- A Toyota GR Corolla owner accidentally missed a shift before cracking 500 miles on his new hot hatch.
- The repair bill quote ended up being more expensive than if he went out and bought an entirely new GR Corolla Premium.
- Now, he’s hoping that Toyota can step in and provide at least some relief after his split-second mistake.
This story serves as a cautionary tale for all new manual transmission drivers – a perfect example of a “money shift” and its devastating consequences. Accidentally shifting into a lower gear than intended can send your RPMs skyrocketing. When this happens, valves can float, pistons can eject from the block, and your engine is toast.
Unfortunately, a new GR Corolla owner experienced this nightmare scenario before even reaching 500 miles (just over 800 km) on the odometer. They reached out to us with a repair bill so exorbitant, they could practically buy a whole new hot hatch with some cash to spare.
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The GR Corolla Premium trim has an MSRP of $41,515 after destination and handling and before any markups that often occurred when the car was launched. That’s why Charlie Holmblad was so shocked when his dealer quoted him $42,180 to repair his money-shifted GR Corolla. He admitted to the Toyota dealership that he money shifted his car and wasn’t sure how it would play out but that bill was a shock.
It revved all the way to 8,900 rpm
He tells Carscoops that he was simply driving home from work one night and shifted into third gear while trying for fifth. Based on service documents submitted by Holmblad, the dealer believes the car revved to 8,900 rpm as a result. The GR Corolla has a redline of just 6,500 rpm and the additional speed did its damage quickly.
Case notes say that the valves were bent, metal shavings were in the oil, and that piston three had not only scored the cylinder walls but also melted due to the heat. It also appears that Toyota sent a field technician out to check on the car and the damage. In the end, it declined to cover the car under warranty, which is understandable.
Nevertheless, Holmblad wants to know why it appears as though Toyota has covered similar instances in the past. He’s continued to work through different representatives but hasn’t reached a resolution at this stage. As of this writing, he has yet to hear back on what, if anything, the automaker will do for his case.
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Regardless of whether or not Toyota covers it, the repair bill here seems outrageous. The short block assembly costs $5,483.45. The head is $2,297.97 and the timing cover is a further $1,180.88, while the intercooler assembly is $3,031.94 and the turbocharger assembly is an additional $5,299.78. For that kind of cash, it seems as though Holmblad should get back some sort of GR Corolla WRC hybrid.
Of course, there may be additional parts that might have to be repaired or replaced and are not listed – plus, you have to factor in labor costs, which we presume won’t come cheap.
In any case, we’ve reached out to Toyota for comment and will update this story should it respond.
