I started to hear to growling coming from my motor. I had it looked and was told it MIGHT be a bad alternator. So I had the alternator fixed because it was broke. Outa sh*t luck the car stopped making the noise for about 2 days. Then it came back, so I thought nothing of it, really.

I drove it for about the next month then the car sh*t out and came to a rolling stop. So I called the dealership and they ran my VIN and ensured me that the engine wasn't an interference motor and I should be OK fixing whatever is wrong. My mechanic pulled the valve cover, timing cover, and all the other junk that was in the way out, and come to find out the only thing wrong was the timing chain tensioner. What happened was the chain became loose, jumped off the camshaft wheel, snapping the top chain guard, and causing a lot of trouble.

So I called Toyota again and asked why the top guard broke and they told me it shouldn't have, but guess what, it did so I bought a new timing chain kit, had it put in, but the car is still not completely fixed. My mechanic has been trying to fix it for about 3 weeks now and has been having the worst time ever trying to get the car timed correctly. It said to match the top two cam shaft timing marks but there aren't two similar marks on the cam shaft wheels. This job has been a pain in the ass for both me and my mechanic.

I have spoke to many mechanics, including Toyota's mechanic, to see if this issue should have been seen in regular routine service calls. They all said no, you would have had to tear the engine down. So here I am still paying on a car that doesn't run and is only 7 years old. Completely regretting buying this car. I do want to also note that Toyota said that they would like to look at the problem but will have to charge me to do so.