Turbocharger issues on my 2011 Corolla Altis: Repair or replace?

I also considered buying a new car and even shortlisted the Honda City & Skoda Slavia 1.0 TSI.

BHPian pareekvirendra recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Hello Everyone,

I own a Toyota Corolla Altis D4D G from 2011.

It is my first car and I bought it pre-owned in 2018. However, now the expenses are starting to pile up.

I got new tyres (all five) about two months ago and replaced the entire air conditioner system as well (Compressor, Condenser, Cooling Coil, servo motor). After all this, I was expecting smooth riding at least for this year. However, that was not to be.

The engine started making a small whistling noise ever since the air conditioner was replaced (Denso's original parts but at an FNG). I recently got it checked out at the showroom and they told me that the noise is from the Turbocharger and it needs to be replaced.

That was shocking. I thought Toyota engines were reliable. I didn't expect this. They have quoted Rs. 1.04 lakhs for replacing the Turbocharger, which frankly doesn't make financial sense to me.

I checked with the FNGs, and the ASC for options. The ASC stated they can get it repaired from their known vendors for Rs 35,000 plus fitting charges of Rs. 5000.00 and will give a standard 6-month warranty on the same.

I approached a known FNG and he said that a turbocharger is never the same after fixing. The best option is to replace the turbocharger with a new one or get a good turbocharger from a scrapped vehicle, which will again cost about Rs. 45000.00. Getting one won't be so easy as Altis is not scrapped very often.

I tried looking for after-market alternatives (Mahle, Garrett, TEL), but they are not easy to find and I cannot determine how much they would cost or their reliability.

So, I looked at other options. I looked at whether to go for a new car. I found the Honda City ZX MT to be particularly enticing, and the ADAS features are very useful.

I also looked at the Skoda Slavia 1.0, which costs about the same but doesn't have ADAS. I am keen on the ADAS as it is very useful on the long highway drives that are quite frequent for me.

The difference between the two brands is quite stark. Skoda is an amazing car but their reliability and customer service scare me. On the other hand, the City is an amazing car but the engine is quite ordinary and the build quality is not as good as the Slavia. I am not looking at Hyundai, or Maruti at all. and I don't want an SUV as they are very expensive and I prefer Sedans.

Hence I approach the collective wisdom of this amazing community, as I have often done on several occasions before, and request you to kindly advise me on what should be my course of action.

Get the turbocharger fixed or replaced, or get a new car. If yes, then which one? I have been thinking over this for the past week and simply cannot make up my mind, so I request you all to kindly help me.

Thank you.

Here's what BHPian greenhorn had to say on the matter:

I'll share my experience:

1. My Indica had a turbo oil leak exactly 6 years ago in 2017.
2. My regular mech quoted for a new turbo, or gave scrap turbo as an alternative.
3. At that time, through some Team-BHP contacts, and my research, I found that Turbo Energy Limited, which was less than an hour from my house in Chennai sold replacement and provided service. When I called them, they said they didn't have any new pieces but could offer remanufactured items. When I told them I had a non-working unit, they said they could overhaul it for substantially less.

You can get more details here in this thread of what I eventually did.

I've been running with that overhauled turbo for 25+ km and 6 years so far, and haven't had any turbo-related issues.

I believe as long as you can find an OEM service centre for your turbo, they should be able to remanufacture it to the correct spec. My turbo was repairable. I am assuming yours is too. I could be wrong.

Here's what BHPian humyum had to say on the matter:

Can you get a second opinion? The whistling sound could also be a plumbing leak somewhere. When the AC was repaired, something during removal or refitting hit something and caused a leak.

Here's what BHPian Jeroen had to say on the matter:

I think this is very sound advice. It could be just a leaking gasket. Worth getting a second opinion.

BHPian pareekvirendra provided an update:

I finally have an update on my car's issue, although I am not sure what to make of it. I brought the car to my FNG yesterday, stating the symptoms and nothing else. He took the car, went for a long test drive and came back stating that there was absolutely nothing wrong with the turbocharger or the car itself. My face must have given some indication as to my thoughts as he added that he would consult his known friend at Toyota and show the car to him as well to be sure. In the evening I got a call stating that the lead mechanic at Toyota also confirmed that the car was absolutely fine and there was nothing wrong with it. They said the car can go up to 5 lakh kilometres at least without any issues. So that's reassuring. I shared with him the misgivings I had about the car and he said if I want he can open it up and then refit it and charge me for the same. But it is not needed and factory fit is factory fit, so I will be spoiling an otherwise fine car. The vibrations I feel are probably from the engine mounts which are getting old. However, they will not affect the running of the car and can be ignored for now. The noise that interfered with (when the engine winds down after acceleration) is normal for all cars. The soot I had pointed out on the bumper is due to an old diesel filter, which was changed about 25,000 km ago.

So I am going to leave it at that and trust the FNG and team here in my hometown. I will give the car some detailing treatment at a 3M here and be done with these thoughts. Thank you everyone for guiding me towards this issue.

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