I bought my toyota camry 2007 on 2006 November

Today is 2010 Apr 27th. Milleage on my car is 24430.

Today i took my car to Private mechanic TirePlus for Wheel Alighnment. After completion of the work they called me and informed me that my front two tires struts are leaking and need to get replacement.

Before i went to Toyota for 15000 recommended service checkup at 20000 miles but they didn't tell me about this.

I was worried because i crossed 3 years and looks like struts are costly. Do you guys think that i can request them to bring it under warranty coverage ?

Any inputs will be appreciated

 

so i have 2007 Camry as well with only 22,000 miles. I went to the dealership where i bought my car. I explained that a few months ago that a mechanic told me that my struts were leaking and i should take care of it. So i went in today because my car is very rough. When i go over a bump, i feel it in my chest it is so rough. So they inspected the car and they told me that the struts are leaking a little and that is 100% normal and you can go home. I said any other issues? He goes yes you have to change your tires because they are warn out. I drive to work and home never speed or anything. I did research and see that tires wearing out at 22,000 miles is usually due to the struts. I asked what can i do about this really uncomfortable ride, and he said well, we can't really do anything about it. What should i do now? My 3 year warrenty expires next month. I emailed Toyota it said it will take them a few weeks to respond to my email. Please help me out. Thanks

 

Same or similar issue with my 2007 Camry that in Aug 2009 with 40,000 miles on it needed 4 struts and tires. Drive just hwys to and from work. But we were stranded on a road with a blowout and towed to nearest mechanic. Were misadvised we needed all of that or would be a safety issue. We were needing the car that day for a 600 mile trip so we did the work for over $1400. Created a case with Toyota, bumped to dealer and no resolution as the work was done outside. Now I need to pursue it with Mavis who installed the struts and tires because, 10 mo later I need 4 new tires again!! Toyota should be responsible and hide behind 36,000 mile warantee. How to pursue this? Any ideas?

 

Toyota response appears to vary with dealer. Some dealers will make warranty repairs even after it has expired.

Toyota has a service bulletin out on strut leakage, VERY minor leakage is acceptable and nothing to be concerned about.

Camry is know for having a firm ride.

One way to test shocks is to push the front/rear of the chassis down to get it oscillating then release. The oscillation should stop within 1 1/2 cycles.

Often shops will push for struck replacement as this is a money maker for them.

Suggest having someone who knows tires check the tire wear pattern. This could help point to the cause of the tire wear such as struts, air pressure, wheel alignment, lack of tire rotation, etc.

 

When my Camry turned over 60K miles, I started to experience a thumping sound in the right front when I went over slight bumps. Now the car bounces excessively. I took it to the dealer last week and when I bounced the corners of the car, the service writer said, "Wow"! He said he has never seen a Camry do this.

 

Hi,

I own a 2007 Toyota Camry (purchased new in Oct 2006) with under 32,000 miles.

I took it to a Toyota dealer today for the Toyota recommended 30,000 miles inspections. The dealer calls me back and reports that I have two struts leaking (one in the front and the other in the rear). He quotes around $1500 to replace them..Luckily, I have my 7-year Toyota Extended mile warranty coverage, which covers the repair cost (with a $50 deductible)...but, the warranty only covers the leaking struts..and the dealer recommends to replace them in pairs..I have opted to only replace the leaking ones for now..But, I am shocked to hear that the struts have gone bad in just so little time..

However, I have to get the wheel alignment done (which the warranty doesn't cover) along with it...

He also says, the power steering fluid is dirty and needs replacement, battery needs replacement among other standard toyota recommended cabin filter, engine air filter replacements...

Incidentally, the dealer reported a water pump leak when I took it for a regular oil change about 6 months ago and replaced the water pump..I am starting to wonder about the quality of the car now..Everytime, I take my car to the dealer, there's some part broken and needs replacing..Without the extended warranty, I would have ended up paying even higher already....

I am planning to raise my feedback to Toyota..does any one know the right place or forum to raise it??

Thanks!

 

Raise feedback, meaning voice your concerns?

Toyotanation is a large Toyota forum that includes Camry.

Have been suggesting Toyota owners voice their concerns in writing to someone higher up at such as:

Chairman/CEO Toyota Motor Sales USA Yoshimi Inaba
Group VP/CIO Toyota Motor Sales USA Barbra Cooper
SVP/Chief Coordination Officer Sumio Ohtsuji

9 West 57th Street Suite 4900
New York NY 10019

For best handling struts should be replaced in pairs, given the high cost understand why you didn't. You may be replacing the other 2 soon enough for leakage hopefully under warranty.

A wheel alignment would be a typical shop requirement as the suspension is being taken apart. In my own opinion it not always required but shops don't want customers coming back with complaints of handling or tire wear issues.

What engine is this, V6 or 4 cylinder?

The owners manual lists recommended scheduled maintenance by miles AND months, so many miles OR months. This is a catch all in case someone has a car that is not driven the typical 12-15K miles per year. It doesn't necessary mean a part is bad after so many months.

The engine air and cabin filters may be due for a change based on months but are they that dirty, doubt it given the cars low miles.

Batteries typically are good for 5-7 years, yours is 4 years old. If getting a new battery have it done at Wal-Mart to save money.

You can check the PS fluid yourself. Find the PS reservoir in the engine compartment, remove the dipstick and look at the fluid, should be clear not dark.

The owners manual has the scheduled maintenance for the car. If an item listed there meets the miles or month criteria for a repair, the dealer is going to recommend it.

It is not uncommon for a dealer (and typically chain type repair shops) to recommend these types of repairs (and more) to increase sales and their income.

This is one reason I recommend looking for an independent shop for non warranty repairs. They may be more customer oriented, not profit oriented. Still, it is very difficult to find good repair shop large or small.

 

Thanks for the reply, Joey! My camry has a 4-cylinder enginer..

Yes, I meant to raise my concerns..will certainly write to the Toyota upper management as you suggested..

I do hope the other two struts go "bad" too before my warranty expires..although, I find it really hard to trust the service advisors at the Toyota dealers..I can't believe the parts keep going bad so quickly..

Not willing to spend the high costs the dealer was quoting, I have only asked them to install the engine air filter, along with the struts (covered by the warranty)..That still cost me $305 (just at the dealer) including the 30000 miles inspection..

The biggest disappointment to me was their 30000 miles inspection... When I looked at the final report they gave me, I was shocked to see they had not done anything special compared to the standard multi-point inspection they do every time I take the car for the regular 6-month oil change...The report card is identical to the one that I got at my previous oil changes..when I asked the service advisor, quite expectedly, his reply was not convincing....I now badly wish, I shouldn't have asked for any such inspection..


Btw, I got a new Interstate battery installed outside (@SAMS club) for almost half the price quoted by the dealer..also got the alignment done at Firestone (purchased a lifetime alignment for $165)...I plan to do the PSF check/flush and Cabin filter myself..

 

Great!

Toyota corp issued a service bulletin to dealers describing how much leakage constitutes a strut needing replacement. The bulletin describes various degrees of leakage, some leakage is OK per Toyota.

The Toyotanation website had a good write up on this. Might do a history search at the forum.

Many of the scheduled inspections done when the car still has low miles are mostly visual. Note much can or should go wrong in 30 or 60K miles. You can do these inspections yourself.

I suggest looking for a Haynes or Chilton book on repairing this car (I like Haynes better). The cost is less then $22.

Toyota has excellent service manuals available but are more expensive. If planning to do more work on the car and keep it a long time, this expensive may be worth it.

The AutoZone website has a lot of specific car model repair info in the sites vehicle repair guides.

I would think automatic trans fluid changes. There is nothing in Toyota scheduled maintenance manual about changing the fluid under normal driving. Remove the dip stick and check the fluid color. Trans fluid turns dark when aging (its effected by heat). If clean and red (I think it is still red in color), it is OK. You don't want black fluid.

The internet may have hits for trans fluid inspection procedures. This is where the fluid is dripped onto a paper towel and based on what color remains after absorption indicates the condition of the fluid.

The point of all this is not changing the trans fluid eventually leads to trans problems typically after 100K. If the dealer is complaining about PS fluid conditions issues, the trans fluid (typically the same type of fluid) has a much, much harder life.

This happens all the time. Go in for a free tire rotation, $600 later you come out. That's why the tire rotation is free, to get the car into the garage and get the $600 or more. It is much worse for women car owners (not picking on females here). However they don't know much about cars and are rightly concerned about not being stranded on the road with a dead car. The shops take advantage of this, shame.

 

Hi friends, I have seen many of you have problems with your new cars as they have mileage of just 4k or 5k. It seems we have to be sure about Struts leakage and every time we have to make a check of this thing. If these problems are coming in new cars then how we can handle this in used cars. As i have bought a Japanese used car "TOYOTA FIELDER" last month. and I am bit worry about this struts leakage. anyone tell me what should i do now.. Do I go to mechanic and check all my car or do it on my own?