A reporter from Yomiuri Shimbum is looking for victims to interview. Never heard of the newspaper Yomiuri Shimbum ... neither have I. But it turns out Yomiuri Shimbum is the worlds largest newspaper and based in Japan. If you are interested, please use the Contact us link.

Just called Tony at Leesburg Toyota. Says he called Toyota and they will not help. Tony really has little options as he has to follow corporate policy. Leesburg Toyota is just a franchise.

I guess I will be joining the class-action lawsuit and working on the legislative side.

I am working on Capital Hill these days and found myself in the Rayburn House Office Building. I decided to pay Bart Stupak's office a visit to see if they would be interested in learning about the Toyota oil sludge problem. Unfortunately the staffer responsible for the committee dealing with Toyota will not be in this week. The staff members in the office looked at me in disbelief as I described the Toyota sludge problem and encouraged me to return next week. I was given the phone number and e-mail address of the staffer I need to contact.

Wow, a lot to update. Over the weekend I have been contacted by a number of people who have been fighting this issue for a number of years, including the founder of the Toyota Oil Sludge Petition and ToyotaOilGel.com who spoke with me over the phone for well over an hour. In some ways that is depressing. I was hopeful for a quick solution and be done with it, not years of fighting.

Tony Nguyen called. Said he called me back at 5:45 pm last night. After a quick check of my messages, it turns out he had which I appreciate. Strange I did not hear the phone ring.

He said the maintenance department can take a look at my vehicle and it will cost $110. I am not sure I want to pay $110 as I already know the diagnosis. So I am in a little bit of a quandary. In order to move forward with Toyota I have to spend $110 to get a diagnosis I already know. It feels like a waste of money as there is no guarantee Toyota will help after the expenditure.

2:15 P.M. no word from Brenda ... so I will call her. Left a second message with my home and cell number.

It is now 5:15 and called Leesburg Toyota. Left a message for Brenda Gaynor. I expect she has gone home for the day so I assume she will call me tomorrow morning.

Writing this while on hold with Toyota Customer Experience Center 800-331-4331. This is my first time calling. Been on hold for about 10 minutes and counting ....
30 minutes ....

Dawn answered ... Took down my name/address/VIN/etc. and my concern. Toyota already had my information, I just needed to update my address.

Today we visited Dr. Motorworx and had a long discussion with the owner. Apparently he has been replacing oil sludged Toyota 3.0l engines since 1999. And, most importantly, Toyota has been quietly been paying for the repairs. He has replaced over 2,000 Toyota engines and was an expert witness in the class action lawsuit.

In utter disbelif, we were told the car we finally paid off is ruined. Why? Oil sludge? Oil sluge? What? How can we get oil sludge? We change our oil regular?

This evening I went home and researched oil sludge and learned it is a common problem with Toyota vehicles. I read about the class action lawsuit and learned my vehicle is not covered. I read about others who had my vehicle with the same problem. I became convinced it was not my fault. Then I became mad. I registered ToyotaSludge.com and built this website.