Toyota Won’t Help w/Engine Failure b/c Owner Drove 85 MPH

Visit my friends at the Autopian:

[ChopperChad]

The I-10 in west Texas has a speed limit of 85 mph. If Toyota can’t be operated at this legal speed, then Toyota has failed its customers.

[modenam]

I’m an auto appraiser. They ADMITTED the failure was a. Internal mechanical failure. Toyota is WRONG.

[Ultrapub]

Their response feels so much like someone at Toyota asked Chat-GPT to create something, leading to this rambling stream of bizarre statements.

[wallstreetbetscom]

I guarantee this is what happened. The same thing happened to my daughter's 4Runner, and 10 other cars I have seen. There are certain parts in the engine that are made of a white plastic that break off and end up in the oil flow. Once it clogs the uptake, there is no lubrication on the crank, and it blows a hole in the side of your block. It is always catastrophic, dramatic, and sometimes causes fire because of hot combustible liquids hitting hot surfaces with plenty of air flow to support combustion.

[trustedsource]

1) The sky is blue
2) Your Toyota is red
3) We cite random facts
4) Your warranty is dead

The denial is a total non-sequitur and they know it.

[Prct]

Toyota is throwing away decades of goodwill and embracing the suck.

[CrankyBeach]

This story reminds me of why my (former) husband quit being a shade tree mechanic.... He worked almost entirely on friends' cars, and I witnessed one woman say, "Hey, last week you put a new battery in my car, and now the brakes don't work. What did you do to my car??" (And she was serious!)

[JonBlack-YT]

The GR Corolla has been made since 2022, the first model year is the 2023. The specs, directly from Toyota, say that the top speed of this car is 142.9 MPH... and this guy was driving at a steady 80MPH.

[frozencanary]

Sounds like ChatGPT wrote that report.

[SilverSidedSquirrel]

"You touched the car, therefore we feel we shouldn't have to honor the warranty."

[markh]

I worked at goodyear for 34 years, and I once asked a Tire Engineer what the 130 H rating meant. He said they test the tires at 130mph at on their high speed oval in Texas, only stopping to refuel and change tires, untill the tires are worn out. Then they examine the tires for any heat related failures. Now, the lowest rated OEM tire I have ever seen is S rated, which is 112mph. So Toyota, don't tell me I can't run my tires all day at 85 mph, they are engineered for that with a margin of error. Maybe your mechanical systems can't handle driving an extended period at 85 MPH, buth the tire certainly can!

[mikebolton]

Reminds me of when the CTS-V Cadillac came out.
I was a GM World Class Tech at time. They kept having them burn down, because the fuel pipe for the direct injection kept fracturing from "pressure hammering" and would spray fuel directly on the passenger side cat converter.
They absolutely were lying to customers, instead of admitting the pipe was totally wrong.

[kbklt]

That response sounds a lot like Toyota used Artificial Intelligance to respond to the question.

[davidclaiborne]

It blows my mind that companies continue to do this kind of thing. It’s just not worth the bad publicity.

[JeffBranscum]

Great Scott! Toyota is just looking out for the consumers. At 85 miles per hour, the flux capacitor begins to engage and will send you back to the future at 88 miles per hour.

[newfinishautospa]

Bottom line is…and I tell this to everyone…your warranty isn’t voided unless a modification made by the consumer can directly be linked to the failure in question. A 5 year old could conclude with basic logic that tire speed rating selection cannot in any way cause a catastrophic engine failure. Toyota knows that, and the response given to the customer is embarrassing on Toyota’s behalf. Do not give money to a company that treats customers this way.

[PaintballBoomer]

The GR Corolla comes with Pilot Sport 4 tires, which have a speed rating of 186 mph. What an unusual thing to bring up.

[davelindgren]

Toyota could have just given the guy a new car that cost maybe $30K. Now they have lost a ton of sales because of a bad decision.

[buzzsah]

Back in 85, Toyota was a great vehicle. In 92, a friend opened a Toyota dealership with 137 new vehicles, for the past 11 years he has been dealing with more BS, and not selling more than 2, to 3 vehicles a week, If it wasn't for repairs he'd be out of business.

[Reaperman]

Boosting a 3cyl to 300+ HP is a recipe for engine problems.