-So far, mine has been a pretty happy ending. I changed the oil in the "new" engine before driving up North for Thanksgiving. Now that I have another 700+ miles on the first oil change, I am going to change it again-but this time to Mobil 1 full-synthetic. I feel that any gunk present in the engine (the valve train looked like new) hopefully will have been flushed out with these two oil changes.
My total was $1,000 for the engine, as I previously posted-but my installation was a bit higher. When my engine was out, they noticed the steering rack was leaking fluid heavily. I had them install a new rack, a new water pump, new timing belt, change the plugs, and change the belts and hoses. The total on the install and rack came to $1,300. With the $2,300 repair cost, and the original cost of the van-I am still well-below the blue book value on the van. It was just a lot of aggrevation. The ASC supplementary insurance that was provided by the dealership at the time of sale (although I found out it was only $500. coverage...), couldn't have been better. I was skeptical as to whether I would ever see a check-but they were polite, helpful, and really took care of me. I had the $500. check in hand within a week.
I have contacted Toyota re: any possible reimbursement, and have registered my van with them in regards to the class-action suit. They want to inspect the old engine, which I will happily dump out of the back of my truck for them to inspect to their hearts desire...
Driving on the tollway, and in downtown Chicago-the van could not have performed better! It is quick, quiet, and used no oil in the 700 miles. _This_ is finally the van that I was expecting, when I bought a Toyota! -Tony B.