STARTED HAVING A SMOKING WHEN STARTING ENGINE. DIAGNOSED AS LEAKING VALVE GUIDES, COLLECTING OIL OVERNIGHT AND BURNED WHEN CAR STARTED IN MORNING. NO SMOKE THEREAFTER...JUST EVERY MORNING. MECHANIC TOOK ENGINE APART, TOOK HEAD TO MACHINE SHOP, HEAD MACHINED AND VALVE GUIDES REPLACED. PUT TOGETHER ENGINE, NEW HEAD GASKET. OIL LEAKED THROUGH HEAD GASKET IN FRONT AND SIDES.

ENGINE AGAIN TAKEN APART, MACHINE SHOP FOR TOYOTA SAID ENGINE BOLTS (12) STRETCHED NEED NEW BOLTS. REPLACED BOLTS AND HEAD GASKET...PUT ENGINE TOGETHER...ENGINE CONTINUES LEAKING...DON'T KNOW WHERE TO GO NEXT!

I bought this POS brand new on January 2005 and 2 months later my car started idling very high (around 3,200 rpm's) so I took it to the dealership and 2 days later they said the car needed a new engine and that the Toyota warranty wouldn't cover the repair because they stated it was my fault. WHATTT???? I haven't done anything bad to my car, in fact, I treat it like a baby. So I insisted they repair the car or give me my money back but they said no. I contacted Toyota of America and after 30 minutes on hold they answered and finally gave me my money back. On April 2005 I bought a brand new Kia Optima and so far with 70,560 miles on it still running like new. No problems and the few things have been covered under Kia's generous warranty. So I learned my lesson no more Toyota's for me and you can say whatever about Kia, but they have changed since the 90's and they are offering beautiful, reliable and safe vehicles with a great 10year warranty. I am so happy with Kia that now I have 2: 2005 Optima EX and 2013 Optima EX GDI.

So mad at Toyota that I never recommend them to anyone.

2005 Toyota Camry,Beware of Manufacturers that will not stand behind their product. Our 05' Camry was running rough and idling/vibrating abnormal. We brought to our mechanic and after service engine light came on, found that catalytic converter was plugged/bad(Car only had 35K miles on it).They said that it was not common for the converter to go bad at only 35,000 miles. I found that this a manufacturers covered "emission" item. So called local Toyota dealer to make appointment and they said I would first have to pay $92 charge to evaluate car. They determined catalytic converter was in deed bad(same as my mechanic told me). They also said ignition coil on cylinder 2 was also not good. They told me no charge for the converter, but $260 to replace the coil. Since the coil was an easy plug-in replacement(cost me $70 for new coil and aprox. 15 min. to take old coil off and replace with new coil) I did simple($260 job myself!) When car was returned I still had same issue and returned to my mechanic where they found major engine damage internally. Apparently the source of my problem all along was not a bad coil, and the reason catalytic converter went bad was because of an internal engine condition where exhaust gases were being leaked into the cooling system as a result of a "crack/leak " of some kind! I imediately called same Toyota dealership (Romano/Syracuse) they told me that coverage for this would be good only to 60,000 miles(my car had 35,000) or 5 years (mine had 5yrs. 2mo.s). They admitted it was "very rare" for these issues to happen on Camry with 35k miles, but they couldn't do anything.

I ck'd online and found that I should try Toyota direct fo some sort of waiver/extension on factory warranty. After calling, Toyota phone Rep. claimed she could not help...I asked about how to talk w/ Toyota Region Rep. and she told me to contact local dealership and they could put me in contact. When I called them, the customer service Rep. stated that Toyota has "tightened " up and since car has not been "seviced at Toyota dealerships", Toyota would not be able to help. And there would again be a new dianostic fee I would have to pay first. I explained that I already did have car in there and (You)Toyota mis-diagnosed the problem in the begining, so I shouldn't have to pay. I have already paid to have diagnosed correctly by my certified mechanic! So here I sit with the "Super-Car" and No.1, Toyota Camry LE with only 35,000 miles made by that No. 1, "Super- Car" Company, Toyota and they choose not to stand by this inferior, unusually abnormal Camry, slightly out of warranty, that even Toyota admits has a "very rare" situation!