No where in your thread James have you mention any fuel conditioner . Unless you use some you cannot ensure clean fuel circuits within these cheap offshore carbs . Draining the floatbowl is not sufficient , residual fuel remains within the (6) very small fuel passages which gums up and actually oxidizes over longer than 30 day duration between usage with e-fuel causing water entrainment . Secondary cause could be a defective carb Thermostatic Choke Assembly .These easy start units have a rather funky carb not the most reliable , wish they had stayed with the manual choke or purge / primer style . P.S. James your engine is exactly the same as mine 6.75 Torque Rated , they have not changed anything on the power plant , only minor cosmetic changes to the mower deck and control design. My Unit was the 1st yr offering of the Kolher rather than the conventional Briggs or former Tec or Toro Engine. Believe me a have repaired numerous chainsaws and gas trimmers / blowers with efuel issues . The Small Engine Mower Market has just began to Wreak the Havoc of this Corn Based Fuel Additive !

Get tough... do it in writing... sounds like phone calls haven't done any good... play hard ball... use legal terms and threaten legal recourse under the Magnusan-Moss Warranty Act of 1975 (see link below). Deal with Toro's warranty company directly rather then Toro or the dealer. Sounds like you are caught between the dealer and Toro. They are just trying to stall you in hopes you will give up... I bet the dealer is hiding something... like the mower was sold to you with you believing it was under warranty... but maybe it really wasn't (re sale, old inventory, etc). If the dealer wanted to... they could easily code the labor/parts as warranty work and get paid for it from Toro Warranty... granted the dealer would get paid at a lower rate then what they would get from you. Try another Toro dealer in your area. The warranty company is likely a third party. I had an issue like this with my Saturn car... I went round and round with the dealer to no avail... then escalated it to Saturn... they sided with the dealer... finally got to the warranty company... they said... my claim would be covered with in 10 seconds of hearing the issue. The warranty company said... the dealer had to cover my claim because the dealer could not prove the item that went bad was due to my neglect or lack of routine maintenance. It took me a couple of week's a couple of letters and countless phone calls to get that situation squared away. From the get go... the dealer was against me and told me to bug off. When I went to Saturn corporate... they sided with the dealer too. Toro and their dealer network are going to stick together. Not sure... maybe Toro's are sold through a three party system... Toro, Distributor, Dealer? If that is the case... the distributor is likely the one not playing nice. Here are a couple of web sites that go over some of the warranty laws. http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/products/warrant.htm http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/warranty.htm#Magnuson-Moss It is very hard if not impossible for the Toro dealer to prove that the failure of the piece in question was due to any lack of routine maintenance by you. If they think that is what it is... then have them prove it. Have them show you where in the warranty the part/item is not covered. I looked briefly at the Toro Warranty... pretty straight forward and brief. Don't let them tell you... if you had the work done at their shop or by Toro everything would be fine... that is against the law (as stated in the Magnuson-Moss Act). As long as you have the preventive/required maintenance done... you are set. The only preventive maintenance on a barely used lawn mower is changing engine oil... pretty hard for the dealer to prove that you did or didn't do it. Depending on what state you live in... you could take it to your state consumer protection office. Here in New York State... http://www.consumer.state.ny.us If the tactics above don't work... and you purchased the mower with your credit card or debit card with MC/V logo and signed for the purchase... you could seek recourse through MasterCard/Visa purchase protection... or though a charge back from your bank. I had an issue with a local retailer... they wouldn't work with me... called MasterCard... issue couldn't be rectified with them... went through my bank and disputed the charge. After two months... the retailer refunded my money... as they bank reported them to the better business bureau. Best of luck... don't give up... if you are truly in the right it will work... if you keep fighting. After all... what you are asking for is with in your warranty rights and certainly reasonable given the situation. It isn't like you are trying to be fraudulent.

Following WWII, the Japanese focused on building good products and repeatedly improving upon the same design. Eventually they made high quality products. They picked internal combustion engines to improve upon, since they faced starvation following WWII and were in a race to clear land, plant crops and cultivate to survive. Power equipment literally became a life saver for them. I agree, plastic has a place - Tupperware. Plastic or any polybased material constantly outgasses and looses its integrity. Its why plastic automotive interior panels (as just one example) become brittle and disintigrate over time. UV radiation will accelerate this process with fading & chalkiness setting in first. Lawn mower engine shrouds, belt covers, wheels ..and yes honda decks.. will follow this same path. Plastic is and always was designed to be disposable. Not my idea of a "durable" product. No quantum leap in education necessary - history has already taught us repeatedly what products last and what products don't. I am not a believer in the disposable generation, but to each thier own.

wv: I've had similar, disappointing experiences w/ Craftsman (& others). I also work too much to be able to mow more often than 1x/wk. B/c I believe in mulching rather than bagging & can't afford to mow more than 1x/wk, I did a lot of research before purchasing the HRR2163VXA. I have no personal experience W/ Toro, but can tell you that I am extremely pleased w/ the HRR2163VXA. It is an outstanding mulcher- even with thick, damp grass. Although I was hesitant about complaints about the thumb control of the VXA, I really appreciate the sensitivity & strength of the variable smart drive system, not to mention the other quality & convenience features of the mower. The deck design (lots of volume capacity beneath the deck) & quadra cut blade design really fill the bill for mulching. The BBC is a major feature in this price range, & although it may engage too easily during the course of mowing with relaxation of hand grip, it is supposed to be improved by adjustment under warranty & is worth it (for the $500 price range), regardless. I also really like the option of not having to use the self propulsion, unlike the Lawn Boy where it has to be engaged just by virture of pushing on the handle bar. I enjoy the option of choosing whether I want to exert myself while mowing. Additionally, the motor speed control lever is a big plus for me b/c I have a "patchy" lawn, i.e. some spots are very thick & lush & others are (unfortunately) rather "thin." Therefore, w/ the VXA I can throttle down gowing thru the thin parts & go to full power only when I need it in the thick parts of the lawn. It uses less gas that way. If I was in a more expensive market, I'd go for the HRX w/ the hydrostatic drive & the most desireable 190 motor. However, the VXA has proven, to me, to be an excellent choice for mulching in thick grass. Good luck in your choice.