Toyota covered the 3rd incident under their "Good Will" Warranty because I was over the 3-year/36k mile limit.
But I'm wondering if I'm the only one.
Also wondering what happens next year when it goes bad again.
Thoughts?
Original thread:
It looks like the original complaint was for a leaking power steering pump, the reasons for the 2nd and 3rd replacements were not very clear. Were they also leaking?
Sorry, Ray. I'll try to explain.
All 3 times, we totally lost power steering. I.e., didn't know there was a problem until loud noises, smell of PS fluid, sometimes smoke.
2nd time they said they found trace metal particles in the fluid, most likely from the 1st repair. Thus, they replaced the entire power steering rack.3rd time they just replaced the pump. I asked if they could check the fluid, flush the system, etc. to try to minimize the chances of the problem re-occuring and they said the warranty wouldn't cover that but I could pay $100+ to have it done.
Does that answer your question? Thanks for the reply.
The explanation helps a little bit. Every warranty repair has to have 1) a description of the condition (what happened, i.e., "lost power steering'),
2) a cause (a detailed description of what caused the condition), and a remedy (what did the dealership do to eliminate the condition. In this case, we have the condition and the remedy but not the cause.I have never heard of a Toyota needing 3 power steering pump replacements before, and so I don't blame you for being a little suspicious of whether the 3rd repair will be permanent or not. The 2nd repair should have been permanent, unless the drive belt for the power steering pump was too tight. I recommend that you keep your receipts, and if you are not already doing so, have your vehicle maintained regularly at a Toyota dealership so that if the 3rd pump fails, Toyota will see that you are a good customer with 3 previous failures of the pump.
Have something to add? Share your thoughts — no account required.
Ask the community — no account required