Another TSB story...like we haven't heard this before!~

Alright...from the top:
Once upon a time I used my brand new Tacoma (well after the 'break in' period) to haul some dirt for my new yard, after all I traded in my GTI for the Taco so I could get more house friendly work out of my vehicle. I was always weary of putting more than a 1/2 yard of dirt into the bed because I did not want to max out the hauling capacity. The dirt was very dry and I recon I had about 5-600lbs worth of sandy-dirt in the back of my rig. Me, being the large man that I am, plus the other stuff in the truck probably equated to 300-325lbs. To make all things fair and accurate, let's just say that I was rolling around at 1000lbs. To my surprise I was damn near sitting square on my bump stops. The ride was terrible, and anytime the truck moved it would smash down on the bump stops. I researched to find out if this was abnormal and quickly learned of a particular TSB addressing the weakness of the rear leaf springs. Luckily for me my 2010 had been recently added to the growing list of effected vehicles. I decided to address the issue when I went in for my first scheduled maintenance...
FAST FORWARD 1500miles
...The day had arrived and I brought my vehicle in for service. I informed the check in desk that I would like my rear suspension inspected due to the characteristics listed above. I was very specific about how it was loaded, how I drove, and the symptoms I experienced while driving. One of the service men over heard what I was talking about and he immediately gave a smirk and told me he knew exactly what the issue was. I mentioned the TSB, he acknowledged it and told me he would check my VIN# to the paperwork and we could proceed from there.
I was SOO excited that it was so easy to get my springs done, I had read a lot of 'horror' stories about being denied and about the dealerships just plain playing stupid about it. I received my phone call informing me that my truck was completed so I made my way over to the dealership. I went and paid for my service and picked up my keys. I inquired about what was decided about my rear springs and a service tech came out to speak to me. He said I was covered under the TSB and that we could go over to the service desk to make an appointment and order the springs. I made my appointment and a note was placed on my account to order parts. My service tech told me he would inform my service consultant about what was happening and to just bring the truck in next week.

TODAY: I receive a phone call from the dealership...I have to bring my truck in on Tuesday so they can have a senior technician inspect it to make sure Toyota would pay for the warranty. I started asking questions and was transferred to my consultant, who just happened to be my sales person, who I don't believe is very happy with me because he managed to get fired after selling me my truck (no joke, and that's the second salesman in a row to sell me a car and get fired over it, seriously no joke). Apparently he got a job in the service depot, and I asked him realistically what was the reason I had to have it re-inspected. He fed me some BS about how it didn't count when a grease monkey looked at it for me, a senior tech needs to see it, I probably just had the truck over loaded, Toyota may not pay for it so I can't get it done, and finally we won't order the parts until it get's signed off on. So now I get to go BACK to the dealership, drop my car off, have it inspected AGAIN, and then they will decide whether or not to do the TSB. I explained that I had planed on using my truck for hauling and towing so I was expecting to do what it was rated to do.

Finally...any advice? If anyone is still reading, do you believe I could have an option to call Toyota directly and complain about 1) the truck and 2) the dealership? I purchased my truck from them and I got a lecture from 3 different people on how to fill out the survey and that if I can't honestly fill it out with all 'very satisfied' answers that I should immediately come in and they'd do what ever they could to make it right. If I hang negative feedback over their heads, maybe they'll do it for me

Thanks for listening to the rant, pray for mojo

JER

 

I didn't know they looked it up by VIN. Only by "testing" it out to confirm the poor rear suspension.

 

They checked my VIN. And tried to tell me I wasn't covered. Only after a manager had to come out to talk to a 16 year kid did they decide that it was covered.
OP: Stick with it and it will get done. A call to toyota can't hurt they will setup a case and my lady said I was good to go on the phone.

 

Do what I did when they told me no way. I told them to put it in writing. That since I tow all the time and since I felt unsafe in the truck my lawyer advised me to get in writing. If they refuse get the email of the general manger scan the copy of the your reciept explain to him what the situation is and that the service manger refused to put the official response in writing so you are putting him on notice. A few other things -- i bought the truck for my own business. I told them that my company lawyer advised me that since the truck was used for work that my company could be held responsible and that we needed to show that we made a reasonabl attempt to have Toyota fix it. Should anything happen there was documentation to show that. Basically say what you want but follow the general idea listed above.

Believe me with all the crap Toyota has been getting I'd be surprised if they did not call you imidiatly.

Keep in mind that all this happened before the whole floor mat BS

They jumped to help me as soon as I explained to them that I would hold them responsible -- they went straight to the territory rep for the area. The same day they had me come in and all the retards that were giving me the run-arround were kissing my a$$ big time

 

Sorry about all that u are having to go thru. I'm glad my service dept wasn't like this. I just told them when I have a load in the bed it sags like crazy. I showed them a copy of the TSB and they ordered it same day.
Stay on their butt and if they wont do it take it to a different dealer, but either way call corporate and tell them how unsafe u feel and how your service dept is giving u the run around.
Good luck

 

Sit back and see what happens, all you can do.

 

According to the service mgr at my dealership, the TSB is based on the customer's word. Not whether they think the ride is harsh under a load, but what YOU think. Mine was bottoming out toting my 4-wheeler. I offered to bring it in that way, but it was not necessary. Unless they have tightened their belt on these and are stalling, you have everything in your favor. Be polite, but firm.

 

Most of us had that done. Print up a copy of the TSB, bring it with you, let them do the inspection. If they come back and say no-go, then point out at the top of the TSB where it says the why/who gets it. And point out that there's no provision for dealer testing.

They don't do it, find another close by dealer. Most of them will.

Once it's done, make sure they ordered the right part and it's the 4-leaf replacement.

 

They may also tell you the ride will not be as smooth after installation when empty. My ride was just as smooth and the truck took bumps and pot holes with more rigidity. In other words it works more like a truck should. After installing some Bilstein 5100s set at 1.75 up front, which leveled things out, and some Hankook Dynapro tires, my ride is unbelievably smooth and ready for the tasks I originally purchased for. I now feel I got my money's worth on this 2010 Tacoma.

 

Hey JMan.. the sales guy got fired after selling you your truck? what did you pay for it?!

 

yea the stock shocks and springs suck big nutz. If you can afford it def spring for 5100's and some good leaf packs. You will not regret it.

 

If it doesn't work out there, I suggest calling the 1-800 line. That's what I did, got a case number, then called a dealer. I had to bring it in just so they could match up the part numbers to make sure that they were the ones covered by the TSB. They then ordered the new springs for me after they confirmed it.

 

Sorry to hear they are giving you such problems. I just had the TSB completed on my 2008 not two weeks ago. The dealership started giving me the same run around. I didn't like the weak ass story they were giving me so I started all my correspondence with the service manager via email. That way there was documentation of our conversations. I sent the service manager an email and stated my problem word-for-word how it is stated on the TSB. They didn't deny me after that, and did the work. You might give this method a try, it worked for me.

 

If anyone else goes through this I would recc cleaning the bump stops and contact point on the springs to blend it in and go get it dirty so it isnt clearly visible that the rear end was bouncing off of them. How else are they going the check this really?

 

When they had my truck, they called and said they took a bunch of measurements of the rear ride height (unloaded) and that it was all in spec, therefore, they wouldn't do the TSB.

Thats when I went to email.

 

I had the same problem..just call Toyota direct and get a claim number..my dealership wouldn't do anything for mw until I went above their head. After I called Toyota direct my dealer had my truck in within days.

 

Ya...I bought my VW GTi back in Feb of '08. Very interesting/frustrating story, but I got my car, signed the papers (it was very late at night by the end of the deal), and when came back to the office to shake my sales guy's hand he gave me a mean look. I asked him for a card in case I had any questions, he looked at his service manager and said 'why bother,' handed it to me and then left. I called back a couple of days later to ask a question and found out he did not work there anymore. I later found out he got a new job at another VW place. Similar story with the Toyota dealer...got dicked around, called out their BS, got jerked around more, the sales manager of the whole dealer came out to try and make the deal (I think the 2 sales people that were working me got too mixed up to iron it out). My friend went in the next day to buy a used truck and kept hearing everyone whispering around about how Mr. Sales Guy was gone and how everyone was fighting over his leads. I paid $27G on the truck, decent deal but not a steal. GTI was at invoice, I wouldn't pay a penny more. If I really dug more I could have gotten closer to invoice on the Taco, but everyone has to make money some how, right?


Anywho, Thank you to all who gave me encouragement. I'll make sure I have a copy of the TSB with me. I will NOT hesitate to call Toyota in front of the service manager if that is what it takes. I'm not asking for a special favor or for them to float me a deal. I'm asking for something to be corrected on my truck because it was not done as well as it could have been done from the factory. If this wasn't some sort of issue, Toyota wouldn't have issued a TSB for it!

I'll keep y'all updated, good vibes!

JER

 

Sorry to hear your story. I took mine in this past Friday. After a couple hours I get a call back saying they were ordering the parts and I could either leave my truck or pick it up and have it done today (Saturday). Unfortunately I slept in too late today so it will be done this Monday. I too thought it would be like taking an arm and leg from Toyota. The dealer that sold me my truck also no longer works at the location where I bought my truck. Not sure why. Kinda sucks cause he worked hard to get me my truck. Stick with it, you may have to call the 800 number for to get the service done.

 

Is this only covered if the truck is still under warranty? I have an 07 dc and it bottoms out when you hit a dip in the road with an empty bed. It has 58000 miles. Also I took it in for the airbag light being on and they said it was the clock spring, as I expected, and it was not covered under warranty even though the srs system is warrantied to 60000 miles. Is the clock spring not part of the srs? Sorry for the semi-hijack.

 

This part of the TSB may lead some dealers to interpret that they must test to see that a harsh ride does occur.

What it comes down to is dealers don't want to risk not getting reimbursed by Toyota and want to make sure everything is covered.

Your best bet is to call Toyota customer service.