Grrr... 1000 miles out of warrenty cost me $500

Totally sucks... took my 05 Tacoma in for an oil change today (took it to the dealer because they do the best work and have good prices in my area) and decided to have them do some of the basic 75,000 mile checks as well. About an hour later the service guy comes back and says that they found that the high pressure line of the power stearing pump had sprung a leak and was spraying fluid inside the engine. Cost to replace everything is just over $500 as the parts alone are just under $350 from the quick look I did on the paperwork. What sucks is that my 75,000 extended warrenty that I purchased when I bought the truck expired just under 1000 miles ago. I thought I had bought a 90,000 and guess I thought wrong. What really bites is that I was going to go get everything serviced last weekend but ran out of time. I would have been under 75,000 miles last weekend.

GRRRRRR... sorry had to rant. Love my truck and I've never had any problems with it.. EVER!!! .. That said I've never had a problem with any of the Toyota's I've owned. Just a little tick'd with the extra cash going out the door just before Christmas. Oh well.. guess I can count myself lucky that the line didn't blow up completely while I was on vacation with the family. With the rain, ice and snow lately that would have been a nightmare to happen.

 

Sucks when that happens, and yes you are lucky that it didn't brake while you where on vacation.

 

I would have insisted they cover it...you were only a 1,000 miles out. Also, did you happen to see any power steering fluid leaking or covering the engine bay? If you have a leak like they are describing, you would have definitely felt it when driving.

 

Kind of strange? Unless it sprung a leak as were driving to Toyota I would go back to where you park your truck and look for signs of fluid. Is it to late to get a 2nd opinion?

 

Yeah it's normally parked in the garage and I thought about that. The only thing that didn't make me investigate further and just take the word of the service guy was that under hard acceleration as the transmission shifts I kept hearing umm.. a "wooshing" sound under the hood. I never thought anything about it since nothing was really affected however now I'm wondering if it was the power steering pump since it was low on fluid so the "woosh" was the sound of the fluid. Would make sense actually. Just makes me mad is all. I'm definitely going to ask them to point out what exactly was replaced and such.. unfortunately it will be after the fact. Wasn't thinking about asking ahead of time since my $40 oil change turned into $500 right before Christmas so the GRRR factor made my thought process jump track. At least the service guy was nice and got me a rental car paid for by Toyota without me having to ask.

 

yeah, i would've gotten a 2nd opinion too, cause dealer will rip off anyone and everyone

 

Well I got the truck back today and I have to say the steering isn't quite as tight as it was before. There's also some "spray" on the fan housing so it definitely was leaking. It must have been just enough to slowly degrade steering to the point I didn't notice it. $300 though for a "hose". I attached photos for those that aren't sure what line exactly it was. The first photo is the connection to the power steering pump on the passenger side of the engine compartment. The line then goes down and all the way across the lower part of the engine as shown in photo 2. Metal in some places and rubber in other. Photo 3 is where it ultimately connects. Looks like they have to replace the entire line when something like this happens instead of just the section that's leaking. I guess that would be the smart thing to do anyway. Makes me wonder though how protected this line is should you be on a rock/pebble road and have crap fly in from under the truck.

 

What's done is done. Here is your next step. Write to the manager of the service dept (not an advisor). Tell him of your dedication to that dealership. Tell him of your purchase of the extended warranty. Tell him is was never used because your truck had been flawless until your last visit. Tell him that this leak is not something that occurred overnight. Tell him that the dealership should apply a "Good Will" to your situation. Being off a few hundred miles shouldn't destroy a relationship between a customer and your place of service. After all, everyone should want to retain the business they currently have because of our economy. If you have history with them, then you have a leg to stand on. Write the letter, AND do it soon. Tell him/her how you feel. It should not a threatening letter, JUST informative. Let them know how you feel. They should care. Let us know how it goes. WRITE THE LETTER!

 

Wow, that isn't good news. Those pics scare me because they look like the exact same type of lines I had on my old Chevy S10 for the remote mount oil filter and the oil cooler. They were a very common failure item, always leaking at the junction between the metal and rubber parts. Usually they start with a slow leak but there were many instances of catastrophic failures. $500 seems pretty exorbitant for this repair, IMHO. Damn, I thought I'd left those hoses behind when I traded the S10 on my 09 Tacoma. :-(