2020 TRD Off Road Suspension Warranty Issue

I bought a new 2020 back in August and took it on a green trail testing out the 4x4. The steering wheel was slight off to the right afterwards. Nothing advance on the off road green course. The dealer first told me the warranty is voided since I took it off road and wanted to charge me $500 for the alignment. I immediately called corporate and got them involved. Corporate told me that taking it off-road does not void the warrant, and they called the dealer to make sure it was covered under warranty. Obviously, the dealer didn't like corporate getting involved because that took away from a cash ticket vs warranty repair. The dealer now came back and told me I have a bent steer knuckle, and that's considered abuse. The vehicle had 850 miles on it at the time. The dealer did cover the alignment under warranty, however if I have a supposedly bent steering knuckle with no obvious impact damage to it or any other parts on the truck, I would like to resolved. I have been going back and forth with the dealer and corporate, with no luck, and it seems nobody can make a decision on making this right. They both pawn it off on the dealer or corporate.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
If anyone has a good manager contact at corporate as well as a TRD Off-Road friendly dealer they recommend.
Thank you in advance
James

 

I would go to a different dealer and not mention taking it off road

 

Go elsewhere or pay the man.

If you want to off-road, be prepared to pay for things you might damage. Warranty is not for off-road damage. Warranty is for factory defects.

 

T4RFTMFW If it's something I messed up, I have no issues paying for that or repair it myself. This was a simple off-road, no rock crawling at all. The truck was designed to be taken off road and Toyota proudly advertises it. If the truck can't handle a simple green course, why call it a off-road truck. I believe this is a factory defect, and my truck is completely stock by the way.

 

There’s a lot of guys that had a warranty voided for off-road use. Just saying.

Try another dealer, but I think in the end, you’re either paying or living with it. As far as designed for off-road use, I don’t disagree, but Chevy used to drop a ton of cement in the back of their trucks in the 90s on their TV commercials - that didn’t mean you could do the same and they’d fix the truck when it broke. Maybe the dealer is screwing you, or maybe not, but you took it off-road and (possibly) damaged a suspension component, so the burden of proof isn’t on the dealer or Toyota at that point.

 

Yup, I agree with the tactic of taking it to another dealer, not mentioning anything about taking it off-road, but advise that another dealership says your knuckle is bent and you're asking for a second opinion.

 

+1, validate is the knuckle bent. If second shop says no, then the first one was pulling your chain. If second shop says yes, you will likely have a very hard time getting them onboard that it's a manufacturing defect and not damage.

 

If it is actually bent, verified by a 2nd dealer, tell them the only thing you can recall was hitting a pothole.

 

Only bending a cast iron part and none of the flimsy shit is unlikely, FWIW. And cast cracks AFAIK, not bend.

 

The spindles are forged, not cast

 

Thank you, my bad