THIS IS NOT RELATED TO A SPECIFIC INCIDENT, BUT I FEEL I SHOULD REGISTER A COMPLAINT ABOUT THE BRAKES ON THE 2000 TOYOTA ECHO. THE STOPPING DISTANCE REQUIRED SEEMS EXCESSIVE TO ME, AND I FEEL THAT IT WOULD BE NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO EVER CAUSE THE CAR TO SKID (LOCK UP THE WHEELS) USING THE BREAKS IF YOU SLAMMED THEM ON IN AN EMERGENCY DESPITE THE CAR NOT HAVING ANTI-LOCK BREAKS. ALL RECALLS HAVE BEEN DONE ON MY CAR AS FAR AS I KNOW. THERE WAS ONE RECALL WHICH INVOLVED THEM REPLACING THE BREAK BOOSTER - I NOTICED DRAMATICALLY IMPROVED BREAKING PERFORMANCE IMMEDIATELY AFTER THIS RECALL - HOWEVER AFTER ABOUT A YEAR MAYBE, THE CAR RETURNED TO ITS POOR BREAKING PERFORMANCE. NEW BREAK PADS AND SHOES, AND A BRAKE FLUID CHANGE DID NOT FIX THE PROBLEM. I CALLED TOYOTA A WHILE AGO TO ASK ABOUT THIS, AND ALL THEY COULD TELL ME WAS THAT MY CAR ALREADY HAD THE BREAK RECALL DONE MANY YEARS AGO AND THAT THERE WAS NO NEW RECALL. IT MAY BE WORTH MENTIONING THAT I ALSO HAVE A 2001 TOYOTA ECHO WHICH DOES NOT HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM - SO I DEFINITELY CAN TELL THE DIFFERENCE AND I KNOW THAT STOPPING DISTANCE IS MUCH WORSE ON MY 2000 VEHICLE. *TR
2003
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE
I OWNED MY NEW 2003 TOYOTA ECHO LESS THAN A WEEK WHEN IT STARTED STALLING INTERMITTENTLY WHEN DECELERATING--SOMETIMES WHEN SLOWING THROUGH A TOLL BOOTH, OR SLOWING THROUGH A TURN, OR EXITING A HIGHWAY, OR MERGING WITH TRAFFIC, OR COMING TO A STOP. I TOOK THE CAR BACK TO THE DEALERSHIP I PURCHASED IT FROM ON THREE SEPARATE OCCASIONS FOR THIS PROBLEM. THE DEALERSHIP REPLICATED THE PROBLEM ONCE AND TRIED TO FIND A SOLUTION (BRINGING IN REGIONAL TOYOTA EXPERTS, AND EVEN KEEPING MY CAR ONCE FOR EIGHT DAYS), BUT THE PROBLEM HAS NEVER BEEN FIXED. ONCE I WENT SIX WEEKS WITHOUT A STALL, BUT IT CAN ALSO STALL MULTIPLE TIMES IN ONE DAY--AT TIMES AND IN WAYS THAT ARE LIFE THREATENING. WHEN TOYOTA TOOK ADVANTAGE OF ITS FINAL OPPORTUNITY TO REPAIR (BEFORE I PURSUE REMEDY THROUGH MAINE'S LEMON LAW), I WAS TOLD THEY FOUND NOTHING WRONG, NOTHING TO FIX.*AK