2023 TOYOTA GR Corolla

Drove car at reasonable low speeds (30-40mph) parked vehicle and noticed smell of something burning and light smoke. Opened hood and car was on fire. No mods, completely stock, low mileage. All services up to date. No reasonable explanation for sudden fire

The clutch system on my car is prematurely failing. I understand that it is a wear and tear item. This is not my first manual transmission car. I have been driving vehicles with manual transmissions for over 20 years. The issue I am having now is not normal behavior for a for a brand new car, let alone for a performance oriented vehicle. I first noticed it when the car was brand new with a distinct clutch burning smell. It would come and go and the general community of owners with the same car said it was a normal occurrence. This is my first brand new car purchase so I thought nothing of it. I then noticed the problem get worse at 7k miles. The clutch was slipping in all gears just ever so slightly when driving close to the car's redline. I am now at 13k miles and the problem is getting worse. I know how to drive a manual transmission and this is not a driver error. I have heard of other drivers of the same car had their clutch fail completely during driving on the highway. I would hate to be put in a perilous situation if my clutch fails to operate on the road/highway and my car will not be able to move or avoid a life threatening event. It has not been inspected by a Toyota dealership yet. I was just made aware of how much bigger the clutch issue is amongst the community of owners of the same model car as I researched the issue. I will be initiating the inspection/diagnosis with a Toyota dealership very soon.

I was driving my car at about 25 mph and I was not able to switch gears (manual transmission). I sent the car to the dealer and they told me that the clutch was burnt and I also needed to change the flywheel for a total cost of over USD 6,300. The repair was not covered by the warranty and the car was only under 5,500 miles and under a year of bought. I have read similar cases in the web and I am pretty sure that this is a manufacturing problem. The car is a GR Corolla, which is advertised as a sports car, but the dealer is saying that the car was abused, without providing any proof. I am an experienced driving, never abused of the car, and only drove it in streets. I am amazed this happened. I filed a claim to Toyota and received the following answer "According to your Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) [XXX] , the warranty for the part you are inquiring is 5 years or 60,000 miles whichever comes first starting from the vehicle's in-service date: [XXX]. Vehicle component failures that are not caused by a manufacturer's defect are not covered under factory warranties. We have communicated with Fred Haas Toyota Country dealer personnel and confirmed your vehicle clutch and flywheel concerns were not as a result of a manufacturer's defect, but due to outside influence. Therefore, we apologize, we must decline your request for vehicle repair reimbursement assistance. While there are situations where we gladly look into out of warranty financial assistance requests, we are simply unable to offer any assistance as the vehicle clutch, flywheel concerns are not covered by the factory warranty. We know this is not the response you were hoping to receive, and understand the reasons for bringing this request to us. The experience you have had with your 2023 Toyota GR Corolla Circuit is important to Toyota, and the information has been documented under your reference number." INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

the vehicle caught fire, only 5073 miles we don’t know why

The 2024 whom are being sold at the same time as the 2023 GR Corollas have had improvements to both the front brake cooling with aluminum and have had the ducting reopened after the safety correction. To ensure the safety of the drivers and passengers, quality of the vehicle and its longevity. Recommend recalling all 2023 circuit editions to also adjust the from driver and passenger side brakes and their coolant ducting to be on par with the 2024 versions. The 2023 versions over have paid higher markups and have heavier rims due to inequality currently being provided by Toyota on the GR Corollas. We were originally informed that all ducting would be functional only to be missing parts due to shortages and now I am at risk of a flaw in the overheating of our front brakes. Request recall to modify the 2023 version before people start trying to fix it themselves as they were originally promised and could potentially cause major safety or fire hazards.