Another case of Toyota not honoring their warranty *Transmission*

Hey guys, I lurk around on most of the forums, but mostly post on TN. I just thought I would go ahead and get the word out about this problem, in case any of you go through the same thing.

Cliffnotes:
Reverse and neutral went out in my truck. The truck is still under warranty, but Toyota would only cover half the cost of a new transmission because I apparently towed too much weight with the truck. I have never towed anything in my life. I got screwed out of $2400.

Full Story:
On January 31st, I got into my 2006 Toyota Tacoma. When I started it up there was a major problem with the transmission, reverse and neutral acted just like drive. I drove the truck home and there was no check engine light on. I took the truck to Capitol Toyota (408-979-4022) on February 2nd, since the truck on had 44,053 miles on it and the power train warranty it 60,000 miles. I got a call back on February 4th, telling me they ran pressure tests on the transmission and the “DSPM” came out and looked at the truck. I went into the dealership on February 5th, to find out how to get the problem fixed. Toyota only offered to pay for 50% of the total cost of the repair, even though the truck was still under warranty. They said that the failure was due to “towing way too much weight”. I was not satisfied with the deal Toyota tried to make me and asked what to do to get it covered under warranty fully. Rick Heikens, the service manager, assured me he did everything he could to convince Toyota to cover it fully under warranty, but they wouldn’t. He told me it was beyond the dealership now and that if I went ahead and temporarily agreed to the terms, I would get my truck back within a few days. He gave me the phone number to contact Toyota (800-331-4331) and from there I could work out getting the rest of the truck covered under warranty.

[FONT=&quot]Since this is my only vehicle, and I was already having trouble getting to work and school, I went ahead and did what Rick suggested and temporarily agreed to the terms. On that same Friday, I contacted Toyota and told them my disposition. They opened a cause number for me (200902050918) and said they would call me back the next business day. On February 9th, I got a call back from Toyota saying they would not do anymore for me than a 50/50 split, which is what they originally offered. They said there was nothing else they could do, nor was there anyone else I could speak too.


New Transmission:

(sorry ground is pretty wet and I didn't feel like climbing under the truck for a good picture)

The truck:

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The only thing I can do is small claims court, but at 20 years old going to school full time and working two jobs.. it probably wont happen.

 

Agree with chris4x4 that is B.S., I would scream and yell as much as possible. Call and write letters to who ever. File complaints, every chance you can get, someone is trying to pass the puck and shaft you.
Word will get to the top, trust me. It happened to me (different issue) took awhile but they made good on everything.

 

That is a load of BS. I've worked in several different dealerships for several manufacturares, and ill tell you what really scares them is lawyers. even though they have thier own nobody likes a court battle. (plus it would cost more for court that to fix it). Take the truck to another trans shop for a second opinion, then a lawyer, abd finally back to the dealership. Make sure you let them know your filing two different lawsuits one against the personal dealership and one against toyota motor company. Also when you talk to the lawyer have his fee added to the law suit. I've seen this work a ford dealerhip once and the guy only ended up paying 120$ for the lawyers fee just to approach the dealership. ended up with not only a new trans but also got a recall done on pinion gear issue that was past date no questions asked. i talked to the guy wheen i worked there and he told me the key was to make sure you go after the dealership personally as well as toyota( the smaller fish usually folds) hope it helps with at least an idea. sorry to hear you got screwed

 

The trouble with that is hiring a lawyer is like $350 an hour.His cost for the repair was $2300.A lawyer will probably cost more.Adding the lawyers fee to a claim isn't a guarantee of getting your money back even if you win the claim.
Toyota has a number of lawyers on retainer.So it doesn't cost Toyota much except expenses.
Toyota is losing money.I'm sure a memo came down from whomever to whomever to look over warranty claims and don't rubber stamp them like in the past.
I'm sure Toyota gets letters from lawyers every day.More now than in the past as quality has gone down.They're not scared of lawyers.
Small claims court is the way to go.
The problem is he has some damage which looks like he towed something over the weight limit.

 

Hey how are you doing, Did you go to holister with like that or did it happen at holister?

Either way they should cover it with the 60,000 mile warranty. Try a different dealer.

Also a nasty letter from a lawyer can get a lot done.

 

A consumer affairs attorney might be able to help you determine the extent, if any, of anything additional you could do to pursue recovering the full cost. $2400 is a lot of money.

I notice you have a lot of aftermarket lift gear, widened stance, and oversize tires on that truck. Could anything with those particular installations have caused transmission problems, simulating what Toyota is calling "excessive towing"? You might want to visit that possibility first, yourself.

Good luck. Years ago I had problems with Toyota handling a rattle under my 2001 Tacoma. They initially blamed it on an aftermarket tow hitch, and didn't want to do anything. Turned out not to be the case. You have to go in certain.

 

is there a "weight of things towed" meter inside the tranny, or what? as far as i'm concerned, the transmission should be covered under toyota's powertain warranty unless you punch a hole in the side of it.

 

First of all there has got to be a lawyer on here that would help you draft up a letter for a nominal fee once it is settled.

Then post this issue on every Toyota forum you belong to. When you deliver the letter of intent to sue or whatever - even intent to threaten, put every link to every thread on every forum you posted this issue about. Explain that if they resolve this issue fairly you will report back as such on those forums.

Toyota knows how powerful these forums are. Hell Shannon Brookshire the founder and owner of TTORA now works for A Huge Toyota dealership in Texas. They do pay attention to these issues

Some forums I'd recommend posting this on are:

www.yotatech.com

www.tacomanation.com

www.4x4wire.com (The toyota section)

I'd prolly stay away from pirate. they aren't too nice over there to newbs...

 

Have the rear end gears been changed yet? If not you need to change them, to compensate for the lift and tires.

 

Agree. ...so much for the previously stated 'whole story'.

Those are some pretty big details to leave out. You should probably be more mad at yourself and maybe the guy who sold it to you than Toyota.

If i was buying a used truck with a tow package, a used truck with a snow plow, suspension modifications, whatever, i would most certainly have it checked out professionally if i was unable to do so myself.

The bent tow hooks would have gotten my attention.

 

+1

This alone doesn't seem like enough to do the kind of damage that would look like "towing too much" but with a full trailer and those tires- I think it's entirely possible to overload/over torque the trans.

+1- These trans aren't that dainty that a lil rough use make them crap out. I'd be interested in hearing what the Yota rep has to say and seeing the trans to get the whole story before I'd say anyone get screwed.

The pictures of power slides and rooster tail mud riding lead me to believe this truck has seen some rough driving- and abuse of vehicle isn't covered by warranty.

 

I wasn't aware of these other issues, or pictures. And so I have add to my original post about complaining on forums that you sure as hell better be in the right before you go around bitching about toyota screwing you over. If there are any pictures of your truck being used in a way that could be seen as vehicle abuse, rest assured they will find their way to a thread like this. My 2 cents

 

Thanks for all the input guys. I'm not here to pussyfoot around the details.

Yes I first noticed the problem in Hollister Hills. Yes the truck has been offroad.

First off, the truck is 2wd. It cannot do anything crazy on the dirt, I bought it knowing that.

The truck was bought from a guy who owned it for 8 months. I have all the service records for it in those 8 months. He was an older man, who may or may not have towed with it, I simply don't know. He replaced the truck with a new Mercedes, so I'm not sure how much he would need to tow.

The two eyelets are bent on the tow receiver. I took the truck out to Pismo to rent quads, and the truck got stuck in the camp. A buddy pulled me out and in the process, bent the two hooks because I did not have a receiver at the time. Anytime you put any weight on those eyelets, they will bend.

As for the lift, I believed it was the first thing the dealer would have mentioned to me. The dealer not the DSPM mentioned the lift kit or the 33' tires in their report. I'm not sure why, but for whatever reason they didn't.

If their are anymore questions, please feel free to ask. I'm not here to hide the truth. After reading some of the responses, I feel I did leave out some details, but I don't believe any of those reasons were the cause of the transmission failure.

 

That does seem odd. They must have found some damage that points directly to overloaded towing. Every dealership i've dealt with, the first thing they point to is oversized tires and lifts. The DSPM must be pretty certain of what caused the damage to not go with an easy out like tires and lift.

 

I read your posts over @ TN & now here @ TW. Now I understand why your eyelets are bent. I don't work for Toyota & I know very little about transmissions, but I do know that details matter & are usually the ones that always trip me up. Even if it bent tow hooks doesn't matter, it will matter. Hope it works out for you & you can get it resolved somehow.