Toyota Motor Corporation Toyota Engine Oil Gelation Fiasco! Buried CSP Information? Intentional Deceit and Fraud? ripoff Torrance California

Ah, it sounds like Toyota is repeating history! How? Well, back in late 2000 when I first EXPOSED the Toyota sludge saga on the internet, "Toyota protectors" said it was all one big hoax...the owners were at fault for lack of maintenance. Meanwhile, over 6,000 posts were made on Edmund's Town Hall... and that was after I was banned for exposing the Toyota sludge saga! Evidently, you are far from alone in your Toyota sludge struggle. Toyota owners online have been networking for years!

So, what's the trouble? Well, the web sites where thousands of Toyota owner postings were made are now permanently down. Moderators said there were multiple hacking episodes. Just because I wanted to give consumers information about Toyota engine oil sludge, I was cyberstalked and personally attacked...still continue to be! Hmmm...what's wrong with this picture? Who tracks someone who exposes consumer injustices? No brainer, I guess!

Here are the facts about Toyota engine oil sludge and Toyota's response based on thousands of Toyota owner postings and private e-mails sent to me:

1) Toyota wasn't about to tell the buying public or their valued customers anything about this malady until it was EXPOSED online in late 2000. Others had posted about the matter, but these posts were quickly buried. Online organization began in early 2001. Edmund's Town Hall decided to ban me. I believe it was to prevent me from finding out more from other Toyota owners.

2) Toyota was the subject of Toyota owner stories told in Automotive News and other consumer media outlets after the internet networking began in late 2000. Toyota was UNRESPONSIVE for TWO YEARS!

3) Toyota reluctantly came out with the SPA or Special Policy Adjustment in Feb. 2002 after a near revolt by Toyota owners online. Special? Really? The policy said owners had 12 months to get an engine repair, even though it was all the owners' fault, according to Toyota Motor Corporation.

4) Toyota modified the SPA and came out with the CSP or Customer Support Program for Engine Oil Gelation in April 2002. Support? Really? There are loopholes galore which TMC will not announce publicly! No, Toyota calls its own program "generous." Hmmm that is NOT what Toyota owners are telling me after the fact! Anyway, Toyota didn't like the word "sludge"...guess it didn't give a good corporate impage?

5) In May of 2002, Bruce C. Ertmann, a Toyota C.E.O. in Customer Service flew out to meet with me about my case. I encouraged him to act on behalf of all the sludge victims; my own case was secondary. Mr. Ertmann said that Toyota had done some research on the sludge matter but that the information was "proprietary." He said that it was found to be an "owner maintenance issue." Hmmm...what's wrong with this picture? Blame the owner and unwilling to show the PROOF?

6) In May of 2002, Automotive News covered my auto consumer efforts, including Toyota engine oil sludge, in an article.

7) In March of 2003, I wrote my online petition which has resulted in over 2500 signatories. These are Toyota injustices since the CSP was issued.

Anyway, Mr. Ertmann insisted that he was interested in resolving my case. Despite the fact that my then 3 year old Sienna with just 20,000 miles had excessive fuel in my oil and oil analyses showing "abnormal oil condition," excessive tire wear most likely from the steering pull to the left, brake problems including rear brake drum problems, vibrations at high speed, sticking sliding door locks, whining power steering, etc., Mr. Ertmann took my dealership's (Ourisman Fairfax Toyota in Fairfax, VA) statement that there was nothing wrong with my van.

BUT, since I was an "unhappy Toyota owner," Mr. Ertmann offered me a new Toyota. He went further and offered me a competitor's vehicle, however, my vehicle's problems were not going to be acknowledged or discussed. Hmmm...what's wrong with this picture? Was this a "gag offer?" I know Mr. Ertmann made a beeline to a brand new Highlander owner (local to me) whose vehicle got SLUDGE with just 12,000 miles on the odometer! Guess that Toyota didn't want that case to be covered on the local news?

I really appreciate Mr. Jim Press allowing Mr. Ertmann to "come and see" for himself. The problem is that issuing the CSP to quell the storm while not being responsive behind the scenes with frustrated Toyota owners experiencing engine sludge is unacceptable. Trust me...I have heard from enough Toyota owners post-CSP to learn that every loophole in the book is being used to negate the owner's qualification for the CSP. AND...who is monitoring Toyota's compliance with the program? Toyota won't even give the updated number of sludge cases for public consumption!

Mr. Ertmann is now the "Customer-Generated Media" C.E.O. I assume that that means he monitors what Toyota owners online are saying about the product. Or, does it mean that customer postings are being manipulated in some way? Toyota has greater presence on the enthusiast web sites now. Is this positively affecting what is happening at the dealerships? According to my online petition called "Toyota Owners Unite for Resolution: Engine Oil Sludge," Toyota owners are still experiencing great frustration when attempting to get relief under the CSP. So, is all this corporate show just to quell a *potential* storm?

I'm all for reasonable resolutions in the case of premature failures in Toyota vehicles. I am not pleased with the empty rhetoric and the attempted manipulation of consumer discusions and I am far from alone. This serves no purpose other than to pull the wool over on the buying public's eyes. I think it is very suspicious that practically all reference to Toyota engine oil sludge has been "attacked" or eliminated since mid-2004. What is the reason for this?

Toyota sludge has not ended with the 2002 model year. Will Toyota acknowledge this? Baffle changes have not corrected the problem. Is it going to be deja vu all over again? Do Toyota owners have to relive history and take Herculean actions to get the problems properly addressed? Toyota wants to be #1...great! We're all for it! What the Toyota owners do not want is for Toyota to step on the backs (and break them!) of their valued customers in order to get there! Does Toyota really care? We'll see.

Send that CERTIFIED letter to Toyota. Toyota counts formal notification of the problem...or so we hope! File online reports with the NHTSA or National Highway Traffic Safety Administration as well as the CAS or Center Auto Safety. Post on as many review auto review sites as you can. Think creatively about how you can get the word out to other Toyota owners. It looks like the company wants fewer rather than more such internet outlets for Toyota owners. My online petition has been sabotaged on numerous occasions. Expect to be challenge by some "corporate-protecting" entity should you speak up...but don't let this stop you. State the facts and provide the consumer resources for others. Get you elected politicians involved on your behalf. Notify your State Attorney General.

Keep the internet dialogue going about Toyota engine oil sludge until the problem is actually resolved. The class action lawsuit brought against Toyota has been settled by Toyota. This doesn't mean that justice was served. The suit does not cover the model and model years not covered under the CSP. It doesn't cover those whose vehicles will sludge outside the 8 year time limit (due to less use of the vehicles). It doesn't account for multiple sludge episodes.

Since Toyota did not send out all 3.3 million Toyota owner letters on the sludge problem, many owners are in the dark still. Some have to do lots and lots of internet research before they find anything about the problem. My petition is one of the few remaining sites that gives some information. We need to restore the original information for all Toyota owners to read. Withholding this information is not what a #1 company does to keep customers!

Don't give up...expect Toyota Motor Corporation to do the right thing and be tenacious until it does!

CLICK here to see why Rip-off Report, as a matter of policy, deleted either a phone number, link or e-mail address from this Report.

Charlene
Vienna, Virginia
U.S.A.

Click here to read other Rip Off Reports on Toyota Dealers and Products