Any options other than replacing engine for $11k?

I never use 85. 87 or 91 only.

 

2017. Recently towed a car on a tow-dolly from RI to SC, but it was well below the tow package weight rating.

 

Yeah, I'm shopping around for a better deal on the repair... I *think* the current plan is to find a new credit card with a 0% intro rate, toss the repair on there, and just plan to have it all paid off in the intro period. Annoying because I'll have to redirect my student loan over-payments to covering this... I've only got 8k left on the student loans and was looking forward to finally being done with them this year after making $1000 payments every month for the past 12 years, but c'est la vie. I'll survive.

$12k is still a lot less than a replacement.

 

How would I go about doing this? Just contact Toyota customer service? Is there anything specific I should mention to make this more likely?

 

This is why I never buy a used automobile of any sort. Sure I pay a bit more but I keep them for 10+ years.

I can set up an engine to fail, or wreck a brand new engine on day-one if you drive it that way.

Not trying to slam the OP here, I hate to hear this, but now he's out 7k~12k on a vehicle he owes 12k on.
So that 12k + the repair cost + a few dollars more could have pretty much bought a brand new 2021/2022/2023 ...

I concur with others here advising for a second / third opinion.

 

Not saying I dont believe OP here - no reason not to, but this just sounds so unlikely.

OP - I would absolutely get this thing towed for a second opinion. There are a BUNCH of great toyota shops in Denver. Toy Shop is who I use for things I dont have time for/dont want to mess with. Here's there link: http://www.thetoyshopdenver.com/

Hard to believe your engine would go belly up out of nowhere. No impossible, but so unlikely. Sounds like you use high quality gas, and frequent oil changes too - which furthers my suspicion.

There are so many sensors and other small connections, etc.. that could cause rough running/no start conditions. Take it somewhere independent for another look.

Also - for what its worth - I rebuild an engine in an alley off Speer over the course of a couple months in 2020. I replaced a transmission in a cramped garage last summer - both on project cars. Engine swapping in a dirt driveway isnt ideal, but is 100% doable, specially in these warm conditions. I have a pop up tent I could even loan you to cover your work area from afternoon storms...

Go get that second opinion. Maybe your knock sensor is all screwed up, or you have multiple misfires, or a mouse chewed on the wiring somewhere. If I remember correctly a few months back somebody had similar symptoms and it ended up being the neutral safety switch or something like that.
Dont give up hope until somebody else takes a look at this engine.

 

first off, I’d like to say, thank you for being a responsible individual. I know more than a few people that are probably your age that have you quit paying student payments or basically say the governments gonna pay them I’m not paying shit.

The credit card thing is a good idea. And I used to keep one or two around just for cases like this that you’re in. And I always paid them off soon as possible.

Sucks that you’re having issues with us. If you would please whatever shop you take it to can you give us a heads up on what the Issue is? There is a possibility that you might not need a full engine rebuild. It might just be something like a cam failure.

 

Unless you put sand in the motor on day one, it would be extremely hard to ruin it that fast. These computer operated engines keep everything within tolerances from day 1. Unless the oil isnt changed for the first 30k miles, youd be hard pressed to ruin a motor very quickly.

Heck, I got a used rental fleet VOLVO XC70 2.5T and drove it to ~250k miles - lord knows that thing was beat to hell for its first 60k. I sold it still running perfect. Maintenance is super important, but NO chance the first 4500 miles wrecked that engine unless somebody was TRYING to break it.

 

Is it really 50 hours to drop an engine in nowadays?

 

Maybe 50 hours DIY with no experience watching a youtube video (a respectable move anyways). But no, an experienced shop should be able to do that in a few days max. Theres youtube creators who have done it in a day.

 

Yeah, fair enough, I do intend to have it looked at elsewhere. I have calls in to a couple shops that I'm waiting to hear back from. Thanks for the recommendation on the toy shop -- I'll give them a call too.

I was a little flabbergasted by their finding as well since I just changed the oil in April and there were no metal shavings of any kind in it (I always check). Checked the oil level when it started misbehaving too and it seemed fine.

 

Do you have a CEL on? Would be interesting to know what code its throwing if so.

 

No offense taken, but though I technically did buy it used, it only had 4500 miles on it... pretty much as close to new as you can get.

 

I tried to pull codes before I had it towed -- OBD reader said there were no codes. Dealer said they did pull some codes off it, but I'm not remembering what they were now.

 

OP - before my Tacoma I had a 2020 Ranger Access Cab. Had amazing service history, everything looked great. Engine let go at 36,500 miles.

What I'm saying is, bad luck can happen. Id be shocked if your engine is toast though. The ford I wasnt too surprised - sad, but not surprised.

Good luck - keep us updated on the findings!

 

They must be charging hundreds of dollars an hour then

 

Thank you. I know a few too, and not to get too political here, but I do understand both sides of that problem. The cost of education has skyrocketed over the past few decades due to unchecked administrative bloat and students are left to foot the bill. I could have bought a pretty decent house for what I've paid in student loans... and could have bought another tacoma or two for what I've paid in interest. I'm very fortunate that I'm paid well enough to manage it (software engineering was a good choice). I know a lot of people who have to choose between paying their loans down and living their lives and I can't blame some of them for choosing to live their lives. I also have a problem with allowing 18 year olds who didn't get any useful personal finance education in high school and have no credit history being able to sign up for life-altering amounts of debt with effectively zero guidance in the first place... but ANYWAY, time to:



I'll definitely keep the thread updated when there's any progress. For now I'm waiting for some phone calls and shopping for good credit card deals.

 

Definitely will do.

 

Look into salvage parts

 

I'm a high school dropout that's chosen to be a dev. Great decision and no debt