general problems of the 2008 Toyota Corolla

The plastic fuel tank has a heat shield below it that keeps the fuel tank from getting too hot, and from debris hitting it. There is a strap that goes around the fuel tank. The heat shield has this plastic piece that holds on to the strap. On my car, this plastic piece snapped off and the heat shield was rattling loose against the exhaust pipe and exposing the fuel tank. I took my car to a Toyota dealer (glen mills, PA) and was told the only way to fix that plastic piece is to replace the whole heat shield and fuel tank strap. Even though this was due to their defective piece. I was told it would be $950 for this repair. I was forced to deny the repair due to the obscene price tag and took it to a dealer for a temporary fix until Toyota can be reasonable with their price. Upon further research, this plastic piece is known to break off on this type of car frequently. After watching many videos and going through many forums of people having the same issue, it seems Toyota is known for charging an outrageous price for this. To me, it appears they know this piece is defective and will be recalled at some point, and are trying to make money off of unsuspecting people. I would appreciate this being investigated further.

Accelerator stuck "on" after car started and would not disengage. Owner/driver could not avoid striking other vehicles. Owner/driver is assisted by eric k. Krasle, attorney at law 425 north lumpkin street, suite 210 athens, GA 30601 eric@krasle. Com (706) 353-0032.

I smell gas and the check engine light comes on the car cuts out then acts like it goes into a low gear. This happens when driving. So far nothing major has happened but who knows when it could change. This started over a year ago. We had it checked and it showed 5 codes which indicated the charcoal fuel filter canister was bad. We was told the cost of the part would be $300. 00 and was told by the dealer they have had a lot of these problems with it and have replaced a lot if them at the owners expense which is between $300-$500 with labor cost. Toyota had recalled this part up to 2006 but not beyond. We have checked into this and there have been thousands of people having the same problem. We have contacted Toyota corp and have a case # 1405291178. We contacted them today again and was told they are not going to do anything about this problem and would have to just live with it. We feel this isn't right. We are senior citizens and on a fixed income. We can't afford this. Toyota should recall this part but we can't get anything done. We are very upset that Toyota will not take care of their vehicles.