The Truth About Toyota Engine Oil Sludge

Toyota is settling a class action grew from the Jeff Meckstroth case next month. That should answer the question where in some valid cases Toyota was refusing to honor the warranty offered or just making trying to make it hard for owners to recover losses.

======================================== Toyota settles oil sludge cases Owners complain that a buildup damaged engines January 18, 2007 Detroit Free Press

[snip]

"The class action settlement should make it easier for customers to receive resolve their problems, said Gary Gambel, a New Orleans lawyer heading the case for plaintiffs.

Under the settlement, customers can bring issues directly to Toyota. If they're not satisfied with Toyota's response, the customer can turn to a court-appointed third-party evaluator, who will decide what damages should be paid.

Customers do not need a lawyer or technical expert to take up their case, Gambel said. Even if the time has expired for a lawsuit to be filed, they can seek relief as long as the damages occurred within eight years of the original purchase date." ========================================

snipped-for-privacy@erols.com wrote:

I take strong exception to the post by Charlene Blake. In a google search of her e-mail address, it is obvious she has recently spammed the same or a similar message on a very large number--literally hundreds!!--of automotive related websites. If there is one standout characteristic in all of these many postings, it is "SPIN". Nothing but PURE UNADULTERATED SPIN!! Ms. Blake has waged a war of misrepresentation, innuendo, inference, and unverified rhetoric against a number of targets over many years, the latest being Toyota. One look at her much touted "petition" clearly shows how manipulative her tactics are. Most prominent in that petiton are "line voided" empty spaces where a name has been removed for some reason.Clear evidence of some creative editing? Censorship perhaps? Only allowing what Ms. Blake deems worthy?? (Yet she constantly complains about "free speech" being violated by her targets?) Many of the remaining posts in that petition are clearly copied from other sites, and in more than a few instances, obvious fakes! Toyota is being unjustly victimized by Charlene Blake. This company is no different that any other automaker in many ways--not perfect, not above reproach, same mix of good, bad, and somewhere in the middle dealers, uses the same style of marketing, and produces cars which are for the most part good but suffer from the occasional problem. They have similar flaws as most people do--they aren't perfect. That said, Toyota certainly doesn't deserve to be singled out and flayed by incessant (and highly untruthful) spamming as is being done by Ms. Blake. Her reputation isn't above reproach either, so as the old proverb states Ms. Blake "people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones"!!

snipped-for-privacy@erols.com wrote:

She's back! My psychotic little meddler is back! Oh Charlene, it's been too long, you long in the tooth worthless dirtbag... Of all the causes on this planet to throw this much time and energy into, you try to do a number on some car company's engine oil issue. Jesus Christ, you really are a dud of a person.

What's with the harsh words?

I dunno. Little something me and Charlene have going on.

She's been posting this same BS in alt.autos.toyota for a couple years.

My guess was (and it appears to have been backed up by action, since Toyota settled out of court) was that the Class Action Lawsuit was coming to a head and she was one of the named plaintiffs.

In a CA Lawsuit, the lawyers try to drum up as many plaintiffs as they can. That's why you see ads on TV...if you have this, call this number. It serves two purposes. It lines the Lawyers pockest better, since the more plaintiffs there are, the larger the settlement, but it also garners more for the Named Plaintiffs. My guess is that Cathy here was a Named Plaintiff, and stood to make a LOT of money if Toyota was found liable.

But, Toyota submarined her and settled out of court, offering to replace any engine that was damaged or showed signs of EXCESSIVE sludge. So, that way, poor Cathy gets just what she deserves. A new engine.

And NOTHING more! ;)

Bullshit. Toyota's the one who has promoted their so-called bullet-proof quality, and Toyota is the one who has mistreated customers whose Toyota crapola products developed the oil sludge problem, to the point of even accusing Toyota owners of abusing their cars, even when the Toyota dealer's own service records showed otherwise.

What's the matter? Can't stand the idea that your precious favorite car brand is now showing cracks in their so-called quality armor?

Because they can't stand the fact that Toyota developed a serious quality issue, just like virtually every other automaker on the planet. Someone calls Toyota out on the carpet, and they get defensive.

Here's an example of great Toyota quality and customer service:

Here's an example of great Toyota quality and customer service:

Opinion only:

I think there are good reasons why people remain loyal to the Toyota car,... apart from the sludge saga, their cars are the most reliable, durable and easy to drive (comfortable, good handling etc) cars around.

The oil change thing was contentious because from all the information on the subject, it seemed to me at least, that these engines had not had sufficent oil-changes. Consider it only takes one failed oil-change, for the oil to fill the engine with jelled-oil. The other factor is oil quality. I've seen one cheap, generic brand oil, break down leaving a layer of dark-grey gelatine type consistancy crap all thru a Ford 6 engine which had had no previous problems.

Oil which is past its useful life, is easily identified as so when the dip-stick is used,..it's that obvious. If the oil not honey or syrup coloured (color depends on fuel used in some cases) on the dip-stick, then its time to change it. Its *that* simple.

I change the oil in my Camry at 3000ks, but recently I let it go to 5000ks. The oil still looked like Mayple syrup and this is in an engine with

185,000ks. So go figure how long oil stays in these engines before it breaksdown. My guess is well beyond 10,000 ks, a guess only, but I'm not about to use my engine as a guinea-pig to get the actual figure :-)

Sure Toyota have some responsibility, and they have now made some generous offers, but ultimately, your car's maintenance is *your* responsibility.

Out of the entire Toyota engine family, only 2 engines (the 4 and 6 cylinder engines used in amongst other cars, the '90s Camrys) were effected by oil-change interval extension.

Jason

• purchase.

Re. that guy with the burned Camry; he even says the car was neglected (no recent service). This is a Toyota issue for a 9 year old car? Really?

And, for the record, I currently own only 1 Toyota vehicle. My other cars are from other manufacturers. I'm no Toyota fanatic.