'08 Camry with problems - warped rotors and leaking struts

[nissan720]

Bought my 08 Camry new with 400 miles on it (it was driven from Texas dealer to Oklahoma) - Dec 07

It now has 40k miles - July 09

Noticed that the car had a slight shimmy while breaking - So I went to get an estimate to get rotors replaced/turned and confirm that is what the issue is. They also found that both of my right side struts are leaking.

So the pads still have life in them but the rotors will need to be turned.

Biggie is - Nobody sells strut kits to just replace the shock - so $600 in parts even if I do it myself.

I know I am outside of the 36k bumper to bumper but can I get Toyota to warranty part of this since I am only 4k miles out. This can't really be normal?

Cliffs:
40k miles in 19 month on new Camry
Car now needs at minimum rotors turned and both right struts
Suggestions?

Thanks for your help, Nissan


Update (16 July 09):

Went in and showed the car to my local Toyota dealer. They agreed that 3 of the struts were "wicking" - Oil was not pouring out the side but was making it past the seals. And that they should not have been doing that. The fourth strut (back left) looks just fine and they are going leave it alone.

Toyota is going to replace those 3 struts at not cost to me (as a good faith warranty) but I will need to pay for a realignment.

They said they could not replace the brakes for me as they are a wear item and they couldn't do anything about those.

I will end up paying for a realignment $85 and to have the dealer turn the rotors $120.

All in all for about $200 I will be back on the road and putting many more miles on my Camry.

 

[jlee]

That's weird.

can I get Toyota to warranty part of this

Beats me. Ask them.

 

[JulesMaximus]

I find it difficult to believe you can't get struts for less than $600. I can get quality performance struts for my Maxima for less than $100 per corner. BTW-You should always replace struts/shocks in pairs (front/rear not side/side). If both right side struts are blown you need to replace all 4.

Edit-Are you sure they're leaking or are they just telling you they are leaking? 40k seems awfully early to have blown struts on a car that hasn't been abused. I have almost 80k on my Maxima and the struts are perfectly fine still...and I drive it pretty hard at times.

 

[zoiks]

Toyota? Say it ain't so.

 

[woodie1]

I cannot believe the struts are bad on a Camry after 40K miles unless you have mighty big pot holes where you live. Get a 2nd opinion.

 

[nissan720]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
I find it difficult to believe you can't get struts for less than $600. I can get quality performance struts for my Maxima for less than $100 per corner. BTW-You should always replace struts/shocks in pairs (front/rear not side/side). If both right side struts are blown you need to replace all 4.

Edit-Are you sure they're leaking or are they just telling you they are leaking? 40k seems awfully early to have blown struts on a car that hasn't been abused. I have almost 80k on my Maxima and the struts are perfectly fine still...and I drive it pretty hard at times.

I am confident that the struts are leaking - not only were they oily (which the shop could have just squirted some oil on there) but the OEM stickers were also soaked thru, you could see the streak marks where the boot had wiped up the strut, and the tires had only been off for a few minutes before they came and got me.

Currently the cheapest prices I can find struts from a local parts store is:
$175 each for the front (Napa)
$123 each for the back (Autozone)

And I don't think I have done anything rough on the car my driving is 80%+ highway -

Possibly with struts along with the brakes maybe the undercarriage for my car was assembled on a Friday or just a bit of bad luck...

 

[DVad3r]

Sucks to hear. I drive a 01 car that's essentially a Camry and have no issues. That's a shitload of mileage though you put on it.

 

[boomerang]

Call the dealer and run it by them. It's not that far out of warranty. In the distant past we had a hub assembly go bad on a Malibu my wife was driving and they covered it even though we were past the warranty.

It's a good will gesture. IMO, they should cover it.

 

[ja1484]

YMMV. Sometimes manufacturers are nice to people that are just barely out of warranty. Can't hurt to try. Might want to call Toyo's customer service line too and get a case going there with them...that seems to help the process in situations like this.

 

[Vette73]

Struts, shocks, brakes, etc... are usually NOT covered by the full warranty but usually only a 1 year type since they are wear items.


Struts usually last more then 40k but I have seen them go out faster on some cars. Also a little leaking/fluid around the strut does not mean it is completly bad. So it may still be ok.

Also I would not turn the rotors as if they are bad this quick then turning them will make them wear out faster. if you want to turn and use the old pads as a stop gap then ok. But best to get new rotors and a new set of pads.


At rockauto.com

Struts (KYB) = $83 and 1 is $90
Brake rotor = $45 each
Brake pads = $30-40 for a full set

 

[mztykal]

I was just going to post that KYB makes their GR-2's for the car for less than 100 a corner.

 

[sdifox]

how the hell did you put that many miles on a 08 car? Did you drive through my city? Otherwise I don't see how you destroyed the shocks on only one side...

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: sdifox
how the hell did you put that many miles on a 08 car? Did you drive through my city? Otherwise I don't see how you destroyed the shocks on only one side...

He bought the car in 07. They released 08 vehicles around Feb and March of 07, just like they did this year. My car is 2 years old and it just hit the 49K mark.

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: zoiks
Toyota? Say it ain't so.

you even read the post?

 

[sdifox]

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: sdifox
how the hell did you put that many miles on a 08 car? Did you drive through my city? Otherwise I don't see how you destroyed the shocks on only one side...

He bought the car in 07. They released 08 vehicles around Feb and March of 07, just like they did this year. My car is 2 years old and it just hit the 49K mark.

40k mi in 19month is a lot.

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: sdifox

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: sdifox
how the hell did you put that many miles on a 08 car? Did you drive through my city? Otherwise I don't see how you destroyed the shocks on only one side...

He bought the car in 07. They released 08 vehicles around Feb and March of 07, just like they did this year. My car is 2 years old and it just hit the 49K mark.

40k mi in 19month is a lot.

it is....but some of us use our car alot. When i first got my current job, I was traveling 100 miles a day every other day.

 

[sdifox]

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: sdifox

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: sdifox
how the hell did you put that many miles on a 08 car? Did you drive through my city? Otherwise I don't see how you destroyed the shocks on only one side...

He bought the car in 07. They released 08 vehicles around Feb and March of 07, just like they did this year. My car is 2 years old and it just hit the 49K mark.

40k mi in 19month is a lot.

it is....but some of us use our car alot. When i first got my current job, I was traveling 100 miles a day every other day.

300 a week x50 =15000mi a year... pales in comparison to what he did. And if the company expects me to put in that kind of mileage, they better get me a company car.

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: sdifox

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: sdifox

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: sdifox
how the hell did you put that many miles on a 08 car? Did you drive through my city? Otherwise I don't see how you destroyed the shocks on only one side...

He bought the car in 07. They released 08 vehicles around Feb and March of 07, just like they did this year. My car is 2 years old and it just hit the 49K mark.

40k mi in 19month is a lot.

it is....but some of us use our car alot. When i first got my current job, I was traveling 100 miles a day every other day.

300 a week x50 =15000mi a year... pales in comparison to what he did.

factor in return trip, that 100 miles was only 1 way.

 

[nissan720]

Originally posted by: Marlin1975
Struts, shocks, brakes, etc... are usually NOT covered by the full warranty but usually only a 1 year type since they are wear items.


Struts usually last more then 40k but I have seen them go out faster on some cars. Also a little leaking/fluid around the strut does not mean it is completly bad. So it may still be ok.

Also I would not turn the rotors as if they are bad this quick then turning them will make them wear out faster. if you want to turn and use the old pads as a stop gap then ok. But best to get new rotors and a new set of pads.


At rockauto.com

Struts (KYB) = $83 and 1 is $90
Brake rotor = $45 each
Brake pads = $30-40 for a full set

Marlin,
Thanks for the advise - I will order my parts from them if the dealer will not help

I really don't want Toyota to pay for everything (maybe 50%) but I think that putting on new struts, rotors, and pads at 40k is out of the ordinary.

 

[sdifox]

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: sdifox

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: sdifox

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: sdifox
how the hell did you put that many miles on a 08 car? Did you drive through my city? Otherwise I don't see how you destroyed the shocks on only one side...

He bought the car in 07. They released 08 vehicles around Feb and March of 07, just like they did this year. My car is 2 years old and it just hit the 49K mark.

40k mi in 19month is a lot.

it is....but some of us use our car alot. When i first got my current job, I was traveling 100 miles a day every other day.

300 a week x50 =15000mi a year... pales in comparison to what he did.

factor in return trip, that 100 miles was only 1 way.

You said 100mi a day, not one way...

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: nissan720

Originally posted by: Marlin1975
Struts, shocks, brakes, etc... are usually NOT covered by the full warranty but usually only a 1 year type since they are wear items.


Struts usually last more then 40k but I have seen them go out faster on some cars. Also a little leaking/fluid around the strut does not mean it is completly bad. So it may still be ok.

Also I would not turn the rotors as if they are bad this quick then turning them will make them wear out faster. if you want to turn and use the old pads as a stop gap then ok. But best to get new rotors and a new set of pads.


At rockauto.com

Struts (KYB) = $83 and 1 is $90
Brake rotor = $45 each
Brake pads = $30-40 for a full set

Marlin,
Thanks for the advise - I will order my parts from them if the dealer will not help

I really don't want Toyota to pay for everything (maybe 50%) but I think that putting on new struts, rotors, and pads at 40k is out of the ordinary.

Well, I doubt they'll cover any of the brake work but they should replace all 4 struts at no charge to you IMO.

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: sdifox

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: sdifox

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: sdifox

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: sdifox
how the hell did you put that many miles on a 08 car? Did you drive through my city? Otherwise I don't see how you destroyed the shocks on only one side...

He bought the car in 07. They released 08 vehicles around Feb and March of 07, just like they did this year. My car is 2 years old and it just hit the 49K mark.

40k mi in 19month is a lot.

it is....but some of us use our car alot. When i first got my current job, I was traveling 100 miles a day every other day.

300 a week x50 =15000mi a year... pales in comparison to what he did.

factor in return trip, that 100 miles was only 1 way.

You said 100mi a day, not one way...

hahaha...my bad...this is how we talk when we have to post our time to the system so we get reimbursed for mileage at my company. It's undertood that it's one way. I even misundrstood when i started here. My first reimbursement check was doubled the first time. I got in soo much trouble b/c this went on for about 4 more months until the caught it. oops

 

[exdeath]

Toyota uses a true McPherson strut system, where the strut, spring, and upper mount, are all integrated as a single serviceable coilover cartridge. That's why they are $600, it's a lot more than just a strut. You don't even need a spring compressor to install them. Three bolts on the top, 2 on the knuckle, and you're done replacing everything.

 

[thomsbrain]

I would call your dealer and ask them to do evaluate the car for good-faith replacement. There's no excuse for a Camry to have leaking struts after 40K miles. Plenty of cars go 200K or more on the original struts.

 

[radioouman]

Huh. My 2002 Saturn L100 still has the original struts with 120,000 miles. Strange that your Toyota would be leaking at 40k. That sounds like a batch of bad oil seals... although maybe there is a design flaw in the suspension geometry. Do you pull up to a curb in a parking spot and hit the front wheels on the curb?