2011 fuel tanks

Just bought a 2011 4 cylinder access cab standard. Less than 100 miles and had to take it in for a fuel leak. When at dealer learned that toyota just changed fuel tanks and that they are having trouble with them. They are installing a new fuel tank from the old model. Apparently they are having trouble with them in the tacoma and the prius.

 

DOH! My reg. cab is being built this week, hope they have a handle on the problem!

 

1st I've heard of this

 

This move of assembly location from Fremont CA to Texas seems to have caused a few problems, from mislocated access cab door latches to this.

 

fasho

 

From an older but fortelling thread:

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2n...oduction-moving-san-antonio-2.html#post868720

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Quote:
Originally Posted by SOSHeloPilot
... DITTO ...

Had a 2007 Tundra from TX plant and now have a 2009 Tacoma for CA plant. Love the quality of the CA Tacoma over the TX Tundra.

SOS
.

I probably shouldn't say anything and do not want to offend fellow San Antonio Tacoma owners. This is just an opinion based on a string of personal bad experiences...

I think that Toyota manufacturing the Tacoma in San Antonio is the worst possible decision they can make if they are trying to keep any level of quality control or craftsmanship. Over the years I have seen a continuous decline in quality regarding Toyota products and this would definitely not be a smart move on their part.


I am currently living in San Antonio and have been here since 2001. Before moving to San Antonio I lived in Seattle, WA, spent a few years months around the east coast (mostly Pennsylvania), and grew up in northeast Iowa. I have NOT had any dealings with any type of labor in San Antonio ending in a moderate to high regard for quality, craftsmanship, or even just a basic 'job well done.' Some examples:

1. Line-X bedliner for my Nissan Frontier Crew Cab. Vehicle went back first time for overspray, extremely bad lines (sprayed over the rail), and get this: wrong color (all I wanted was black). Vehicle was 'fixed' by spraying a black 'restorer' over the wrong color. Over the rail lines were cut and sprayed straight and overspray was removed. Vehicle went back a second time when 'restorer' scratched off with my fingernail, a quick wash revealed heavy clearcoat scratching where overspray was removed, and upon a closer inspection I realized that no Line-X ever made it up to the rail itself (2-3 inches under the rail there was still exposed paint). Vehicle went back a third time when all of the new 'restorer' came off in a high pressure car wash. After 6 months of haggling with an asshole of a private business owner and the local Line-X representative I finally sold the 1 year old truck to lower my stress level.
2. Auto body shop repair on Isuzu Rodeo Sport (to date the BEST 4WD vehicle I have owned). I peeled off the roof of the cab when I drove into my garage with two bikes on the roof rack. The bikes were okay, the roof rack was okay, the hard top was okay...the roof and doors were toast. I couldn't even open the doors to get out and ended up crawling out the sunroof on the hard top. Vehicle went back first time due to insane amount of dust particles in the paint. Vehicle went back second time to remove overspray from the hard top, vehicle went back third time because of sanding marks under the clear coat, vehicle went back fourth time because of the inside of the vehicle being coated with sanding grit. I finally gave up and lived with it. By the way, this was using the concierge service that Progressive offers. Also, I peeled the roof off of my 2004 Chevrolet Tahoe doing the exact same thing. The sad thing is that I had to get out of the vehicle, open up the garage door, get back into the vehicle, then drive into the garage. I blame the Wednesday night bar bike rides downtown and quit going after that.
3. Bought a matching rim for the spare tire on my Isuzu Rodeo Sport. I wanted to get the wheel swapped from the steel rim and balanced with the wheel weights taped. I explained this to the service writer at the tire shop. He told me that it would not be the best balance but I did not want the weights on the outside (had already rebalanced the other ones with taped weights on the inside). My wheel comes back 30 minutes later with a big fat wheel weight on the outside of the rim. I bitch up a storm, the tech comes out with pliers, removes wheel weight in front of me and gouges the rim. I give up...
4. I was short on time after purchasing a home and hired a guy to remove the popcorn ceiling and float it smooth before I moved in. Price went up four times, he left drywall mud EVERYWHERE inside and out (why were there drywall mud hand prints allover the brick of the front exterior wall?), he smoked in my house, he had his girlfriend over there, he did not finish anywhere near when he was supposed to.
5. I spent three days removing the grout from my tiled shower so that I could regrout everything. I ran short on time and hired someone to grout it for me. One month passed before the new grout cracked. Called the guy I hired and asked him if he used sanded or unsanded grout, he had no idea what I was talking about.
6. Free lifetime oil changes with my 2008 Jeep Grand Cherokee. Every time they have changed oil I check it to reveal it well over the full mark. I refuse to let them fix it (I relate this to sending back cold soup for the chef to fix...who knows what he will do to it) drive it home and drain the oil in my garage. Last time I did this it was over by a full quart. I poured the quart of oil into a clear plastic container and gave it to the service writer remarking that they accidentally left something I did not need in my vehicle. I passed the Jeep on to my wife when I bought the Tacoma and have been doing my own un-free oil changes ever since.

The list goes on. I don't get this town. (Look at how long they have been working on 410...) Manual labor is shoddy and lacks any attention to detail with anything. There is not true craftsmanship. I am sorely disappointed in the work ethic of the local labor force. Unlike many of my northern friends though, I do NOT blame the Mexicans. In fact, I think the true Mexicans are quite the opposite of the lazy San Antonian work ethic.


I dread any upcoming project that I cannot complete myself. I have not hired anyone to work on my house since the grout incident and laid my hardwood floors, built my deck, and renovated my kitchen on my own. My water heater went out last year and I started to sweat thinking that I would have to hire someone to replace it. I looked into and ended up doing it myself.


Maybe growing up in Iowa has spoiled me. I come from a family of carpenters, mechanics, architects, doctors, nurses, and artists. Nobody I knew would ever think of half-assing something. So, if you are going to buy a Tacoma, get one while you can, before they move to San Antonio. End of rant.
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The few quality problems with 2011 trucks cannot be pinned on the San Antonio assembly workers. With any move of assembly location, there is going to be a learning curve where the new workers have to pick up some undocumented tricks with getting parts to fit, etc. Those UAW workers in Fremont had 15 years experience building Tacomas, so restarting production anywhere else will trade away that experience. Certainly the 2011 trucks have fewer problems than the 2005 trucks.

 

When did this move happen? My 2011 was built in December in Mesa, Ca. No leaks to report either

 

Mine was built in August of 2010, no signs of leaking as of yet.

 

Mesa, CA? Didn't know there was a car assembly operation there, ever. What is the full assembly plant name as written on your door frame label?

 

I checked the sticker when I bought it and thought it said Mesa, Ca. Truck is at the air port right now so will have to check that later this week. Maybe it's the Mexico plant???

 

Mesa CA and glad!!

 

my 11 was made in mexico. no problems yet.

 

Thanks for your input

Mine was made in texas, and I havn't noticed any problems yet. But I'm going in for an oil change on Monday, and I think I'll ask about it.

 

My 2011 was built in Sept 2010 in Texas
Its a plastic gas tank, where was it leaking at?
Was it leaking at a plastic seam, molding problem?
Is the ethnol in the gas causing the plastic to deform?

 

Had some time to check into this further and the door stamp says the truck is made in "Baja De California" and on the bottom of the stamp is says "Made in Mexico". The window sticker says PORT/PLANT: Otay Mesa, Ca. Apparently they ship Mexico built trucks out of there.

-my guess is this is a Mexico build and I googled that and a 2002 write up says the plant is in Juarez, so I am just glad my truck made it out of there without getting murdered...

 

I was about to say, mine was built on JAn 9th, and no problems yet

 

thanks for the heads up!

 

haha

 

Where did you see the specific date? Mine says Mexico and has says 2/11 but not the actual date