Huh? An internal part failure puts a hole in the block causing oil to leak out onto the turbo and catch fire isn't a warranty issue?
GR Corolla catches fire; Toyota denies warranty claim
- Thread starter wemay
- Start date
So your new car’s engine explodes. No fire. You can claim this under insurance?Warranty right?
But your new car’s engine explodes, and then burns up? Not at all the manufacturers problem?
NOPE!
Not to mention, without having to look it up, I'm supremely confident that the tires on a GR Corolla are rated well above 85mph.
I'll stick with ol' unreliable VW....at least when they blow up it's b/c you beat the ever living snot of out of them.
That is correct, it's set up for track use and comes standard with a performance summer tire.
What part of the whole are we lacking here?
I can't believe that Toyota would deny a warranty claim based upon tires, clearly not relevant as well as prior accident damage, apparently not relevant either.
There must be something more involved, but the owner can always file with his insurer for the comprehensive damage and post far and wide that nobody should ever consider a Toyota again.
I can't believe that Toyota would deny a warranty claim based upon tires, clearly not relevant as well as prior accident damage, apparently not relevant either.
There must be something more involved, but the owner can always file with his insurer for the comprehensive damage and post far and wide that nobody should ever consider a Toyota again.
GR forums, reddit, and the FB group have some good info about this.
GR Corolla comes with Pilot sport 4s.
Afaik the vehicle only had lowering springs so the power train was unmodified. Also, I think the dealership looked at the ECU. Considering Toyota did not mention anything about aftermarket parts or a tune, I surmise the power train was stock.
The previous 'accident' was paint-damage only from a dump truck. Toyota noted that when the vehicle owner came in for that oil change.
The hole the inspector saw was from the rod exiting the block and oil coming out onto the turbo.
My stance now is it's Toyota's fault.
EDIT: I'd like to however, note that I have never seen a turbo-powered car catch fire just because of an oil leak onto it or the exhaust manifold, even at the track. Any chances that fuel "fix" the dealership had anything to do with this?
GR Corolla comes with Pilot sport 4s.
Afaik the vehicle only had lowering springs so the power train was unmodified. Also, I think the dealership looked at the ECU. Considering Toyota did not mention anything about aftermarket parts or a tune, I surmise the power train was stock.
The previous 'accident' was paint-damage only from a dump truck. Toyota noted that when the vehicle owner came in for that oil change.
The hole the inspector saw was from the rod exiting the block and oil coming out onto the turbo.
My stance now is it's Toyota's fault.
EDIT: I'd like to however, note that I have never seen a turbo-powered car catch fire just because of an oil leak onto it or the exhaust manifold, even at the track. Any chances that fuel "fix" the dealership had anything to do with this?
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Without getting into the he said/she said, a few spare pennies:
1) First considered, and started to carry a fire extinguisher in the first turbocharged car I owned. Red hot turbo and combustible liquids in close proximity up the risk factor. That was reinforced in general for every car when I started doing track days, where they were part of the list of prerequisites to be allowed to participate.
2) If I see/smell the magic smoke coming from underneath the hood, I'd pull over as soon as it's safe. Not after the better part of a minute, or after whatever kaboom noises that the engine made before losing power.
3) After I pull over, I wouldn't prop up the hood like akin to opening the vents on my BBQ, as part of the process to promote the combusion process and get the coals ready.
Would such steps be foolproof? No guarantee of that, but it's still risk mitigation.
With Toyota's laughable response, seemingly written by an intern, or first year associate, neither party comes out looking their best in this situation.
1) First considered, and started to carry a fire extinguisher in the first turbocharged car I owned. Red hot turbo and combustible liquids in close proximity up the risk factor. That was reinforced in general for every car when I started doing track days, where they were part of the list of prerequisites to be allowed to participate.
2) If I see/smell the magic smoke coming from underneath the hood, I'd pull over as soon as it's safe. Not after the better part of a minute, or after whatever kaboom noises that the engine made before losing power.
3) After I pull over, I wouldn't prop up the hood like akin to opening the vents on my BBQ, as part of the process to promote the combusion process and get the coals ready.
Would such steps be foolproof? No guarantee of that, but it's still risk mitigation.
With Toyota's laughable response, seemingly written by an intern, or first year associate, neither party comes out looking their best in this situation.
I was literally a Fire marshal/fire investigator before retiring in 2016.
My personal vehicle, a 2003 GMC Sierra caught fire in my driveway due to a faulty switch in the door for the folding mirrors. By design it was a constant hot.
Did I call GMC? Uh no. I called State Farm, got a new truck. State Farm subrogated back against GMC and a year later sent me a check giving my deductible back.
If under warranty the door switch quit working I would have taken it to GMC for a repair.
I really have trouble seeing how you don’t get this.
I get that the warranty covers vehicle defects and any incidental damage caused by said defects. You did fine with insurance but GMC paid because they were LIABLE for your loss. They would be liable under a new car warranty.
If a blown car engine under warranty (no fire) thru oil over your new $2500 designer suit… would you contact your insurance adjuster for that money?
If the hood latch broke on the road and the hood flew up on your new car and smashed the hood, windshield and roof of the car? Would you expect the warranty to only fix that broken latch?
I don’t see why you have trouble seeing this.
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Hyundai of all companies is not this stupid. The offer an engine warranty on all N series car at non sanctioned track days. Toyota should know by now that they would be eating at least 50 to 100 blown motors with this model. They wanted to try not to cover a single one. Now that working out for you NOW. This has gone world wide . You lost millions instead of eating $ 100,000 on common sense good will warranty’s .
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Yep everyone drives over 80 mph in my region when there is little to no traffic. I wide open throttle occasionally going above 90-100 mph with my 1NZ-FE Yaris. This sounds like a very poor excuse to blame tires for an exploding engine. 300 HP on a turbo 3 cylinder running 0w-20 stock sounds like disaster waiting to happen. And these cars go for how much, 36k? Plenty of better options out there.
I agree. If there was no "there - there", Toyota wouldn't have bothered to write a letter, or send a fire investigator. They would have thrown the complaint in the trash.
Further, your not required to have comprehensive insurance. The car can be paid off and still under warranty and no insurance for fire. What then?
Just because your insurance will cover it doesn't make it right that they have to. Makes everyone's insurance more expensive.
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Not sure what the appeal to authority and being a retired fire marshal has to do with this but it sounds like your insurance paid for something that GMC should have due to a manufacturing defect.
-- Driven like it was stolen
-- Modified
-- Wrecked
Not surprised that they don't want to warranty it.
-- Modified
-- Wrecked
Not surprised that they don't want to warranty it.
I have not seen anything saying it was modified. Many people have said that. Am I missing something?
Din't someone already mention that at the very least it's lowered?
The guy should’ve let it all burn up so that the black box would’ve been destroyed. Toyota would have zero data about the event.
Yes it was lowered but AFAIK there wasn't any powertrain modifications that could have affected the warranty (Magnuson/Moss). Toyota did not mention anything about powertrain modifications in their report.
According to the owner, he stated on FB that he was doing at least a 130mph+ pull before this occurred. Apparently going over 114mph automatically voids your Toyota warranty and they will pull that data from the ECU.
However, it was not 'wrecked' anymore than superficial paint damage from a dump truck's tailgate being opened.
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