Did I get a Lemon?

This is from my sales packet (Florida),.. they get 3 tries to fix it in 15 days while you get a free rental car.

Not fixed according to contract, its legal time (while you still have free rental car).

Then you fill this out.
DONE ,... the Attorney General will be sending them correspondence within days. They love this stuff.

 

You need to get over the "dealership lied to me" thing and accept that you went off on the lemon law thing a bit prematurely. The sales department and vehicle inventory is totally separate from the service department, and with the limited inventory lately, it would be reasonable to assume that there wasn't a 2.7 on the lot. Should he have responded differently and just said, "Let me check?" Probably. You played an equal part in the direction the interaction took, though. You've got a case number now, so I am sure it will get taken care of -- it just didn't need to escalate to that level.





This guy keeps coming to mind.

 

I you are not from a State that does not have "Lemon Protection" which should be called "Dealer Warranty Enforcement".
The game is on!

You can,
Drive to another Toyota dealer, tell the salesman you made a mistake and say,... I need a V6 not a 4 "banger" its just not what I expected.

If their mechanic inspects the truck and says you have a spun bearing, and he tells the salesman he does not advise a trade till its repaired.
GET THAT IT IN WRITING!

Call Toyota Care, call your dealer, send both of them by email a copy of the "Written Service Finding" and date everything.
Their move,.. now under corporate supervision, with a in house repair advise from a Toyota Tech.

 

My 3.5L clatters as loud as my TDI does. Too bad it doesn't get the same mileage. Lol!

 

The 3.5 is not the same as 2.7. Something loose in the engine bay is a reason for concern. What if a drive system tension pulley was loose and caused the belt to fall off while I was driving on the highway or making a turn. The power steering would stop working. I could lose control of the vehicle. Stuck on the highway unable to stop or switch lanes do to heavy traffic and the vehicle over heats and stalls.

 

The problem is, my truck started making the sound around 1600 miles.

The 2.7s were about 10 - 30 feet away from us. Right after he said they did not have any 2.7, I told him they did have some and pointed and he just gave that look. He was lying and he knew it. And he did not have to lie. He could have just said, no. I would have responded no problem. I was trying to fine a simple solution at that point and time that would not take months.

 

LoL. You still do not understand it

 

It has been mentioned. I spoke to Toyota and I'm going to let them handle it.

 

I'm starting to believe that. Maybe the Tacoma's best days have passed. Soon 2nd gens will be towing 3rd gens home or to the scrap yard

 

Clown show

 

If the power steering quits working, you can still turn the wheel. It just requires more force. If you are unable to turn a wheel without power steering, you have some long weeks ahead of you at the gym. Once again, stalled/overheated engine does not cause the car to lock up, it will still roll just fine. Plus, you have already looked at the belts and nothing appears to be loose, right? Nothing to worry about.

 

If he has a spun bearing on the crank or connecting rod or even a wrist pin issue.
Its a matter of when, how it reacts is yet to be seen.

Knock Knock,.... who's there?
Is not a game I think he wants to play.

 

Did you put a stethoscope headset on and put the scope prong on all of the suspects like water pump, alternator, other engine parts etc to try to pinpoint the location?

Sorry, I did not view all the pages in this thread, but that is where I would have started.

 

100%

 

No, but I believe the sound is coming from the side of the engine near the intake manifold. The lower end in the rear.

 

Well you gotta give the OP credit for one thing; he has some serious internet stamina! 21 pages and 420 replies so far and a good percentage of the responses are from him!

 

The clatter or knocking noise happens on all of these 3.5 engines to some degree. If there was a real issue the toyota dealerships would be full of them.

 

Scoping it will at least help pinpoint the location. Been using one of those since I was a kid and would always see my local tech guru doing that. He was a guy who was the Pontiac shop foreman for the biggest Pontiac dealer in BC, and then opened his own shop where he did all the work himself.

He also professionally raced and built street motorcycles, motocross, and trail bikes and a wall of trophies to prove it.

He used the scope for pretty much everything as his first check. It has worked quite well for me over the years.

I last used it when my inner needle bearing on drivers side failed. The Toyota dealer said they could find no issue. So I spun the tire, put the scope on wheel hub, cv axle, and lo and behold the sound coming from inside the front diff drivers side. Bearing had failed.

Funny, I had my wife spinning the tire by hand, and she is so weak that she could barely get it to go fast enough so I could hear the problem. "Faster, faster, arghhh"....

I am laying under the truck moving the scope about.

Had the dealer do the same, and then it got fixed.

 

You've been diligent in reporting the problem. It's under warranty. Drive it until they can take a look at it. As many have said, it is under warranty. Not familiar with the Lemon Law where you are, but generally the issues need to be diagnosed and identified. One cannot just say "lemon" take it back.
We had a Nissan 30 years ago. It had issues from day one, dealer tried a few times to resolve it, then they called in the head honchos, and we ended up getting a new engine installed under warranty.
All you are looking for is to get a vehicle that works as it should. Let the dealership do what they can, then if there is no resolve, escalate you concern until you get a resolve.
Get a decibel reader ( cheap on amazaon), document the sound at various times. Make sure you record the sound under the same conditions and the reader is in the same location each time to ensure truer comparisons. Having documentation on your side may help later on.
ie , place the reader on the top of front right ( or left or both) tires, make sure engine temp is the same ( engine and not oil temp), make sure truck is in same position in the garage each time etc etc)