Toyota: speed sensor, 2005 toyota corolla, toyota corolla

Question
I have a 2005 Toyota Corolla. Last summer the warning lights: ABS, brake and Check engine came on. The speedometer would not go above 0 and it seemed like the transmission was noisier and would not move very fast for a few blocks and then it would be OK.  I had my local repair man look at my car (he has a computer to check the Toyota but he does not work on them, I have to take it 100 miles to the Toyota dealer). He said the computer showed that the speed sensor was the problem and told me to contact the dealer about ordering a new speed sensor. At this time he had cleared the problem lights so that I wouldn't have more problem with the lights coming on again. I took it to the dealer and they could not find the problem because the local guy had cleared the computer and they could not find anything wrong with the car. They told me to they would not order a new speed sensor until they knew that was the problem and to bring it back if the problem reoccurred. The same problem happened again and I noticed that it happened only on very hot days. The rest of the winter it never happened again until this past week (May 2006) when one day the temperature was hot again.

My problem is that by the time I drive to the dealer the car has become normal again. Do you have any suggestions?


Answer
Oooohhh..  You're an '05..  You've got a warranty, right?  Yeah, Toyota won't spend anything until they see you need it.  If the lights come on again, just one more time, the ECU will store that code for them to pull out.  Other than that, Toyota won't budge a square inch.  

The problem is that old-school technique gets slapped in the face of new-school laziness.  Checking the diagnostic port for the codes and blah, blab, blah, is cool but technicians use this as the end all answer instead of going "well, let me just see this with my own eyes".  

So, long story really short..  You'll need to get the warning lights in order for them to jump.  Outside of that, you'll need to order the part with your own money.  and.. in Toyota's defense..  They just want to make sure its the speed sensor causing this issue and not something crazy like a loose tranmission or something wild like that.

Hope this helps...  Write back if you need anything else.