New open recall for 2018-2019s on 3/28/19...K0B Millimeter Wave Radar Sensor

Got the letter last week. Got around to calling Culver City Toyota this morning and the woman told it would take three hours just to be inspected, then they would have to order parts and I'd have to come back again for another three hours to actually fix the thing. I asked her why they wouldn't have the actual parts on hand first and she asked if I wanted to speak to their parts dept. What a ridiculous way of doing business. I suggested that perhaps this was a very inefficient way of dealing with this sort of thing and that it would save both my time as a customer and, just as importantly, their time as a dealer repair department. She had no clue. None. Then I called Manhattan Beach Toyota and had a completely different experience. I told them about my schedule and was told to call back when I get back into town and they would accommodate me and get in and out as quickly as possible in one trip. I have had it malfunction a few times with the dash light coming on but never any inadvertent deceleration. Still, had wanted it fixed before this trip but it'll have to wait.

 

I drove thru a monster ass storm a couple weeks ago, and a PCS light came on a couple times.

Just checked and mines on the recall list.

I have a T Rex billet grill, hope they don't fuck with me about it.

 

Mine has slammed on the brakes twice on me in a rain storm. Lucky that no one was behind me or it would have not turned out well! I went in to settings, and turned it off completely. It does not reset with each cycle of the key. Ill never bother getting it fixed,its just a gimmick in my book. I just have to look at that pretty little yellow light on the dash saying its off. Im good with that!

 

Good reason to never do any business with Culver City Toyota... I’d post on all forms of local social media review sites available, only way to help others from receiving subpar service.

 

By the way things are going they most certainly will.

 

Just back from 5K/6M scheduled service... had Special Service Bulletin for PCS applied, total time 1 hour and 24 minutes from the in bay to the out bay. Looks like the tech didn’t even pull to grille, just applied the “cushion cover” on the sensor, resulting in a “pocket” above the cover where water can pool... may last til the next scheduled service interval (or not). Really disappointing work result...

Before:



After:

 

That's EXACTLY what my dealer told me they would do... didn't call it a "gasket" but a "cushion"... WTF? The other thing is they said they would check to see if the sensor has thrown any codes...

What bugs me is they checked all the fluids, rotated tires, etc... and I'm pretty sure they even hooked it up to a computer to check basics, but they wouldn't even tell me if the truck threw a code and then reset it... That's horse manure... they could have at least run diagnostics and said, "hey, you got this issue we can't fix it until the vehicle has been returned to stock..."

I'm thinking I'm going to all my own maintenance from now on and say screw the free oil changes...

As to the cushion...why couldn't we just do that?

 

So how do you turn it off completely. I'm sure others want to know.

 

Did it actually "slam" on the brakes or just "brake" suddenly and unexpectedly? I don't think the system is posta "slam" on the brakes....

 

Sent to 2 different departments. Recall and new purchases. (paraphrased, forgot real dept names). Here are their responses. Pretty disappointing lol. I wanna buy a TRD Offroad, but other than TRD's we aren't allowed to modify? Huh?

Also interesting was they sent emails back at the same time.


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Response By Email (Erik A.) (04/18/2019 03:33 PM)
Dear,

Thank you for contacting Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.

We appreciate your interest in the Tacoma and are sorry to learn of your disappointment with the choice of tires and suspension on this vehicle.

We appreciate your feedback, as genuine consumer insight serves as a primary and rich resource regarding our product quality and customer expectations.

Toyota researches the market in advance in effort to place the highest quality vehicles possible on the road. We do so through conducting interviews, issuing surveys, and maintaining focus groups, among other actions. However, there is no better source than a vehicle owner who takes time to share valid insight.

Toyota respects your opinions on the matter, and we have documented your comments at our National Headquarters, where they remain available for review from the appropriate departments. It is through feedback such as yours we are able to monitor and improve upon the quality of our products and services.

Your email has been documented at our National Headquarters. If we can be of further assistance, please feel free to contact us.

Sincerely,

Erik A.
Toyota Customer Experience Center

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Response By Email (Sharyce W.) (04/18/2019 03:33 PM)
Dear,

Thank you for contacting Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.

We appreciate your interest in the 2019 Tacoma.

We apologize as, other than Toyota Racing Development (TRD), we do not recommend or assist with modifying our vehicles from the original factory specifications.

Toyota's warranty covers repairs and adjustments needed to correct defects in materials or workmanship of any part supplied by Toyota.

Modifications to your vehicle could affect the performance, safety or durability, and may violate government regulations. Non-Toyota parts, or any damage or failures resulting from their use, are not covered by any Toyota warranty.

Toyota respects your opinions on the matter, and we have documented your comments at our National Headquarters, where they remain available for review from the appropriate departments. It is through feedback such as yours we are able to monitor and improve upon the quality of our products and services.

Your email has been documented at our National Headquarters. If we can be of further assistance, please feel free to contact us.

Sincerely,

Sharyce W.
Toyota Customer Experience Center

 

First, thank you for posting their replies. I am rather surprised they responded so quickly. I did not expect them to reply at all. All that said, what did you expect them to say? That it was OK to modify the truck? No manufacturer will recommend modifications of any kind (TMNA does allow TRD accessories). Write an email to RAM, GM, who ever and see what they say. My money is on them emailing you a very very similar response.

 

For all of those who keep saying "but my dealer is selling lifted Tacoma's!", that is NOT Toyota who is selling the lifted Tacoma's. It is either an independent or a franchise dealer. The dealer is NOT Toyota Motors North America.

 

agreed it is indeed the dealer that is selling the vehicles modified from the lot. which buys the new owner out of this "special service campaign". sadly those owners will now take the risk of having the warranty voided on their vehicle due to modifications put on by the dealer. Im sure we all understand that the warranty is through Toyota North America and not the dealer so this is about to get interesting. I guess we will all have to wait and see how long it takes for this to actually become a recall. well best of luck to all of us that decided to personalize our trucks to our liking. Funny how they say hey we don't recommend modifying vehicles but sponsor people who modify the same vehicles.

 

Took mine in for recall waited and hour. Sent me home saying they don’t have the parts. Emailed service manager, here is his response.

The first step of this recall is to make sure there isn’t a stored code for the wave sensor. If so, a radar sensor is the be ordered per vehicle, after inspection. In your case, a sensor was not needed and only the special foam tape was needed. There are two sizes and yours takes the small one. This particular recall, as we all found out today, has limited release for specific parts per day. I have attached the release information from Toyota for better clarification. I apologize for not having the tape in stock but inspection of the sensor for stored codes was necessary as a step one. Based on the daily quantity release, yours is expected to be here on Monday. I will email you on Monday when I have it in my hand.

 

And I agree 100% with you and anyone else who recognizes that the dealer lifted Tacoma's are not coming from the factory that way, that this is a completely fubar'ed situation for whoever bought a dealer lifted Tacoma and is now essentially screwed. Because according to these emails at this time Toyota is saying any aftermarket (non TRD) 'stuff' will void the warranty associated with that component or system. That's fine if you go into the project knowing the mods may void certain warranties and are OK with that risk. But what about the thousands of folks who didn't know any better? Especially those who bought 'pre modded' trucks at the dealership.

 

That rubber diva cup fix is just a bandaid

 

Has anyone else had this? Went today to get mine fixed and Toyota would not do it cause of lift and tires.2018 trd offroad. What's the difference if the pay load is maxed out. Sensor want work anyway. Any input please,they have me pissed. Thousands of brand new trucks running around with lifts a lot more extreme than mine. So get ready fellas sounds like someone didnt do their homework

 

Sooo, I wonder if that sticky foam thing will eventually fall off once the adhesion dries up or the foam thing becomes brittle. If that's all they're doing, I may just fashion something myself.

 

I’ll be watching it for sure, every time it goes into scheduled service. I plan to bring any issue up to the dealership at first sign of failure, and only expect a redo of the same solution. From what others have mentioned, there may be more of a permanent fix forthcoming.

 

Got basically what I expected. My problems not with them not accepting extra liability. My problem is actively denying to repair something that is a safety recall. They need to step up and just do the calibration. Far as I'm concerned, there's already 50 other ways they covered their liability against owners buying new tires. There's a big difference between passive and active ass covering lol.