Truck problems, but it's just out of warranty.

I recommend you ask the shop exactly what failed and why (they should have a good idea of possible causes such as road damage, component failure, excessive heat, etc. Ask them specifically if it’s covered by the power train warranty, and if not, politely ask why not. (Sorry if you already spoke to that). Engine components should not fail at such low miles except for accidents/hard use. If there is no explanation pointing towards how or where you drive the truck, I would hope this dealer either warranties it or at least cuts you some slack on the bill. You are showing a real good attitude and they should help a long time Toyota customer IMO. As a fellow Taco owner, hope it gets worked out and you get back on the road for many more trouble free miles.

 

O.K., so after our 250 mile drive back to the dealership, the truck was still up on the lift. Why? Service manager said that after replacing the oil cooler they discovered (they think) a piece of the failed (exploded, broken--choose a word) oil cooler damaged the radiator. Good grief! A new radiator will have to be sent from Kansas City to eastern Iowa today/tonight. Assuming the $500 radiator comes in to the dealership tomorrow morning, that should complete this ordeal and we can drive home. We talked at length with the service manager about just what they saw or thought happened to cause this oil cooler to blow. They are baffled and have never seen such a thing before. There is no evidence of external damage to anything, such as the "skid plate". Interestingly, the service manager said "There is no evidence that any hose clamps to the cooler or radiator blew out. All clamps were still securely attached". The service manager seems like a pretty fair person and seems to feel Toyota will or should do the right thing by covering the repair costs. Hopefully we'll be back on the road by noon on Thursday. Keep ya posted.

 

Good luck. Will follow your “adventure “ when you post more.

 

Unreal. Sorry to hear

 

Good deal.

 

Think this is bad, you should go to the HD forums.
I swear to God, half the people who join there, have 3 posts: an introduction, a bitching post, and a "dont let the door hit you in the ass on the way out" post.

As to the OP, I too would like to know the outcome. If there is no external cause, then it would be a manufacturing defect, as this isnt something that usually happens. Hopefully you get on the road today!!

 

The radiator came in this morning and was installed by 11:30 a.m. We were then back on the road for our 250 mile drive home. The 95º actual air temperature for the ride home made me a little anxious and I watched the temperature gauge as much as I watched the road. But, everything went very well, no problems. The very helpful service manager offered some advice on my next phase of this dilemma as well as boxing up the blown oil cooler parts for me. Tomorrow I'll call the Toyota warranty department to discuss the possibility of some warranty help with my $3,000+ bill. It likely will take several weeks to resolve this and I will update this post when I know something new.

 

Well that was a lot of work just to get the oil changed and the coolant replaced early!
PS;
glad to hear your on the road again..


And welcome to TW the hard way

 

You mentioned 17,000 miles at the beginning.
Why are you on the hook for 3 large again?
The dealer should have processed your repairs under the powertrain warranty.. and how in the hell you have a granaded oil cooler?

 

Here’s the 2018 Tacoma Warranty and Maintenance Guide: https://www.toyota.com/t3Portal/document/omms-s/T-MMS-18Tacoma/pdf/T-MMS-18Tacoma.pdf

Attached is the page for the power train warranty. The oil cooler isn’t specifically listed but it may still be covered. Too bad the dealership that performed the repairs didn’t check with Toyota to see if it was covered since it sat there for 4 days and your truck only has 17k miles. Good luck and please keep us updated!

 

O.K., I called the service manager at the dealership we bought the truck at 3 years ago. He wasn't sure if the oil cooler would be covered under the 100,000 Powertrain Warranty. After some phone calls, etc., he said this part failure "wasn't covered". He suggested taking this problem up next with Toyota Warranty in ?????. So I called Warranty and retold my story to 3 different people up the corporate ladder. They all called back to the dealership who repaired my truck to speak to the repair mechanics to verify my account. No problem there. Problem seems to be I'm just 3 weeks out of warranty. Oil cooler isn't specifically covered under warranty (see post #30 above). I told Toyota the oil cooler bolted to the engine sure seems to be an awfully important part to not be covered and to cause my truck to stop right now. That logic didn't mean much to them. So, sure, it's just out of warranty. I agree. With extra lodging, towing, rental car, parts and labor, I'm out nearly $4,000 for a Toyota part failure. As I mentioned to Toyota, I've purchased 6 new Toyotas since the 1980's and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on their products. The dealership I bought my Toyota truck from is 60 miles away, yet there are Chevrolet, Ford, Nissan, KIA, etc. dealerships all within 5 miles of my house. Toyota will call me back within a week with their decision. This will be interesting.............

 

Tell them thousands of Tacoma owners and potential future buyers on Tacomaworld forum await their reply regarding warranty on a truck part failure like this on a Tacoma with less than 17,000 miles on it…

 

I’m sorry but I cringe whenever I hear people speak like this. Basically if you don’t give me something or do this thing for free I’m going to complain about it on the internet .

OP- if you spoke to 3 representatives that means they’re considering covering it but it’s not guaranteed. Please fact check this before proceeding but I believe only 3rd gen Tacomas with the tow package have oil coolers which includes all 2018+ V6’s. If I were in your position I would use that information to try to convince Toyota it should be covered under the powertrain warranty. Basically, I would nicely state that I understand the oil cooler isn’t listed in the warranty manual but that’s because it’s not a part that’s installed on all Tacomas. I would tell them that you have the factory tow package which includes the addition of an oil cooler. Make sure they understand that the oil cooler is a lubricated part as vital to the operation of the engine as the oil pump and it’s directly attached to the engine just like the oil pump which IS listed on the warranty. The assumption here is that the representatives don’t have this technical knowledge but I think that’s a fair assumption as it’s not required for their job. Again, good luck and keep us updated.

 

Don't think someone from toyota doesn't read these threads.

 

A lot depends on the individual dealer. It sounds like this SHOULD be covered anyway. But in my experience Toyota is good about repairing stuff even if it is out of warranty. I had a leak in the rear window at about 40,000 miles. My local dealer repaired it at no cost to me. I had to replace a U-Joint at 170,000 miles. Toyota reimbursed me the cost and sent me a letter indicating the U-Joints were covered for 200,000. They also replaced perfectly good rear springs under a recall with over 200,000 miles.

 

lol I look forward in amusement to providing you with more cringe worthy posts in the future haha.
Here’s one now, why do people start a sentence with “I’m sorry” when they’re really not?

 

in reality from time to time many manufacturers monitor the ‘ Net ‘

tho they may Not drill down on a specific scenario/issue

they are aware

empathy for past transactions has little weight corporate

 

It’s just etiquette when you’re telling someone something they might not like hearing but you’re right, I’m not sorry. Telling Toyota that “thousands of Tacoma owners and potential future buyers on Tacomaworld forum await their reply” is one of the most Karen things I’ve read on here in awhile

 

Toyota service shops are owned by dealers with minimal decision making discretion in warranty claims. They diagnose a problem, assess the cause, and process warranty claims through a manufacturer computer program that knows covered part numbers and reimbursable shop times. The information on what is covered is driven by the legal warranty that the buyer is made aware of at the time of purchase.

This case seems like a rare failure that may qualify for some manufacturer reimbursement out of basic fairness. It’s also an expensive and significant failure that raises doubt about Tacoma reliability. I hope Toyota asks for the damaged parts so their engineers can figure out what went wrong and use any results to prevent future occurrences. IMO, if the underlying cause had no connection with the owner’s use of the truck, at minimum Toyota should compensate a loyal customer for a bad experience.

 

Haha that’s Mr. Karen to you
And if a simple post triggers you like that then you just might be a snowflake haha. Oops sorry, meant Mr. Snowflake ❄️