Called Toyota about leaf spring recall

When is the best time for a college student to take his Tacoma to the dealer?

Spring break.

 

Are you sure it's not autumn..


...When the leafs fall?

 

I took my 09 TRD Sport to the local Toyota dealer today and they said it is covered by the recall and is unsafe to drive. The spring had started to cut into the brake line. They said it would take several weeks to get a new set of springs from Japan which would be the same springs that were on it. They also would not cover any repair that was not done there. I did the only logical thing and traded it in on a new truck.

 

Been to the dealer and he said I was on the list for the leaf spring recall. I knew the springs were bad as they failed to hold just 400 pounds off the bump stops. So I ordered some add a leaf and new bump stops. Then life dumped several cold snaps here in Texas. (They think that bumper cars is a winter sport and drive accordingly.) This is the only truck I have owned in the last 35 years that did not have four wheel drive and my wife has a job that requires her to be in the hospital regardless of the weather. So I have always driven her to work on bad days as the school where I worked was either closed or starting late. The problem is I traded for a newer 4X4 Tacoma and am not sure about the add a leaf on the 3/1 leaf pack. The top leaf in the add a leaf is about the same size as the bottom leaf is in the stock Tacoma pack. I will not use both. So which do I toss. The top add a leaf or the bottom stock leaf ( not to be confused with the overload spring thing)?

Back to the spring recall. Dealer said it would be late fall before the spring came to his dealership. Maybe just a stall tactic or maybe the fact, but I have to much work to do with a leaning weak truck.

 

Got my leaf spring recall in December. Got them inspected and they passed. Well today, one snapped. I called the dealer and they said "when can you get here". Drove strait there. They gave me a rental and took my truck right in. And they are taking care of everything. They said it should be two days. I'm getting the frame painted to because it also passed the inspection.

 

I do not understand this^.
It was my understanding there is no inspection & toyota would be replacing all springs on 711K to 750k trucks.

 

That's what I thought to. Maybe my dealer had it wrong but took it in in devember they said they were fine. Until now.

 

The dealer did have it wrong.

 

So the recall is actually happening? I got a letter from Toyota a while back talking about the issue/recall. I believe it said that they would notify me when they had a fix for the problem. I haven't heard anything since.

Should I go to my dealer?

 

I have called my dealer, and the toll-free Toyota number. Get the same "recall is active, but no remedy available yet. We will let you know when we have a solution." You'd think if it was serious enough for a recall it would be serious enough to get it fixed within a reasonable amount of time...

 

I've called and E-mailed. Basically Toyota says 'thank you for your call'. They don't answer shit, then have the gnads to send you a 'how was your customer experience with Toyota?' follow up. Corporate nonsense.


"Major Major never sees anyone in his office while he's in his office."
Catch-22

 

I noticed some funky noises lately going over bumps, so I took a peak under the rear and sure enough, a broken leaf on the passenger side.

I called my closest Toyota dealer (Folsom, CA) and spoke to someone for whom English is a second language. I finally got it through their head what I was talking about and they said they'd call me back. The second time I called I spoke to someone who preferred ebonics (I only took Spanish in school.) He thought I said "broken leak spring." I don't think he knew what a leaf spring is. After much waiting on hold he said parts are on order and they will call me. The third time I called I spoke to the service manager, and I can see now why this dealer is so crappy. It starts at the top. I don't think parts were on order, because he said they are required to inspect it first. Folsom Lake Toyota is a joke.

So I called the dealer I bought it from (Auburn, CA.) They had me bring it in right away to inspect it. These guys are always dialed in. They said the recall is active, but no parts available yet. Since mine was broken they offered to provide a rental free of charge until parts come in (unsafe to drive they said.) I said what if it's a month? They said it doesn't matter...they'll cover the rental. Within 3 days I get a call saying the parts are in.

I'm sharing this to show that your dealer makes all the difference in the world.

 

The dealer checked my springs. Left side had a broken leaf. They zipped tied it and said I could drive. I asked if I could haul in it and they said yes, just watch the weight of the load. Whatever that means. I had 2/3 ton of rocks in it over the weekend. The dealer told me the parts were on back order. I guess that means new springs, they said they were replacing both sides.

 

As an update, Auburn Toyota replaced both leaf springs yesterday. These obviously are not recall parts (since they're not available yet.) They said they may have to replace them again when the recall parts become available.

 

I think Toyota is trying to set a record for the lengthiest lead time for a recall process in the history of mass automobile manufacturing. We're close to going on a year (September) and parts are still not available to even begin dealing with this, meanwhile, people's leaf springs are snapping like twigs on a daily basis.

 

Took my truck to three differen dealerships... They all said the same thing, that I need to wait for the second letter. Funny thing is that even carmax knows about the recall and the wont buy my truck ( yes, I'm sick of the clunk noise every time I stop/ go and going into my driveway)

This is the last toyota product I buy, nothing wrong with their cars but their costumer service disappoints me.

 

I've had a box with add-a-leafs in my closet for a year. Trying to hold off until the new springs come in. I haven't even looked at mine to see if they've snapped or not.

I should probably check them.

 

I had my frame inspected yesterday at the local Toyota dealership. I had my springs inspected again. I was told to expect to hear from Toyota around September or October about replacements. I'm not sure about his source but I hope his crystal ball is right. I'll believe it when i get the letter. BTW my frame is just fine.

 

Yeah, I haven't purchased AAL because of this reason

 

I had my truck serviced today at a dealership and asked them to check out my leaf springs....they returned with a "Yeah, those are pretty bad...let me look into something for you..." and he returned and let me know that they are on target for rolling out replacement 4 packs in september. He said the problem is they only made a lot of left's without realizing that you can't make just lefts, you need to do the right side as well or your truck will have a 6 inch tilt..