Auris T3 D-4D 2008 Head Gasket, Water Pump, Cylinder Head

[Karen H]

Hi everyone,

I'm in a real pickle and not sure if there's anything I can do to save anything towards £2200

I bought my Auris privately 3 months ago in May at 81,000 miles, its last Toyota service had been at 78000 miles, it had been Toyota serviced regularly (missed one in its history), its currently on 84,000 (I'm not sure if this history helps).

On the way home a couple of weeks ago the water light started flashing at the top. I stopped the car for a bit, turned it back on and the temperature had gone down again; it made it the few miles close to home until it did it again. At home I checked the coolant which had gone down so I put water in and drove it slowly to my closest garage the next morning. As I was out of the 3 year, 60,000 mile warranty it didn't occur to me that I should take it to Toyota garage, just get it to a garage and limit damage.

I was given an estimate of £1500 for the head gasket, then was told they had to change the water pump and last night when I called for the bill I was told the cylinder head had to be stripped as it was dented and they were losing money only charging me £2200.

I have no reason to doubt a reputable local garage but I am peeved that he didn't keep me updated on the cost rising 50%.

My major challenge now is I had no idea that Toyota may have a known fault on the head gasket until I checked this site yesterday. I am going to have to pay the garage that fixed the problem and I feel at a total loss. I called Toyota customer relations initally this morning and spoke to a very defensive woman who I may have spoken to on a bad day as she didn't try to build any customer relations with me so I have left it without giving my details for the time being.

Do I have any hope if I take it to a Toyota garage? She has told me no becasue it is retrospective but I feel that as its a known fault there should be something I can claim.

I'm absolutely gutted, this is my favourite car ever - up until now its driven like a dream.

Thanks

[Parts-King]

Sorry to hear of your plight

Your first port of call should have been to a Toyota garage. I understand you would not have know about any Toyota goodwill on the car, however, no manufacturer is going to pay you any money back if the work has been carried out by a 3rd party, even for a known fault

You could write a polite but firm letter to Toyota stating all the facts but I do feel as though this is a lost cause. The goodwill offered by Toyota is just that, "goodwill" it is not an extended warranty but "goodwill" to return the car to the Toyota network to have the repairs carried out

Your independant garage should of course have kept you up to date with the costs, it is unforgivable not to keep you informed, especially in view of the massive hike in costs. The fact he is not making any money on the job is not your fault, he estimated the work, nobody forced him to do it

Good luck

Kingo

Good luck

[Karen H]

Thanks Kingo, that is what I was worried about. I am waiting for a call from trading standards to see if they can advise me how to word the letter.

If anyone else has any good will tips I would be eternally grateful. It seems so unfair that I'm going to lose over £2k due to a known fault within 3 months of buying a car.

[Parts-King]

It does seem unfair but you bought privately and have no comeback on that whatsoever

I cannot see trading standards getting involved with the case if I'm brutally honest. They are there to ensure your consumer rights have been been correctly applied. As you have not bought the car off a trader / dealer, you have no rights in law, you could argue Toyota are morally responsible, but trading standards do not get involved in morals, only the law. The car is out of warranty

I still think your best course of action is a polite but strongly worded letter to Toyota, and ask if they are willing to contribute towards the cost of repairs

Kingo

[FROSTYBALLS]

I think you need to be careful with this.

Yes there are issues with Toyota D4D engines fitted to the Auris between September 2006 and September 2009. These are well documented on the internet and well known within the motor trade. Toyota have acknowledged the issues by providing goodwill cover for vehicles fitted with these engines for a period up to 7 years or 111,000 miles . I think this level of goodwill is unprecedented within the UK.

The main issue in your case, apart from the head gasket going, is the fact that you had a third party garage undertake the repairs, and you have actually paid out the cost of repairs.

I am surprised that, as the issue is well known within the motor trade, your garage didn't refer you to a Toyota dealer in the first instance.

Toyota don't know what work has been done to your car or whether it has been done competently. Yes, your garage may be able to provide copies of receipts, etc, but that doesn't prove or disprove what repairs have actually been undertaken, nor the quality of work done.

I see little point in asking Trading Standards for help - yes, the car has a known fault, but Toyota haven't been given the opportunity to carry out any repairs (the repairs have already been done by a third party). I know of no other manufacturer who will reimburse costs on this basis.

As an example of how other manufacturers apply goodwill, BMW were featured on the last series of BBC Watchdog, as they have timing chain issues with some engines fitted to the Mini and the 1-series. BMW said on the programme, they will provide goodwill contributions only where the car has a full BMW service history.

I think a polite letter is needed here, which outlines your situation, what you did to get your car running, and includes the fact that, as a new owner, you weren't aware of Toyota's goodwill in respect of these engines. Rather than asking for a full reimbursement of your costs, ask Toyota whether they will consider some form of goodwill to help you with the large expense of getting your car repaired.

[Karen H]

Thanks Mike

I spoke to the garage owner last night when I went to pay; he hadn't heard of the issue and said he called a local Toyota dealer for the parts and they both discussed how they had never had to fit a head gasket presumably to Toyotas. You'd think something would have flagged up on the Toyota parts screen clearly it doesn't.

I'll take your advice and write to Toyota, the car has a Toyota service history so hopefully it will help my cause of goodwill towards parts.

On a slightly better note the garage who carried out the repairs gave me a 5 hour discount last night so the bill was reduced to £1700.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Let us know what the outcome is.

[Uncle Buck]

That is a pretty tragic thing to happen after only 3 months, but it does highlight the perils of buying privately. I can't see Toyota being willing to offer any goodwill payment, but I could be wrong - and hope I am !

[ellingtj]

From what I've learnt, Toyota have been insisting on a full service history, when you say one was missing do you mean it was a non Toyota service stamp or was it none at all? If it missed a service (every year or 10,000 miles, 1 month or 2k miles leeway) then they may have not covered the gasket anyway.