Arbitration didn't go well..........

Bold print equals anger I guess. Every car/truck has it's issues and weak points. If you haven't had a lemon in 20 years you've been extremely lucky. Like others have said, if Toyota could find a simple fix for this they would have and then made it a priority to fix the trucks. Obviously whatever is happening is a complex malfunction. It likely involves more than balancing this or adjusting that, which means it'll be a while before they recall or fix our trucks. Do I fault Toyota for this? No, not really, I mean come on GM just got caught lying for 5 years about there cars shutting off there airbags and it's not effecting there sales. If I was going to go flip out on someone it'd be them for my ex-wifes truck.

As the OP said, he should of test drove the truck longer but extenuating circumstances lead him to buy before he thoroughly tried. It happens to even the most vigilant buyers. A forester could of had the same issues, there is a reason why Subaru leases more vehicles than any other manufacturer, since the durability of there performance AWD system is somewhat suspect. They need extensive work after about 80K, which is why you don't see a pile of old Subaru's driving around like you do Toyota, Mazda, Nissan, etc. I have a buddy that owns a Subaru Dealership and openly told me to avoid any Subaru with more the 50K km's on it because it's 50/50 that'll need a lot of "maintenance" in the next 30-40K once the warranty is up. I was right in the middle of a deal with him on a two year old 2009 WRX. I bought a Nissan Juke instead which I quickly flipped for my Taco.

OP should of LL'd this truck right away with a private lawyer. It would of been a pain in the ass for a month but he would be a lot happier than is he now with all the time and money he's spent. Instead he relied on the good will of a major corporation to help him out of a common issue, and I'm not surprised it's gone this poorly for him.

I wish the OP the best of luck, but something tells me he isn't going to come out of this feeling any better than he is now no matter what the outcome. New Colorado time? Maybe, but it's almost 50/50 he'll have to deal with another issue.

 

Correct me if I am wrong but I think any repair is reported to Car-Fax. If you go to trade and they car-fax and see all of these attempted repairs will it not lower resale? It would if I was buying it as a used truck. In fact I would not buy one that has had a lot of repairs.
Had a Ford dealer pull this on me and that is when I went Toyota.
I may make a bad decision but the new Colorado will be my next truck. These vibration issues should not have been going on for three years and I bet it will still be on the 2015 models.

 

Could be wrong, but I thought only repairs that are done through insurance are posted to Carfax. I was under the impression that cash deals created silence. I'm sure someone smarter than me will know better and have an answer

 

My brother bought a used Ford at a Toyota dealer and they car-faxed it and it showed where it came from and all the repairs ever done. even the warranty repairs.

 

Incorrect. All repairs done at dealership are added to the carfax regardless of how minor or major. My mustang showed a headrest replacement for stitching issue.

 

I hear ya.. my first car was a 1973 Dodge Charger SE for $225.00 It was a POS! But wheels was wheels. It vibrated, squeaked, rattled and had a trunk that was accessible from L & R rear quarters, major rust bucket (Oshkosh, WI) .

A $30K new vehicle should not have the issue we are dealing with.

 

So where's the driveshaft

 

I have been following this post with interest & a little sadness, what an ordeal a person has to be put through just to make thing right. I am not sure what is happing to Toyota, it would seem that ever since they "got into bed with GM" their mode of operation has taken a drastic turn for the worse, I purchased my Tacoma strickly on Toyota's reputation,,, Well,, I should have done my homework, although, overall I like the truck, Toyota is letting is shortcoming redefine the Tacoma, & customer service is almost a thing of the past with them, they have almost become "Rude" when trying to deal with them. I along with many others paid cash for my truck, there was absolutely nothing wrong with my money, had I paid with counterfeit money I don't think Toyota would be happy & would want it made right!!! Well the OP only wants what he paid for, a road ready vehicle, I fully understand things are not always perfect, but in this case Toyota should one of the following,, recall that truck & not return it until it is FIXED!!!,, supply the op with a new truck, or return the purchase price!!, IMOP the action by Toyota is just unacceptable, Wishing you Best & hope you win your case!!![/QUOTE]


Thanks DocD.

 

I was thinking about repairs done at Big Jim's Auto Body and are paid in cash by the owner. Are all repairs to any cars reported by VIN and work order somewhere? isn't Carfax just a privately owned business and not some type of administrative body for all things vehicle repair related?

 

Waiting for the big brown Santa to arrive.. we live a bit out of town, we usually get deliveries after 3pm, sometimes not till 7:00 or 8:00 pm if somebody calls in sick or a truck goes down .. Scheduled my day so I could be here to pounce on that thing!

 

Correct lol. Privately owned business. However you never know which mechanic uses it. mostly only places that sell cars will use it. But most mechanics around here sell cars when the customer wont pay for it. One of our big trans companies here in town now advertises carfax so I assume they report as well. so it's a crap shoot. I'm sure your mom and pops stores don't and wont. They are already loosing money to big repair shops they don't need to loose more on a service they probably won't use .

 

That'll be awesome having all this crap documented for everybody to see, not

So part of the Lemon Law states, that if this defect reduces the resale value of the vehicle below the current average resale value of like make/model, then it falls under the LL.

I think that rule will definitely apply now.

 

Good luck! A new vehicle(even a truck), shouldn't have vibration issues, period.....

 

Carfax is really a joke, it can be manipulated to read pretty much what one would want it to say. 60 minutes did a good show on it a few months ago, showing dealerships around the country manipulating the reports, I didn't think anyone referred to that. jmop

 

First of, I made a mistake on the other model vehicle we looked and my wife liked. It was a Nissan Frontier.. Sorry about that, I was tired and should stopped typing. We live smack dab in the middle of Nissan Country, but I had always wanted a Tacoma.. my mistake.

If the vibrations stop, I'll move on. If not, time for litigation. The LL in TN has several steps you have to complete prior to filing a lemon law suit. If you don't, the claim will be dismissed.

We are not mean or spiteful people, if the truck is fixed.. great, we'll drive it till the wheels fall off. if not we move forward with an Attorney.

Whichever way it goes, we will never buy another Toyota product and I will continue to share my Toyota experience with people.

 

I agree! thanks judgeman6970 (GTO?)

 

I do realize all manufactures build products with issues, defects and flaws. That's understandable, nobody/nothing is perfect.. whatever the issue or problem is, own it, take responsibility for it and make it right. I'm tired of these companies acting like children when when a customer has a vehicle with an issue... "well GM has all kinds of too, and so does Dodge and Ford and and and" . When that kind of BS comes directly from a regional general manager from Toyota (Dirk Hammersmith) during an arbitration hearing, you know they don't give a shit and it's going to be an up hill battle.

 

I can understand why the Frontier has a great market share in TN. A couple of years ago I went on a business trip to see a rep in Nashville for some product cross training and I saw the huge Nissan plant.

That's a pain about the steps you have to go through. I was under the impression it was like in Canada where you can start a Civil Case immediately to light a fire under the manufacturers ass.

I'll be honest, if I was in Toyota's position why would I really want to help you. You aren't going to buy another Tacoma, you're clearly someone who will hurt the company if something goes wrong on a future vehicle, and you haven't been that easy to deal with. I'm not defending Toyota, but it is pretty clear they have little to nothing to lose by fighting you right up until court. I wish you luck and please don't take my comments as any offense since they are just observations.

 

Interesting perspective. Allow me to retort. We didn't start off all nasty and spiteful, we are actually very nice people, and paying customers. We are relatively easy to please, just don't lie to me or try to give me the runaround.. which Toyota did, over and over.

We walked into the dealer thinking, "yeah, this is going to be great.. stepping up to a Toyota, the best". wrong

When you are treated unfairly and told that there is nothing that can be done, your just being picky, other people are ok with that vibration repeatedly it tends to change your attitude a bit.. 4 months of BS has that effect. They had/have a choice.. do the right thing and heal the wound, or poor salt in it and make it worse.

 

Car Fax is BS as I had a 2007 Ford Ranger rear ended in Nov of 2007 less than a year old and pushed in to the car in front of me $5,700 in damage had it fixed at a local dealer.

When I traded it in 2010 on a new Ranger not one mention of the collision or repairs at the local Ford dealer.