My wifes 07 Camry 4 cyl that we bought new and have taken good care of started making a funny noise from under the hood on the highway, all of a sudden the A/C stops working so we pull off the exit ramp and shut it off. I pop the hood and see the pulley from the water pump is dangling and loose and the belt is off.
After taking it to the repair shop my mechanic put in a new water pump but the car would not start, he checked it out and found coolant in the oil, after changing the plugs he got it started but told me the head gasket is blown and I should take it to the dealer as it has only 62000 miles and this should not have happened. I called Toyota who told me its 2000 miles out of warrantee so I am out of luck. The guy at the dealership told me $1600 and up to fix it if its just the head gasket.
I cant believe I am stuck like this and for a 3 year old car that has 2000 miles over 60,000 they will not take care of this. Hate to say it but our first Toyota may just be our last Toyota.......

 

when you say it had been taken care of, was it dealer maintained, or an independent garage..? i ask this, because if dealer maintained, they could have worked with you on this repair. but, if you have been taking it else where's for oil changes, and what ever else, then the dealer saw that you didn't think much of his service dept. had you had the coolant replaced at all before this happened? and it is odd this would have happened, but there also should have been some sort of warning sounds or noises under the hood, like a squeaking or squealing.

 

Who maintained the car over time, Toyota or your mechanic that repaired the water pump?

Did the mechanic state why the water pump failed so abruptly, this is not common? Is this the part failure the mechanic states should not have happened or the head gasket failure.

If the engine overheated the engine the head gasket can fail. If the mechanic knew this they should have looked for oil in the coolant before starting the repairs.

If it did not over heat perhaps the head gasket failure is linked in some way to an issue on this engine where the head bolt threads in the block pull out over time. This causes head gasket failure. A search of past posts at this site will provide information.

Toyota typically will always deny a claim if out of warranty. In this case water pump failure can lead to engine overheating and a blown head gasket.

You might have a third party shop look at the engine and determine just what happened and why the head gasket failed.

If possible it may have been better to have had the car first looked at by a Toyota dealer first.

 

The car was maintained by my mechanic of 25 years who maintains all my vehicles and my delivery drivers vehicles. He picks them up at my store and delivers them when he is done and Toyota does not. He also takes better care of me then any dealer ever has and thats why its been maintained with him. I have all service records and everything recomended in my owners manual has been done and done on time by a master mechanic. To say Toyota will only work with you if you only have your car serviced with them only makes me more upset. My family has bought 8 Toyotas in 5 years all new and all from Toyota dealers, where I get my regular service shouldn't matter.
The car didn't overheat even once. I was in bumper to bumper traffic and the car made a noise for about a minute then stopped and the A/C wasn't working, I got off the next exit and shut it off and popped my hood to see the pulley had been hanging looser then it should be and the belt was off. There was no coolant in the oil at the time the pump was replaced, I was there and mechanic who was a mechanic at Copeland Toyota before here checked the oil and it was clean. After the pump was replaced he started it and topped off the coolant and as he did so said theres a lot of pressure in the hose going to the engine. The car stalled after 5 minutes or so and he checked the oil again and there was coolant in it. He said the water pumps on these go fairly often but not common for it to have blown the gasket so easily without overheating or smoking or anything. He has not checked to see if the threrads in the back had anything to do with it because he told me I should contact Toyota since its barely 2000 mileds out of warrantee and only 3 years old and in his opinion they should do something for me. They did nothing. For what its worth, Nissan replaced a computer on my old maxima that was a $2,500 repair and the car was 5000 miles out of warrantee.

 

too bad you feel upset, but you are screwed, pure, plain and simple. i don't care if your mechanic picks up and delivers your cars, big freakin deal. you DID not have a WORKING relationship with your dealer. you sought other repair services. it's great that you have all the service records, but toyota can and will say, "improper parts or repair procedure's took place". on the one hand, yes, it shouldn't matter where you take your car for service, but NO LONG RELATIONSHIP with the dealer, is going to be (and is) your problem.


but how far a distance before you shut down the engine.........?? a mile, 2 miles, 3 miles, then you WERE IN bumper to bumper traffic, meaning that car WAS RUNNING all that time broken........!!

good for you nissan replaced your computer, but i highly doubt that they did that FOR FREE, who are you trying to kid here, me........?? someone else...??

you are screwed, you had NO RELATIONSHIP with toyota. you bought the car and drove away. you built up NOTHING with them, now you're here biotching about it............?? why can't that extra special mechanic you been going to for all these years "do it for free", or under one of their warranties............???

 

First off I know I am SCREWED, thats why I am posting to let it be known that I got screwed. Any Toyota mech I speak to is surprised by this. The engine should not have blown a head gasket so easily period. Secondly, yes Nissan did replace my computer free, I have no need to kid you or anyone else. Third, a RELATIONSHIP with the dealer is earned not just handed over, and its times like this that relationships are earned. The dealer has never once given me any reason to chose them over a local guy and being a business owner I support the little guy. You are speculating that if I did my routine maintenence with Toyota they would have taken care of it, so thats all that matters then? not that the OEM pump failed prematurely or the OEM head gasket also failed? Lastly I never had any mechanical work done anywhere as the car was under warrantee the whole time and if something did fail it would have been covered so they can't say it was non dealer parts that caused a failure. There had never been any mechanical work done on the car. The car has only had general maintenence work like oil and filters and fluids, tire rotations etc. Lastly and this one is a biggie, to say that the mechanic who has done the oil changes and general maintenence on the vehicle should fix the blown head gasket for free is the stupidest thing I ever heard. Thats like my new house getting burnt down because of shoddy construction and me expecting the guy who plows the driveway to buy me a new house. Get a grip.
Oh, and it was not even a quarter mile to the ramp and I got in the breakdown lane and got off the ramp quickly not sitting in traffic waiting like you suggest. Believe me I have no other motive then to let it be known that only 2000 miles out of warrantee Toyota will not help you out no matter what the reason, unless they do your oil changes I guess???????

 

it sounds more to me like it is you that is stupid. supporting the small business is getting you no where's. you put all your eggs into one basket. had you gotten some work done at the dealership besides any warranty work, they would have worked with you. that's not an impossible task. you chose a so called master mechanic. he repaired your car. it failed. the so called master mechanic DID NOT CHECK the car thoroughly enough for further repairs. and yes, just that little bit amount of time before you pulled over was enough to cook your engine, as the water pump was not working. you come here to biotch about toyota NOT helping you, why should they, i wouldn't either if you destroy your own engine. you GET A GRIP.........your analogy sucks big time. i hope you go broke fixing this car, you deserve it 100% for your inadequate way of supporting the selling dealership. supporting the little business got you no where's.........as for your so called "master mechanic"....?? he's an idiot as well, no doing a complete check of everything...........so much for being a "master"........get a grip.............some "master mechanic", knowing FULL WELL the cylinder head is aluminum and will either warp or crack from heat. there's your screwing right there, and you "handed him support and a relationship" all these years...???? this is why that idiot should do the repairs for free, HE SCREWED UP, and MIS-DIAGNOSED your car BEFORE delivering it to you.........boy did you ever get ripped off, but this is ok by you, you "support the small business" and i guess you do, with your ignorance.

this from you: "Third, a RELATIONSHIP with the dealer is earned not just handed over, and its times like this that relationships are earned. The dealer has never once given me any reason to chose them over a local guy and being a business owner I support the little guy."

do you even hear that this sounds stupid........??

"times like this".........?? "times like this".....???

you want the dealership/toyota to be "handed over" your problems, when you never supported them or earned their trust form day one, when you bought the freaking car....?????

you are a fool.............i sure do hope you run your business better than you take care of your cars/trucks. by the way.........how many of YOUR customers have you EARNED their trust, each and every day...........????