Toyota Agrees to Sludge Settlement

[MeraBoy]

Class Action Suit Brings Relief to 3.5 Million Toyota, Lexus Owners
http://www.imagebanana.com/img/a8ymnacf/sludge1.jpg
Normal condition

http://www.imagebanana.com/img/bcisg576/sludge2.jpg
Sludge build-up

January 8, 2007
Consumers saddled with sludge-clogged Toyota engines may soon get some help from the Japanese auto giant under the terms of a class-action lawsuit settlement that covers roughly 3.5 million Toyota and Lexus vehicles damaged by engine oil sludge.

An engine gummed up with oil sludge can cost thousands of dollars to repair and in many cases must be replaced. The class action settlement could potentially cost the automaker hundreds of millions of dollars.

Toyotas covered by the Louisiana settlement include the:

• Camry 4 cylinder from 1997-2001,
• Camry 6 cylinder from 1997-2002,
• Camry Solara 4 cylinder from 1999-2001,
• Camry Solara 6 cylinder 1999-2002,
• Sienna 6 cylinder from 1998-2002,
• Avalon 6 cylinder from 1997-2002,
• Celica 4 cylinder from 1997-1999,
• Highlander 6 cylinder from 2001-2002,
• Lexus ES 300 from 1997-2002 and
• Lexus RX 300 from 1999-2002.

In 2002 Toyota admitted receiving 3,400 complaints about sludged engines and the automaker extended its vehicle warranty to eight years along with unlimited mileage to owners of 1997-2002 Toyota and Lexus vehicles equipped with 3.0-liter V-6 or 2.2-liter four-cylinder engines.

At Toyota dealerships, however, consumers have encountered repeated denials from service managers insisting that sludging occurs primarily when owners fail to change their oil frequently enough....

Complete story:
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/01/toyota_sludge_settlement.html

Add info:
Toyota Owners Unite for Resolution: Engine Oil Sludge Petition
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/automotive/toyota_engine.html
Engines affected with oil sludge problems

p/s:Besides Toyota, VW/Audi also suffer engines sludge problem.

 

[alibaba]

From my personal view,it is very unfair some consumers accuse toyota/ VW engine damaged by the engine oil sludge. From the pictures, you can see the problem and the problem is made by the engine oil and not because of the engine. Sometime because of budget, people will use the cheap and low quality engine oil or may be use the wrong grade engine oil ( example 5w30, 10w40 , 15w50, 0w20) or not change their engine oil on time, etc, these all kind of problems will easy to cause the engine oil sludge. who knows someone need to get the free repair then just simply carry out some unfair and unreasonble accuse.......... Even in malaysia some peoples are driving more than RM100k car but they use RM 30-40 engine oil, i am not saying they are poor or "cheap", the point i want to say is lot of peoples dont know the side effect, or they may think as long as economy and their engine will not blow then is good enough already.

This kind of news will misleading peoples' mind, hope everyone can get more info and knowledges before make any conclusion.

 

[prozac]

I'm sure Toyota is confident that the actual number of engines with sludge buildup is lower than stated.

 

[MeraBoy]

let's say other brands owner also having the similar situation as below :

Sometime because of budget, people will use the cheap and low quality engine oil or may be use the wrong grade engine oil ( example 5w30, 10w40 , 15w50, 0w20) or not change their engine oil on time, etc, these all kind of problems will easy to cause the engine oil sludge.

, but that doesn't ended up with court case, so what does it mean:
--maybe others r NOT AS PRONE TO SLUDGE BUILDUP.

what's more 3,400 official complaint, & it affect roughly 3.5 million owners -- does it not enough to carry some weight ???

furthermore, some owners purchased cos toyota's quality & r intelligent enough to take care of their cars.

Nobody try to mislead ppl's mind, we hv to protect our rights as a consumer by having SUFFICIENT FACTS & FIGURES, & not being coned @ cheated. FACTS IS FACTS.

 

[kaiyao]

RM 30-40 engine oil is not a matter... dun judge a product by the price.
price is the strategy of their marketing.. like some expensive product, they actually charge u high price to cover their advertising expenses. expensive doesn't comfirm good
the thing is use the correct grade of engine oil to suit ur car.
n change engine oil frequently
but the case like this i think should relate to toyota, as meraboy said
the 3,400 official complaint is enough to proof it