Rod Knock on leased FR-S
 

Hi everyone,

longtime lurker, second time posting. Before i get into it, I know I was irresponsible and didn't do what I should have regarding maintenance. I have a 2015 Scion FRS and my lease is up on December 24th of this year. With that being said, I noticed a rattling noise coming from the engine & took it to the dealer. Long story short its a rod knock in the engine. They asked for maintenance records and the last one I did was at 15k miles. I'm currently at 34K, because of that it's not under warranty and they Toyota won't cover anything. The reason I didn't do an oil change between then was because I was told I wouldn't need anything until the 30K Service. I know I should have changed the oil every 7500 miles at least, but I didn't for lack of better judgement. My options are buying a new engine, buying a used one (was quoted $4600K+ for one with 63K miles), or hopefully finding a mechanic that will essentially do a "band-aid fix" on it just so it passes the end of lease inspection. The first two options aren't an option for me as I'm a college student with no savings or financial income necessary to fund that. So now I ask anyone for help in my situation. If you know a local mechanic in the Bay Area that can help I'd appreciate it.

My friend said to try to fool the original dealership i got it from and tell them I changed my own oil and somehow forge some paperwork or something so warranty will cover it.

I know how irresponsible I was and dumb for not using common sense about the maintenance, so I ask to keep the name calling to a minimum.

Ouch, all these guys are going to tell you to take responsibility for it and not try an "trick" anyone.

live an learn, change your oil!!!

Sorry I'm not gonna be much help but what I want to know is how did you manage to get yourself into a 2015 FR-S lease in the first place? You using student loans to fund your car payments?

I kinda have a hard time believing that missing that oil change killed your engine. There are tests with snythetic oil going 20k and the oil was still good. I wouldn't ever go that far but still. Did you admit to not changing the oil?

I wonder how much oil was left after 20k miles.

It's a shame no one told him he needed regular maintenance
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=79720

The same happened to a dealer that had a demo car for test drive and car magazine testing. They didn't change the oil for 15k miles and the engine broke. Next time change your oil in time.

It broke in two, like split in half or was it ejected from the car?

You can try and forge paperwork for your oil changes, but they'll know as soon as they open up the engine. You can't fake the internal changes caused by not changing the oil.

Broken internals for god's sake.

How about taking the car back to where you got it and tell them that you don't want to lease it anymore, hand them the keys and walk away. ...... ??


humfrz

No I had a decent paying job back when I got the car in 2014 and was sacrificing school. Now that I'm back in school, I don't make enough to save up as much as I'd like. I'm working on getting a second job at the moment.

Yeah i admitted to it which looking back at now, I probably shouldn't have. That way I could have at least gotten some leniency regarding the warranty.

If only it were that easy..

You could get a used motor for under 2k with high miles. Find a friend to install it and you are on your way.

Thing is, its leased and I wanted to return it at the end of the year. I doubt Toyota will accept the car with a different engine.

Sounds like you're going to have to suck it up and learn the hard way. Tricking someone like you tricked yourself thinking your car didn't need maintenance is foolish.

I never said I was going to do that, my friend threw the idea out there. Thanks for the input though. It appears I will have to learn the hard way.

Guess you just bought yourself a 2015 frs. Congrats bro!

You can replace the engine, have the car running and return it later this year. Engines have no numbering or marks tying them to the car.

Here's an engine...

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=117893

That's awesome. I always thought they had vins etched into them like any other body panel

Some cars do, but not this one.

The tech at the dealer told me that they do so I don't know if he's not aware or what?
Going back tomorrow hopefully a miracle will happen.

I may be mistaken, but I've looked at a few engines and have never seen a Vin etched on them

incorrect.
https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media...iqqs8t5mm5.jpg

It's probably even a requirement to have them for this day and age I stand corrected. Thanks. Learn something new everyday.

I had a similar experience. My engine developed rod knock after 66,000kms. It was a year out of warranty. Toyota wanted $2k just to diagnose the problem. I ended up sourcing a low km second hand motor and throwing it in over a weekend with a mate. Toyota did suggest they might show "good will" depending on what the dealership found. I decided it wasn't worth the risk of Toyota not covering anything.

My motor definitely doesn't have the car's VIN number on it. There is only the engine number. I would expect Toyota would have a listing on what motor went with what chassis if they really wanted to check into it.

Maybe you can just run it into a brick wall and total it. Then file it on your insurance and have them pay off the dealer.

Insurance fraud, why didn't I think of this?!

lol!

It's easier to put it in drive and run it into a pond.

Man you are shit out of luck. Should've changed your oil.

I'm not sure where you live but start searching around for an engine...sometimes you can find them cheaper than what the dealer can.