2003 Corolla S - Check Engine light and dealership's runaround...

[JAlexander86]

Well, where to start? I owned a 1997 Corolla for 2 years. Looking back at it, I loved that car. It never gave me one problem. Not ONE. But I was an idiot and got rid of it, so last month I said, "I want another Corolla!" and went to my local dealership to find a shiny black 2003 Corolla S and fell in love. I paid for a warranty and everything to make sure I didn't get shafted. Well, two days later, I got shafted as my check engine light started coming on. I took it to the dealership, they checked for my code, then told me I needed to put my gas cap on right. Problem was, I hadn't even touched the gas cap since I bought it. My guess is they then erased the code.

Two days after that, BAM, there it is again. I take it back in, and they tell me I need a charcoal cannister and try to charge me $240. I say, "Hey, I just bought this thing and I've barely put 100 miles on it. I'm not paying!" The owner tells them to take care of me, and I think problem is over, right?

Two or three days after that, I get the light again. Can you imagine the frustration. I take it in to them, they leave me out in the lobby waiting for two hours, then say they'll get in touch with Toyota on the code and call me back.

Two weeks pass, no call. I go back up there to talk to the owner again. He says he'll get in touch with Toyota, and four days later they call me back in to the shop. They say Toyota gave them a checklist, everything is coming up okay, but the cannister must have been bad because of moisture or something and they tell me they've order another one. They say Toyota is sending out "good" cannisters now.

I go back in and get that one put on a couple days ago, and low and behold, the friggen light is STILL ON!!! I'd be VERY, VERY angry right now if I would've paid that $240. I don't have the code, but I've looked around on line and found that a very common problem with my engine type on the 2003 and 2004 Corollas is excessive sulfur odor, that will give out code P0420. And that I probably need my PCM (engine computer) replaced. I know this is probably a costly and tedious problem to fix for the dealership, especially considering the fact that I refuse to pay as I was sold the vehicle in this condition, but what am I supposed to do? I paid for the warranty, and now I'm getting the runaround as they constantly just erase my problem codes! I'm so frustrated... help, please?

I know I'm going to Autozone to get a print out on this problem code, I'll tell you that.

[9phil9]

I wished I had some good news to offer you here, but I don't.
I had an '04 that had the sulfur smell problem, and a constant check engine light that Toyota could not seem to fix either. (0133 lean condition)
First they told me that I was burning the wrong brand of fuel, so I changed.
That didn't do anything.
Then they said maybe the poor fuel mileage was related the way I was driving it.
I was 55 then, and long past the days of driving like an idiot, plus the mileage was about the same no matter how easy, or how hard I drove it.
(Between 19 and 23 mpg.)
And besides, what would my driving habits have to do with the Sulfur smell?
Eventually they replaced the Catalytic Converter assembly, (About an $800 part) the O2 sensor (Three times) reprogrammed the CPU, put some expensive fuel injector cleaner in my tank and told me to burn the tank up ASAP because it was so caustic.
And after putting 12,000 miles on this car I finally got fed up and asked for arbitration. (Invoking the Lemon Law)
Toyota even sent two factory engineers out to work side by side with my mechanic, in a last ditch effort to fix the car.
They had the car for 5 1/2 weeks!
The only reason I didn’t go ballistic was the fact they gave me a new Camry XLS to drive, while mine was being worked (?) on.
In the end, they conceded the car was not fixable as far as Toyota Corp would allow them to anyway, ( asked them why they couldn't reprogram the computer with the '06 software, at least that seemed to fix the new cars.They told me that the factory would not let them even try that because of the emissions regulations BS) and I ended up buying a 2006 with the money I got back from the '04.
I pity the poor sucker who bought that lemon. (It was sold within a week as a "Certified" Toyota used car.)
You, my friend, probably bought somebody else’s "Lemon".
I feel sorry for you, but whatever you do, don't let the dealership off the hook by giving up.
Make them fix it, or replace it with a car that works correctly.