3rd brake light TSB is a failed fix !!

Can anyone tell me where to go to leave a review concerning the 3rd brake light TSB failing? Mine wasnt leaking but, since I had a low pressure fuel pump recall to take care of, the dealer did the TSB bulletin w/o asking first. It wasnt leaking so they did the kit install. Now, 2 yrs 11 mos later, I have a truck pouring water through brake light and the front cab is full of mold. Toyota says it is past the 1 yr warranty on the repair. I think this is BS. The fix is nothing more than a bandaid designed to get you by for 1 year then you are stuck. Ive already reported this to brand engagement and they are useless. Suggestions?

 

Get rid of that mold pronto before you succumb to respiratory & neurological issues

 

I had it done about 3 years ago, haven't had any leaks since then.
How did water get up to your front seat and start molding without you noticing?

 

Ditto. Mine wasn't leaking but had it done anyway, still isn't after 3 years. I live in Seattle and park outside, so there might have been nearly 1000 days of rain since having it done.

 

No issues before the tsb nor any issues after for me. That a lot of buildup of mold you have going on, that doesn't happen overnight to look that bad. Little neglect if you ask me because one you noticed it wet would have been a good indication something is wrong and to dry it up asap. Good luck OP.

 

I wasn't driving it for 3 weeks due to wife in hospital so I drove her car. I decided to drive it one day and opened the door to that. It is pouring water since the brake light is now degrading across the top. The repair kit was installed 2 years 11 mos ago. Toyota says too bad, out of warranty. I never asked for the 'repair' but they did it during g a fuel pump recall.

 

Definitely not neglect if I'm not driving it for a few weeks while driving back and forth to hospital in wifes vehicle. Nobody told me I had to drive it every day. I question whether light was torqued too tight when kit installed, whole top side of light cracking

 

Well, to answer your actual question, I'd say you start with leaving reviews on the dealership's specific website, then move to Yelp, Reddit, Facebook, Instagram, here and wherever else that won't listen. Maybe the dealership will listen, but I doubt it. Then I'd have a detail shop try and work some magic and see where you are at.

 

I've cleaned it but the point is that the truck never leaked and I didn't ask for tsb to be done. Nevertheless, dealer not doing anything and Toyota is taking the it's out of warranty approach even though the tsb is still active. They won't do the full tsb since they installed the kit, which failed and ruined the truck. I also failed to mention that insurance deemed it a total loss so I now have a truck w a branded title.

 

Whoa, well, now it sounds like your insurance company and Toyota have a legal issue and you are truck shopping with some insurance money.

 

WOW! That is horrible!
Looks like a health risk level of mold.
Given it's bad history for leaks, and it was repaired by a Toyota dealership, and reimbursed by Toyota- I would like to think they should make this right,,, despite the timeline.

 

There is nothing to torque as the kit is a sealant and new trim piece all on the exterior. They do not remove the light nor go inside the vehicle. If anything, the kit would help more than hurt anything. So, who told you not to drive it?

 

How did a leaking third brake light bypass all of the other seats/headliner/carpet, and just affect the driver seat/door card?

 

just my guess, if there is moisture inside the closed cab
the spots we see mold growing would have correlation with temperature i.e. consider where the truck is parked, sun angle, shade, some areas in the cab will experience some level of draft (these cabs are not air tight)

I believe all this would affect the spots we visibly see mold


also have to add, if your leak started 3 years after a repair, gonna be impossible to get them to assume fault

3 years is a lot of no leakage time

 

Let your insurance company litigate/subrogate with Toyota. If they wont play ball with you, your insurance provider's lawyers will get their attention. Go get a new truck, or buy it back, get the mold handled by a company that specializes in cleaning it, seal the lamp, and continue on with life with the same truck, and cash in pocket. Ski

 

i bet there is more to this story

lets see full pics of the truck, these photos are concentrated on the mold not the possible point of intrusion

 

My point is that, regardless of the factors you mention, there is no way that water would travel from the third brake light to that location without other things also being wet, especially the headliner. Looks more like a compromised door seal/window left open a little...

 

Apparently sunlight and minimal airflow was there in rear cab. The front had a sunshade which blocked sunlight from entering front cab, allowing moisture to remain w/o the sunlight hitting it. Its obvious that the quality of material used is inferior since it is cracking all the way around. As mentioned earlier, due to the inferior part quality, it leaked, mold accumulated, and my insurance company has deemed it a total loss ! I worked for Toyota for 12 years and this would not be acceptable but the new ones have a new design.

 

I thought this when I saw your first pics!
I guess that's kind of good news, that it's going to scrap.
Bad news, the dealer skates out getting paid to do shitty work and your/our insurance premiums pay for it (nuthin' is Free).

 

You got a leak somewhere else I don’t see it coming from the light. Maybe if you looked in on your vehicle long before that mold set in before it got out of hand chances are you could have stopped it. I will say this again that there is still some neglect going on here and from the beginning it doesn’t seem that this was a major concern as this is something that definitely didn’t just happen over night!