The head gasket blew on this 1997 Toyota Previa at about 140,000 miles for no reason. I bought it as a pre-owned Toyota back in 2000. I have always had scheduled maintenance done, with very easy driving. So I don't understand why that happend. According to Toyota there were no recalls on my van. I thought this would last me another 100,000 miles more after reading other reviews!!
I was advised by a mechanic (not a Toyota mechanic) not to take care of the head gasket, but to just keep driving it until the engine blows. Then to have a new engine put in which is at a cost of $3,850. So I kept driving it, and it was like driving a bomb that was ready to explode. It was developing white smelly smoke coming out of the back of the van, and also getting half the gas mileage than before.
I felt it was not worth to put about 4k to fix so I never did it. I was hoping to keep this van a little longer but it didn't work that way, and I was very upset. I had no other choice but to get another van. I got a 1998 Toyota Sienna 1 year newer but don't really like it as much as the previa but I needed another van and this was the only van around that I could afford. I'm very upset about this.
I have never had a problem with the Previa (knock on wood) until last year. When it was paid off I was so happy that I had no more payments to make, and thought this van would just keep going and going but it proved me wrong.
The Sienna I have now is not as comfortable on long rides as the Previa. It is more of a bumpy ride. It does not even have rear air conditioning as the Previa which was also starting to go when I had to get rid of it. The Previa was even much more roomy.
Why would you not just fix the head gasket? did it cause other engine problems that were too late to address? I would agree a head gasket isn't normal maintenance but people fix these on their cars very often and continue to drive them for a long time. it should have cost a thousand bucks maybe to do this which is a lot cheaper than a car payment on a van you don't like.
This is happens rarely but can sadly happen to a previa. On my 95 s/c I used prestone radiator flush and will take no chances, as mine has 130k miles. But it can still happen. Overall though the previa has been the most reliable of all minivans. The replacement head gasket is done usually by removing the engine, it can be done while still in the van, but its not for the faint hearted. This is a 3 day job, and I've done it once before, on a different previa, its probably at least a $2000 job. Look for more info at the 'previa group' in yahoo groups.
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