Corolla Verso T180 2.2 D4D Problems - Toyota Refusing To Fix

[hadenough]

I bought a new Corolla Verso back in March, 07 plate 50k on the clock, full Toyota service history. I had the exact same make and model (55 plate) previously which was written off in a flood. Apart from the EGR valve issue around 20k miles which was fixed under warranty, I never had any problems with my previous vehicle so I was happy to purchase a newer model with lower mileage.

Within a mile of the garage I purchased it from (private dealer) the engine warning light came on and blue smoke was billowing out of the exhaust. I got the car into Toyota and they diagnosed two fault codes - p1386 & c121 which were apparently related to the EGR valve. Toyota replaced the 5th piston in the engine under warranty which apparently should have fixed these engine issues.

Since getting the car back after this repair there is a noticeable lag between putting my foot on the accelerator and the car actually accelerating particularly when I am in the lower gears. Overtaking slow moving vehicles or pulling away from junctions is now quite dangerous because I just don't know if the car is going to have the pull to make the maneuver.

I have also noticed that the fuel consumption of this car is MUCH less than my other car with the same engine – my previous Verso would achieve 40-45mpg and 350-400 miles out of a tank, this one I'm lucky if I get more than 28mpg and I have to refill after 250 miles. The main reason I bought the car was for the fuel economy.

Last week Toyota took the car back to investigate these problems but told me they'd taken it for an extensive test drive and couldn't reproduce the lag and according to their computer there are no fault codes present in the system. As for the fuel consumption, apparently this is "within normal limits"?!

I told them I wasn't happy and they agreed I could go back and take one of their technicians for a test drive and I was able to reproduce the issue - I went along a road with speed humps, and when accelerating after coming off of the humps I had my foot to the floor and nothing happened for several seconds, then the turbo kicked in and off we went. The technician saw this and agreed that it wasn't right. The car absolutely wasn't doing this before they carried out any repairs to the vehicle.

When I returned the technician to the Toyata garage I went in to discuss this with the service manager, who told me because there were no faults present in the engine there was little they could do because they didn't know where to start with a repair. The Customer Service manager also told me I need to measure my fuel usage over another 1k so they can get an accurate measurement of the fuel consumption.

Right now I don't know what to do, Toyota don't want to fix my car but it is truly awful to drive. I've spoken to several mechanic friends who have all advised me to take the car back to Toyota - but if they are adamant there is no issue I'm not sure how I can convince them otherwise?

[FROSTYBALLS]

You purchased the car from a non-Toyota dealer and within one mile the car exhibited faults - which means they were present when you bought the car. The car should have been returned to the dealer you bought it from, for them to correct the faults.

Under the Sale of Goods Act, you should still have some comeback from the supplying dealer (although you may have muddied the waters a bit by getting a Toyota dealer involved). Go back to the supplying dealer - it should be their problem to sort not the Toyota dealer.

Also it is not clear whether you bought the car from a garage or a private sale (you describe the supplying garage as a 'private dealer'). If a private sale, SOGA won't apply.

[hadenough]

Yes, it was purchased from a garage and the car is still under warranty with them. When the engine light came on they told me to take it direct to Toyota to get it sorted under the proviso that they'd pay for any chargeable work. As it happened Toyota fixed the engine issues as a "goodwill gesture" under warranty because the problem in the engine was a known issue. But now there are these additional problems which have occurred since the fix they made and they are refusing to do anything about them. I believe the repairs carried out by Toyota are covered by Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 and the Sale and Supply of Goods to Consumers Regulations 2002 so I have some comeback with Toyota as well as the garaged I purchased it from.

Having read some of the other threads on here I am wondering if I'm getting fobbed off because it sounds like the car is going to need a new engine.

[mark325i]

It has got to be a manufacture Issue. To get near 40-45mpg you have to vamp the car really bad then run the car at 65mph etc... which is impossible on the motorway. Cleaning the ERG manually will give a bit better fuel consumption, takes about 30mins if you are a DIY, but it will get dirty again quickly and you are back to bad fuel consumption.

My 57-plate verso did the same.... I too was scared to overtake or accelerate fast when turning into a right hand road because of the delay in acceleration.

Even though my DFP was doing what it was supposed to do... Whenever I saw massive amouts of blueish smoke appear for a few minutes in the rear view mirror, I think it's good and means the engine is doing a regeneration i.e tryng to burn off the soot from the DPF. Anyway, I still got a guy to take out the DPF for £350, last summer 2014, It took half day to complete, then they fool the engine management by installing a black box because the toyota engine management computer has was not cracked at the time. If they have cracked the software I will get it reprogrammed.

This had cured the acceleration delay problem. The car is much more responsive. The funny thing is the DPF filter (which is basically like a honeycomb), was not really that badly clogged.... kind of half clogged, anyway there was a lot of soot in it which could not be burnt anymore hence cloggs up the DPF.

Regarding the fuel consumption: When the software is cracked i think this will correct the problem. I will take it back to the guy to get the DPF properly by-passed.

[FROSTYBALLS]

The topic does date back to May 2013, so presumably the OP got the issue sorted one way or another.