Dealer refused to check my trans fluid

Time to call corporate. Ask for a new truck. "This one has been compromised."

 

What's your build date? Built in baja?

 

Just to answer your question, the dealer has their price for a job, and Toyota has the price that they will pay for the job. They aren't the same.

 

Dealers are likely charging a quart whether they added a teaspoon or the whole bottle.

My guess is the dealership refused to check using the manual method for "FREE" since it's not their typical process to satisfy the requirement. Yes I know it's the more accurate way to verify levels but the tech stream method is likely what Toyota will compensate the dealership. If you ask them to deviate from that and the level is found to be correct the dealership will probably not be compensated for the longer process, they'd have to eat the cost of the labor.

I'll bet if you negotiate with the service manager to either cover the cost if the fluid level is incorrect or you'll cover if it is they would have no problem doing it.

You have three options; do it yourself, continue to look for a service center that will do it for free or negotiate like I recommended. Decide how much you're willing to pay for piece of mind.

 

Because payment from corp is not the same as retail payment. And if you don't have issues............

 

If I ever went to a third gen, that WOULD be one of my main criteria. If they couldn't satisfy that, which could be very likely, then I would walk. Isnt this documented to the point that corporate even has literature about this? I would def have documentation of how common of a problem this is and wouldn't be satisfied until my truck was confirmed "good."

Sucks this is an ongoing issue that you would think would of been respected more by now with this gen.

 

Took both trucks in and the trd was little over a quart low and the SR was good no charge but had to leave both overnight. We were given a loaner car.

 

I didn't even bother talking to the dealer I bought my truck from about the concerns I had about the possibility of the trans fluid level being low, as well as the constant upshifting from the trans.

Instead as some members on here recommended, I called up Toyota Corporate and explained to them that I was very concerned that my transmission might be having damage done to it with a low fluid level and the erratic shifting, after I had read many stories on Tacoma World about other 3rd Gen owners with the same issues. So Toyota Corp started a case number on my truck, and in less than two hours after getting off the phone with them, the dealer called me to set up an appointment to bring my truck in to have the trans fluid level checked and the first TSB for the trans installed.

The trans fluid level was low, and after having it topped up and the first TSB and the TSB Rev I performed my trans is working great, and I'm quite happy with the truck overall.

I had the trans fluid level topped up and the first TSB done at 480 miles, and the TSB Rev 1 performed at the 5000 miles service, and I recommend everyone to get the trans fluid level checked and the TSB Rev 1 installed ASAP after getting their truck. One of my main arguments I used when I was talking to Toyota Corp was that they sold me a truck with out a dip stick that I could use to check the trans fluid level to see if It was filled to the correct level, and that dealers were not checking the trans fluid level as part of the pre delivery vehicle inspection because of the time involved to do so.

 

Thanks for sharing this...might need to use this approach one day.

 

Funny when I told corporate I read some stuff on Tacoma World the lady told me not to believe everything that you read on the internet.

 

Toyota and it's dealer network are nothing more than puppets.....

 

Baja, 1/2017

 

yeah, after hearing that from you before I've adopted the "in absence of getting my issues acknowledged and resolved in the manner I would expect, I'm left with no alternative than to scour the internet for clues as to what may be causing my problems..." and that seems to resonate.

 

Both my PDI sheet and 5k service sheet have the boxes checked for trans fluid level. Now, do I believe they really checked either time? No way. But if it's low it's on the dealer. Given that I'm not experiencing any of the trouble signs and I have a lifetime powertrain warranty I'm not sweating it.

 

They assume it is full as it is a "sealed" system "filled" at factory. The actual process to really check it is about an hour worth of labor which the dealer is not going to pay for without having good cause. Toyota Corporate is not going to reimburse the service department for this labor unless they have good cause to check it. You can iterate the symptoms of low tranny fluid to the Service Advisor and Manager but more often than not the dealer is going to need to "replicate" those issues to verify your complaints are consistent with the symptoms of low transmission fluid. Normally what they end up saying is "we couldn't replicate the issues" or "truck is operating as designed/normal." There is a chance if you raise hell with corporate that they'll direct the dealer to go ahead and perform the check but there is no guarantee of this. The dealers are extremely inconsistent based on real world feedback from Consumers here. Also Toyota Case managers are often inconsistent in how they deal with a customer. Some of this of course is based upon the customer's approach to getting the issues resolved. I recommend the "cordial but firm" approach. Let them know your confidence in the brand reputation of reliability is at stake, give them the sob story of how you trusted in Toyota reliability and how you're a repeat customer blah blah blah. Be friendly to the reps as they individually are not responsible for your trucks' issues and it could pay dividends in how they decide to handle your complaints and issues. "Honey catches more flies than piss and vinegar" theory somewhat applies here. If you have no luck with one case manager, you could try to request a new one; same with dealer service depts.

 

@JoCoQS dumped his 2016 Tacoma because it was a piece of shit but he took the "Check All Fluids" battle up to the state attorney general where he lives. I do not know what the outcome of it was but if you search his posts you may find where he posted photos of the letters that were sent to the AG in his state.

 

That bit is debatable....seems like "nice" only gets you so far these days.

 

True.

 

Not me, I’m pretty sure they filled and checked it at the factory and sealed it.
If it turns out something went wrong there, like the fail CPS sensor or rear diff, odds are good I’ll know about it and get it warranted and possibly extended warrantied.

But I maybe out of luck there, I don’t see any mass transmission failures yet, only mass complaints about the way it shifts which adding fluid seem unable to fix.
So until then, I’m not fretting or loosing sleep on it because, if it ain’t broke I ain’t fixing!

I’ll leave it be as the factory intended, hands off. But that’s just me!

Best of luck, and I hope they can put you at easy with a “free” check.
Cheers!

 

You can always offer to cover the cost to check and hope that it's a bit low, seeing at it's a sealed system. Then pose the question of since it was low and needed to be topped off, shouldn't it be covered under warranty since a sealed system shouldn't be low?

But if it turns out that it isn't low, I guess you'd be out the cost. Depends on how much you want to pay for piece of mind.