(gen7 Celica) Oh No Engine Started Making Horrid Noise

[ollieatkins1988]

well i think im buggered.

Ive had the car just over two months and i was driving up my local bypass and suddenly it made a judder , so i drove another 200 yards to find a place i cud pull over and a red light flashed on my dashboard and it started making a clanking noise. it still turns on but i've checked the oil and its empty.

Il accept alot of abuse for being a fool but what do i do, the dealer only covers claims up to a grand but with empty oil will they even pay.?

help

[DefiantFrog]

Hows your service history, and how old's your car?

Check this post and the attached document - seems pretty accurate and may be invaluable information if your car is under 7 yrs old and your service history is good when contacting Toyota:

http://toyotaownersclub.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=78432

Also theres an ever growing thread in the Celica section here:

http://toyotaownersclub.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=77650http://toyotaownersclub.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=77650

Sorry to hear another Celica's screwed. They don't make 'em like they used to, and after recent treatment from my local Mr T, it'll be a long time before I consider a Toyota again... :(

[ollieatkins1988]

Thx,

im farkin gutted. i will have to give the garage i bought it from a ring tomorrow and see what happens, then failing that i suppose il have to try toyota but my car is 2 months over its warranty if that 7 year toyota thing is correct. but i have only had it 2 months and the garage gave me a 3 month warranty so there must be something il post when ive got more news.

[iceland_potter]

ollieatkins, please read my thread http://toyotaownersclub.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=77650 where i've documented my story similar situation to what you've had. I'm pretty sure it will help you.

If I were you don't mention that it had no oil, but fill it up before the investigate it.

[ollieatkins1988]

Thanks For your help. In i a way its nice to know it wasnt just a result of my novice-like knowledge on cars. It seems to be really common. If i fill it up surely they will just realise its new oil and that theres no running around the engine? I mayeswel though i suppose it cant hurt. Thanks again

[Parts-King]

ollieatkins, please read my thread http://toyotaownersclub.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=77650 where i've documented my story similar situation to what you've had. I'm pretty sure it will help you.

If I were you don't mention that it had no oil, but fill it up before the investigate it.

Doing that will fool nobody, a quick inspection will tell you it had no oil in it.

Your contract is with the person that sold you the car, it is not your fault that their warranty cover is only for £1000 Max. The car must have had this fault when you bought it, therefore, it is inherrantly faulty and you need to reject the car. Read Icelands thread, he had the same fault. DO NOT go elswehere for prices etc, the garage that sold it you own the problem (even though they may make you believe otherwise) Speak with the owner/manager of the garage and calmly explain what happened, and you want to reject the car, once the blue touch paper has been lit........

Kingo

[fiz-vvti]

sorry to hear u've been hit by the oil problem as well bud.

i'm sure u've read iceland_potters thread, same problem. end result i believe he was offered his money back or a similar car.

even though the warranty covers £1000..i'm sure u'll be entitled to have you money back.....

iceland potter wrote a cracking letter to the seller, it should still be on the thread, re jig it a little and adapt it to urs and send it to them recorded delivery.

dont listen to their bull when they try to send u away, keep us updated, i'm sure everyone here will be able and willing to point you in the right direction

GOOD LUCK

[ollieatkins1988]

Thanks alot guys. The funny thing is i traded in a seat leon 1.6 se for the car cause the leon kept on cutting out at any random point so ive got out of one mess into another.

API engines picked up my car today and said they will recon the engine, but by recon does that mean its just going to be the same engine as it was which will eventually suffer with the same fault?

As for that letter ive already got it copied and adjusted waiting in my documents folder along with details from the office of fair trading. And i was so chuffed to be getting a japanese car for reliability eswel lol :).

Is it just the 140 that has the issue or is it the 190 also as ive read they are very different engines.

[iceland_potter]

hi mate, sorry to hear about your oil problem. I know how it feels. Rest assured though this problem is an isolated problem and you have just been unlucky. My family have been driving used Toyotas for years, with no reliability issues anywhere near as big as this one.

Is "API engines" the name of the dealer that you bought the car from? If not - Before you sanction anyone to do any work on your engine, i'd strongly advise to get as far as you can with the dealer as per my thread in this forum. Else you could end up with the dealer saying they won't pay for anything as they havn't arranged the engine rebuild themselves.

[ollieatkins1988]

I bought the car from Camden Renault and they sent me written an signed document to prove i could send it to a local VAT registered garage as i drove two hours to buy the car it saves them some effort and me. API Engines are the people that are going to recon it for me but they are only diagnosing it until the garage and warranty issues and pricing etc is sorted.

I always thought Jap was the way to go and when its fixed i think i'll probably give them a second chance. Im just concerned that when they recon it it'l still be the same parts which could ultimately go wrong again.

Thanks for the help cause im not even at novice stage of knowledge on cars mechanically lol.

Also one last thing, i have been told by different people that with a new or reconned engine you need to do 1000 miles at low revs and ive also been told ive gotta drive at low revs for 6 months. Any ideas will be very welcome.

[iceland_potter]

how are you getting on Ollie mate?

[ollieatkins1988]

Picked up my car on friday evening, would have posted sooner but i took the car to chatham and spent a night in a hotel with the mrs . By the way thats a 150 mile trek one way lol. Tho its now got a reconed engine in it with the newer pistons (i think its the pistons that were altered in the face lift) so i cant go above 3000 revs for the first 1000 miles. 406 on the clock now and counting .......every mile which feels like its ticking backwards. I suppose the outcome is worth the patience as itl live alot longer.

Anyway im sure that wasnt interesting in the slightest so on thursday the warranty company sent out a bloke to assess the vehicle to determine the fault of the car and who was to blame. turns out they couldnt put a single blame on me and have coughed up. However it seems on the warranty docs that i signed, they only cover a grand of the repair and the total bill was 1850 for the whole thing. 850 aint bad for a new engine but it should be free as ive heard from the similar threads that if its a inherited issue, they should cover it all. Not sure where to go with the case now or to just settle for 850.

Ive never been so happy to have my car back after driving a mitsubishi l200 warrior for 2 and a half weeks lol.

[iceland_potter]

Thanks for updating Ollie.

Please don't pay the £850. Its the garages problem and they are legally obliged to pay for the whole cost of the remedial work on the engine.

Don't let them shirk their legal responsibilities.

Let me get this straight though - did you pay the £1850 bill, or did they pay it?

If you've had to pay it, and they're refusing to give you the £850 back, send them this in the post Recorded Delivery (about £1.00) taken from Consumer Direct website:

Your full postal address

Your postcode

Your telephone numbers

Today’s date

The Owner/Manager’s name (or The Manager)

Retailer’s name

Retailer’s address

Retailer’ postcode

Dear [owner/manager’s name or Sir/Madam]

Sale of Goods Act 1979 (as amended)

On [date of purchase], I bought a Toyota Celica Registration: xxxxxxx from you for £xxx which is faulty.

The problem is that the engine was burning oil excessively.

I complained about this to you on [insert the date of your telephone call(s)]. I have since had remedial work carried out to repair the engine, but the cost of this falls with you as the goods were faulty since I bought it. I would like a cheque for the £850 difference in the cost of the remedial work carried out by [insert name of garage that performed the work] sent to me by cheque.

Please respond to this letter within seven days.

Yours sincerely,

[insert your name]

[ollieatkins1988]

Cheers for that iceland. The letter went yesterday evening, but like you guessed unfortunately api engines made me pay first but the warranty company had already given an authorise code for allowance of a grand. Like you said it was an inherant issue so the letter has gone and i can just hope it gets settled with little hassle.

I will be getter a cheque for a grand in a few days but the 850 is a maybe, il let you know how it turns out. thx again

[iceland_potter]

Like I say mate, dont let it settle, because if you file a claim with the small claims court you'd definately win. So if it looks like they are going to play the game with you for the £850, just ring them and explain they have 2 options, 1) they pay up easily, or B) you issue them with a summons to the small claims court, which you know you'll win as your transaction doesn't comply with the Sale of Goods act.

let us know when they reply!

[ae102]

speaking from personal experience i wouldnt go near API they use cheap parts and dont honour warranties. there knowledge on toyota's is very questionable and there attitude is appalling........... save yourself the stress and go elsewhere

[ollieatkins1988]

Il let you know as soon as i get the reply. The letter has already gone out and it was near enough word to word of your letter.

API seemed pretty good and my engine feels ok. They replaced it with the recon engine and talked about everything they had a good idea of what i needed to do next but like you said ae102, their atitude ****** me off in terms of answering phone calls or promising to return them. I was in the dark alot of the time which was unnerving. But now your worrying me about their parts being cheap and you having to use their warranty. What was your problem?

Im guna get a diagnostics done in a few weeks to see if anything isnt quite right but do you think i should keep it or sell it, cause i love this car?

Iceland, when your engine was redone did you find it needed some fine tuning afterwards?

[iceland_potter]

Its up to you of course, but there's no reason not to keep it. You are in the strong position with the Sale of Goods Act on your side.

Ollie the way my story ended was that I got a full money refund plus travel expenses back for the car, I didn't get the engine reconditioned. I ended up buying a facelift model for a bit more money.