WTF? Dealer says i misshifted... but it's a 5spd

[z6joker9]

Ok, many of you may know i've had problems with my celica recently. It was thought to be a burnt exhaust valve, however i just called the dealer(which is the second dealer i've taken it to, the first was a bish about everything) and they said all 4 pistons have hit the valves, and when the trouble code was set it listed the speed, rpms, etc and it was obvious that it was misshifted. Aparently i've been driving it like this for a while. It's not his decision on warrenty, but he hasn't gotten word yet whether or not it is covered. He admitted that the 6spds have a misshifting problem(he even said he did it himself on a test drive) but this is a 5spd, so he's not sure about it.

the only thing that bothers me is that i KNOW i have never misshifted... i've let a few friends drive it from time to time without me being with them(very rarely but i had) so prehaps they did it and never told me? he said it didn't list a date that this had been done.... i wish it did, i remember one instance of letting a friend drive was on new years, someone had to get their date home and i wasn't going to drive, so i let them borrow it. it had problems shortly after that.

anyway, is there any way i can convice them to cover it? i understand that this is "my" fault, not the cars, but i can't handle the repair bill.... i would def have to sell it as soon as i get it back if i do have to foot the bill.

anyone have any advice?

[Modern Angel]

Originally posted by z6joker9

anyway, is there any way i can convice them to cover it? i understand that this is "my" fault, not the cars, but i can't handle the repair bill.... i would def have to sell it as soon as i get it back if i do have to foot the bill.

anyone have any advice?

First off let me say that I'm sorry you're in such a sh!tty situation, but you're basically admitting that you know it's "your" fault but you want us to help you find some way to help you screw Toyota out of money to fix "your" problem? Huh... doesn't sound too fair to me.

At any rate I, unfortunately, don't have any real advice for you but I do hope it all turns out okay for all parties involved.

[SlasherX]

go to a different dealer and play dumb.

thats all it takes.

[z6joker9]

modern angel... say it as you like... toyota of america i'm sure can handle this repair costs better than i can.... i know it's "my" fault but all these 6spd get misshifted and toyota covers them.. why not this one 5spd?

Dave- i already did that once :(

[djm221]

I thought that the computer did't remember the speed and rpms after a short while of driving after the incident :confused:

[Masayver]

Find the friend that possibly mis-shifted and take the money out of their arse if it doesn't end up being covered by warranty. Good luck.

[HilfigerCelica]

I don't have any advice for you Ahmed, but good luck.

[S|Lv3rBu||et]

Ok, ok, ok.... can someone explain this whole 'miss shifting' thing? I honestly have no clue what you guys are talking about....

[GTS LAID]

the gates are very close on a 2000 and early 2001 GTSs 6spd... with an inexperienced driver it can be very easy to go into 2nd in a hard strike up shift inteded for 4th... this will lead the engine to overrev to up to 11000 RPM. this wouldnt really be a problem if it was a freewheeling engine in which the pistons and the valves dont occupy the same space but since its an interference engine (where they do) that creates a problem. when the pistons smack the valves you can get bent valves, springs badly injured.. you can even blow your oil pump (like i did) and you'd have pieces of the oil pump all over your engine (again like i did)...

the shifter was modified on all 6spds made after aug. 2001 i believe... and of course any cars that were repaired for mis shifts.

[CelicaNamja79]

Originally posted by SlasherX
go to a different dealer and play dumb.

thats all it takes.


Yeah that is what I did with Longo Toyota in Cali.... and Cali dealers are the worst when it comes to covering modded cars. I've had no problems gettin my car warrantied, so I wonder why is it so hard for others to do so....

I've gotten two new trannies (I told them it was making noises), new valves, belt tensioner, new clutch and many others.... all that under warranty without any problems. I am getting my new door panels cuz it is deteriorating and they are replacing it without a single bitchin'....

Take it to other dealer and good luck

[Raw Iron 1]

Hello.

First of all never admit to anything. Always play dumb. And if talking doesn't work court time usually does. I work for a small business and our "in-house attorney" charges about $2,000.oo just to show up in court to represent us any time we have a problem. Now, add about 4 hours of waiting for your case to get called and now we are talking about $3,000.oo+ in attorney's fees and court costs. She charges 2-300.oo bucks an hour after that. If Toyota has to shell out a couple grand to get an attorney to show up and then they loose and have to buy you a new engine, that court case could cost them 8-10 grand easy. They'll replace the engine before they go to court. Oh, and when you sue them on an issue like this, 9 out of 10 times you don't need a lawyer and it usually cost less than $200.oo to sue them. Chances are the judge will side with the consumer because big business is known for screwing people.

All you gotta do to sue is go to your local courthouse, go to the circuit court clerk, and ask them how to go about filing a lawsuit against a commercial business. Asking questions there and getting answers only cost you time, there are no fees.

Jason

[juicedcelica]

this is why you should always write it into the purchase contract... before I signed it weas put into writing that I would have an intake and exhaust the suspension would be altered and I would have no problems with the warrenty... I bought an extended warrenty that cover's every thing no questions asked just a 50 dollar co-payment if it doesn't fall under the factory warrenty the finance manager told me I could go into the parking lot and do a burn out until I killed the clutch and give him 50 to replace it and they would have to under the extended warrenty... you need to make freinds at your dealer ships ... I always go in for bull$hit stuff and talk with my service writer rick... I never have any problems as a matter of fact because of the crowd I draw at right toyota I almost know every one there .... remeber it's all in who you know it makes a difference to take time and talk to the service writer... I know it's late for you but for every one else when your head lights get fogged up take them in and have them replaced talk to your service writer about the car try opening the commnication lines with him if there ever is a bigger problem he's going to be more likley to help you ..... nit pic over every minor detail when they see you take care of the smaller stuff they are going to believe you take very good care of your car

[dragonfrog]

that's good advice. i'm in really good terms with my dealership.

[Chui]

If you read the fine print you may be surprised to find that all parts are not covered in the "extended warranty." USUALLY, frictional parts are not included. If you burn your clutch plate I'd be surprised if Toyota paid for it...

my best advice is find the friend who did it and make them pay or at least kick their ass. I'm sure when confronted about it (don't even tell them the cost) just ask kind of non-chalantly or something. If they are a good friend they'll admit to it because they've pretty much been busted.

[z6joker9]

the dealer quoted me $1600 today... replace the valves and mill the head... he thinks the pistons will be fine...

my question is, why not pay for what they've done so far(they've got the head off), tow it to my place, replace the parts or the entire head(i could do a port and polish job i suppose), and put it back together? the only reason i didn't fix it myself anyway was because we couldn't figure out how to get the head off with the timing chain set up like it is, plus i thought this dealership would cover it, but since it's taken apart already it may be easy. what do you guys think?

they only person that i've let drive my car for more than a 2 miles without me moved back to califonia(he moved here from there and was here for 3 or so months, but he had lived here before years ago)....

the thing is, when he did move, it was very sudden and unexpected, and i've hardly heard from him since...... he'd have no way of being able to pay for it anyway... he's the kinda person that pretty much borrows everything he needs...

[Chui]

I've only let four people drive my car with them inside. A fellow co-worker, a close friend who I help re-build NIssan Sentra SE-Rs, my buddy Matt who has the 13.7 sec 1/4 mile ITR and another friend who has the "Frankenstein" Civic Hybrid. The latter two outdrive me hands down. My co-worker just wanted a "feel" for the car and didn't like it much - didn't drive it enough for that, either. And the other guy would always faun over the car so I tossed him the keys one day for respectfully not asking. I offered the keys to Ford Motor Company Vice President Richard Parry-Jones and he declined after I asked for the keys to his Jaguar XK-R...

DON'T LET ANYONE DRIVE YOUR CAR WHO IS NOT PAYING THE NOTES. SH1T HAPPENS. AND WHEN IT DOES CAN/WILL THEY COUGH UP THE DOUGH? Usually, the answer is no.

I'm terribly sorry to hear this, man. Hopefully, they'll cover it or at least half of it as a "good deed".

[xi KiNG ix]

Originally posted by Chui

DON'T LET ANYONE DRIVE YOUR CAR WHO IS NOT PAYING THE NOTES. SH1T HAPPENS.

:werd:

[VZV21]

That's funny, since the engines with the FE heads are non-interference.

But.....there can exist a rare case (mostly high engine speed timing belt breaks), the valve-piston interference can occur.