I have a 2004 Toyota Corolla S 5-speed with 91,000 miles on it. While driving the other day, the transmission locked up on the interstate. I had never had a problem with the car and have maintained it well since I purchased it. I had the car towed to the local Toyota dealership and was told the clutch was bad and they gave me an estimate of $1,036 to repair it. After speaking to another mechanic and finding out that the dealership wanted $400 more than average to do the service I had the car towed to my local mechanic. After removing the transmission from the car he informed me that the clutch was fine and the transmission was bad. I bought a Toyota for its supposed reliability......what a joke. This is going to cost thousands to repair and has effectively ruined my summer vacation plans. I know there are similar complaints concerning this transmission.....I hope something gets done about it. -bryan shepler

- Northfield, VT, USA

Summer 2007, with about 65,000 miles on my 2004 Toyota Corolla S (bought new), I started to notice an unusual sound when I shifted gears--sounded a little like a diesel engine sound but very faint. Sound slowly become more pronounced, until it became a worry. It happened when I used the clutch (it's a manual). I brought it to the dealer to have them listen to it. They didn't hear it, but recommended that I leave it for service. I did. Dealer said they found no problem. Also said they rarely work on manual transmissions any more. Concerned about potential safety issues, I brought it to a local mechanic personally known to me. He immediately identified it as a transmission bearing problem. Thought it was possibly the Pilot bearing. He recommend I take it to a transmission place for a listen. The transmission shop came to the same conclusion as the local mechanic. I reported back to my mechanic who called the dealership to check whether there were any service bulletins about transmission bearing problems and they said there weren't. I contacted the dealer to report the findings of the transmission shop and they said that they didn't think there was a problem. I returned to the transmission shop to have the transmission work done and he replaced the bearings. No more unusual sound when I shift. I still have the old part, which shows wear on one of the bearings. The dealer was not helpful in resolving the problem. The manufacturer was even less helpful. The repair was very expensive, about ~1600 (I also decided to replace the clutch while we were in there).

- Harvard, MA, USA

My daughter was driving her 2004 Toyota Corolla from san diego to dallas. About 60 miles East of yuma, AZ the manual transmission went out in this car. Had to have it towed back to yuma and a whole new transmission replaced because the transmission had ground itself to pieces and there were pieces of this in the transmission pan. We had to pay $3000 for a new transmission. We do not believe a 3 year old Toyota with a manual transmission should go out at 75,000 miles.

- Flower Mound, TX, USA