I purchased a brand new 2007 Toyota Corolla from Tekweni Toyota Westville. The vehicle was serviced at regular intervals at the dealership. Toward the end of its warranty, I purchased an extended warranty which was meant to extend the initial warranty on the vehicle.(even the website advertises this) The vehicle is now at 185000km. During the 180000 service, I was advised that the timing chain was stretched and that there was an oil leak in the timing chain area. I sent my car in to fix it and found that the Innovation Group would not cover the timing chain as it was classified as wear. I researched timing chains and found that timing chains are not generally replaced on vehicles. Timing belts are. I have asked whether this is the norm for timing chains to be replaced but received unsatisfactory response. If timing chains do wear, there would surely be more vehicles with mileage similar to mine which have had timing chains replaced. Googling timing chains, I find that they are meant to be fit and forget items ie they don't need to be replaced. This would imply that the chain was defective in order to stretch and that it should have been replaced under the warranty.
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