Radio shuts itself off!

Brought my radio in for replacement because volume knob randomly f@*ks up and stop working. It seems to be back-ordered since it has been 3 weeks and they have yet to received the part.

 

as far as a free upgrade, don't think that will happen but we can always hope, I hate this is happening to so many of us. I know this is frustrating as it's happening to me as well but sometimes patience is all we can do in situations like these. I'm sure Toyota is working to fix this as quickly as they can. I love my Truck and I'll keep buying Toyota products. This is just a glitch that will ultimately get worked out.

 

The glitch is in the process of getting worked out. New Pioneer HU, new ARC Audio amp, new Image Dynamics component speakers, with RAAMMat deadening for the doors. It is a real pisser that they can't even put a decent radio / sound system in these trucks for how expensive they are. Oh well, the rest of the truck is great...mostly. Generally speaking, it seems that most owners end up spending close to $2000 to correct suspension, sound, tires, exhaust, etc. issues which compares to buying a harley and having to spend about that same amount to make it run right.

 

The glitch is with the radio manufacturer , a batch of bad radios or something like that. they sure did not do much testing on those radios or they would never have been put in vehicles. all radios made after Feb 09 are ok and do not have the random do whatever whenever thing going on

 

My 09 taco radio has issues with the volume as well. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I haven't brought it back to the dealer. Because why replace a POS with another POS. The devil you know... I am looking to put a new head unit in anyway.

 

I got my truck in May '09. I guess my radio was made before Feb. '09...

 

What really BUGS me is that if Ford or Chevy produced this truck... with a flimsy tailgate, weak suspension, a squeaky clutch bushing (which has been a problem since '05 and has STILL not been corrected!), *insert other common problems here*, AND a completely defective radio - they'd probably talk about it on the national news and there would be a recall to correct the issues - but Toyota seems to get a free pass on this stuff for some reason. They only fix it if the customer complains about it - and even then it often involves a fight. I'm not impressed.

My last Toyota was an '83 Celica GTS - and that thing was a ROCK. Reliable as an anvil - and I never had the first problem until it had well over 100K miles on it. Same for the '78 Corolla SR5 Liftback I had before that. I like this truck and I'm not ready to say I regret buying it just yet, but I'm having some doubts about it.

 

My 2000 model Tacoma was actually built better than this '09 with a steel bed and good solid-feeling brakes. But the suspension was real weak on that truck too. Overall I really like this truck but it is very disappointing to have to spend a bunch of money on top of the fairly exhorbitant purchase price to fix this stuff. My clutch pedal also squeaks and the truck doesn't have 5000 miles on it yet. The radio thing really gets me though. They could actually put in a fairly high-powered and good quality audio system stock just the same as they put these POS systems in there and with their purchase scale it would not cost any more to do that. It would not be as good quality stuff as after-market obviously but it would still be plenty acceptable and vastly superior to the junk that it was sold with. IMHO the two most major things they should address is the radio problem and the weak suspension problem. They just should not put these trucks out there with these two problems. Certainly not for how much they cost. Oh well nothing about $1800 and a lot of my own labor won't fix. Isn't the reason we buy Toyota is so that we will not have to put up with the poor quality issues from the domestic manufacturers?

 

My thoughts too with the new & the slew of older ones beginning with 72's.


Has anyone thought about trying an older radio from FS section or does it plug in differently? Like from 05 or 06? I have 05 & have gotten an 06 to mix & match black & silver from each one. Not having any issues with either radio or any rattling. Mine are both single CD & no steering wheel controls tho, just has metra ipod/mp3 adapter off the cd1 hole in back. They are both Panasonic units according to the stickers on them. Not sure which radio setup most are having trouble with. Are all these 6 CD units that are problematic? with steering wheel controls?

 

my cd player was spittin out all my cd's while driving which seems dangerous

 

Just took my truck into the dealership this morning for the radio issue. The radio has been working correctly about half the time and lucky for me it acted up while I was at the dealership.

The are ordering me a new radio, unknown when it will be intalled.

 

I called my dealer and described the radio problems with my new 2009 Tacoma...same ones other Tacoma owners on the forum are experiencing. The service advisor's reaction was "So you got one of our poltergeist units!" Apparently the problem is well known at Toyota. He asked me to bring the truck in so he could verify the mileage and the radio type. I did so and he ordered a replacement.

 

Despite how widespread this problem is, I was told by a customer service rep @ Toyota (1-800-GOTOYOTA) that Toyota policy is to not order or replace the unit unless the dealer is able to duplicate the problem!?!?!?, even though it is intermittent!!! Same song and dance from my dealer! Hot day last week when radio was not working and I was close to dealer, drove it over and they saw it was defective, so they ordered me a new one. Good luck with some of these dealers and the manufacturer as well!

 

So it looks like it may depend on the dealer. I did not have to replicate the problem. As I mentioned in my post, when I spoke to the service advisor earlier in the day, he said all he needed was to verify the mileage and radio type so I had to drive in. He mentioned nothing about replicating the problem. Glad you were able to!

 

My 09 Tacoma radio was also shutting off, and sometimes the display would go off even though the radio was still playing, and at times the steering wheel controls would not work.
I took it to the dealership, they ordered a replacement, and abt 5 weeks later I have a new one. Driven it 2 weeks and no problems.

 

I have an 08. My radio will change channels or switch from radio to cd or vica versa. Mainly when I turn the steering wheel to the right on sharp turns. Does not happen all the time but still annoying. Thought about taking it to the dealer but to make it happen while I am there is a gamble.
Not sure what to do.

 

Our '09 2WD AC has same problem but ours is crazy all over. Turns off when you hit any of the presets, turns off when you switch from FM1 to FM2, turns off by itself. Volume knob works when it wants (always works through steering control). LCD display often looks as if written by hobbits...

 

Mine has been acting up a little since I bought the truck, but in the past week it's gone crazy. Shuts itself off constantly (5 times in 2 miles yesterday), display goes blank, buttons and knobs don't work, flashes weird codes, etc...

Dealer says they are back-ordered 6 weeks. Going on a long road trip in 2 weeks. Sucks to go through this with an '09 truck.

Is there an aftermarket stereo set-up out there somewhere that is plug and play?

 

When you buy a stereo from Crutchfield, they throw in the installation gear (mounting kit and wiring harness) and excellent instructions for free - which makes them all as close to "plug & play" as you can get. You can also call them anytime between 8:00 AM and midnight and talk to an installation expert if you run into any problems. They have 160 different models ranging from $49.99 to $1,749.99 that will fit your truck.

 

I have been experiencing the same problem with the volume and audio control knobs not functioning. Took it in yesterday and told me the same thing as everyone else...will be 5-6 weeks to get a new one in.

On a side note regarding this radio, has anyone else noticed a drastic difference in sound quality between music sources? I had the XM module installed a week after purchase and have been extremely disappointed in the sound quality. I've have satellite radio now for several years in three separate cars and understand that it's not CD quality, but seriously, it sounds like crap! Of course the FM radio sounds mediocre at best and the aux input for my ipod is horrendous....what is up? The only reasonably acceptable sound I get is from CD and honestly, I'm happy with it. But one out of four...I just don't get it, so if anyone can enlighten me I certainly would be grateful.