When I first took the vehicle to Springfield Toyota, on April 8th, 2006 it had a rattle coming from the engine area. They checked it and said they could not duplicate the problem. Ten days passed and the noise was louder, so I took the car back to Springfield Toyota and they said that it was the transmission. That was fixed under warranty, and because of the area they were fixing I requested the clutch assembly and the flywheel to be replaced.
About four weeks after the transmission was fixed, I had an oil change with synthetic oil, which is the only oil I use. When that oil change was performed, Springfield Toyota called me and told me that they had damaged my left tail light and back bumper. They said they would replace that at no cost, I am not sure how bad the damage was, but they also had to replace the convertible top.
I picked up the car from the oil change on June 12th, 2006. Three days later, I had another rattle coming from the rear area, where the engine is located. This time it was much worse because the car would not pick up speed no matter how hard I was pressing the gas, on highways, it would take me about 1 mile to increase the speed by 5 mph, having the gas pedal all the way down. I took the vehicle to Springfield Toyota, and they said they could not duplicate the problem and the mechanic that test drove the vehicle, the one that has 15+ years of experience and ASE certified said to me “I think the car is fine, we don’t get MR2’s very often so it is hard to tell if there is something different”. I had to drive the car back home, and a few days later I had to come back because the accelerating problem had gotten much worse. They told me that there was something wrong with the exhaust system, and it will be fixed under warranty.
On Friday, August 4th, my car was making a really loud rattling noise coming again, from the engine area. This time I took the vehicle to the nearest shop that I knew, Centreville Automotive. There, I spoke with the manager and he checked the vehicle. Apparently there was only one quart or less of oil in the engine. They added three quarts of synthetic oil to the car and told me to take the vehicle to Springfield Toyota and have them check it. He said the reason for such amount of oil could be that they did not put enough oil or that the car is burning too much oil. The noise was still there and Centreville Automotive said that the damage to the engine must have been already made.
I have had the car for two years and this kind of problem never happened before. I always check for leaks before I pull from my driveway every morning and always pay attention to my dashboard for the oil light and that never came on. I was also a month away and about 1000 miles away from my next oil change, counting only 3000 miles with synthetic oil.
I took the vehicle to Springfield Toyota and they indicated that it was my fault for not checking the dip stick for oil; I told them that this had never happened before. The service advisor said without even checking the vehicle that there is a problem with the engine and that it is my fault. They told me that I was safe to drive, when the manager at Centreville Automotive said otherwise, he said “you are lucky to use synthetic, with regular oil the engine could have blown up”. I took the car to another dealership, because I don’t trust Springfield Toyota anymore with my vehicle. I took the car to Ourisman Fairfax Toyota where the advisor told me that I needed a new engine short block and that the repairs would be about $5400.00.
There have been so many repairs in my vehicle that I believe I will not get half of what I owe when I sell it. Also, the technician failed to check the oil level when I took the vehicle because of the decrease in speed. I chose Springfield Toyota at first because that was the dealership from where I purchased this vehicle, and this was also the dealership where the first owner bought the vehicle from.
On September 11th, 2006, my father, who was an employee for the Used Cars department at Springfield Toyota, was fired from his position. He did not know anything about the problem with my vehicle. After a week of unpaid vacation, he came back and he was told by someone higher than Used Cars management that he no longer works for Springfield Toyota. The manager at the Used Cars department did not want him to leave.
One more thing: Can you imagine Toyota says the vehicle owner should check the oil every time you put gas in your car? That is just absurd! Thank you.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
When I first took the vehicle to Springfield Toyota, on April 8th, 2006 it had a rattle coming from the engine area. They checked it and said they could not duplicate the problem. Ten days passed and the noise was louder, so I took the car back to Springfield Toyota and they said that it was the transmission. That was fixed under warranty, and because of the area they were fixing I requested the clutch assembly and the flywheel to be replaced.
About four weeks after the transmission was fixed, I had an oil change with synthetic oil, which is the only oil I use. When that oil change was performed, Springfield Toyota called me and told me that they had damaged my left tail light and back bumper. They said they would replace that at no cost, I am not sure how bad the damage was, but they also had to replace the convertible top.
I picked up the car from the oil change on June 12th, 2006. Three days later, I had another rattle coming from the rear area, where the engine is located. This time it was much worse because the car would not pick up speed no matter how hard I was pressing the gas, on highways, it would take me about 1 mile to increase the speed by 5 mph, having the gas pedal all the way down. I took the vehicle to Springfield Toyota, and they said they could not duplicate the problem and the mechanic that test drove the vehicle, the one that has 15+ years of experience and ASE certified said to me “I think the car is fine, we don’t get MR2’s very often so it is hard to tell if there is something different”. I had to drive the car back home, and a few days later I had to come back because the accelerating problem had gotten much worse. They told me that there was something wrong with the exhaust system, and it will be fixed under warranty.
On Friday, August 4th, my car was making a really loud rattling noise coming again, from the engine area. This time I took the vehicle to the nearest shop that I knew, Centreville Automotive. There, I spoke with the manager and he checked the vehicle. Apparently there was only one quart or less of oil in the engine. They added three quarts of synthetic oil to the car and told me to take the vehicle to Springfield Toyota and have them check it. He said the reason for such amount of oil could be that they did not put enough oil or that the car is burning too much oil. The noise was still there and Centreville Automotive said that the damage to the engine must have been already made.
I have had the car for two years and this kind of problem never happened before. I always check for leaks before I pull from my driveway every morning and always pay attention to my dashboard for the oil light and that never came on. I was also a month away and about 1000 miles away from my next oil change, counting only 3000 miles with synthetic oil.
I took the vehicle to Springfield Toyota and they indicated that it was my fault for not checking the dip stick for oil; I told them that this had never happened before. The service advisor said without even checking the vehicle that there is a problem with the engine and that it is my fault. They told me that I was safe to drive, when the manager at Centreville Automotive said otherwise, he said “you are lucky to use synthetic, with regular oil the engine could have blown up”. I took the car to another dealership, because I don’t trust Springfield Toyota anymore with my vehicle. I took the car to Ourisman Fairfax Toyota where the advisor told me that I needed a new engine short block and that the repairs would be about $5400.00.
There have been so many repairs in my vehicle that I believe I will not get half of what I owe when I sell it. Also, the technician failed to check the oil level when I took the vehicle because of the decrease in speed. I chose Springfield Toyota at first because that was the dealership from where I purchased this vehicle, and this was also the dealership where the first owner bought the vehicle from.
On September 11th, 2006, my father, who was an employee for the Used Cars department at Springfield Toyota, was fired from his position. He did not know anything about the problem with my vehicle. After a week of unpaid vacation, he came back and he was told by someone higher than Used Cars management that he no longer works for Springfield Toyota. The manager at the Used Cars department did not want him to leave.
One more thing: Can you imagine Toyota says the vehicle owner should check the oil every time you put gas in your car? That is just absurd! Thank you.
- shenriquez84, Falls Church, VA, US