Oil sludging atonement: Toyota settles class-action suit
If you're the owner of certain Toyota products built with the 2.2L I4 or 3.0L V6 between 1997 and 2002, you may soon be receiving notification from the automaker concerning its recent settlement in a class-action lawsuit. Filed as the result of damage caused by sludged oil (which ultimately can destroy an engine by clogging lubrication passages), the suit claimed that affected customers suffered from failures despite following Toyota's maintenance recommendations. As a result, Toyota will be extending the warranty of up to 7.5 million vehicles to 8 years and 120 days from the original purchase date (without regard for mileage), and will pay for damage incurred as a result of oil sludge - also referred to as oil gel.In 2002, Toyota offered an extended warranty to some owners who were affected by the sludging problem, but many customers claim to have been accused of improper maintenance and were forced to pay for their own repairs.
Sludging is the result of several factors, some of which included longer drain intervals, tighter engine tolerances, and the typically higher operating temperatures of new engines. Several other manufacturers have also faced allegations of oil sludging problems and have responded in a variety of ways.
As a consumer, the best defensive measure is, of course, a regular oil change (following the "severe service" schedule if required) with a name-brand oil that meets the manufacturer's recommendations for viscosity and API service rating. Some manufacturers recommend different viscosities for operation in extremely hot or cold climates; as always, the owner's manual is an outstanding source of information on matters like these.
[Source: Consumer Affairs; a hat tip to AB readers Drew and Ryan]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
John Ward 10:00AM (3/13/2008)
"Response To Charlene Blake..........
After visiting the petition you have authored, I wish to express the following comment:
One must empathize with those who have experienced sludge through no fault of their own, whether it be Toyota, Chrysler, Saab, BMW, Mercedes and other makes who have in fact had far more sludge reports than Toyota.
Why you have singled out Toyota as the only villain in an issue which affects virtually all manufacturers is bizarre.
Not only have you chosen Toyota as a singular target, but you grievously distorted facts, made many wild and unsupported claims, misrepresented specifics, and last but not least you insist that EVERY story about sludge is Toyota's fault.
This campaign is seriously flawed by accepting literally every tale of woe as gospel without the slightest evidence of verification.
That petition is an example of a blatently dishonest way to present a case.
None of the names in it have been verified, and most appear to be planted to plump up stats by cut pasting old history, and repeating many stories from
old websites, and so on.
Not only that, but more than half the names in this petition are blanked out...WHY??
Is this to conceal something, perhaps the truth??
I have to insist that petition and sludge campaign are just not credible in any way!
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Bob 10:31AM (10/23/2008)
I recently had my 2002 Highlander die on me. Says in the notes found oil on the spark plugs and that cylinder #2 had 12psi instead of 125psi.
So last year when I took my car in to have it checked as my oil light was on and blue smoke was coming out Toyota told me that there was no sign of oil smudging. They then said that they think the problem is in the valves and that they should be replaced for $1,860 and also that my heads need to be sent out for $500 to be fixed.
I denied this as they said that they are only 50% correct on what to do. Who would pay for something that costs almost as much as the engine considering they didnt give me a confident answer.
Anyways, I see after the fact info about the oil gel settlement. I called a few other Toyota dealers and they told me taht when my car was taken in that tehre should have been a 5 to 6 hour inspetcion done as Toyota knew about this issue.
So now im stuck with no car and am being told to file a claim with Toyota and then with the 3rd party lawyer if denied.
Just curious what are others doing out there? Should I replace the engine and hope to get some money back? or is this a situation that was my fault and its just the engine thast denied and im suppose to say oh well?
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lou 7:02PM (12/02/2008)
i have similar symptoms with my 02 highlander, how do i go about getting my existing mechanical expenses covered, and possibly get the problem fixed?
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charleneblake 12:21AM (7/04/2009)
ALERT: If your check engine light is on in your Toyota, check for oil consumption and blue smoke, too. Often, one of the first signs of the development of engine oil sludge is the check engine light coming on. Many emissions control components are replaced prior to or right after sludge builds up.
Several other Toyota owners are speaking up about the current Toyota engine oil sludge or gel problem. Take a look at http://www.toyotaoilgel.com. Check out http://www.uc2.blogspot.com to see what owner has faced at his local Toyota dealership and more. Read the complaints on the online petition at http://www.petitiononline.com/TMC2003/petition.html.
Take a look at YouTube.com under “Toyota Engine Oil Sludge” or “Toyota Oil Gel” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fs7WI2s-CVw to see how the problem originated. Then, note the almost 3,000 signatories on the online petition “Toyota Owners Unite for Resolution: Engine Oil Sludge.” It seems that Toyota owners are complaining they have been left out of the “Customer Support Program for Engine Oil Gelation.” Still others say that Toyota has kept information about it hidden from them.
Toyota owners should file owner complaints at the NHTSA and the Center for Auto Safety. They should send Toyota a certified letter to formally notify it of the problem. Then, they should ask for full repair cost coverage under the provisions of the CSP.
Toyota owners can follow “toyotasludge” at Twitter.com for updates.
Back in 2004, two key consumer sites went down at the same time. Toyota owners were very actively discussing Toyota engine oil sludge and Toyota’s follow through, or lack thereof, on the CSP. It was as if someone wanted those sites to be eradicated. The moderator at one of the sites admitted multiple hacking until the site went down permanently.
At any rate, none of the very legitimate and informative postings from those two sites is accessible now. Convenient, huh?
Charlene Blake
cblake@erols.com
charleneblake@cox.net
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Ugh 9:14AM (1/17/2007)
Wait a sec...
Vehicles between 1997 and 2002 will have their warranties extended to 8 years and 120 days from the original purchase date?
So the people with 97's now extended warranties expired in 2005?
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Avinash Machado 9:16AM (1/17/2007)
And to think that many still claim that Toyota makes highly reliable cars. This shows that even the mighty Japanese automakers are not so great after all.
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TRDrulez 9:55AM (1/17/2007)
Avinash Machado: Regardless of this settlement, Toyota is still the best manufacturing company in the world. While the US auto industry is taking a beating of its life, Toyota is opening plants left and right. Say what you will, but the reality is that they are kicking ass in sales and people like them.
Eric Bryant: Can we even find a non-name-brand motor oil off of a shelf on Pepboys or Autozone?
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Enter Fanboys 9:25AM (1/17/2007)
They're not perfect, but that doesn't mean that everyone else is.
Here comes all of the anti-Toyota FUD from people who need to talk trash to make themselves feel better.
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JR 1:09PM (1/17/2007)
An observation :
Honda/Acura has a faulty transmissions - Extends the warranty to 100K miles at no charge. I should point out my wife has one of those 'faulty' transmissions that has 90K trouble-free miles on her 2000 TL.
Toyota has a engine sludge problem - Extends the warranty 8 years regardless of mileage.
Someone tell me of an American car maker that has done anything remotely close to this.
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Any Chrysler fans might want to think twice 9:29AM (1/17/2007)
...before talking smack.
http://intrepidhorrorstories.blogspot.com/
http://www.lemonlawclaims.com/dodge_intrepid_engine_failure.htm
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ramsport47 9:37AM (1/17/2007)
"4. ...before talking smack.
http://intrepidhorrorstories.blogspot.com/
http://www.lemonlawclaims.com/dodge_intrepid_engine_failure.htm
Posted at 9:29AM on Jan 17th 2007 by Any Chrysler fans might want to think twice "
But Chrysler fans don't claim that Chrysler is infallable or perfect like Toyota fans do. We actually realize they're not perfect but like them anyway because they're an honest car...no hidden issues like with the Toyotas
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pete 9:50AM (1/17/2007)
At least Toyota are now doing the right thing by their customers and that is the main thing here, and people who are putting Toyota down because of this one set back is very funny really when you think of what a good track record they have overall
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mkbruin 9:57AM (1/17/2007)
Pete, doing right? It took a lawsuit for them to 'do the right thing' and a court order to follow through!!!!
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aaron 10:11AM (1/17/2007)
ahahah the ball swinging apologists come marching 2 by 2..
lmao..
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Michael Karesh 10:11AM (1/17/2007)
If they settled out of court, there was no court order.
There seem to be an increasing number of class actions floating about. How much did the lawyers earn on this one? Since it's big, they likely earned well over ten million.
So far I'm seeing low repair rates for the Toyotas I'm collecting data on. But I'm not covering any older than 2004 yet.
http://www.truedelta.com/results0906.php
Next set of results just a few weeks away.
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mkbruin 10:14AM (1/17/2007)
"If they settled out of court, there was no court order." If they settled through a court appointed mediator (which is most likely the case givin how hard toyota fought against this one) then there WOULD be a court order.
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JapH8r 10:19AM (1/17/2007)
This took over a week to migrate into the news on Autoblog ... and I bet it will never see the light of the public media. No one is infallible, but there is also the notion of making it public knowledge and admitting to mistakes instead of initially trying to throw the blame on the owners as Toyota did.
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XJ 10:44AM (1/17/2007)
How would this affect used Toyota owners? I know quite a few people who have used Toyotas that beling in this category.
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MikeW 10:30AM (1/17/2007)
The oil was sheared pretty good by the timing gears [the intake camshaft vane phaser is driven by the back end of the exhaust camshaft, which is driven by the timing belt]
Also the non vertical mounting did not allow for equal oil draining on both banks.
Chrysler's problem with the 2.7 was the engine oil cooler wasn't standard, PCV issues, timing chain guide/tensioner issues, and small oil galleries, only 5 quart oil capacity, and a 500rpm idle in gear (minimal coolant pump output)
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aaron 10:59AM (1/17/2007)
japh8r, no mistaking what side you're on but great point.
It is laughable that this took so long to filter over here..
mkbruin, on point as always.
Any way any of these apologists slice it, to drag your feet, go through court (we can whine about how much lawyers made, but Toyota took them there), put it on the customers and end up with the smoking gun in your hands is shameful and poor business practice regardless of WHO it is.
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