Is This Wrong To Do .. ? Head Gasket Blown..

[ukheman]

Ok.. ive got an T180 ... 2.2D.. all of a sudden temp reading went off the scale..

Parked up checked .. no coolant.. drove slowly to the next garage and fill her up with water...

Couple of days later noticed the temp indicator moved up a notch.. so pulled up and checkd the coolant..

to my suprised it had fallen... so i decided to flush the coolant out and do a sniff test..

unfortunately the sniff test came back yellow.. so my head gasket has blown...

Now reading across the forums and looking at toyotas website.. i would like some information on extending my cars warranty

has anyone on her taken out a extended toyota warranty then claimed off that....for the head gasket

my car is not due a main dealer service in October at at the moment still runs

i am worried if i go out a buy a gasket kit and bolts that will cost around £230 .. skimming and labour at £200.. so im about the cost of

taking out the warranty ? some advice please..

[Daveyonthemove]

Firstly, DON'T do anything else! The minute you start playing with things you are voiding your warranty.

Take it to your Toyota dealer and they will fix it for FREE!!

They have extended the warranty to 107,000 miles (from memory) or 7 years, as this is a common and known problem. They will replace the engine and get you back on the road, but you have to let them diagnose the fault, so don't go telling them you have flushed the coolant, just tell them that you topped it up as it was low and the engine temp went above the normal temp.

[ormi]

as above go straight to toyota tell them whats happened(miss out the coolant change)and you will get a free engine not a dealer rebuild but toyota now send out 3/4 engines........you cant skim any part of these engines...

[Mistermena]

Firstly, DON'T do anything else! The minute you start playing with things you are voiding your warranty.

Take it to your Toyota dealer and they will fix it for FREE!!

They have extended the warranty to 107,000 miles (from memory) or 7 years, as this is a common and known problem. They will replace the engine and get you back on the road, but you have to let them diagnose the fault, so don't go telling them you have flushed the coolant, just tell them that you topped it up as it was low and the engine temp went above the normal temp.

Hi Davey,

The warranty on the gaskets are 112k or 7 years

[Daveyonthemove]

Thanks mate, I couldn't quite remember but i knew it was over 100,000 miles. Either way, Most SR180's should be covered as they haven't been around for long.

To the OP, just to clarify for you, Ormi is a fully qualified Toyota Technician and replaces these engine on a regular basis, so he knows what he is talking about.

I hope we have helped.

[ukheman]

Wait a sec im getting confused here.. my car has a 3 yr warranty... the car is now 4 yrs old..the mileage is 82000 miles and has FSH

so i dont have to do anything ? the head gasket is still under warranty ?

please advise ? Thanks

[Daveyonthemove]

YES!!!

Toyota have extended the warranty to cover the head gasket.

[ukheman]

Rang Customer Relations .. whom informed of the good news .. that the work was carried out in October 2010 and what i could NOT reclaim again off the same campaign

But to ring my local dealer for more help.. Rang them and even more good news .. they said because they didnt do the work they were no interested in looking at the

car apart from selling me a new engine.. and that i should take it back to Scotland where the car was last serviced from even though it that was a Toyota Dealership.

HELP !

[T Sport 1978]

So, does this extended warranty only cover it once?

I would argue tooth and nail with Toyota GB on this, a known fault which has reoccured and was covered by a special extended warranty.

Is your car full TOYOTA SERVICE HISTORY? If so then this would be even more of an ammo for your case.

But take this as a hint though... its time to change car.

[Parts-King]

If the work was already done, then you need to contact whoever did the work, no way should it only last 9 months. The dealer who did the work can liase with Toyota as to the timeline of events, and come up with a plan to fix your car. Your local dealer can quite rightly refuse to do the work, especially if he is not going to be paid, it could be the last repair was not done correctly and that is not your local dealer or Toyota's fault. Get in touch with the Dealer Principle of whoever last repaired it and find a solution and a way forward with him

Kingo

[ukheman]

Folks thats the problem .. im in england and the Toyota Dealer that carried out the work is in Scotland.. which is several hundred miles apart... its not like i can nip over the border and have words...

i was told the campaign can only be claimed on once !. not a happy chappy right now !

[Parts-King]

Your contract for repair work is with your dealer in Scotland, sorry if that sounds harsh but that must be your first port of call. Toyota have paid for repair work once, that is why I'm telling you to contact the dealer principle in Scotland to see if there is any way this can be resolved. He MIGHT be able to collect the car from you, I dont know, you need to contact him ASAP

Kingo

[T Sport 1978]

Use the magic of telephone my friend.

Get a dialogue going with the garage first, logistic can be arranged afterwards.

At present you have nothing... So make the first step and get a dialogue going with this garage in Scotland.

[ukheman]

Yup called the dealer in Scotland.. who was very helpful.. and told me the complete opposite... was told that under the campaign i could claim as many times as the fault

re occures aslong as the car is under 7 yrs and under 112k miles.. further more that even under the parts program the dealer in the uk would have no issues claiming under this criteria...anyway so didnt know what was the issue... if i was in Scotland id take the car there...

[T Sport 1978]

Yup called the dealer in Scotland.. who was very helpful.. and told me the complete opposite... was told that under the campaign i could claim as many times as the fault

re occures aslong as the car is under 7 yrs and under 112k miles.. further more that even under the parts program the dealer in the uk would have no issues claiming under this criteria...anyway so didnt know what was the issue... if i was in Scotland id take the car there...

Quote the dealer and talk to Toyota GB, hopefully they can arrange someone local to you to arrange for this warranty to be honoured.

Dont let them fob this off.

[Parts-King]

Well he would say that wouldnt he?

You have been told from the horses mouth as it were (Toyota) that they wont pay for another repair, your local dealer wont do it because he knows he wont get paid

Lets say a water hose was left loose and lost coolant through it, causing the head gasket to cook, who's fault is that and who would you expect to pay?

I still say the dealer in Scotland is liable, at least to take a look at it and find out what has happened. You cannot make unlimited claims, that is a load of BS!

Kingo

[ukheman]

Before i take the car into the dealership.. can somone advise me if i have had the car serviced from a none franchised dealer would that throw out any warranty claim

As im sure the local garage to me as not used a genuine oil and fuel filter.... soz but i am getting paranoid...

Thanks

[T Sport 1978]

Well to me thats a game changer.

As far as i know, your car would have needed to have a full Toyota FSH.

I dont think you have a leg to stand on knowing this fact, like parts king said, pursue the garage in Scotland is your best bet.

If it was full Toyota FSH and original claim done by franchise Toyota, I would have taken this right to the top at Toyota but in your case i cannot expect Toyota to pay for that.

Good luck anyway.

[ukheman]

thanks

[Parts-King]

Yes it does change the game, whilst you do not have to have full Toyota history, they would expect parts of an equivelent quality to have been used. This would be for you to prove if they denied the claim on that basis alone. You cannot beat having a full Toyota Service History, and if you don't, then at least use genuine parts when having it serviced. Saving a few quid at the time seems hardly worth it when something like this pops up

I still think you should try and deal with the dealer in Scotland, 9 months since a major repair was done is not very good, whatever the reason

Kingo

[ukheman]

ok thanks folks

[ormi]

yes you can claim more than once due to the number of changes to the repairs and the changes in the tec notes.........ie when it first happened we were replacing gaskets.......then it got changed to blocks and heads depending on the markings caused by the gaskets going and now they get 3/4 engines built by toyota now.....

i had to rebuild an engine a garage had rebuilt twice and we got paid...

[Rumbly]

All the below assumes that the garage which did your servicing was VAT registered and did NOT inform you that they would be using any non approved parts or practises which might affect any manufacturer warranty. If you did get the work done at a non VAT registered garage you probably don't have a leg to stand on.

You do NOT ... I reapeat NOT ... have to have your car serviced at a franchised dealer in order to preserve your warranty, that particular scam has been well and truly knocked on the head legally ages ago. If the place you had it serviced has filled in the service book, done work of sufficient quality, and used parts of sufficient quality there should be no problem.

Audi tried this with a friend of mine when his engine blew up within warrranty, it had not been serviced at a franchised dealer and had non original filters fitted. Audi did end up paying for a new engine, yup it took a lot of perseverence and threat of court action, but legally Audi did not have a leg to stand on, they could not prove that sub standard work had been done or inferior parts used.

Just because a part does not say "Original" on it does not automatically make it inferior.

In your case it would be up to Toyota to prove the parts/work was inferior, NOT for you to prove otherwise. And if they can prove inferiour parts / workmanship, then you have a claim against the garage which did your servicing.

It is no longer legally acceptable practice for a car manufacturer to insist your use their franchised dealers or own brand parts for servicing.

"The EU Motor Vehicle Block Exemption Regulation (MVBER) or European Commission Regulation EC No. 1400/2002 has been in place since 2002. The MVBER covers agreements concerning the distribution and servicing of motor vehicles in the EU and exempts from EU competition rules arrangements for the distribution of new cars and their subsequent servicing.

The MVBER aims to increase competition in the motor vehicle sector in particular in respect of servicing and repairs. This will in turn give consumers more choice and better value for money. The MVBER also aims to enable independent repairers to compete directly with authorised networks.

Background

The MVBER provides an exemption from EU competition rules for agreements and/or concerted practices between undertakings in the motor vehicle sector which improve production or distribution of goods while allowing consumers a fair share of the resulting benefits.

A key feature of the MVBER is to ensure that all service and repair work can be undertaken by any garage whether an authorised or independent dealership. It is essential therefore that independent garages and roadside assistance organisations should have access to spare parts, technical information, specifications and codes including diagnostic equipment and software to carry out this work.

The right of independent garages to be able to compete on equal terms with manufacturer approved outlets was underlined in the UK by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) report into restrictions in new car warranties in 2004. This report recommended that consumers should not be subject to ties to approved garages for servicing within the manufacturer’s warranty period where other service providers were capable of providing the service to the manufacturer’s standard."

[Parts-King]

The difference here is your friends car was inside warranty. A manufacturer does NOT have to offer any help whatsoever when the warranty expires, so therefore would NOT have to prove anything if non genuine parts were used. Toyota are offering new engines as a goodwill gesture and have extended their warranty period as goodwill The OP's problem is the previous repair, was it done correctly? What was the cause of it failing again 9 months later, yes it could be the fault was not fixed first time properly due to poor workmanship, it could be another manufacturing defect. The OP has already spoken to Toyota and according to the OP will not pay for further repairs. It is all well and good debating it on a forum, the problem is, none of us have all the facts!

The block exemption rules say nothing about VAT registered garages doing the work either, MOST would be. We have a lot of companies who buy parts from us but have their own, in house workshops who do their own servicing and repairs, the thing that counts is the work can be carried out by an independent garage as long as that garage uses original or parts of matching quality and correctly follows the manufacturers service schedule. That means that you should keep records of work done, service sheets ticked, signed by the technician, also receipts for parts and oils used, particularly listing the specification. If a car went faulty INSIDE of warranty, then it would be up to YOU to prove that you had the car serviced correctly and parts of a similar quality were used, thats why you must keep ALL records. All that said, if the car is outside of warranty, the manufacturer does NOT have to offer you anything, but they have always favoured customers who are loyal to the franchise and their dealer network. If you bought your car second hand from Fred in the shed and never visited a dealer in your life, don't expect very much goodwill outside of warranty.

It is a tricky one for the OP, I still think the best course of action, no matter how awkward, is to get the car back to the dealer in Scotland,

Kingo

[jettech]

Few moths ago colleague of mine had similar issue. Car manufacturer denied repair due to quality of parts used in non approved garage. The manufacturer garage had to give that in writing and the case was taken to the court. The judge rulling was that all parts sold in EU and UK need EU homologation and quality certification. For that reason parts obtained from any legal source ARE adequate quality and can be used to service any manufacturer car. If manufacturer schedule and recommendations (ie. fluids) are followed then the parts are not really an issue. The warranty claim had to be accpeted by manufacturer.

Like Kingo said there could be other issues like work quality etc. but I have written the post as interesting insight into the "parts quality" matter.