Status update...
It is a coverable item.
Now, whether they agree with Firestone's assessment is another story.
Visiting the dealer tonight for an evaluation

 

Larry,

Great to hear that Toyota considers them covered by the warranty. Hope everything comes out OK but make sure you let us know....

 

Will do!
I imagine the dealer, who will do the repair and bill Toyota, will be only too happy to have the work.

 

I am no stranger to the strut issue as my struts leaked at 35K, Toyota did replace all 4 under warranty.

Now, I have 94K and the car is riding like it was before the last set of struts were installed. Part of the reason the struts leak is due the condition of the roads in Illinois I drive. Maybe the cold weather too. This is disappointing, but at least I am still driving on the original brakes which still work great. Still, facing the prospect of a car with 94K, now needing new struts, tires that might get me through July, and probably brakes, the answer for me is to dump the car.

 

At the dealer (iPad and WiFi), they're checking it out. Service manager asked if I had the car diagnosed at Costco, apparently a number of their customers all developed leaky struts! I wouldn't put it past Firestone to do the same.

 

Larry,

Just thought I would let you know I had the same problem at the 65,000 mile mark with the front struts. I was rotating the tires and, like always, I inspect everything while I'm there when I noticed they were leaking....

Oh well, $88 each for Monroe SensaTrac struts and an alignment and we are back on the road again.

Here is the drivers side in my spring compressor getting ready to be swapped out with the new one laying on the slab....

FrontStrut.jpg

 

Does it ride any better with the Monroe struts?

 

Not a lot different than before because I caught mine when they first started leaking. The Monroe's do have a lifetime warranty though (unlike the KYB OEM struts). If these blow however, I will upgrade them to a better strut.

 

haroldo,

If your struts are fine (according to the dealer) then I have a suggestion for you.

If you have one (or more) of those aggressive "consumer" reporters on one or more of your local TV stations, I would email or call them with your story.

A smart reporter would jump all over this for the November sweeps. Usually, what they do is get a normal car, have it inspected by a certifiec reliable mechanic (on camera) and then hide some cameras in the car's engine compartmet and other places. They then take the car to suspected shady mechanics, and catch them in the act of spraying on oil, disabling spark plugs, cutting belts or hoses, etc., and then go to the customer for these 'critical' repairs.

Later on, the reporter goes to the shop, videographer in tow, to ask about their recommendation for unecessary repairs. When the owner denies the allegation, they whip out the video evidence of their mechanic(s) damaging a car that had no previous problems.

INSTANT ratings winner! And, you get the satisfaction of just really making that crook's day. Alot of these cases also get referred to state, county or state district attorneys or consumer rights offices--for further investigation and possibly criminal charges.

Joe

 

Interestingly, I had both my front struts leaking at 33,000 miles on a 2007 Camry Hybrid. The state inspector at a local Goodyear brought it to my attention and suggested I take it to the dealer. Sure enough, the dealer confirmed both fronts needed replaced. Here's where it gets interesting - I was ~1.5 months out the of 3 year portion of the warranty. Lucky enough this was right at the time the 'accelerating Prius' joke was going on so they were reasonably good about it. It ended up that I had to pay the bill up front (and take the risk of no reimbursement), send ToyoUSA the bill copy and they reimbursed me for about 80% ($680 out of ~$850); while I think they should have reimbursed me completely as these are long-life parts, it was good enough I suppose. Never had any front strut issues on any other car ever.