Even Toyota's are not perfect. The other day, our Camry didn't start. It's three years old and has about 68,000 miles. It has had an easy life and as Toyotas go, it shouldn't be conking out. But it did. It was on my wife's mother's carport and turning the key didn't make anything happen. Battery? No. The horn was loud and the lights bright. How about that little switch on the clutch pedal that won't let it start until you floor the clutch? No. It was working perfectly.
The starter? Well maybe, but voltage was getting to it. So we called the auto club and they sent out a rollback. No, we said, we don't want it hauled in, we just want it stated so we can go home. The man said to open the hood and let him see what it would do. It started.

So we thanked him sheepishly and he said that it was no problem because the auto club would pay the bill. I drove it home and parked it at the top of the drive which slopes all the way down to the carport. With a manual shift, all you have to do is roll it a little and pop the clutch. I used to start my '46 Ford that way when I was in college and couldn't afford a new battery.

Next day, it wouldn't start. Over a period of several days, it started on the starter about two out of three times. But several times I had to "roll it off." So my wife drove it to the dealer which is a 45 minute trip one-way. I followed her in the truck to bring her home. They called and said they couldn't find anything wrong. It was starting normally.

Keep trying, I said, and shortly they called back saying that sometimes it starts and sometimes it doesn't. Bad starter, $200. I explained that the car is driven mostly on the interstate and the starter shouldn't have that much wear.

They found it. It was a loose plug. They spead the prongs apart and it made good contact and $35. So I drove my wife over there, paid them $35 for finding the problem and brought it home. It's been working ever since.

Actually, my faith in Toyotas is still intact.
How"I never get the easy problems"ard