I owned my new 2003 Toyota Echo less than a week when it started stalling intermittently when decelerating--sometimes when slowing through a toll booth, or slowing through a turn, or exiting a highway, or merging with traffic, or coming to a stop. I took the car back to the dealership I purchased it from on three separate occasions for this problem. The dealership replicated the problem once and tried to find a solution (bringing in regional Toyota experts, and even keeping my car once for eight days), but the problem has never been fixed. Once I went six weeks without a stall, but it can also stall multiple times in one day--at times and in ways that are life threatening. When Toyota took advantage of its final opportunity to repair (before I pursue remedy through Maine's lemon law), I was told they found nothing wrong, nothing to fix.

- South Gardiner, ME, USA

Re: valve cover oil baffle we recently purchased a new Toyota Echo on 3-23 03. On 9-14-03 we experienced engine trouble. Leaving us stranded on a desolate stretch of highway. We had the vehicle towed to frontier Toyota in santa clarita. Upon their inspection they stated that who ever last changed the oil had bent the oil baffle causing it to lodge into the timing chain. Reviewing our records our last oil change was one month earlier and 2,200 miles earlier. Researching further there is a tsb dated on 3-02-02 under the heading egoo7-02 valve cover oil baffle -damage prevention. In their oil filling procedure they state "please take measures to ensure that the baffle is not damaged during the oil fill process" I have records of all the oil changes 3 total, the vehicle. Only has 14,958. I have spoke with the oil change service men they have investigated the vehicle. They were never notified of the tsb. Nowhere in the service manual is there notice of this oil baffle warning, or any kind of warning on the oil fill cap or on the valve cover. In fact as far as I can see there were no measures taken other than the tsb which was not presented to us upon purchasing the vehicle almost 1 year after the tsb was issued the dealership frontier Toyota will not honor the factory warranty even though the valve cover is covered under their warranty manual.

- Lancaster , CA, USA