I no longer own this vehicle, but it was a 1996 Toyota Corolla, and I hope the information I provide here can help somehow with any current investigations. Around 100,000 miles, I took my car to a non-dealer mechanic to replace my timing belt as a matter of maintenance. After this replacement, my cruise control never worked again, and I noticed that in moments of deceleration (either in braking or coasting) that the engine would suddenly race and I could feel the gas pedal pull from its resting position. Please note that the model I've indicated is inaccurate -- I don't recall what the model was as I no longer own the vehicle. I've been as specific as I can be. I just thought it might prove useful. The incident date is also inaccurate as this occurred frequently enough to notice, but not often enough or severely enough to warrant my taking to a dealer.

- Niles, MI, USA

I purchased the car October, 2000 as a used car with a warranty. About two weeks later the car broke down and had to be towed to dealer that I bought it from. A rebuilt engine block was put in because of major oil problems. It took over a month for them to finish the repair. I was assured that it was ok. About 5 months later the car started leaking oil and I had to constantly watch the oil level. I was told by the same dealer that it was normal to have to watch the oil on a car that old. I got more concerned and called another dealer and was told that it was not normal so I took the car back to the dealer. I insisted that the car be looked at. Again the engine block had to be replaced as something was not put on correctly (that is the excuse they gave me). This took about 2 weeks to repair. Again I was assured that the car would last this time. The engine was under warranty at this time. Three months later the engine light went on so I took it back again. They fixed that problem but I am not sure what they did at that time. I drove the car just over a year and just this week the car started smoking. I took it to the dealer and was told that there was major work on the engine that needed to be done but the warranty was out. It will be very expensive to fix it and so they did not want to do it. Now I have a car that does not run without smoking and I still owe $7000 on it. I am very upset because it seems that they sold me a car with major problems that they never could fix.

- Seal Beach, CA, USA

Oil sludge build-up caused engine to cease. Brought car to local Toyota dealer(ak Toyota, gu) and Toyota mechanics tore the engine apart and then I was informed that to repair this engine it will cost over $6,000, because the warranty did not cover damages caused by engine sludge. Sincerely, [xxx]. information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- Mangilao, HI, USA