2012 tacoma trailteam pro w/ 6 speed - 1st warranty visit

guys,

I plan to take the truck in for warranty soon - its @ 15,000km and last time i was in the girl at the counter recommended showing up before 20k as they have more of a 'fine tune' warranty or some crap like that - we'll see if that's true or not...

the issues I've saved up are listed below - just wondering if anyone else has these issues and has taken the truck in for work... i'm wondering are these issues known? is there s good way to approach the dealership for them?

whats the best way to approach dealerships for any warranty? I don't much like dealerships, never had great experiences before, but this is my first visit to Toyota for nitpicky stuff....

in no particular order:

1 - humming from drivetrain when not moving and engaging/disengaging clutch. clutch pedal pressed; noise goes away. release pedal, humming. sounds like throwout bearing related to me. came on at once at about 5000km after turning on 4x4 for a few km's. no changes since, but always there, especially louder when cold.

2 - tire pressure light setting - truck door jamb says like 29 and 32 psi front/rear.. I set it there when new, no light. took it in for an oil change, and the work order says "tire pressure light on (it wasn't) they topped them up to 35psi each tire as stated on the rubber. now if i set it back to the lower truck spec the light comes on... did they reset my light? can i set it back to truck specs myself?

3 - headlights - i get high-beamed a lot out in the country - should they adjust this for me?

4 - seat belt buzzer - drives me nuts, I'm old enough to put my belt on when needed without mommy. will they shut this off?

5 - engine ticking - I've read much about this and seems to be normal. should i bring it up or will they simply tell me its normal and that's the way it sounds? fairly noticeable at drive through's etc. when there's a wall next to me.

6 - brakes - from new i always noted a slight short ***pssst** noise from the pedal area at the very start of pressing the brakes...like there's air in the system...normal for a 6 speed or should they bleed this noise out? also, maybe this is just 'cause its manual trans, but the brakes can be very abrupt at low speed, even with low pedal pressure. lurchy even.

7 - blower fan. mostly when cold, it buzzzzzes on high...recently became a chirpy buzzz....is this a known issue for 2012's?

8 - stock speakers - they pop and crack pretty bad anywhere past 3/4 volume. course everything i listen to has bass. normal? time to upgrade it myself?

9 - they making a cold air intake for this truck yet or what???

so that's my gripes list, its pretty minor overall, but i want to keep this truck possibly for a very long time so i don't want any funny wear starting too early in its life. I'd love to hear anyone's feedback or experience with these or similar issues and how it was (or wasn't) resolved by the dealers.

thanks!!

 

.

 

I have a 2011 and I have had problems with 3 and 7. For the headlights, I think all the other drivers going the other way on the drive to work are used to it now. The dealership tried to adjust it when it was bad (everyone was flashing me in the beginning) but it didn't work. The chirping fan was a problem but it went away on its own and I had forgotten about it until you mentioned it. It's possible that the dealership fixed it when they did their air conditioning service.

Oh and put your damn seat belt on, selfish asshole.

Just kidding about that seat belt. But not really.

 

About the headlight issue, it only seems to effect only on post year 2000 vehicles that have anything close to round headlights, say a HHR or the Tacoma, I guess they throw light better. :shrug:

The engine ticking is because the engines don't have any form of hydraulic lifters to compensate for clearance when the engine is running. If you heard a Chevy V8 with mechanical lifters, you hear the same thing. No real issue here, not to many OHC engines have hydraulic lifters anyways and ticking is just normal.

Noise from the throw out bearing only happens when you depress the clutch pedal, and a little noise is normal when in neutral, like the NV3500 on the GM trucks.

Also vacuum boosted brakes have a "whoosh" sound normally, only hydraulic brakes don't have that noise, and is normal.

It seems the truck is going to be great! Have fun driving it!

 

Thanks Guys, looks like im blowing a couple minor things out of proportion - good to know

Athlaos, i wear it i swear!


Another thing - a few times now on a solid pothole or bump, the rear end bottoms out. pretty lame and loud. supposed to be "trail" but bottoms on the streets? i see from previous posts this was an issue in earlier models, but whats the situation with 2012's? should i push the dealer for a leaf spring related solution?

thanks for all the comments

 

yes you very much should push them to upgrade your leaf springs. there is a tsb for it they should be free as long as you are under warranty

 

sounds good, but i thought the TSB was for 2011 and earlier models?

I have an appointment friday and they said the tech would go for a quick drive with me, so i will have some time to really explain the issues in detail....dont think i'll try and replicate the bottom-out tho!

maybe if they change the leafs to something stronger it'll fix the headlight aim issue, i thihnk my truck looks like it rakes back a bit like it wants to be a baja truck or something

 

#1 & 7 on my 2009 exactly as you describe it.

 

Seat belt buzzers can no longer be turned off with techstream. There is no tsb for rear leaf springs on 2012 or 2013.

 

Yes the seat belt buzzer can be turned off using the Techstream Software.

I have a 2012 and I turned mine off with Techstream.

 

How long ago? Mine was turned off last year (2012) but with one of the updates this year the option has disappeared

 

June 2012...

You mean an update to Techstream Software removed the option?

 

URD, TRD, and I believe AFE make CAI's for our 2012. However, there has been plenty of discussion on to or not to CAI. In my opinion, I am leaning to the right on this one, the piping for our stock intake is drawing air from the right wheel fender so it is already a cold air intake, as in not drawing in warm engine bay air. Now if you just want something that looks good and sounds throaty then by all means get it because bottom line, if your happy with it then wear it proud.

-j

 

Yes not long ago we had a customer that wanted it turned off and both techstreams in our dealer couldn't do it.

 

There is always ebay and do it yourself method.

 

so my results were as expected - everything is normal, seat belt cannot be disabled, $35 to aim the headlights, yada yada,waste of time. oh they apparently found a leaf in the blower so thats all that was, even though they said "common issue" when i told them about it.

I expect the blower noise will return when it cools down outside,, as it happens the temperature warmed by about 15C the very day i bring it in....

 

So i visited a different (closer to work) dealer for my next oil change. 22,000km.

I brought up several new issues

1 - the stereo speakers pop at loud volume (tsb now for this)
RESULT: we listened, i could barely make it pop - bad choice in music that instant. he then pulled up the TSB on their system, and i have a new unit ready to be installed friday AM - hoping for a positive change...

2 - steering rattles at low speed & NO load (it does, and there is a TSB)
RESULT: i didnt demonstrate this and they couldnt replicate it. service report suggest i show them myself next time( ok with me)
3- want the seat belt chime disabled
RESULT: she (one who takes you in) asked the shop foreman, yada yada, they asked if i wanted pass side too i said YES - they did it and printed a long disclaimer on the service report.
4 - clutch pedal occasionally creaks on release
RESULT: - same thing as steering rattle basically.
5 - whistling at around 60km/h
RESULT: new grille delivered per TSB and ready for install friday AM. i asked if they could upgrade it to super white, added costs ok, they checked and said sorry not on warranty items.
6 - heater fan blows too much windscreen when set to feet.
RESULT: he demostrated a brand new truck does the same damned thing. I HATE DEFROST. could a dash mat work for this?

I think getting an oil change same time helps them offset the "inspection fees" they warn about for frivolous warranty claims.

good experience at this dealer, was expect the brush off "normal operation" crap i got at dealer #1. pretty happy about the new stereo, its the first thing i noticed day one i had the truck.

I do plan to demonstrate the rattling steering issue and maybe the creaky clutch if i can,... next oil change.