Quote:
Originally Posted by NARFALICIOUS
What is the VIN?
How did you determine it does not have the recall? the Toyota website only tells you if any recalls are currently open, it won't show completed ones.
|
I think the OP is saying his VIN doesn't come up as being part of the recall at all (not whether or not it was performed). The Valve Spring Recall was tied to specific dates of manufacture (only the earliest). If his was manufactured after that date, then it's not part of the recall.
That being said, Toyota should be able to tell whether any given recall on a vehicle was performed if it was done at a Toyota dealer (which the VS one would have been).
To the OP - you can look on the door jam plate to see when the car was actually built (though the VIN look-up should tell you that too). Mine was built in October 2012 and was subject to the recall. But if the website says you're in the clear, I'd call it good enough.
Mine has been very reliable, and while I average less than 10k miles per year, I'm not easy on it. I average a half-dozen AutoXes a year, along with a couple of track days.
I did the recall on mine with some trepidation, but it's been about 6k miles and so far so good. Had them do the clutch and TOB while they were in there, but hadn't heard any noises to suggest there were imminent problems.
The early cars are notorious for wearing out their strut mounts. On one hand, the low miles on yours are probably good - on the other, they may have started to fail just due to age. You'll hear a juddering suspension clunk usually when going over very small things in the road, like lane reflectors, or cobblestones. It doesn't typically happen with large suspension movement because the weight of the car is holding the mount stable.
Another nuisance issue is the vibration washer on the power steering motor that disintegrates. This is a juddering clunking that you hear and feel in the steering column itself (unlike the strut mount that you'd mostly hear coming from somewhere in the front end). It's a $10 part and a relatively easy fix if you can do it yourself, but will cost you almost two thousand American dollerydoos at the dealer, because they'll want to replace the entire steering column. You can search the DIY forums here for both of these issues.
Of course there are the infamous "crickets" that you hear from the fuel manifold - a byproduct of the ethanol blend of fuel we get. If you have access to zero-ethanol fuel, or do an E85 tune they'll go away. I drove with them for years before going E85 and you stop hearing them after a while.
I think this car seems to be great for 99% of people, and then there are the 1% that get such lemons as to seem like it was an intentional prank from the factory. Of course, it seems worse because they are (rightfully) angry and are the most likely to tell everyone within earshot about their issues.