Warranty work help

Had my wife’s Toyota in because I found metal shavings in the oil. It’s a low mileage previous lease. Still seems to run fine- no knocks or outward signs of problem yet. Vehicle was previous lease purchased from a reputable non-Toyota dealership.

Long story short is the dealership says Toyota will only cover part of a motor tear down. They said it’s due to oil starvation or a dry start with doing nothing more than oil change/ looking at the oil.

My thought is it’s unlikely there was a dry start on a lease vehicle. I am sure it has not had a dry start or low oil since we have owned it.

It’s a long story but dealership immediately pinpointed this as the reason for the problem. Hoping to find a dealership in the area that will advocate for me rather than point the finger at me. Some of the dealerships comments to me- about me saying the right things (about being long term Toyota customer) - were unsettling. What does that have to do with honoring a warranty?

Long story short- I am looking for advice, or a recommended service tech or someone I can talk to who can help me figure out how to get my engine issue covered by the current power train warranty.

Open to any advice/ help. Thanks.

 

Do you have any pictures of the shavings? Are they ferrous / magnetic?

You didn’t specify year, or any other vehicle info. What are we talking about here?

 

I didn’t put a magnet to them. Dealer said they think it’s aluminum. I don’t have pictures but I could probably get them from the dealership.

Wife’s car is a 2017 highlander with 44k miles now.

 

How many oil changes have you done since the initial awareness of metal shavings? Has there been metal present everytime?

 

I found the metal shavings and brought in the oil. Dealer said bring it back and they did the next oil change and said they found shavings and oil looked “like a bass boat”. Uggggg.

I have record of a dealer service and believe I also had Jiffy Lube do a service between but can’t recall and can go there for service record if needed.

 

May want to check the oil baffle at the fill hole for wear (edit: it should have one). Maybe the oil fill gun bent it and now the cam is wearing through it. Maybe it’s simple problem.

 

what would this indicate?

 

thanks. I didn’t know about the bypass. That’s a nice feature. Appears it does have bypass.

 

I spent too much time looking and couldn’t find any proof to confirm, but I’d be shocked if there wasn’t a bypass valve.

 

Just trying to come up with some recourse. I feel like dealer jumped the gun and immediately pointed the finger at misuse.

 

Sounds like dealership is not being forthcoming. They claimed they submitted work requests to Toyota, but corporate claims they have no record of any submission.

Anyone recommend a CO Toyota dealership that has treated them well on warranty work?

 

There are plenty of Toyota Stores in Colorado,try some more.

 

I'd try Stevenson's Toyota West or East.