Toyota paid for half (around $3,000) and I am out of pocket $3,000. I am waiting to see what happends. I suspect as this problem grows there will be a class action suit.

 

I've got 64,500 miles so I already know that this won't be covered by warranty, I'm praying I didn't long enough to mess up the engine.

First of all NO WARNING, no lights saying that all the engine oil is on the driveway.

Drove and AC would not work, but I only drive about 10 mins to the bus stop. In the evening I thinking that something's screwed up with the AC but the AC starts to work. Just as I'm about 2 mins from home I hearing ticking and I turn the AC off and the noise turns off. I see smoke coming out as I pull into the driveway and I see all the oil on the driveway from the night before.

What irrates me is that this is a known problem, and that there is NO WARNING light for the oil. It's crazy. ANOTHER POINT...I JUST GOT AN OIL CHANGE A WEEK AGO FROM THE DEALER...makes me suspicious.

I'm having an old friend who's a mechanic come out and look before I spend hundreds on getting it towed to the dealer. I can not afford a new engine...I'll be going after and making life hell for Toyota if it costs more than a few hundred dollars.

Thanks guys...now I know what probably happened...

 

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Don't lose hope even though it looks like only adverse publicity is going to get Toyota to do a recall or offer a widespread extended warranty. There are, however, cases like yours where either the dealer or Toyota paid for the fix "post warranty. For now, Toyota is opting to pay warranty claims like mad for ruptured oil lines and/or seized engines. One guy in the Rav4 forum has had TWO engines paid for by Toyota under warranty. My computers are clogged with "bookmarks/favorites" on this issue (I have an early build 09 Camry that I plan to pay for the pre-emptive fix on). However, there are several cases where they did the fix after warranty expired and here is the most recent one:

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/sh...d.php?t=315317

It starts with the following on 9-24-09 where a person with the username TacomaAvalon states as follows:

Oil Line gone at 70K - Tough luck says Toyota
Just got my Avalon towed to Fox Toyota and had the oil line replaced after it burst on the drive to work. I called Toyota and they told me it only would have been covered if I had taken it before 60K miles. I thought I would mention it in case anybody thinks they don't need to have this checked. I was surprised how this breaks with no warning and luckily I check the car often out of habit. I have had good luck with previous Toyotas but not this one. A steering column, brakes, trans and several other troubles have led me to think this may be the worst car I have owned from a reliability standpoint. The service tech told me that we were lucky since it did not ruin the cams or engine. If it had he said it runs up over 4000 dollars to have the head fixed. I will keep my truck but I think my next car may be a Nissan or Honda as I have had much better luck with them on a 350Z and an Accord."

But then he comes back on 9-30-09 and posts the good news:

The dealer (Fox) called me at home to say that they decided to cover this. He also did not deny that there is a problem - so they will keep my business. I still think Toyota ought to recall this. Compared to floor mats or whatever the latest recall bug is, this seems to be a bigger deal. onefiend thanks for posting that link. The 'new' hose on my car does have a larger piece of rubber so I hope the problem is solved.
I guess I need to get used to taking my car in to let them look for problems? in the past I had always just waited for the recall or whatever.
_____________________


Despite over 5000 Internet posts on this issue in multiple forums and websites like edmunds car reviews and carcomplaints.com, all we have from Toyota is the Dec 05 Avalon TSB that talks about a "leak" and replaces the rubber part with another one and a Sept. 08 Canadian Tech Tip 2310 (Same as a US TSB) that says the same thing but states it extends applicability to Camrys, Rav4,Sienna, & Highlander. Although the Avalon TSB acknowledges it is a powertrain warranty issue, nothing from Toyota describes the rapid loss of oil that most people describe accurately as coming from a ruptured hose ...... not just a "leak."

My favorite part in the Canadian version is that it states "the vvt-i oil line can become deteriorated under certain conditions." DUH - I think those "certain conditions" are called STARTING THE CAR AND DRIVING IT !!!!!!!!!

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/sh...=1#post2948729

http://rav4world.com/forums/viewtopi...25b94a06afe7bf

http://au.toyotaownersclub.com/forum...0&#entry302639

https://www.camryforums.com/forum/general-tech-8/huge-oil-line-leak-5059/

http://forums.consumerreports.org/n/...ujohn&tid=4437

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQMR6...layer_embedded

http://rav4world.com/forums/viewtopi...=228784#228784

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/sh...d.php?t=316167

 

A friend of mine had the warning lights of her 2007 Camry come on, found the engine covered in oil. The dealer fixed the item and said she was to have received a letter this week regarding the problem. In my opinion, she (and others) should receive an extended warranty and, from what I read on this forum, the car should be recalled to protect both current and future owners. (Keyes Toyota, Van Nuys, CA)

 

Unlike the current Toyota recalls the oil line rupture would not be considered a safety issue and as such, not a recall item.

Unfortunately Toyota's typical position is to only deal with this problem if the owner complains. These types of repairs are complaint driven and the dealer seldom does them on their own. This action only upon a complaint is written on the repair bulletin that Toyota sends the dealers.

 

Given the kind of problems Toyota is having right now I suspect they would fix that problem for anyone if the car has seen regular service and is just a bit out of warranty. How much a "bit" may be is open to question. Using the honey is better than vinegar approach but making it clear you know this is not uncommon may move the Toyota "zone" people to try to keep you as a customer. Why your engine wouldn't crank when hot is a puzzle, but I don't like the sound of it. You might want to have a compression test done, by someone with no axe to grind.

 

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Toyota is in fact doing a recall of all affected vehicles. Toyota Canada and Lexus USA & Canada started sending out the letters about two weeks ago. Toyota USA is in the process of notifying owners. My dealer called me on Feb.15 and sent a letter shortly thereafter about the oil line and accelerator pedal recalls. I have yet to get official letter from Toyota. Unfortunately, I got "rear ended" in an ice storm recently and my car won't be out of the body shop until March 1. I plan to pay for the upgrade to the all metal oil line since the fix is a "heavy duty" rubber hose.

For a full update on this issue, go to:
TOYOTA V6 OIL LINE SCANDAL

http://sites.google.com/site/toyotav6oillinescandal/

Safety issue because vehicles have and will:

1) catch fire
2) seized engine causes loss of control while driving leading to accident or leaves motorist stranded in inclement weather out of cell phone range
3) oil soaked brake pads cause brake failure leading to accident

There are hundreds of complaints filed with the NHSTA website - most notably 05-06 Avalons, 06 Rav4, 07 Camry

 

Called up the dealer (2/23) on Tue to see if I was affected by the acceleration recall issue. He mentioned two service items:

- Mat/accelerator pedal
- VVT oil hose

Took it in today (2/25) and dropped off at 8AM. He had the two things + oil change completed by afternoon.

[My car - 2008 Camry V6 XLE - still under warranty].

For those who can decipher whether it is a recall or not, this is what it said on my invoice:

"Perform limited special service campaign 90K-replace VVT-I oil hose on Avalon and RAV4 and CAMRY."

 

The VVT-I hose is not a recall but a "limited special service campaign."

Typically a service campaign is the result of a problem component, manufacturing or design problem. There is typically an extended warranty that applies to the component or problem and a notice sent to the customer requesting they visit a dealer to have the situation resolved.

Safety or emission problems can result in a recall aka the gas pedal issue.

If a car owner previously paid to have the VVT-I fixed Toyota will reimburse the costs.

A campaign is not a recall.

 

*********************************
Look at the dictionary definition of a campaign

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/campaign

cam·paign
   /kæmˈpeɪn/ Show Spelled[kam-peyn] Show IPA
–noun 1. Military. a. military operations for a specific objective.

b. Obsolete. the military operations of an army in the field for one season.



2. a systematic course of aggressive activities for some specific purpose: a sales campaign.

3. the competition by rival political candidates and organizations for public office.


–verb (used without object) 4. to serve in or go on a campaign: He planned to campaign for the candidate. He campaigned in France.


–verb (used with object) 5. to race (a horse, boat, car, etc.) in a number or series of competitions.
+++++++++++++
The only way the vvt-i oil hose recall would be considered a campaign is if it were in the form of "aggressive activities for some specific purpose." There is nothing aggressive about the recall notice that has not been received yet by 90% of those affected in the USA (but has been received by over 90% of affected owners in Canada and Australia) and about which the problem has been well known for four years before Toyota decided to notify any of its customers. Nor does the notice sent out in the USA mention any reference to safety when in fact the ruptured oil hose causes accidents leading to property damage (permanently stained garage floors and driveways, body shop repairs when brake pads become oil soaked or engines seize causing loss of vehicle control, and fires ........ just no fatalities ............. YET.

I just got the following email dated 2-25-10 in respone to my inquiry dated 2-19-10 from the last accident victim whose car crashed three weeks ago when the brake pads became oil soaked from the ruptured oil line as follows:

"Hi Paul, Nothing happened yet. Toyota told us they need to assess the damages/reasons themselves. It's been now 21 days I am without the car and don't know whether anybody is going to take care if it or not."

On Fri, Feb 19, 2010 at 9:36 AM, <toyotadriver2009@live.com> wrote:Joey - I sure hope you have not bought into the "party line" of Toyota USA CEO Jim Lentz who swears under oath that the massive recall regarding sudden unintended acceleration has NOTHING to do with the electronics.