Toyota installed an aftermarket lift kit from amazon instead of TRD on ordered truck.

Good call.

OP - actually post up some pictures of what your lift looks like so the folks here can figure out what exactly they put on your truck.

 

The pics are on page one and my thumbnail.

 

The lift they put on was spacers only. Nothing else. They claim they charged me 9 hours of labor to put the spacers on but again that is not indicated anywhere on any paperwork. There is no prices or labor rates on any paperwork anywhere.

 

OP, totally understand why you did what you did. I also don't think it is unreasonable to assume that a Toyota dealer would not install a Toyota lift kit. Looking back, should you have confirmed. I guess so. But I am not sure that I would do that. Yes, you probably should have inspected the lift on the spot when you picked it up. Many people would. Of course, no one makes mistakes. To be honest, this could have happened to me. I am not sure I would have looked at the lift and done a full review to confirm it was the OEM lift.

Question for you. Have you talked to the dealer about it? What is their official position on it at this point?

 

The dealership said they would either take it off and refund or leave it on. The problem again is that now it has larger tires which may not work with the standard height, and they factored the price into my loan, so realistically I am not even sure what they actually charged me for it. They said they would refund $1200 and take the kit off but again, since prices are not listed who knows if I am just getting the parts price back and no labor? Again, I am not paying more for a car I am just renting so to speak and other dealerships are advising that the TRD kit is the only way my warranty stays intact because it is now offered as a part. Before when it was not offered I am sure they handled it differently.

 

What size tires? And I'm pretty sure it doesn't matter. If they are willing to take off and refund the lift, DO IT!

Or don't.

 

Take it off and get your $1200, save up another $600 and get the TRD and some tools and install it yourself?!!

 

Interesting, the build "sheet" (nb. not actually a build sheet, but near enough for the sake of argument), specifies a "TRD Lift Kit" for $1495, the "We Owe" mentions only "lift kit" without a price. I would say that a judge would likely agree that this is misleading; it's not wrong, nor is it false-advertising, but a reasonable person could infer from that, that they were to get a TRD Lift Kit. I would say that, and the fact that the truck is faulty (TSS issue) should be enough to break the lease.

What you may want to try is paying a lawyer to right the dealership a letter, outlining this, and providing his assessment of the likely outcome of a small claims action. That letter will probably cost $500-750, but it may get you what you want. VERY often companies feel that they can push customers around because people can't be bothered to fight back.

I would say it's worth a try.

 

That is interesting.

 

The "We Owe" sheet is used internally by this individual dealer, not something standardized across Toyota or across your state. The "build sheet" looks to be something printed off Toyota's online build & price site - everything in there is non-binding and unofficial. Please post the actual bill of sale or lease agreement with your personal info redacted - that's the only document worth anything.

It is very normal for dealers to sell trucks with aftermarket 3rd-party lifts. My local dealer has Tundras in the showroom with 6" Fabtech lift (which requires cutting the frame and welding new crossmembers) and garish wraps. You could still lease them thru Toyota Financial with the lift cost factored into the principal. The dealer doesn't even do its own work - they send the trucks to a 4WheelParts two hours away!

 

The actual bill of sale does not list any accessories. Just a total price. I was surprised as much as you.

 

Let's set aside that you lease for a moment, especially since you very well may just buy the truck out at the end of your lease. Given the way prices are moving around, that may or may not be a sound move.

Given that they don't appear to be crazy (they are at least working with you) what if you asked them to take the current lift off, put the TRD lift on and give you the credit toward the new, OEM TRD lift. I would ask them what that delta would look like. It may be totally worth it.

 

A. Its wild how people on here can just shrug off a dealer clearly screwing someone for 1200 dollars.

B. If they are offering to uninstall the spacers and give you the $1200 dollars back, you would be stupid not to take them up on their offer.

C. The build sheet shows TRD lift kit. I would check your lease agreement. This could pose a big issue as lease trucks need to be returned with any added equipment that was rolled into the lease. Depending on how your lease end inspection goes you may be back charged for the lack of TRD suspension.

 

You would be smart to buy it at the end of the lease. All that money, time and bullshit involved. The other option because it is a lease tell them to shove it and walk away or get a lawyer. I have leased trucks before and I would never go nuts with expensive accessories unless I was planning on keeping it. Just saying.

 

I didn't look at the PDF but you are right. The build sheet shows a TRD lift kit. That is the exact description that Toyota uses in their product info to describe the lift kit. Here:
https://pressroom.toyota.com/step-up-new-tacoma-trd-lift-kit-now-available/

"TRD Lift Kit."

Based on that, I would politely take the truck back to the dealer and ask that the actual TRD lift kit be installed since that is what you paid for. I wouldn't be a jerk about it but definitely be firm in your demand and see how they respond.

For reference, here is the actual description on the document:

 

What's that "2" notation next to the item?

 

Gotta agree there. I leased a truck once. I referred to it as my rental car. I didnt buy anything for that truck.

 

for part only and not labor I believe. It was on the bottom of the last page of the "build sheet"

 

Here it is:

 

What size tires did they install?
We will let you know how much you will rub with no lift.