catastrophic failure on an 'interference' engine"..I later learned that these DEFECTIVE ($5) valve springs, are used in my meticulously maintained 5.7 Toyota motor,...THE SAME PART NUMBER UNDER RECALL IN SEVERAL LEXUS VEHICLES!! Being that I constantly maintained this vehicle and it being in overall excellent condition, I determined it was less expensive to have the engine replaced over repaired. I spent over $4600 in a used motor with 88k miles, and $5400 in labor for the replacement.. total cost of over $10,000 for a $5 defective part that was only recalled on the Lexus vehicles. I kept the original engine in case I can (eventually) have Toyota Corp do an inspection on it and get some kind of compensation on this dangerous, avoidable, selective vehicle recall. No luck thus far but have pictures, invoices and all documents on this situation that I can provide when requested. I am having difficulty downloading these documents to this site. Thank you very much. [XXX] [XXX] [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

On [XXX] while driving our 2011 Toyota Sequoia 4x4 Limited (5.7 iforce non flex fuel) my wife was preparing to stop at a traffic light. Completely unexpected and with no warning, the vehicle started bucking, the engine began making a knocking noise and numerous dashboard lights started flashing. It immediately stalled while attempting to stop, thus, causing a very dangerous situation, losing total control of the brakes and steering, nearly causing a collision with the vehicle in front of her. The vehicle had to be towed from the middle of the road, while in heavy traffic. Eventually it was diagnosed (at my mechanics shop) and determined to be a broken valve spring in cylinder #7. This caused the valve to drop into the cylinder bore, making contact with the piston, known as "catastrophic failure on an 'interference' engine"..I later learned that these DEFECTIVE ($5) valve springs, are used in my meticulously maintained 5.7 Toyota motor,...THE SAME PART NUMBER UNDER RECALL IN SEVERAL LEXUS VEHICLES!! Being that I constantly maintained this vehicle and it being in overall excellent condition, I determined it was less expensive to have the engine replaced over repaired. I spent over $4600 in a used motor with 88k miles, and $5400 in labor for the replacement.. total cost of over $10,000 for a $5 defective part that was only recalled on the Lexus vehicles. I kept the original engine in case I can (eventually) have Toyota Corp do an inspection on it and get some kind of compensation on this dangerous, avoidable, selective vehicle recall. No luck thus far but have pictures, invoices and all documents on this situation that I can provide when requested. I am having difficulty downloading these documents to this site. Thank you very much. [XXX] [XXX] [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

On [XXX] while driving our 2011 Toyota Sequoia 4x4 Limited (5.7 iforce non flex fuel) my wife was preparing to stop at a traffic light. Completely unexpected and with no warning, the vehicle started bucking, the engine began making a knocking noise and numerous dashboard lights started flashing. It immediately stalled while attempting to stop, thus, causing a very dangerous situation, losing total control of the brakes and steering, nearly causing a collision with the vehicle in front of her. The vehicle had to be towed from the middle of the road, while in heavy traffic. Eventually it was diagnosed (at my mechanics shop) and determined to be a broken valve spring in cylinder #7. This caused the valve to drop into the cylinder bore, making contact with the piston, known as "catastrophic failure on an 'interference' engine"..I later learned that these DEFECTIVE ($5) valve springs, are used in my meticulously maintained 5.7 Toyota motor,...THE SAME PART NUMBER UNDER RECALL IN SEVERAL LEXUS VEHICLES!! Being that I constantly maintained this vehicle and it being in overall excellent condition, I determined it was less expensive to have the engine replaced over repaired. I spent over $4600 in a used motor with 88k miles, and $5400 in labor for the replacement.. total cost of over $10,000 for a $5 defective part that was only recalled on the Lexus vehicles. I kept the original engine in case I can (eventually) have Toyota Corp do an inspection on it and get some kind of compensation on this dangerous, avoidable, selective vehicle recall. No luck thus far but have pictures, invoices and all documents on this situation that I can provide when requested. I am having difficulty downloading these documents to this site. Thank you very much. [XXX] [XXX] [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

The contact owns a 2011 Toyota Sequoia. The contact stated that while driving approximately 60 MPH, the rear liftgate opened unintendedly. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the liftgate latch assembly was rusted and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The local dealer was notified of the failure. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 178,000.