Need help my 2007 V6 Camry engine blew up
 

Hi everybody, i am new to the forum, and i come with quite a problem. I bought a 2007 v6 toyota camry brand new and had the dealer do all the regular work on it. Driving home from work the engine died. Turns out the water pump failed and the engine is now destroyed.

Because i do so much driving i already have 115k miles on the car, but it is in immaculate condition always garaged kept. The trade in value is 12k, the dealer wants 12k to fix the engine problem. What was once a 30k car is now completely worthless only 5 years later. The dealer doesn't want to take any responsibility, am i out a car? I will never buy anything toyota again if they dont fix this.

Is there any cheaper alternative to fixing the car? I can't believe this is happening.

Are you sure the water pump failed and if so in what manor did the water pump fail? Manor as in did something break, fall off, etc.

Did the engine freeze up and is still frozen?

A few ideas in order of cost from highest to lowest.

Toyota dealer is top dollar for repairs as most likely a new engine along with high labor rates.

Call independent repair shops inquiring about the cost to install a used engine or if available a engine rebuilt by a third party rebuilder (a company that rebuilds engines and sells them to shops, individuals, etc). If going this route have the shop obtain the engine and ask about warranties on the engine.

Check with friends for individuals who do repair work on the side for cash. Call auto salvage yards to get costs and availability for a used engine fitting your model and year. The engine model is 2GR-FE. You or the mechanic will need to find the engine.

A profession that really knows what they are doing and has all the tools may take as little as 4 hours to swap the engine. A decent mechanic working on the side may take 6 to 12 but but should ask for much less money. Determine the cost and availability of a replacement engine. Factor in paying someone to swap the old one out and add up the costs.

Compare prices shops and DIY and decide what to do.

Would suggest avoiding chain type repair shops unless you know of one that has a good reputation. Of course you can also check prices with these types of outfits.

Good advice toyo

i might be wrong but wasnt there a recall for the water pumps of that year camry?

Thanks for the info. The Toyota people are telling me the water pump failed causing the engine to block to warp. Will Toyota do anything about this? The dealership where this car was purchased Hohen Toyota of Carlsbad offered 5k to trade the car in towards the purchase of a new one from them. Give me a break if Toyota doesn't do something more i am going to boycott their products for the rest of my life. From what i have read these water pumps are defective from the factory.

This would come under a goodwill repair. The car is out of warranty, Toyota has no obligation.

If you bought the car there and had all service work done they might share costs but repairs would still be expensive unless they split costs.

Have no idea of what this engine costs used! Say $2K add in 10 hours of labor at $150/hour plus tax = a lot less then $12K. That is why shop around and get prices then if up to it approach Toyota for cost sharing when you know a good deal from a bad one.

yep, if its out of warranty you need to replace it, getting new one and a new warranty will surely appear.

Update... Okay so now the Toyota Dealership which still has the car wants 1400 for diagnosing the problem. FML

Exactly what did they do in diagnosing the problem?

Did you ask them to do anything in terms of requiring them to take the engine apart? As in can you fix the old engine?

Was the engine removed from the car and if so did you ask them to do this?

All that almost doesn't matter because at this point thay can make up whatever they want to as far as labor to add up to the $1,400. They will say that they removed the cylinder head and anything else to just add up to that figure. He is dealing with a dealership here....

You best bet is calling American Toyota and asking for some goodwill because it seems to be related to a known problem.

Well Toyota is refusing to do anything. Apparently all of their dealerships are 3rd party franchises and corporate wont take any liability. I have seen this same run around with Sprint. Nobody wants to take responsibility for anything and the person on the floor never has any authority. I guess that is just business in this day and age.

At $150 per hour or whatever their shop rate is that's 9 plus hours. Does it take 9 hours to take off a head?

This is buck passing. Toyota corporate has great deal of leverage with the dealer but as typical they don't want to get involved. The issue is they don't care about your business or they would get involved.

This is rediculous. There is no reason why a Toyota water pump or an engine should fail after only 5 years. I, too, own a 2007 Camry XLE and have not had any issues with the engine. The problem I have is the disintegrating, sticky dash board. I'm going to the dealership in the morning to have them look at it. If Toyota wants to keep loyal customers, they should take care of you or at least compromise. I also own a '96 Camry and I put 226,000 miles on it before blowing a head gasket. An independent mechanic was able to get me a replacement engine from Japan via California so it's still going. The odometer now has 296,000+ on it.

Okay guys i need help now. Now the Toyota service center wants 1600 to put the car back together since they dropped the engine and transmission. I never even approved dropping the tranny and had no idea the engine diagnosis would be so expensive. Why isn't Toyota doing something about this?!

Did you sign anything stating to go ahead with any work on the car, if so did this have an estimate of costs.

Okay now they want 2k more to reassemble the car. WTF I am trying to sell it as is but nobody is going to pay much for it with everything in pieces. They dropped the tranny and everything, i never approved that.

Check with your states attorneys general office on your rights and obligations. Find out if the dealer belongs to any professional organizations that can mediate the repair cost dispute. There is always small claims court.

No need to have the car put back together to sell it, a tow truck can pick it up. A buyer doing their own repairs might like having the engine and trans out as this will save time. Figure a DIY type might spend $2k on a used engine (or whatever they cost). Far less then $12K the dealer is asking.

Did you approve unlimited spending on examining the old engine? Even if the old engine could be repaired the costs by a dealer would be extreme! The dealer should have given you a ball park idea of what expenses you were looking at and the opportunity to state this is going to be too expensive given the value of car.

I think they are trying to force your hand into buying a new car at their dealership. They probably want you to think that it will cost you more than it's worth to put it all back together so you might as well trade it in for a new one and they will forget about all those charges.....

I don't know what else to do except complain more to Toyota corporate.

Concur on this statement.

Alas, do you really want more of the same wonderful service now experienced with any new car purchased?

Spend a few dollars and check the facts and options with an attorney who handles consumer disputes. The dealer will most likely will have their own ideas one being you can't take the car until it is returned to a "drivable" condition for liability reasons (meaning put the car back together).

Take the best action given the situation and the laws in you state.