THE Toyota lemon law thread

Background: As some of you know I had a 2013 Tacoma reg cab 4x4 with wintertime clutch issues. The clutch would be slow to return in freezing temps. The dealer (Jim Hudson Toyota in Irmo SC) was really good about making sure my truck was 100%. Unfortunately they were unsuccessful in the repair of my truck.

Please note: I am a South Carolina resident. The Toyota lemon law/buyback process may be different in your state. However, in SC you MUST MUST MUST go through an arbitration process before you can hire a lawyer. Thats if you qualify for buyback under the law.

For SC residents: What I had to do was wait until the 3rd repair was made. At this point I was getting fed up with the hassle of the dealer trying to fix it so I called the Toyota corporate office. They gave me the option of going through the Toyota lemon law program or arbitration. I opted for the lemon law program. BIG MISTAKE. I wasted a month and a half just to get told to stick my head up a hogs butt and have a ham sammich. Opt for arbitration. When you ask for arbitration they will send you to the NCDS (National Center for Dispute Settlement) website to print out a form to fill out. NCDS comes back wanting all records of repair etc. They will then set up a date with you for a hearing. TAKE ANY AND ALL RECORDS, EVIDENCE, WITNESSES, or whatever else you may have to prove your case. All you really need to do is explain what the vehicle is doing and when it does it. Then state the vehicle falls under the lemon law (if applicable. See warning below). Thats all I really did. After that you will get a decision in the mail as to whether you are eligible for buyback. If your vehicle does in fact fall under lemon law or Magnuson Moss, they will award you with buyback more than likely. In my case, I got awarded full repurchase minus "use of the vehicle". If you are denied, you can either file an appeal or hire a lawyer because the law is the law. A lawyer is paid on a contingency basis...as in he/she gets paid if they win. You don't pay a dime up front. If you are asked for money, walk out and find another lawyer. Toyota MUST pay all lawyer fees.

Warning: if you are on a second repair and Toyota is telling you that it operates as designed, you had best have one hell of a problem that the arbitrator will be able to pick up on. Otherwise, if its a minute issue, the arbitrator will more than likely deny you because they are paid by Toyota after all and sometimes the "customer is always right". ALSO, this is a MUST KNOW: You will get burned pretty good for "use of the vehicle". I think I lost $1500-2000 in a years time which is alot for me. I can't remember what the formula is at the moment but it has to do with full purchase price and mileage at the first repair. I did not know this until I was awarded with repurchase.

So I bet you are wondering what happens after you are approved for repurchase. Well after the repurchase was decided on, I got contacted by another company Impartial Services out of Texas. They were responsible for taking care of the buyback. They will ask you for various info regarding pay off and amount of interest paid into the vehicle. Remember, if you owe more than you are getting refunded, you have to come up with that money to be given to the finance company to pay off the rest of the loan. After this was decided, a transfer agent was assigned and we talked over the phone to schedule a time for the transfer of ownership. He drove out of Atlanta to make sure the truck was in good shape and to hand me a check/sign paperwork etc. I took my truck in dirty as hell with the plastic on the rear bumper kinda messed up from a trailer hitting it. After this I got handed a check and I was on my way. Once this happens, you no longer own the car/truck and you walk away from your lemon. I probably could have swapped out the touch screen radio with an older radio and nobody would have known and I would have made money in the process.


After a lot of research I could not find anything that explained this process. All I found was people complaining and thats not what I was looking for. So I hope I have helped somebody get an idea how this process goes. Be prepared to wait 2 months for decisions to be made. I ended up getting a new Ram 2500 Cummins about a month ago and I couldn't be happier, besides putting diesel in it at $100 a fill up. Ill try my best to come back and check this thread for any questions people may have, but I am pretty sure I have covered everything pretty good.

 

Good luck with that Ram.
Your engine will outlast 4 of the trucks.

 

Nice. The guys spends some time trying to share his story to help Tacoma owners and that's your response?

Classy Rich.

 

I didn't know South Carolina got to freezing , learned something new today

 

Hey Rich when my Cummins hits 400k Ill let you know. It was either a new Z71 or a Cummins for the exact same price. I think I would rather add the 2" to my pecker with the diesel. I get the EXACT same mileage if not better as my old Yota and only pay an extra $.20 a gallon for the diesel. Now I aint gonna lie I really miss my Taco. Im not ragging on it. It just didnt work out and didnt want another one.

And yes we had a really bad cold spell last winter here in SC. And Ive never had a clutch get like that on me in the 10 years Ive been driving. It does get below freezing most nights here in the winter. It was especially bad when we got down into the teens and had an ass of snow. Speaking of, the Taco handled the snow like an absolute dream when we had it.

 

Ya... that is an awesome engine, it's just too bad it's in a Ram.
I've worked with a bunch of guys who have owned Ram 1500 and 2500 trucks and had nothing but problems with the chassis/body. Never a problem with the Cummins that they didn't cause themselves.

Personally, if I were in the market for another full size, I'd still go with a Duramax in a Diesel because both the engine and chassis are IMHO a good compromise. Ford makes better sheetmetal, and Chrysler uses a better engine.
For a gas truck, until Toyota starts taking the Tundra more seriously and gives it a load/towing capacity to match it's freakishly large appearance, I'd hold my nose and go with a Ford (and our work trucks at the city have their share of electrical gremlins).
10 years ago we were told that a true HD Tundra in 3/4-ton and 1-ton were imminent, with a Diesel option. Dealers were told to upgrade their service bays and lifts to be able to handle a 3500 Dually.
Nope... still not here. Same old half-ton.

 

Enjoy those fill ups! Please do re-post at 400k; Hell, let us know at 20k. Thanks and good luck!

 

I put $90 (of gas) in my Tacoma yesterday...

 

$109 for me last time

 

Most I ever put in was $77.
18 gallons at $4.29 (450 miles)

 

Lol its a pretty tough truck! Ive had a little girl shove a car door in the side of the bed and I took out a cart corral at Wal Fart and no dents yet! Just a scratch from the cart thing that was buffed out lol