Toyota Owners Unite for Resolution: Engine Oil Sludge

  • Author:
    n/a
  • Send To:
    Toyota Motor Corporation
  • Sponsored By:
    Toyota Owners Unite for Resolution
  • More Info at:
Are you the Author?
We, the undersigned petitioners, including former and current Toyota owners, do hereby give notice to Toyota Motor Corporation, that we are dissatisfied with the current customer service initiatives for owner complaints of engine oil sludge and associated secondary problems. This includes the former "SPA" or "Special Policy Adjustment" (Feb. 2002) as well as the current "CSP" or "Customer Support Program" (April 2002) for "engine oil gelation." These initiatives do not restore the original warranty rights of the affected consumers who continue to be blamed for the problem by this company. In addition, these initiatives do nothing to help those who had to trade in their vehicles due to an inability to pay for exorbitant repairs within the warranty period. While model year vehicles prior to 1997 have had the same sludge problem, these owners are not helped by the current program.

Pointing the finger at the owners is unconscionable given that untold numbers of owners properly maintained their vehicles according to your recommended maintenance schedule. We, the "Toyota Owners Unite for Resolution" consumer group are not willing to accept blame for this very serious engine problem any longer! We would like a formal retraction of blame immediately. A public statement by Toyota Motor Corporation is appropriate. We would also like a recall of the affected engines. If these engines cannot be fixed permanently, we would like this company to repurchase the affected vehicles once the problem is formally acknowledged. The owners must be compensated for the loss of resale value of their vehicles due to this condition. In addition, all incidental and collateral expenses must be covered. Nothing less would be fair to the affected owners!

Engine oil sludge development is unacceptable, especially in these late model vehicles. These engines are not the same after repair. Some owners with engine replacement have experienced a recurrent sludge condition. Lack of owner maintenance is not the cause of either the slow or sudden demise of these engines. Toyota owner engine analyses reveal adverse changes in the engine's oil condition even with less than 3,000 miles on the engine's oil. We, the owners, believe there is a mechanical problem which is contributing to premature wear of these engines.

Owners are very concerned about the safety of these vehicles. Some engines are seizing at highway speeds. There are owner reports of engine compartment fires after the engine throws a rod through the engine block. Engine failure is unpredictable. Some owners have lost all traces of engine oil suddenly. Some owners have noted excessive fuel in the engine's oil and/or glycol-contaminated engine oil. Owners have lost faith in their vehicles based on these occurrences.

Owners are also very concerned about the emissions control in these vehicles. Some owners' vehicles are not passing state emissions testing. Other owners note large volumes of smoke production on cold startup, while idling, and with acceleration. Oil analyses of some owners' engine oil reveal low viscosity and high nitration and oxidation within the manufacturer's recommended oil change interval. There are also high levels of silicon noted on engine oil analysis. Owners report oxygen sensor replacements. Others note replacement of catalytic converters, PCV valves, EGR valves, and other emissions control components. Some owners have had fuel injection problems prior to engine oil sludge development.

Here is what the networking owners have discovered to date:

1) Toyota has NOT notified all the affected owners about the "Customer Support Program" based on a random sample survey of "Toyota Owners Unite for Resolution" members and associates.

2) Toyota is not honoring the current "Customer Support Program" for all owners who present with engine oil sludge at Toyota dealerships. Some dealerships are not providing any information about the program until asked directly. Even then, owners report vague information.

3) Toyota is charging some owners for sludge inspections or labor when repairs are made for engine oil sludge. It is denying "Customer Support Program" coverage for repairs for other owners despite legitimate qualification for the program.

4) Some owners who purchased "Certified Used Toyotas" from dealerships have discovered engine oil sludge within one month of ownership. Some of these owners have been told that they do not qualify for repair coverage under the
"Customer Support Program" because the owners cannot produce the oil change receipts.

5) Before the introduction of the SPA or CSP, Toyota asked untold numbers of owners to pay over $5,000 for new engines. Since the introduction of the programs, engine replacements are not routinely done when Toyota pays for the repairs. Repeat sludge problems have been reported by owners.

6) The NHTSA and the EPA are not formally investigating the affected vehicles based in part on Toyota's promises to remedy the "engine oil gelation" situation via the CSP.

7) Toyota technicians/employees have refuted many of the complaint claims made by Toyota owners on the Internet over a two year+ period.

8) A computer virus originated from a Milwaukee Toyota dealership and spread throughout an owner list comprised of several hundred dissatisfied Toyota owners. The most vocal Toyota owners have experienced a myriad of computer problems since speaking out about this problem.

9) Toyota executives and/or spokespersons have continued to publicly claim that there are only a "few vocal owners" in this matter. These executives state that they are "not aware of engine sludge in cases where owners have properly maintained their vehicles." These same representatives say that there are very few cases of engine oil sludge in the affected engines. They base their claim on another claim that only 3,200 owners have formally written to the company to notify it about their problem.

We, the undersigned are shocked and appalled by the actions of Toyota Motor Corporation. We expected more from our Toyota vehicles given the daily advertisements describing these vehicles as the "platinum standard" in quality and reliability. We want what we paid for...a safe, reliable vehicle that holds its value over time. We don't think this is asking too much! We want Toyota to do the right thing!

3250 Signatures

  • Charlene Blake
    • Contact Information
    • cblake@erols.com
    • Model, Year, and Mileage
    • 1999 Sienna, 41,000 miles
    • Case Details
    • low oil viscosity trend
    • Formal Notification to Toyota?
    • No
  • Michael St.Laurent
    • Model, Year, and Mileage
    • 1999 Toyota Camry 76,000 Miles
    • Case Details
    • Toyota refused to fix a defect in my Camry while it was new. The car has had major problems since
    • Formal Notification to Toyota?
    • No
  • Marshall Huggins
    • Contact Information
    • email
    • Model, Year, and Mileage
    • 95 toyota 4runner 115,000
    • Case Details
    • To long to list here - but if I don't get compensated I will never buy another toyota ever
    • Formal Notification to Toyota?
    • No
  • Gary Carnegie
    • Model, Year, and Mileage
    • 1997 corolla dx plus 90,000 miles
    • Formal Notification to Toyota?
    • No
  • James R Andrews
    • Model, Year, and Mileage
    • 1995 Lexus
    • Case Details
    • Engine died in spite of good oil-change record; put in another engine from an Avalon - the top looked good; died after 14 miles (even after oil change) because sludge had blocked oil pump. Now getting third engine put in.
    • Formal Notification to Toyota?
    • No
  • Sharon Ross
    • Contact Information
    • 2964 Habersham Mills Road, Demorest, GA 30535
    • Model, Year, and Mileage
    • toyota camry 1998 113,000 miles
    • Case Details
    • engine replaced at 80,000 miles - with same year engine that had @50,000 miles - waiting on this one to go! Still keeping up maintenance as recommended.
    • Formal Notification to Toyota?
    • No
  • Andrea Green
    • Contact Information
    • 727-866-7542 (home) 727-540-3536 (work)
    • Model, Year, and Mileage
    • Corolla VE, 2000, 77,000
    • Case Details
    • Engine as well as Transmission Failure at 77,000 miles
    • Formal Notification to Toyota?
    • No
  • Malinda Hodges
    • Model, Year, and Mileage
    • 1996 Toyota Avalon
    • Formal Notification to Toyota?
    • No
  • Candace Holowicki
    • Model, Year, and Mileage
    • 1999 Toyota Camry 2.2L/4cyl
    • Formal Notification to Toyota?
    • No
  • CHARLES B. HUTCHISON
    • Model, Year, and Mileage
    • Camry, 1998 XLE 95,000
    • Case Details
    • Blue smoke on cold start--by about 70, 000 mls. Even older (and "less reputable") cars do not have this problem. My older Toyota with almost 200, 000 mls. never had this problem. There is certainly a defective engine problem here. Dealer says (piston) rings are to blame--leaking--costs a fortune to repair. Had to pay over $70 to test for sludge (none was found). The car has stalled on my wife twice on the highway (one immediately after over $450.00 repair at the dealership), and dealer found no problem. I am definitley very unhappy, and would not consider another Toyota, if they do not try and fix all the problems related to their relatively bad new engines.
    • Formal Notification to Toyota?
    • No
  • William J Dilworth Jr
    • Model, Year, and Mileage
    • 1996 Camry 145000
    • Case Details
    • engine seized at 91,000 after being desludged twice by dealership. Replaced engine.
    • Formal Notification to Toyota?
    • No
  • kenneth guthrie
    • Model, Year, and Mileage
    • Camry LE 1996, 68,000 miles
    • Formal Notification to Toyota?
    • No
  • William Trzepacz
    • Contact Information
    • 410-997-8346
    • Model, Year, and Mileage
    • Toyota Matrix 17 miles through 3k miles
    • Case Details
    • Faulty steering is a defect that Maryland law requires to be corrected on the first attempt. I visited CARMAX five (5) times attempting to get them to fix the problem. On the fifth attempt, they finally replaced the power steering assembly. When notified that this repair also had failed, they did not re-inspect the car to see if another failure had occurred after the repair, but simply told me they had been advised by Toyota not to make any further attempts. (Confirmed with Toyota CAC.)
    • Formal Notification to Toyota?
    • No
  • Anna and Jeff Paxton
    • Contact Information
    • Apaxt@AOL.com
    • Model, Year, and Mileage
    • 2000, Sienna, 35,000
    • Case Details
    • We sold it! We took a bath and we will never buy a Toyota product again. We tell everyone we know what happened.
    • Formal Notification to Toyota?
    • No
  • Andrew Hotinger
    • Model, Year, and Mileage
    • 95 Avalon 85,000 when sludged
    • Formal Notification to Toyota?
    • No
  • Cassandra E. Dixon-Lynch
    • Contact Information
    • Cassandra.Dixon@unilever.com
    • Model, Year, and Mileage
    • Camary 1999 66000est
    • Formal Notification to Toyota?
    • No
  • Alfred A. Mikalow
    • Contact Information
    • 503-429-2430
    • Model, Year, and Mileage
    • 99 33K and 73K
    • Case Details
    • replaced two engins and was paid $15.500.00 by Toyota. still lost about $10K
    • Formal Notification to Toyota?
    • No
  • J. Mark Taxis
    • Model, Year, and Mileage
    • 2000 Sienna 75,000
    • Formal Notification to Toyota?
    • No
  • Jeff Powell
    • Model, Year, and Mileage
    • Camry 98 116,000miles
    • Case Details
    • Waiting for sludge to show up. So far, none.... because I CHANGE MY OIL every 5,000 miles.
    • Formal Notification to Toyota?
    • No
  • Steve Mihalick
    • Model, Year, and Mileage
    • Avalon,1998,22000
    • Formal Notification to Toyota?
    • No
  • Mark Peavey
    • Model, Year, and Mileage
    • Avalon, 1996, 145000
    • Formal Notification to Toyota?
    • No
  • P. K. Parikh
    • Model, Year, and Mileage
    • 1998 Toyota Avalon
    • Case Details
    • The engine was rebuily at 50,000 miles by Toyota after a lot of arbitration.
    • Formal Notification to Toyota?
    • No
  • Tegger
    • Model, Year, and Mileage
    • 1986 Toyota MR2, 142,000 miles
    • Case Details
    • NO SLUDGE. Oil is changed every 3 months or 3K
    • Formal Notification to Toyota?
    • No
  • Kevin Gudmundsen
    • Contact Information
    • 832 876-4218
    • Model, Year, and Mileage
    • 2000 Sienna, 34,000
    • Case Details
    • engine repaired not replaced, still smoking, toyota says it is condensation, wants me to prove smoking with videotape
    • Formal Notification to Toyota?
    • No
  • jeff coggins
    • Model, Year, and Mileage
    • 4 Runner, 1995, 223,000
    • Formal Notification to Toyota?
    • No
  • Karyn Mendelsohn
    • Model, Year, and Mileage
    • 1999 Toyota Sienna
    • Formal Notification to Toyota?
    • No
  • Frank Denton
    • Model, Year, and Mileage
    • 1999 Lexus RX300
    • Case Details
    • Sludge build-up
    • Formal Notification to Toyota?
    • No
  • Lisa Maxwell Malik
    • Model, Year, and Mileage
    • 1998,Sienna,40,000
    • Formal Notification to Toyota?
    • No
  • Gene Taylor & Katherine Zorn
    • Contact Information
    • Gene Taylor 864-260-4420
    • Model, Year, and Mileage
    • 4Runner 1995 99,500
    • Case Details
    • Thrown rod. Regular oil changes, driven easy.
    • Formal Notification to Toyota?
    • No
  • Gary and Kerry Raddtke
    • Model, Year, and Mileage
    • Lexis, ES300, 1995, 96,000 miles
    • Case Details
    • engine siezed up, dealership had diagnosed sludge previously
    • Formal Notification to Toyota?
    • No
  • GMW
    • Model, Year, and Mileage
    • Sienna, 1998, 93,000
    • Case Details
    • No sludge because I use synthetic oil and change it myself every 6000 miles.
    • Formal Notification to Toyota?
    • No
  • Skeptic
    • Model, Year, and Mileage
    • 2000 Avalon 92,000 Miles
    • Formal Notification to Toyota?
    • No
  • John bugni
    • Model, Year, and Mileage
    • 1997 Avalon
    • Formal Notification to Toyota?
    • No
  • Bigg Joke
    • Model, Year, and Mileage
    • 1999 Sienna 109,000 Miles
    • Case Details
    • My Sienna runs great. I have no problems. This petition is a joke!
    • Formal Notification to Toyota?
    • No
  • Diane Bauman
    • Model, Year, and Mileage
    • 1999 Lexus ES300 --- 18,000 miles
    • Case Details
    • Sludge -- saying lack of maintenance without verifying maintenance record. Was told by Dealer the best thing to do would be to sell it. I did and will never buy another Toyota product again. Pass the word!
    • Formal Notification to Toyota?
    • No
  • Frank Hennin
    • Model, Year, and Mileage
    • 2001 Camry 34,550 Mi.
    • Case Details
    • No problems. Great car. What's all the fuss about? Would buy another one anytime!
    • Formal Notification to Toyota?
    • No
  • Troy Brenning
    • Contact Information
    • 515-331-1654
    • Model, Year, and Mileage
    • 92 4Runner 56,000 and 83,000
    • Case Details
    • Toyota replaced the short block the first time for the previous owner. Would not do it again for us, even though it was the exact same problem. We changed the oil every 3,000 miles, but Toyota claimed owner neglect. This experience totally changed my views about Toyota vehicles...we will never buy another.
    • Formal Notification to Toyota?
    • No
  • Sarah Pitt
    • Model, Year, and Mileage
    • Toyota Camry 1995
    • Case Details
    • engine seized, threw rod, caused engine fire
    • Formal Notification to Toyota?
    • No
  • Gary Levine
    • Model, Year, and Mileage
    • 1966 Toyota Camry 80,000 miles
    • Case Details
    • Sludge
    • Formal Notification to Toyota?
    • No
  • George T. Baxley
    • Contact Information
    • (843) 293-9888
    • Model, Year, and Mileage
    • 2000 Sienna XLE
    • Formal Notification to Toyota?
    • No
  • neil vesco
    • Model, Year, and Mileage
    • 1994 4runner
    • Formal Notification to Toyota?
    • No
  • Marina Shen
    • Model, Year, and Mileage
    • LE, 1999, 31,600.00
    • Case Details
    • It has blue smoking when it sarts. The Toyota Dealer said I damaged Engine without mentioning oil sludge issue.I called Toyota after I read Engine Oil Sludge information on the Web. Toyota said dealer will contact me within 3 days. I am still waiting. Is this a formal notification? What should I do?
    • Formal Notification to Toyota?
    • No
  • Bill Henderson
    • Model, Year, and Mileage
    • Siena, 1999, 63,000
    • Case Details
    • Engine siezed while traveling with 5 children in the van - 70 mph on interstate. Stranded for three hours @ 3AM. Car towed 300 miles to Toyota dealership in hometown. Had to surrender vehilce because we did not have $6,000 to replace.
    • Formal Notification to Toyota?
    • No
  • Vince McNew
    • Model, Year, and Mileage
    • 2000 Toyota Sienna - 30,000 Miles
    • Case Details
    • Sludge in the engine w/ poor customer service to resolve the issue.
    • Formal Notification to Toyota?
    • No
  • Warren Wolfe
    • Contact Information
    • Warren Wolfe
    • Model, Year, and Mileage
    • 99 Toyota Sienna Van
    • Case Details
    • Engine Seize from Sludge
    • Formal Notification to Toyota?
    • No
  • luv toyota
    • Model, Year, and Mileage
    • 1999 Corolla 46,000 miles
    • Case Details
    • Many signatures here are forged. It's easy to do. This petition is a farce.
    • Formal Notification to Toyota?
    • No
  • Jennifer
    • Model, Year, and Mileage
    • 1998 Toyota Camry
    • Case Details
    • Engine replace. Still charged for some labor and a few parts
    • Formal Notification to Toyota?
    • No
  • David E. Lendon
    • Model, Year, and Mileage
    • Sienna, 1999, 52,000
    • Formal Notification to Toyota?
    • No
  • Sheila Spindel
    • Model, Year, and Mileage
    • ES300, 2000, 15K
    • Case Details
    • sludged engine at 8K miles
    • Formal Notification to Toyota?
    • No
  • Velery L. Brown
    • Model, Year, and Mileage
    • 1999 Camry CE
    • Formal Notification to Toyota?
    • No