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Hi James, my name is Darren I live in London. I am a disabled person in the wheelchair and I really enjoy watching your videos. I can’t drive but watching your videos makes me wish I could! Thank you Darren

my family have ALWAYS had Toyotas and they ARE Bulletproof! They go and go!

I think Toyota's are better built and engineered than other cars. That does not make them invulnerable, a brand that has a reputation for being bullet proof will attract people who abuse them it's no random event that all the pizza cars and taxis in my area are Toyotas.

I am a fleet manager for a large pharmaceutical company in the United States. We have approximately 1,500 vehicles in our fleet and around 270 are Toyota products. We buy them brand new and they are maintained by the book by their respective dealers for four years or 100k miles whichever occurs first. Our Toyotas have shown a significant decline in reliability since around 2008. Overall they are still are pretty good but other manufacturers have matched or surpassed them recently. Several have suffered from minor niggles to catastrophic mechanical failures often within the first 50k miles.

Normally a blocked oil pick up is a sign of either lack of oil changes, overlong servicing intervals or poor quality oil, either way it sucks when that happens.

I don't think its s Toyota issue,i think ots a Toyota owner issue

Having worked for a Japanese manufacturer I can say you'd be very surprised where certain parts come from.

Have owned Toyota’s all my life and have had very little problems with them. Petrol not diesel. Always servicing at 5000 mile intervals.

Oil starvation from filters blocked with timing belt debris is something that worries me with Peugeot and Nissans using the pure tech engine is the Toyota a chain or belt in oil

What happens is that people assume Toyota cars are bulletproof and hence assume they can miss servicing and maintenance. A blocked oil filter (I assume you mean oil pick-up strainer) is simply due to poor maintenance of the car. Toyota have made a couple of legendary engines but that's been with the help of Yamaha in the development stage. My opinion is that Toyota do make the best cars, but not the best engines. Honda probably make the best engines, but failure to maintain any engine will result in failure of the engine or premature wear.

Totally disagree on the Toyota myth. From my experience (over 30 years as a mechanic) Toyota are extremely reliable, well built and if looked after rarely go wrong. I am not a Toyota "Fanboy" as you call them, I have owned and driven Fiats for the last 24 years.

There's a simple rule of thumb to stick to to get a reliable car. Japanese petrol, German diesel. Get them mixed up and you'll have problems.

I’m surprised the workshop didn’t notice some of the symptoms 🤔

Top 10 most reliable car makers list released last week has Toyota at number 2 after Honda.

Exactly Santa Clause doesn't drive a Landcruiser. That is total myth.

Injector seal blow by blocked the oil pick up should’ve been checked after it’s injector change.C heck via sump drain plug hole , can happen on any diesel not just Toyota.

Excellent and interesting vlog as always James and I admire your positive attitude and honesty, very sorry to hear your loss and I wish you all the best success in making good profits on others, take care and kind regards, Mark from Billericay 😀👍

Another great video. Any brand can have an issue and its just unlucky. I would think its down to poor maintenance usually. How trusted is stamped book.

It's not the manufacturer it's the owner in the majority of cases . People want to run cars on a shoestring and then they break. First thing I do when looking at a motor is put the reg into DVLA MOT check . Gives a good indication on the last owner(s) attitude to maintenance.

My RAV4 D4D the same as the one you have has had regular oil / filter changes, obviously the previous owner didn't, they just ran it. But I still stand by my RAV. 7 years on, no issues.

Perhaps it hadn’t been serviced with regular oil changes. Why else would the oil filter in the sump be blocked?

Our driving instructor car a 21 plate hybrid Corolla has done 60k miles in 18 monthd not 1 issue overall they are the most reliable, our family car a lexus is250 has done 198k and still going strong 🙂 just stay away from Toyota diesels

Main dealers are not the most honest when it comes to servicing. Volvos seem prone to this bad servicing or no servicing

It was probably the faulty injectors bud, causes diesel to go into the oil, this causes the oil to thin,also gel, diesel black death, clue is in the new injectors,its probably the oil gelling blocking the oil pick up, tbh bud I'd avoid diesels, there a nightmare, bought a golf gt tdi the other day and its nearly spot on but I've noticed its not totally even at tickover. Very hard to get a diesel that's spot on.

As someone else noted, avoid 2.0/2.2 diesel, in generally they are not known for the issue with the oil pick up this model, headgasket failure is more common on the D4D engine, and the heads cannot be skimmed so it’s an expensive job to put right. Toyota did cover issue up to 110k miles or 10 years. Toyota’s, the 3.0d landcruisers from 2003-2010 were known to block oil pick ups, the injector seals recall that Toyota announced sorted a lot of them. The Kia/Hyundai 2.2d suffered with the same issue. The only petrols I see this issue occur with is down to poor maintenance. Outside of this Toyotas are reliable, they would not have the reputation otherwise.

Well said James……..I’m so sceptical when I take in a vehicle in Part Exchange!

Very interesting James, no covering up here - just telling it as it is. Respect to you!✊✊✊👏👍🚙

Had 2 Toyota Verso’s always serviced kept them 5 years each with no issues, both were petrol not Diesels.

Most of the Toyota's ever had nothing but trouble all an urban myth!

Fake service and dealer stamps can be bought on eBay.

How can you blame Toyota,When you say the oil filter was blocked?. Service stamp means nothing if change the oil and don't change the filter.

I bought a two year old Toyota Corolla estate in 1982 then a new one in 1989 and I had both cars together the 1989 car ran and ran and i sold it at 15 years old no repairs on either car .in 2003 I bought an avensis (. 3 years old ) then I bought an Auris in 2010 then a Rav 4 in 2014 now I have just bought a two year old Yaris ALL CARS WERE BRILLIANT NONE EVER LET ME DOWN AND NONE HAD SERIOUS PROBLEMS EVER, SO I WILL STILL ONLY BUY TOYOTA 😄

Bad maintenance is the problem,in 34 years the only bad car I have had is a vauxhall Zafira 2.2 petrol (cam chain) went twice even with the upgrade kit.

Hi, was there any warning lights before the engine seized? I would have thought that there would be a low oil pressure warning light when the oil pickup strainer in the sump was blocked.

I had a Mini Cooper D, 2007, which after 3 weeks of ownership broke down while I was out on a journey. AA told me the engine was seized. I bough the car for 1900 and the best thing for me was to scrap it. It took weight off my chest but the loss was significant. I knew I did not have the time to do it, and what I would have ended up doing is sitting the car for a good few months until I could fix it and I did not have the space. It would have been financially better to solve it but I think that would have been so much stress and grief.

I got rid of a very troublesome I20 (2016 1.2) that had 5 previous owners (maybe that should have been a red flag) and replaced it 9 months ago with a 2002 Yaris which had 1 owner from new and 21 main dealer stamps in the book, and it's been great as a little run around. I think it is more to do with how the owner has treated the car and the quality of the services that have been done, rather than the brand, but maybe there is a theme with the Rav4's, that maybe that is a model that is worth avoiding?

Always avoid Toyota 2.2, 2.0 Diesel engines and Auto boxes if doing high mileages Petrol manuals have a good record, in fact I remember the 2.2 being replaced under warranty with a lot of Taxi drivers for putting rods through the side of the blocks a few years ago, you are right Dealers are always looked at as fair game I know how you feel..

I don't think it's a case of them being unreliable, it's that people are constantly told how reliable they are, I think they get neglected. I'll stick to my "unreliable" Fiats and Alfa's😉great vid as always

Had a Yaris t sport for years had nearly 200k never had any problems

I'm sure you'll find a punter for the Rav 4 James. Nice car, 12 months MOT with a knackered engine will appeal to someone with DIY skills who will know where to find a write off with a good engine in it. At least they know what they are working with and priced accordingly it should sell quickly. With your followers on this channel I reckon it won't be long before you receive an enquiry. Good luck.👍

I had huge problems with a late Toyota avens, Purchased through a main dealer and nearly went skint over it. When they are good they are good however when they are bad!

While I'm a (quite happy) Lexus owner, I wouldn't touch a Japanese diesel. There must be a reason why Lexus doesn't do diesels (after the short lived 2.2 on the IS).

As an old mentor of mine said, a car is only as good as the nut holding the wheel! If it's well maintained, all cars are bullet proof.

I had avensis my engine went same thing gauze blocked,u have to clean gauze on all Toyota's or will pack in,in general if u do that there great cars

My 1.4 D4D Yaris was bomb proof but I babied the thing and took it to a main dealership every time it needed anything. It’s that that carried through to my subsequent swift sports.

Literally watched the whole video after seeing the 2cv van for an update. Literally hyper fixated on it for like 3 days when you mentioned it last even went back to look at the original videos when it was delivered hope things are looking up

Had a Prius from 57 thousand miles 4 years ago now on 115 thousand, no problems at all bullet proof reliability, have a weekend 2000 Mr2 always stored during winter fires straight up each spring. Both are tough and fly through the Mots. Never go back to anything else

I know someone who recently took a Ford Kuga 4x4 into WBAC which had a lot of problems... they took it to WBAC with their mechanic so they could get there if they broke down...

Hope your luck changes James, especially in the run up to Christmas. I’m sure the Fabia will fly out of the door for starters, as will your BCA cheapies. Thanks for bringing us along with the journey through good and bad. Have a good week mate.

Remember a Toyota corolla company car i had first service revealed a gearbox oil leak! 6 months old only 10,000k and seals had went!! Never owned one personally but my BMW 520i is at 192,000 at present having travelled 100,000 for me with just general maintenance needed!

I think that this is bound to happen one day when you buy older cars without knowing why the previous owner moved it on. And yes....there is no bigger rogue than the general public. I learnt this working in warranty 40 years ago. I agree with you about Toyota. Yes their quality control is higher than average, but it's still a car and cars go wrong regardless of the badge on the front.

I have had alot of cars in my time but by far the best most reliable car so far is my suzuki liana estate 2004 1.6 petrol. Me and my dad went through cars before the services were due but our suzukis have been solid. They are both abused to death and never failed to start. I bought mine from a salvage yard nearly 7 years ago for £230, spent around £130 for re test and and a balljoint plus new bolt for exhaust and it passed no advisory's. Serviced every 2 years or so pretty much when ever i felt like it. We carry scaffold poles, marble, bags of cement, extremely heavy tools ect. I have rescued many cars with even a van at one time. Never missed a beat. I had to get another car because another baby was on the way and i need back seat space for 3 car seats. Ended up with a 2006 scenic with only 59k miles and that thing is falling bits already. I still my suzi its on my dads yard feeling sorry for itself and currently has 184k miles on it. My dads has a little over 150k miles on his. My dads had new front pads, rear coil springs and rear back box replaced in 4 years ownership. Mines had clutch thermostat and front brake pads and and another balljoint susp arm in over 6 years.

We have all seen those garages who fill out the service history book and omit the service, but nobody is building cars like they used to, you've got Toyota badged bmws and Subaru, and the jaguar badged land Rover,

I've heard Toyota diesels are poor.

I called the RAC out to a corolla, the guy said "what have you done to it these don't go wrong" but it was one of the last Japanese built ones...

Japanese and German cars have mythical reputations for reliability which means many owners neglect them.

I use Astonish Hand wipes to shine plastics! Did the plastics on my celerio with them and I think it looks better than new!

Maybe the garage doing the test drive when the engine let go, will do you a deal on the cost of fitting a replacement engine? You might be able to come out a few hundred quid up at the end of the day?

Had a Lexus IS220d. Full Lexus service history and motorway miles predominantly, but needed a new engine at 80k miles… Fortunately Lexus picked up the bill . Swapped to Mercs and never looked back. Apparently those Toyota / Lexus diesel engines are known to be trouble..

Pop it on e Bay mate, as is, it'll cost you 1500 quid to swop an engine, with labour, say 6 or 700 for an engine, maybe a clutch while it's out as well.

I've got a 98 Starlet, it's my only car. I use it for everything including 700 mile + camping trips, does 50 mpg, has over 100K miles on the clock and has never gone wrong.

The Japanese companies have never made a good diesel engine. They are experts in petrol engines.

Did the garage drop something into one of the bores when they did the glow plugs?! Did any of the plugs snap on removal? If it had oil starvation due to a blocked oil filter it would have started getting noisier and more tapping then given up if it wasn’t fixed, to say it went straight from all seemingly good with no excessive noises to a scrap seized engine sounds suspicious to me.

No pleasing some people James. I have had a Duster for 15 months bought 2nd hand. Been great to own. In summer I had a service + cam belt and water pump coz it needed them - I am now hearing what sounds like the start of a clutch bearing starting to make a noise. Guess I will have to get that done but its on 72k miles so I can't complain about that furthermore IF a clutch bearing needs to be done I will probably get a new clutch put in whilst they are there and even get the gear box oil changed ...... but thats my choice as I accept with car ownership comes maintenance and repair costs.

James your honesty has to be applauded....However I know some 'big name' dealerships that aren't honest when they sell cars either! Yes!....Coz I bought one!!!!!!!!!!! My step-dad always said you're 'buying some-one else's troubles'....And he bought some real bangers! Keep up the good work!

I've worked it out bud, that smoke on start up was a sign that the "new" injectors were still leaking, putting neat diesel into the pots, causing bore wear, thinning and causing the oil to gell(diesel black death) probably unburnt fuel blocking the dpf, so looks like it's been an injector problem all along, maybe re con injectors in name only? Car had had it before you got it unfortunately, probably slow start ing as pots were full of diesel, all ads up mate, hard game selling cars.

Toyota diesels are not the best around that age! Same for the Hondas from that era! Modern diesels can be real trouble!

I had a Toyota Rav 4 with a d4d diesel engine. Car used to make a wheezing sound on acceleration. Dropped the sump and the oil pickup was full of carbon. Think its called death rattle. Injector seals go and cause problems.

Had mine for 6 years best car i have ever had .

It’s all about how well a car is looked after doesn’t matter the brand if it gets looked after it will last for ever

Im big fan of toyotas but i think 2003 onwards Avensis/ Corollas , Land cruisers all have that problem. Every 100,000 miles need to get the sump dropped and get the filter cleaned could be 80,000 or could go 150,000 or more depending how well it was looked after. I know of at least 5 people that had engine go for same issue.

I've had a yaris 1.33 for 5 years and put 45000 miles on it.Had to replace the battery but importantly service it myself with synthetic oil and filter annually.Look after them and they do'nt let you down.

I understand your pain but I've worked closely with Toyota suppliers and Toyota is phenomenal in its attention to detail and resources devoted to development prior to release. Its suppliers in its keiretsu (supplier group - quite vertically integrated) aren't as widely spread amongst other automotive manufacturers as you might think. One issue may be that diesels aren't that common in Japan so less experience in them - I considered a similar RAV4 with a blown turbo which is not an unknown problem. BTW, given the low stock situation would it be worth getting help to get the white VW Up ready for sale?

Bit of a shame that James. Is the engine totally unsalvageable? You didn't mention any legs out of bed, so might be salvaged? If the engine seizure had happened after being sold to a customer, would the supplied warranty have covered it? Just wondering how far the warranty companies will go on the older vehicles? Either way onwards and upwards I guess.

I have a 2008 Toyota Avensis Deisel, so it's got a full service history and has original injectors (unless the receipt was lost), so I have that expense too look forward too. The DPF is going, so that needs to be done too. Problem with all deisels is the exhaust emissions are so complicated, that parts will fail... or work poorly and cause something else to fail, depending on driving style etc... I had a coild spring go too.

Love my Toyota's, to be fair i think the petrol engines are where they get their reputation from

Japanese don't do Diesels, not required for their home market or their largest market (USA). Going back 30years a neighbours Mazda pickup required a new engine well before 100,000 miles. Fortunatly due to strict Japanese MOTs imported 2nd hand engines made it possible to replace instead of scrapping the vehicle

Wonder if it qualifies for the Toyota 10 year warranty? 😝

Lack of maintenance, that's what it is. Can't really blame the brand that

Some garages don't do all of the service they just tick boxes on forms. Then stamp book.

It's just bad luck on your part . If it's got good service history I would think it is a bit suspect. A blocked oil pick up makes me think it's not had an oil and filter change in a long time . With all the money you have in it now are you going for a good used engine ?

Unless the oil pump packed up, I doubt the engine would have seized if it had oil and filter change according to recommended service schedule, unless it has an oil leak, and was not topped up

I feel for ya fella,what a bummer! 😑 Very rare for a Toyota injectors to go bad. Some need to understand you don't always believe & trust what oil the garage is putting in the engine. It is a tough trade mate.

Boy James sorry to hear that. Hope you come even on it. The Skoda is super nice, let's hope the DSG will play along nicely and not go bang.

Use to be one of the goto for taxis but the last 2 Avensis models was horrific turbos sensors limp mode seems to be back on track with corolla hybrid

Anyone who knows Toyotas will tell you the diesel engines after 2006 are rubbish. The 2.0 and 2.2 after 2006 are terrible and best avoided. That being said the petrol engines are still one of the best out there. It would be interesting to get the Rav4 engine stripped to see why exactly it's seized. I bet it's either been given the wrong oil, cheap filters or that service history is fake.

Despite what any of the manufacturers say,change oil every 6,000 miles, there are lots of toyota owners that ignore this based on the alleged reliability hence the failures.

Very well said James 👍

I am a toyota fanboy but as you rightly say fella anything can have issues

Daily is a Toyota IQ, owned from new in 2009 and 97,000 miles. Not a single problem other than wear and tear items ie brakes, brake disks etc. New clutch at 89k, new exhaust at 94k.

To be fair, that particular Rav 4 is renound for that issue. Though seem to remember it suffers with oil pump issues.

Any info on the UP?

Toyota diesels that have had injector issues are prone to clogging up the gauze in the sump which leads to catastrophic damage. Sorry to hear this has happened Chop.

Hi James, interesting video, shame about the Rav 4. Makes you wonder why they changed the injectors and then sold... Not that you can routinely do it but would inspecting the oil pick up have identified a potential issue and if fixed would it have prevented the engine going or was the damage already done?

Dove a Skoda Fabia from 30.000km to 225.000km. No issues apart from regular things like tires, pads and AC fill-up. Drove a VW UP from new to 160.000km. new disks & pads and 1 set of tires. That was it. Never had any problems with cars in 1.5 million km, except for a VW Touran, that didn't want to please me in any way.

Any car can be trouble. Depends how it's been treated/looked after, or lack of. I feel that cars from mod 2000's onwards just went downhill.

Just put my 1993 Toyota Hi lux 2.4 d through its 14 th Mot Brilliant vehicle I have refused to sell it on numerous occasions , so I would disagree .

It’s down to maintenance if you service them regularly and properly they are good people say the vw dsg gearbox is rubbish but they have to be serviced every 40000 but people don’t bother then when it fails they slate them

Had an alto and that did the same, strainer totally blocked.