*UPDATE*Dealer Replicates Issue. Out of Warranty.

UPDATE: The dealership I was working with, found sufficient evidence through my paper trail that I did note a squeaky clutch before my 3 year / 36K warranty was up, and will replace the clutch assembly for free, including both parts and labor.

I can’t tell you how important it is to document everything when you buy a new vehicle. This paid off, and I hope this can be a learning lesson to anyone who buys or has bought a new vehicle.
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Funny how the dealer can replicate a problem out of warranty.

Just dropped my truck off for the HVAC blower motor replacement, and mentioned TSB-0186-12, Regarding the squeaky clutch.

Truck has 42,9xx miles.

Well before my 3 year/36k miles warranty was up, I brought in my truck to tell them about the squeaky clutch, that’s a known issue from 2005-2017 Tacoma’s. They said they couldn’t replicate the issue.
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Fast forward to today 1/11/18 - got a call from service rep, saying blower motor was replaced but the squeaky clutch is a bigger issue, and it won’t be a simple fix, and now that your truck is out of warranty it’s $550 for parts and $288 for labor.

He went on to say how he went on my behalf to the manager to get the parts waived since I was just outside of warranty, but I’d have to pay for labor.

I countered back and told him to go and look at the truck history and see how I came in before 36k and complained about the squeaky clutch. He said he would call me back....

These dealerships are nothing but scam artists, who know issues but don’t address unless you PRESS them, like I have for my rear whine howl, and so many other issues with my truck.

I love my Tacoma, but this dishonesty has got to stop. This is how brands loose credibility, reputation, etc.

I already know where I’m going to go from here, but boy am I pissed.

 

I'd be mad too. I'm sure you're escalating to Toyota Corp but you've documented it.

I'm going to try to get mine replaced with the TSB even though it went away. Pedal feels heavier than it should.

 

my first gen is easy to work on

 

Research to see if the clutch is part of the longer power train warranty! IMHO, it should be.

 

Atleast you have documentation that it was in for the issue. I’d throw a shit fit in the show room and go over the dealers head about it.

 

I worked as a warranty admin for VW for 6 years. I can shed some light on this.

Many (not all) techs are lazy, they get paid by how many hours they produce (if they work 8 hours, but do 12 hours of work, they get paid 12 hours)
Now, with this in mind. Warranty jobs pay less, alot less in terms of hours. A clutch under warranty pays usually half the hours of a customer pay job.
The service advisers also get incentive for hours sold and parts sold. Warranty pays less for the parts than a customer does. There is big incentive for both tech and service advisor to say can not duplicate, only for you to come back out of warranty and finding it.

Use a dashcam or gopro to record all audio and video inside the car while its out. Many times you can catch them duplicating it, but they just dont tell you.


The only person who is on your side generally is the top managers. They are capped on pay, 6 figures is enough usually for them. They would rather have a good name for the business than pad the tech and advisers pockets for 20-60 bucks.

Many times the shop foreman is also your best friend. They are not union employees, they do not get paid by the car but rather are salary. The foreman usually has to deal with the car company direct, if they have alot of complaints about them, they will have a harder time working with the car company.


Last comment, the dealership just sells and services the cars/trucks. They are a 3rd party middle man here between you and toyota. They are out to make money and they make the most off repairs. The company (toyota) has made its money selling you the car and selling you parts... but if your dealer gives bad service, your not going to buy those cars or parts.

 

Yeah, I tried to give car salesman a chance when I went to buy my only new car purchase ever, and just when I went to sign the final papers, the seedy guy tried to squeeze in "Surcharge for Nitrogen in tires-$500".
Really left me with a bad taste in my mouth; car salesman living up to the stereotype.
Good for you for documenting.

 

Toyota Post-sale service/support really sucks.
I have tried the 3 Toyota dealers by my area, and I decided to stick with the less worst. Have had no Mayor issues with my wife's vehicle but I can tell that Honda is way better on that department.

 

Bingo. It’s documented.

This is a learning lesson for anyone that buys a new vehicle.

Always get it in writing on the report when the service rep. Asks, “what are you here for, and is there any other issues”.

This won’t be to difficult to snuff out, since it was documented before out of warranty. But I could imagine how some people know issues exist, but aren’t computer/tech savvy, knowing there were issues but didn’t think much of it.

Shoot there’s over 20 TSBs for this 3rd gen. Make it right Toyota. People will understand, but don’t piss them off with known issues, than charge them when it’s out of warranty. That’s a NO-NO

 

Bingo. That’s well said and just what I figured. Thanks for confirming and shedding light on the issue.

 

After getting denied warranty for my headliner separating, I’ve given up going to the dealer for anything.

 

Recording audio without consent is illegal in most states.

 

That is a $85 clutch. Clutch waived. ha!

Man that sucks. I hope you stick to your guns, and they see that your argument is reasonable.

If not:

• Get a print out of all your service records if you did not keep them.
• Call Toyota and ask if you can open a complaint on each one of the incidents where they did not replicate the issue.
  
• Open as many incidents as necessary to get someone's attention.
• Going forward, ask for the name of the tech, the name of the supervisor and the shop foreman to be included in the notes and documentation.

Simply put, their inability to replicate the issue is something they weaponize against you, and you need to use that same inability to weaponize against them. Anytime I am told the tech could not replicate, I ask for this information and tell them that I am going to contact the executive team to get approval to assign a more experienced tech, and perform a more thorough inspection vs. (look in the ECU for fault codes) or drove it for a half mile.

Going forward on in warranty claims: You would be shocked what that same service manager will authorize if he is embarrassed to answer corporate regarding how much effort was put in before they gave up.

 

Big yikes. Can’t imagine the frustration you have with that.

 

Sorry to hear about getting screwed around from the Dealer, you can fix the creaking clutch pedal with Disc Brake Grease, it will stay put in higher temps.

 

I saved every single one of my receipts that were explained to the dealer when I dropped it off. That isn’t so much of the issue.

I think they will try to say, “well we couldn’t duplicate it at the time, so therefore it doesn’t apply since it’s out of warranty now”.

I’m sure they are brainstorming how they can get out of this without covering the TSB out of warranty.

Just shady and completely wrong. This is the new business model. All in the name of greed.

 

Im in a single consent state, so all I have to do is say yes to my self. Also, they are in your property, so you should be clear to record in your own vehicle.

Also since the camera is plain sight (mine is at least) it not eavesdropping since they can see that they are being recorded.

 

Clutch is a wear item.

 

I thought I’d seen about a thread on fixing the issue using grease...

1. Question though, if they replace the clutch assembly free of charge with the new parts, is this something that will happen again?

2. If I can’t for some reason get it replaced out of warranty, will this Affect any of the internals in the clutch assembly or is it just a noise annoyance long term?

 

Haha yea. That would be nice though