Avensis D4D 2.2 Oil Leak

[imy77]

Hi,

My first post and Toyota which I bought on the understanding it's a very reliable car.

I only purchased the car on Sunday (08 Avensis2.2, one owner with FTSH, milage 105900) and drove it home approx 10 miles. Monday drove it to the local golf course and back approx 4 miles, however, by Tuesday I was driving to visit my brother (120 miles away) when 100 miles into my journey I started losing throttle power and a vibration started occurring. Once I reached my destination I popped open the bonnet and removed the plastic cover to see oil splattered all over the engine.

Now the first course of action was to visit the Internet and reading all the info out there and specifically those relating to head gasket problems got me extremely worried as I've just exhausted my savings and in no way can I afford repairs to that extent.

In any case I thought I'll get the local Toyota down here to have a look at it. They were happy to diagnose it for £60 to which I agreed, however, 45 mins later they called to say they have located the fault which is the leak coming from the fuel injector but to ascertain the reason of the leak they will have to strip the rocker cover off and get inside to see what part needs replacing and subsequently can quote, this 2 hour labour intensive work is now going to take my total cost to £273 before I even know what exactly needs replacing and at what cost.

I reluctantly agree to this as I have no option and I'm told the car will not make the 120 mile journey back home.

Two hours later the dealership called back to say it's a seal that's damaged and they will replace it at a cost of £79.95 for the part and use the £60 initial diagnostic fee towards the labour of replacing the seal.

So all in all this has cost me a further £373, which I could have put into an another vehicle as there were alternatives to the Toyota I bought. Sorry if I got carried away with the post just need some advise as I seem to be regretting my purchase firstly and feel ripped off with the repair costs.

Thanks.

[t-spiritpete]

Sorry to hear about that Imran BUT at 105k miles these things happen, Im not sure I would have been happy with the diagnostic fee though especially as you had them fix it for you, if you had it diagnosed but not had it fixed then the fee would be fair.

Regards

Pete.

[imy77]

Thanks Pete,

The timing along with the cost have put a damper on what should have been an enjoyable first Toyota purchase. Also worrying about the common head gasket faults has got me thinking do I sell the car and cut my losses and save a little more and buy something newer i.e 2009 onwards.

In the meantime I'm trying to negotiate some payment from the trader I bough the car from towards the repairs.