Toyota Dealer Admits to Tacoma Systemic Workmanship Inconsistencies

I am about to show poor Toyota Workmanship in Factory and Dealer Toyota Authorized Shops is systemic chronic. While this is 'just' about a bumper, the conversation (in writing) that I had with the dealership and the Toyota authorized Body Shop really demonstrates why and how today's 2024 Tacoma transmission failures are really caused by the same workmanship issue.

Karl Malone Toyota Russ Beck admitted to me in writing that he saw on all new Tacoma Trucks that all of their bumpers were not installed straight, as quasi the excuse or justification, of course, why fixing my bumper positioning is not something they will do. He argued with me taking at least an hour to investigate reasons or justifications why they don't want to adjust the very bumper they installed crooked in the first place, which, instead of just having me come in and fix it in 15 minutes. So, this is of course a bumper issue, and of course it won't inhibit or affect driving or the engine performance in any way.

But that above said, is more a principal matter of workmanship attitude and extremely poor customer service. This is not just a dealer-service department and/or body shop attitude matter, but a Toyota Brand issue as well.

Here are some pictures and evidence of it - see below.

What do we learn and how do we move forward, assuming that nowadays we can really only expect diminished quality from Toyota altogether? It's a sad realization. The 'quality expectation' of Toyota, the Make, the Brand is sadly in decline. Taking that with you in the back of your mind to your next Toyota "Tacoma" purchase is probably something to consider. I don't think any dealership is better or different. Personally I believe the 'systemic - chronic' workmanship problem and their dealer-brand justification for poor installs is not just a Toyota matter, but perhaps even Industry wide.

That said, I am not a venting-disparaging person. All information is based on facts and evidence.

 

yup - my 2023 TRD OR rear bumper is misaligned - the bumper on the right side is further out than the left side - I had my local Toyota specialty garage (not dealer) take a look at it while doing a service, and they found no way to adjust it

 

It's a money issue, not a quality issue.

Someone out there can fix that correctly for the right amount of money.

 

BUT.....

If he "looked at several Tacomas on the lot and every one has the same inconsistencies " . . .

The talking points from here on out will be.. "it's normal".

 

My front plastic bumper and fuel door look like they were put on by drunken blind men.

 

i've rarely ever looked at any gaps on my vehicles. i guess that's what i get for not buying a bentley.

there's also a significant diminishing return on caring about very detail oriented stuff like this. sure, it can be fixed, but if the book pays 1 hour to install, that's all the tech is getting paid. if fitment is more critical, agree to forego the book rate, and pay hourly instead. plenty of custom shops will happily spent your dozens of thousands on perfecting every detail.


my brother's dealing with this working for a dodge dealer, specifically in illinios, on warranty repairs.

as we all should know, any under-warranty repair comes out of the auto makers pocket. as any massive corporation beholden to it's shareholders, they have a major interest in reducing final warranty repair costs, and maintaining shareholder value. while one could make the argument that it's easier to slow down and make things right the first time to reduce the warranty issue, the flip side is that warranty work likely only accounts for a fraction of the 'real' issue-- like in this case. but correcting the issue every single time can present significantly increased production costs.

every single tacoma might actually all have misaligned bumpers. but it's a $30-50k truck, which is cheap in todays market. for toyota, it's likely far cheaper to deal with the warranty claims for the issue, as they'll likely account for less than 20% of sales, where if they decided to fix the issue on every single truck, the production cost would be significantly greater, which would then result in an overall increased vehicle price, to which only 20% of people ever had an issue with to begin with.

the other way they can lower their out-of-pocket warranty costs is by simply reducing the amount of book time hours that they'll approve under warranty time, regardless of what the job actually takes. specifically, illinois passed a law for mechanics to pay them an increased rate on warranty repairs because the warranty times had been so drastically cut short, compared to the same job as a customer-pay job, that illinois lawmakers specifically contributed this as the cause of a significant pay disparity among mechanics, and resulted in a high turnover rate of mechanics within illinois. there's other states that have also passed similar laws from what i'm told, but i'm not aware of which ones.

https://www.autobodynews.com/news/i...-technician-wages-spurs-economic-growth-study

in my brothers case, this resulted in being paid his time-and-a-half rate for warranty work he performed(which, come on, it's dodge, there's plenty of it!). talking with him a month ago about it, he said that while it worked well to equal out his pay throughout 2022 and '23, he also reported that the issue has become a bit of an 'arms race' situation. where dodge specifically(likely other brands as well) is now lowering warranty book time rate further, in an effort to counteract the now-higher rates they're paying for the same work. and he as a mechanic, is expecting things to eventually fall back to the previous pay disparity again in a few years. which puts things right back into the same boat it was before law makers tried 'fixing' things.

i've dealt with a lot of customers that have exceedingly high expectations as an electrician, and now as a dump truck builder. the interesting part is that i can't ever recall a time where any of those people with exceedingly high expectations is ever willing to pay more, but will consistently demand the most perfect details for the absolute least amount of money.

perfection is absolutely possible, but just as you or i won't perform a job for free, it's entirely unfair of the anyone to demand more of a broken system. and unfortunately, it all starts with the shareholders.

 

This really has nothing to do with the Toyota, the truck was hit and the bumper sits uneven after the repair. Granted, these trucks do not have stellar fit and finish, but the unwillingness of the body shop to align it means one of three things: They already tried and they couldn’t, there still something bent in that bumper (it’s modular so they likely did not install a complete bumper), or they just don’t care.
If it’s really bothering you maybe have another shop take a peek underneath.
I doubt it will ever fit perfect. Those bumpers are a joke.

 

Sure, and that's not the point though. The point is that #1 the Toyota dealer admits that all their Tacoma-s are crap, poorly assembled by the factory; #2 the dealer says they would rather not fix what they themselves have done wrong, #3 they don't care about quality and especially not about treating their customers worthy of all our loyalty to brand and the money we paid, and #4 they rather spend their time in arguing themselves out of accountability and responsibility. The point is that what could be done correctly the first time, is apparently acceptable by these quality-thugs to do wrong as the standard. I can have it fixed - and I even can do it myself. The point is that if little or no quality workmanship is applied to a bumper, what's the difference with motor and transmission? All crap!

 

Thanks - but my point is the attitude. A poor attitude towards the fix of bumper is no different to a motor or transmission. Even if its an incomplete bumper repair or something still bent, it's all about attitude and the lack of respect. Most of all, the dealer admitted that "THEY ALL" (all of the trucks on their "new toyota trucks" on their lot) have the same problem. What does that tell us about the assembly quality by the factory?

 

I think there is a way to adjust it.

 

I understand your frustration, it’s difficult to find good service in in just about any industry today. There’s a serious shortage of skilled labor, especially in the automotive field.
Being in this industry all my life, I knew it was going to eventually be like this. Nobody seems to take pride in what they do anymore.

 

Yes, thank you! we have someone here who got the most concerning point. If these inconsistencies are normal straight out of the factory, then what else... the motor and transmission etc, received the same type of quality attention - all diminished - pure crap, sadly. And that is not what we expected from Toyota. At least I didn't. This is my #8 Toyota bought brand new (this Tacoma in particular was bought new February 2021). A great truck. But the dealership is despicable - poor at best. Heck, the Brand managers at the factory are just the same.

 

And some people, especially the dealership (and the factory brand managers too) try to make you feel you are wrong about complaining about it... You can tell on the email he sent - what a moron, actually - publicly and in writing admitting "they all quasi have the same problem"... as if that is a justification. It's not just poor below standard labor skill, it's also 'brain activity' that's not on task here with that Russ from the Toyota Dealership.

 

I get why you may be discussing this point from the view "some people like me are not reasonable because we might not have paid adequately for it...". But that is frankly not applicable and it is a bad attitude. Look, the insurance forked up $12,500 for the damage you see on that picture- totally ripped off by that dealers shop - but I didn't get involved (hey the insurance company knows what they are doing - ). The truck sustained minor damage in a 'no-fault' bender some parts on the bumper too had to get replaced, the bumper had to be taken down and put back on, and my point is, they were already doing this and therefore there is no excuse for not doing it right, regardless of what poor quality standards they factory may have in assembling the cars and engines and especially now transmissions which seem to fail in the Tundra and now in the 2024 Tacoma-s as well.

I get, a more pay should yield better quality. We are not talking about anything different here. The installation done right or wrong takes the same effort regardless of undercharged or overcharged. A principal matter of quality and workmanshit (yes, that "T" is on purpose).

 

That's the fun in that?

 

I’m calling Mr Toyoda, in the morning.

 

I'm suddenly reminded of a broken finger story from a dirt bike crash as a kid. My Mom took me to the urgent care for an x-ray and the x-ray tech was the grumpiest old lady I've ever met in my life. I recall her getting frustrated that my hand wouldn't lay flat for the x-ray (yeah, my finger was broken lady) and she yelled "PUT IF FLAT." Right then she smashed my hand down on the table and wouldn't you know it, my finger made a loud crunch/pop as it somewhat went back into place.

That finger is still kicked out to the side and crooked from her.

So for those who say it's supposed to look that way, it's normal. I say BS.

Always make bodyshops fix the repairs to the condition of the vehicle prior to the accident. Refuse to take delivery until it's repaired and contact your insurance claims adjuster if needed to step in.

 

They are made in Mexico, not Japan. The difference in attention to detail between those two different countries and cultures is quite noticeable. Other makes suffer the same deficiencies where attention to detail and inspection and adjustment are in play. If the inspectors are OK with it then the workers will become lazier and less caring about the product they put out.

 

@TacoFranz

Look underneath and see if you are able to adjust it..

If not, get aftermarket bumper and move on if that bothers you that much.

Not all are from Mexico, some Tacomas are from Texas. Then they moved Tacoma production to Mexico starting in 2021.

 

True but the pic was of a 24 I believe.

And having seen the shit assembly that comes out of Mexico as far as trim installs and such on my Honda and the complete lack of even a modicum of inspecting that would have caught 100% of the issues, I stand by my statement that Mexico manufacturing and inspecting is to a far lower then anything that comes out of Japan. Heck, even the UAW in Detroit likely surpasses it. The only reasons anyone builds a plant in Mexico is cheap labor and lower standards for environmental controls.