JM Lexus Toyota Engine Oil Gell, (sludge) - Stole my maintenance receipts Margate Florida
In February 04, my 1997 Lexus ES300 with 49,000 miles started to smoke, mostly at startup. Then the engine light came and stayed on. The garage and front yard would be filled with blue smoke for the first few moments. I immediately called JM Lexus and made an appointment.
When I brought the car in for service, they told me the "charcoal canister" needed to be replaced for $550. and asked if I want to make another appointment to have the work done. I told them of course I wanted the work done.
The following week, I brought the car back in to have the work performed. When the service rep gave me the car back, he asked if I promised to always bring the car back to him for service, he would waiver the amount of the repairs. I told him, of course I'll bring it back to you and thanked him so much for his generousity.
In the next few days, the car started to smoke again, although the engine light did not come on yet. I made another appointment to bring the car back with the same service rep. At this time, I started to search on the web for related problems with the Lexus ES300 and was shocked at how many people were having oil gelling, (sludge) problems. It seemed as though the "charcoal canister" and engine light were the first indicator of engine gelling. Now I know why they didn't charge me for the new canister...they had to under the extended engine warranty.
I read that as long as I could prove I did all my regular oil changes, I wouldn't have a problem. So, before going to the next appointment, I went out to the garage and opened my glove box and looked into my lexus book where all my oil change receipts were neatly stacked and low and behold...they were all missing. I was in a panic. Where could they have gone. I bought the car new in '97 and always changed the oil regularly and neatly folded the receipts and put them in my Lexus book. I always thought for resale value, they would come in handy. I had just seen them 2 weeks prior as I just had another oil change and put the receipt in with the rest. Then it dawned on me.
Rather than bring the Lexus back in for service and have the car labeled as another Oil Sludge Lemon, and then not be able to sell the car, I ran out to another major dealer and traded in for a new car. I just knew when I returned to Lexus, they were going to ask for my oil change receipts and I would have been "shafted".
If I've learned anything, it's to never leave maintenance receipts in your vehicle.
Mark
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
U.S.A.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Charlene
Vienna,Virginia,
U.S.A.
PLEASE DOCUMENT YOUR CASE!
#2Consumer Comment
Mon, March 22, 2004
Mark, thank you very much for telling us your story! I have one very important question, though. Did you receive the TOYOTA ENGINE OIL GELATION LETTER promised to be sent to you by TMC? If not, did you get your first inkling of a sludge problem from the internet only? Did the dealership mention anything at all about the problem potential? Also, did you have all your work done at Lexus dealerships, including your oil changes?
Toyota supposedly sent out one letter in February of 2002 to all affected vehicle owners. The letter was extremely condescending to the owners and placed the blame for ENGINE OIL SLUDGE squarely on their shoulders. A second "softer" letter was sent which STILL BLAMED THE OWNER but gave a whole lot less details than the first letter.
An intense internet discussion began about Toyota engine oil sludge in late 2000 and continues to this day. Back in late 2001, an "Engine Sludge Policy" link was found on the Toyota Financial Services web site that had to do with vehicles sold at auction. There was some arbitration information there should a vehicle be found to have sludge within a certain time period after purchase. This link was EXPOSED by Toyota owners on the internet and within 3 days the link was TOTALLY REMOVED from sight!! Apparently, someone didn't want others to see this or perhaps they were afraid the "SLUDGE MONSTER" might not be contained if the link remained!
If you did NOT receive one of the letters, you need to contact Toyota and find out WHY! Call 1-888-802-9436. The oil change receipts were NOT supposed to an issue according to published accounts because lots of owners change their own oil and may not keep receipts. The lack of your receipts should NOT have been a problem, especially if you had some of the changes done at the Lexus dealerships. Records can be obtained elsewhere, too.
I hope you will file your report with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration at 1-800-424-9393 or online. Also file with the Center for Auto Safety. File with your local consumers agencies, too. Contact your State Attorney General and your lawmakers to tell them your story. What is being done is unconscionable! You need to write to the Federal Trade Commission, too, to let them know that your new vehicle warranty was in jeopardy based on your maintenance receipt loss.
Several very reputable publications have written about the Toyota engine oil sludge problem including Automotive News, LA Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, etc. In addition, many local consumer reporters have done stories based on individual Toyota owner accounts of engine oil sludge or premature engine failure.
Apparently, independent repair shops are well aware of the serious nature of this engine oil sludge problem. Many concerned Toyota owners are contacting Consumer Reports magazine because they don't understand why the data lags behind the existing data on the problem. There seems to be a discrepancy that is unexplained by the marks that CR gives these sludge-prone vehicles to date.
This site is fair and balanced when it come to Toyota owners highlighting the major engine problems; other sites protect Toyota because of the advertising dollars they receive. On such sites the truth cannot be told and many very vocal Toyota owners are being permanently BANNED from posting.
Toyota has an on-going problem with engine oil sludge. Some models that are not even included in the program for "engine oil gelation" are having the same problem, including the Corolla and the RAV4. Some 4Runner owners are also reporting the problem as are some truck owners. Oddly enough, Toyota has limited the problem to two engines among several models only. YET, it says the OWNER IS TO BLAME FOR POOR MAINTENANCE!! Funny, why are these particular owners so negligent?
Toyota has also blamed the oil, the quick lube oil companies, the type of driving done, the particular geographic region, etc. It has accused owners of having the original oil filter on the vehicle. It has told customers that they didn't have sludge when they did. YOU NAME IT....IT HAS BEEN TRIED! At this point, the Toyota owners are not willing to accept blame any longer. There is a petition started since the sludge program which now has over 375 signatures. The program doesn't seem to be all it is cracked up to be, does it?
Mark, again, thank you for sharing your story. I hope you will tell your Toyota owner acquaintances about the sludge problem as they may not know either until their engine throws a rod on the highway or chokes up with sludge and will not run. There is a safety factor, though the NHTSA doesn't consider it to be one. The fact that some owners have had excessive fuel in the oil and there have been some engine fires in these vehicles makes one wonder about that assessment!
If you have TOYOTA ENGINE OIL SLUDGE, file your report here and send your pictures in for all to see!
Charlene
Vienna, VA