I don't know if this has been mentioned on here before, but it would appear that there is a design fault on many VVTi engines, in my case the 1.0 on the early Yaris. I'm not completely sure of the part, but it is something like the timing chain cover. Rather than using a gasket, Toyota used a sealant which unfortunately appears to be attacked by the oil and starts to fail after a few years. (This info from a technician at my local dealer)
Apparently the 'fix' for this is to replace the cover with a newer design and use an alternative sealant.
My Yaris (now 7 years old) had this problem at the 40k service but as it was still under warranty it was fixed FOC. However, either the new part was not available then or the job was not done properly as I have just had the 70k service and am told it is starting to fail again. To me, this sounds like a design fault and I would have hoped Toyota would if not repair it FOC, at least do the work 'at cost' but the dealer is quoting me several hundred pounds to fix it. Does anyone know if there is a better way to get this done - apparently I also need a lot of rubber bushes changed so the total cost will be a fair chunk of what the car is worth. (Around £1500!!!) I'm a little concerned that a car of this age needs this much doing to it - surely these parts should last a bit longer than this? I've had and known older cars that haven't needed these parts doing.
(Another aside - the car-by-car breakdown lists knocking from the front as a sign that the anti-roll bar bushes are failing. I've had this for over 3 years and mentioned it while the car was still in warranty. The garage claimed not to be able to find anything and told me it was OK. It's not got any worse but I'm now wondering if these parts have been bad all this time and should have been done under the warranty)
It's still a cracking little car to drive but I really am worried that the build quality seems very poor and that Toyota may have done their image harm if these problems are as wide spread as they seem to be.
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(Another aside - the car-by-car breakdown lists knocking from the front as a sign that the anti-roll bar bushes are failing. I've had this for over 3 years and mentioned it while the car was still in warranty. The garage claimed not to be able to find anything and told me it was OK. It's not got any worse but I'm now wondering if these parts have been bad all this time and should have been done under the warranty)
The knocking from the front of our Yaris is because the bolt connecting the ARB to the front suspension has snapped.
The first noise was the half bolt in the ARB touching on the steering rod when on a very tight RH turn at speed (not in normal motoring).
The current noise is a knocking because one half of the bolt and its bush has gone AWOL so the retained half is knocking on the ARB.
It is booked in for fixing.
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I think Toyota garages offer wonderful service but my experience* is they are always trying to entice owners to spend money on things they don't need to do: or overcharging for repairs.
I would expect the TOTAL cost for replacing ARB bushes plus new nuts and washers to never ever exceed a genrous £250.
* Booked Yaris in for 30k service after getting three quotes from main service agents. Took the cheapest. £110.41. They then rang back and asked SWMBO (I was out) if I wnted the coolant changed. I rang back and said no. The coolant is a long life one and has a 10 year life by thehandbook and is not included on the maintenance schedule.
The wording they used no way said it was due.. but I bet some owners would pay for it to be changed...and listening to the service people in reception they know how to sell additional services .. which will not be cheap. (mainly to retired/elderly customers from the look of things)
{On the other hand , they forgot to price air filter change but changed it and charged me no more anyway and valeted the car and blacked the tyres so no complaints!}
Personally I'd shop around to other Toyota dealers..there are three within a 12 mile radius of us.
madf
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A friend has a 2000 Yaris, they have had various problems (though have not mentioned the cam chain cover) including IIRC suspension (which could be as mentioned above) and on going engine management problems including visits to m/way hardshoulder twice, this resulting in numerous trips to the dealer, falling out with the dealer, numerous trips to the indy specialist and recently nearly £500 in ECU components.
Our Clio has been virtuous in comparison.
Will they buy another Toyota, it is clear that they will, for them the brand is still stronger than their experience, seems Toyota might be where VW were six or seven years ago.
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>>......is they are always trying to entice owners to spend money on things they don't need to do: or overcharging for repairs.
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They suggested that the exaust system was past its best ( the same 2000 Yaris ) ....£850 for an exhaust ! I tried not to smile ;-((((
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If it is same style exhaust as wife's 1.3SR then from back box to front down pipe is one piece which includes CAT and intermediate silencer - back box was quoted as £114.
At that price I would get stainless one made and cut pipe just behind CAT.
Touch wood she has had no major problems with 1.3 - had to replace P/S belt - getting it on was OK but try and get tension on it as you tighten bolts - you also need child's hands and magic spanners
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>>At that price I would get a stainless one made and cut just behind the CAT.
In my limited experience of these things, stainless steel makes slightly "different" exhausts. I don't know if it is the different rigidity/stiffness of stainless, or if they make it a bit thinner than the standard mild steel, but the two cars I've had a stainless exhaust weren't as quiet inside the car after the change, and it didn't improve much with use either (despite being assured that it would) as the insides of the exhaust became coated with carbon/muck.
The biggest disappointment was a Volvo exhaust fitted by a competant Volvo dealer, and that had a mild steel downpipe (allegedly) as part of the specification. They argued the point years later when the downpipe had rusted through, but did replace it under warrantee when I produced the original bill showing the part numbers used.
At the other end of the spectrum is our Morris 1000 - it can now blow raspberries for England on the over-run.
Quite satisfying, in an odd sort of way, but the "feature of the model" is exaggerated with the stainless exhaust.
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The only difference with the modified timing cover is that it is machine finished after it has been cast therefore giving you a flat smooth surface the original suffered in certain areas a slightly uneven surface, which generally caused the oil leak but in my short experience of toyotas I haven't found that if they are sealed well they leak again I would recommend you to ask a toyota dealership for the direct customer service phone number and make a point that you know there's a modified part therefore there is a problem with the original and that you've had areoccurring fault with the original. If pressured enough I'd be very surprised if they wont at least contribute to the cost.
Firstly what bushes need replacing? If it's the anti-roll bar link bushes they are not a big job and worst case scenario with heavily corroded nuts should not exceed an hour and a halfs work and thats being generous! I have personally done these in twenty minutes. So if this is what they've quoted for I would query the price. I hope this is some help to you.
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