S
Skipper
Guest
I purchased a 97 Toyota Landcruiser in August 2000 from a Toyota Dealer in Missouri. The car had 15,188 miles and was sold with the remainder of the drive train factory warranty up to 60,000 miles. There was no other warranty on the vehicle. I live in Denver, but found the car listed on the internet. I was willing to fly to St. Louis to buy the car from a Toyota Dealer rather than purchse one locally from an individual. I felt that a car purchased from a dealer would professionally inspected, thus, increase my odds that the vehicle would be in good mechnical condition. I was driving back from St. Louis to Denver and noticed that the oil pressure was low. I pulled into a Toyota dealer and asked them to check it out. They reviewed the vehicle and said there is nothing wrong..drive it back to Denver. In the last 5,000 miles of driving, I have had 3 Toyota dealers change the oil. Recently, I noticed that oil pressure was real low again. I immediately pulled into a Toyota dealer in Denver and asked them to research the problem. They told me that they thought it was a guage without any inspection of the vehicle. I questioned the diagnosis and they told me that it was probably the guage. They said they would order a guage and it was ok to continue to drive it until they received the guage. Two days later the engine blew up on the car. I had it towed to the dealer in Denver and they determined that the engine oil was full of sludge. Toyota claims that there was a lack of maintenance on the vehicle, therefore, the factory warranty is void. I received paperwork from the dealer in St. Louis showing they inspected the vehicle. There is a box for engine inspection that is checked "ok". I believe that the St. Louis dealer did not adequately inspect the vehicle. The dealer in Denver said that they pull the valve cover off of every used car to look for sludge. This was not done by the St. Louis dealer. It made me sick the other day when I was on hold with the St. Louis dealer when the phone message started talking about the "high quality used cars at their dealership". Who, if anyone, is liable? Thanks!