1999 Toyota Corolla

MY CAR IS 9 YRS OLD, 109,000 MILES IT'S ON THE LOWER END OF THE RECOMMENDATION MILEAGE FOR THE YEAR OF THE CAR. ON 9/3/08 FIRST DAY THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT EVER CAME ON. I GOT NERVOUS WENT TO ADVANCED AUTO PARTS AND THEY CHECKED THE LIGHT, IT SHOWED SOMETHING WAS WRONG WITH THE AIR FLOW. CHECK ENGINE LIGHT WENT OUT AFTER 3 DAYS. BROUGHT IT TO TOYOTA FOR REPAIRS OF SOME OTHER ITEMS AND MENTIONED THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT GOING ON AND THEN OFF. THEY CHECKED IT BUT WASN'T SURE IF IT WAS READING CORRECTLY. 4 DAYS LATER CAME BACK ON AGAIN AND WENT OUT 3 DAYS LATER. 2 DAYS PASSED AND THEN IT CAME BACK ON AGAIN AND REMAINED ON EVER SINCE. I BROUGHT IT BACK AND THEY TOLD ME IT WAS A CHARCOAL CANISTER FAILURE AND IT WOULD COST $450, I WAS UPSET BECAUSE I JUST GOT $968 WORTH OF REPAIRS AND MAINTENANCE DONE. I ALWAYS KEEP UP ON MY MAINTENANCE WORK/OIL CHANGES. IS THIS A FAULTY PART FROM TOYOTA? I'VE NEVER HEARD OF THIS GOING AND IF IT IS NORMAL AFTER SO MANY YEARS/MILES THEN WHY IS IT SO EXPENSIVE AND HARD TO FIND OR REPAIR? I HEARD ONLY TOYOTA HAS THE PART WHICH WAS QUOTED TO ME AS $232. SO IF I DON'T PAY $450 MY VEHICLE WON'T PASS INSPECTION/EMISSION TEST. CAN SOMEONE HELP! *TR

ENGINE LIGHT COMES ON FROM TIME TO TIME ON ITS ON DUE TO FAILURES OF THE CHARCOAL CANISTER/EVAPORATIVE SOLENOIDS. THE CHARCOAL CANISTER SEEMS TO BE A COMMON COMPLAINT. THE CAR WILL RUN JUST FINE (DEPENDING ON THE TYPE OF FAILURE), BUT IF YOU HAVE EMISSIONS TESTING, THE CAR WILL FAIL. MANY TOYOTA OWNERS SEEM TO BE HAVING THIS SIMILAR TROUBLE DUE TO SOME FLAW IN THE TOYOTA ICU PROGRAMMING. IF YOU SEARCH ON THE NET FOR THE SIMILAR PROBLEM, MANY LINKS WILL SHOW UP. ----------------- HTTP://AUTOS.MSN.COM/RESEARCH/VIP/RELIABILITY.ASPX?YEAR=1999&MAKE=TOYOTA&MODEL=CAMRY&TRIMID=-1 ----------------- HTTP://WWW.CARTRACKERS.COM/FORUMS/LIVE/TOYOTA/600.HTML. *JB -----------------

MY 1999 TOYOTA COROLLA HAS ITS CHECK ENGINE LIGHT ON FOR THE TWO YEARS. THE CODE IS P0446/0441 AND WHEN WINTER COMES IT GOES AWAY AND RE APPEARS IN SUMMER. I FIRST NOTICED THAT AROUND 36000 MILES. THE DEALER SAYS IT IS A CANISTER PROBLEM, BUT COULD BE SOMETHING ELSE AND I SEE THAT THERE A LOT OF TOYOTA OWNERS WHO ARE SEEING THE SAME COMPLIANT. ALSO FOR THE LAST 2 DAYS I SEE THAT THE SEAT BELT NOT PUT SIGN START TO FLASH EVEN IF YOU HAVE THE SEAT BELT ON.

CORROSION CAUSED THE FAILURE OF THE DRIVER'S SIDE BOLT HOLDING THE MUFFLER STRAP ON BOTH MY 1998 AND 1999 TOYOTA COROLLA IN APRIL 2004 AND APRIL 2005 RESPECTIVELY. FORTUNATELY I WAS AT LOW SPEED IN 2004 SO THE DAMAGE WASN'T GREAT AND IN 2005 MY WIRE FAIL SAFE PREVENTED AN EXHAUST DROP. STAINLESS STEEL IS REQUIRED FOR THIS FASTENER OR MORE MUFFLER HOLDING DEVICES.*AK

I HAVE A 99 TOYOTA COROLLA VE AND IT WAS FINE UNTIL A WEEK AGO WHEN A MALFUNCTION INDICATOR LAMP LIT UP. I TOOK MY CAR TO A MECHANIC WHERE THE CAR ELECTRONIC SYSTEM WAS CHECKED. IT SHOWED THAT MY CAR HAS A EVAP CONTROL SYSTEM VENT CONTROL CIRCUIT MALFUNCTION. ACCORDING TO THE MECHANICS, IT WOULD COST ME 400-500 DOLLARS TO FIX IT BESIDES A GOOD AMOUNT OF MONEY JUST FOR A DIAGNOSTIC TEST. AFTER THE CHECK UP, THE MALFUNCTION INDICATOR WAS OFF BUT THEN COME BACK LATER. I LEARNED THAT MANY OTHER TOYOTA CARS HAVE THE SAME PROBLEMS AND ALSO THE MALFUNCTION INDICATOR LIGHT STILL ON EVEN AFTER FIXING THE PROBLEM. THIS IS A PROBLEM OF A FAULTY CIRCUIT THAT WOULD NOT ALLOW THE CANISTER TO VENT AND THAT CAUSES GAS TO BECOME TRAPPED IN THE CANISTER AND MAKES IT BREAK DOWN. THUS, RESULTING IN THE CHARCOAL CANISTER NOT WORKING PROPERLY. I DON'T KNOW HOW SAFE DRIVING MY CAR IF THE PROBLEM PERSISTS AND IT WOULD CAUSE PROBLEM WITH SMOG CHECK, GAS, FIRE... *LA

PURCHASED MY CAR USED ON 2002. THE CAR NEVER HAD ANY PROBLEMS UNTIL IN JANUARY 2004, THE CHARCOAL CANISTER NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THIS WAS AT THE SAME TIME THE A/C SYSTEM NEEDING TO BE REPLACED. THE A/C SYSTEM WAS COVERED UNDER AN EXTENDED WARRANTY, HOWEVER THE EMISSION PROBLEMS WERE NOT. I HAVE HAD PROBLEMS WITH THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CONTINUALLY GOING ON AND OFF SINCE THIS HAS BEEN REPLACED. I HAVE TAKEN IT BACK TO BE CHECKED, THE MECHANIC TELLS ME THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH MY CAR. HOWEVER, THE LIGHT CONTINUES TO ARISE. THE LIGHT STAYED OFF FOR APPROXIMATELY 2-3 MONTHS AND HAS NOW STARTED ITS ON AND OFF AGAIN SHOW. THE RESEARCH I HAVE BEGUN HAS OPENED MY EYES TO A WHOLE NEW WORLD OF CHARCOAL CANISTERS BEING REPLACED AS FAST AS PEOPLE CHANGE UNDERWEAR. THIS REPLACEMENT COST ABOUT $467-/ WITH LABOR. AS FAR AS I CAN TELL THIS IS THE GOING RATE FOR THIS JOB. I AM UPSET TO SEE SO MANY PEOPLE IN THE SAME 'CANISTER' AS I AND TOYOTA, WITH WHOM I LOVE THEIR CARS, ARE NOT MAKING ANY ADJUSTMENTS NOR STANDING UP TO THE PLATE TO ASSIST THEIR CONSUMERS. I WORK IN A CONSUMER PROTECTION AGENCY AND KNOW PERSONALLY HOW PEOPLE AND BUSINESSES TAKE ADVANTAGE OF ONE ANOTHER. I ASK TOYOTA TO LOOK INTO THIS PROBLEM THOROUGHLY.*AK

UPON SEEING THE "CHECK ENGINE" LIGHT ON I TOOK MY 1999 TOYOTA COROLLA (50,200 MILES) TO A LOCAL TOYOTA DEALERSHIP FOR DIAGNOSTICS. THE REPORT INDICATED THAT THE CHARCOAL CANISTER NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE REPAIR COSTS ARE ALMOST $500 WITH LABOR. THIS PART IS NOT UNDER WARRANTY PAST 3 YEARS AND 30000 MILES. ALTHOUGH THIS IS NOT A SAFETY ISSUE, IT IS AN ENVIRONMENTAL AND FUEL EFFICIENCY CONCERN AND I THINK THAT THE COMPANY SHOULD INCLUDE IT IN ITS EXTENDED WARRANTY. I AM TRYING TO SHOP AROUND FOR A CHEAPER ESTIMATE. I HAVE PERFORMED ALL THE RECOMMENDED MAINTAINENCE SCHEDULES AND AM CONCERNED THAT THIS WAS NOT ADDRESSED DURING ROUTINE MAINTAINENCE.*AK