New Tacoma, tic-tic sound, lights flickering - dealer says "startup sound"?!?

2011 Tacoma SR5, 4 cyl, 4x4, 6K miles - runs fine except for the following:

I start it up and when I drive less than 10 feet or so, I hear a tic-tic in the cabin. It only happens each time I turn the truck on and start driving and has been that way since I bought it. If the headlights are on, I notice that they flicker once at the same time I hear the sound. I'm partly deaf and can hear the sound.

I took it to the dealer for the 5K Toyotacare maintenance and was told it was a "startup sound". I have a hard time believing that since there's no answer as to where it's coming from or why.

Some friends who have recent year Tacomas don't hear it in their trucks. My 2000 Tacoma Prerunner (now my Dad's) doesn't make the sound.

I'm planning on taking it to a different dealer for the 10K maintenance, but, in the meantime, any suggestions on what might be happening? Or, should I be convinced that it really is a "startup sound"?

I have a hard time trusting dealers when my gut feeling says otherwise - for example, the coolant on the Prerunner kept on going down, even after being refilled, for a few months after I bought it and I was told everything from it expands/contracts, that the pink seen on parts under the truck were a "coating", etc; after going to a fourth dealer, it turned out the clamp on one of the hoses was never tightened in the factory, hence the leak.

 

Only the headlights flicker? Could be a faulty relay. Is the sound definitely in the cab, or possibly coming from engine bay? "startup sound" is bullshit.

 

ABS pump priming is my guess. It's crazy loud in some vehicles, barely audible in others, and only activates the first time the vehicle gets to a couple mph after each start.

Not sure if it would have a relay to control it inside the cabin though.

 

It is your abs priming. EVEY newer car I have driven does this. And the lights are "flickering" or just go dim for a second? That's because it draws a lot of amperage to turn it on. Watch next time your ABS engages. That and there is a slight voltage spike that goes up the ground side. AC pump does the same thing. Just an FYI, I work at a GM dealership, and drive new gm trucks all the time. That's why I drive a yota!

 

Mine does this tic sound as well....just about at 10 feet too...lower left part of the dash where it comes from. My wife even asked me what it was. But mine has done it since I drove it off the lot which was just in July.

 

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