Consumer Complaint Detail

TOYOTA / 4RUNNER / 1994

Recalls
0 Injured
Investigations
0 Death
Complaints
No Fire
Components - Details
NHTSA Complaint Number: 006064594 Incident Date: Feb, 03 2006
Consumer's City: Consumer's State: NC
Vehicle Transmission Type: AUTO Manufacturers Name: Toyota Motor Corporation
Model Name: 4RUNNER Model Year: 1994
Vehicle Involved in a Crash: No Component's Description: Engine and engine cooling
Vehicle Involved in a Fire: No Persons Injured: 0
Vehicle's VIN#: JT3VN39W4R8 Date added to File: May, 23 2021
Date Complaint Received: May, 07 2006 Complaint Type: IVOQ
Incident Reported To Police: No Purchase Date: -
Was Original Owner: Yes Anti-lock Brakes: No
Number of Cylinders: 6 Date of Manufacturer: -
Was Vehicle Towed: - Description of the Complaints: I own a 94 toyota 4runner and a 94 toyota sr5 pickup truck. back in '98 i received a recall notice i brought both my vehicles to fred anderson toyota in response to the recall. they replaced the head gaskets on both vehicles. recall notice: a 3vz-e head gasket replacement june 26, 1998 vehicle: toyota truck 4x4mileage: 46,623 july 17, 1998 vehicle: toyota 4runnermileage: 38,037 the beginning of february 2006 of this year, my toyota pickup truck blew a head gasket when i cranked it up one afternoon. dense smoke and radiator fluid flowed from the tailpipe and the engine was vibrating.less than 12 hours after the head gasket blew in my pickup truck, the very next morning i started my wife's 4runner to make a trip into town. immediately when i started it, dense smoke and radiator fluid flowed from the tailpipe and the engine was vibrating even worst than before. i immediately turn the truck off. toyota opened a case# 200602060829. i was told they would call chan coleman at sanford toyota and try to get a special price. i called chan and was told i would need to speak with someone in his service department. he transferred me to service and was quoted a price of $1,600 per vehicle to repair. i had both vehicles towed and repaired by a local repair shop. below are the dates and mileage for the repairs. february 16, 2006 vehicle: toyota truck 4x4 mileage: 120,000 february 4, 2006 vehicle: toyota 4runner mileage: 102,000 i was told by the mechanic at the local repair shop that the reason the head gaskets were blowing was because of a casting design flaw with the engine heads and not the head gaskets. the heads had dimples which over time would cause the head gasket to blow. the heads on both my vehicles had to be resurfaced to remove the dimples. i called toyota with this information but was told they show both my vehicles were fixed in accordance to the recall and it is a one time fix only and the owner needs to take responsibility at some point. *nm