Toyota won't perform a recall because my vehicle is modified

I was at the dealer yesterday and ask about the sensor recall, Service mgr said don't worry we installed the pro grill and didn't matter that is lifted

edit I'm also lifted 2.75", 285

 

I have a custom grill that has a custom radar mount and they did the TSB this weekend. He said it was just some foam pad they put in there.

 

Just had my TSS updated at the dealership, I have stock grille but 1" lift and there was 0 issues with that.

 

The dealership where I got my Tacoma has that same display in the showroom with the TRD pro grilles.

 

I guess it was the dealership's interpretation, but still disappointing. The technician had to bring the service guy out to prove I had a different tire size (the service guy was surprised as they looked stock), as they're just under 32", and was rather hard nosed about Toyota's policy for this recall. I specifically picked that tire size as it was not too far from stock.

 

I can kind of understand it, but a 1" taller and narrower tire should be less stressful on the steering. The whole thing seemed strange, but I guess to them if you give an inch someone will take a mile. I was just surprised about the whole thing considering how stock my truck is.

 

Just got off the phone with Toyota -800-331-4331,The gentleman that I talked with really didn't give me any new information pertaining to theMillimeter Wave Radar Sensor Remedy notice that I received about my 2018 Offroad that has a OEM Pro Grill,TRD Pro 17'' wheels with no lift.I called at 9:30 this morning and he did say I was the 15th call that he had received today on this subject.He did say that all complaints are being documented.So what I'm getting at is please take the time to call and complain.Strength in numbers.My local Toyota Dearlship said they're getting bombarded with complaints also,Please keep the pressure on.
Good Luck to us all

 

I'll definitely do this. Thanks!

 

Thank You

 

The pressure may be helping?

I just got back from having my 10k done at the dealer (Sunnyvale Toyota in California). I asked them specifically NOT to try and do the recall, since I knew they wouldn't (per this thread) and would just end up keeping my truck all day to tell me no... which is exactly what happened. They tried to do the recall work anyway and ended up rejecting it because of the grill specifically. Ok, fine. But it goes on to say something else that I have not heard yet in these threads. Full text:

KOB RECALL CANNOT BE PERFORMED AT THIS TIME BECAUSE IT HAS A MODIFIED TRD GRILL WHICH REQUIRES KOB RECALL TO BE PERFORMED UNDER NEW UPDATE THAT REQUIRES CUSTOMER SIGNATURE AND PCS TO BE TURNED OFF AND A NEW LABEL TO BE ADDED TO THE DASHBOARD

WE CURRENTLY DON'T HAVE THE LABEL AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME.

CUSTOMER HAS BEEN INFORM END THEY WOULD HAVE TO PUT BACK TO ORIGINAL TO DO RECALL

 

"Update on the radar sensor recall. Toyota is now saying it can be done on modified vehicles (examples include grille swap, lift, larger tires, ECT). The caveat is the owners are to sign waiver understanding the pcs may not operate as designed, the pcs has to be set to off and off on start up, and an insert added to the manual." - Post from 3GT - 3rd Generation Tacoma on Facebook

Anybody seen this waiver?

 

That appears to be what the dealership was talking about in my post above. I don't think that's a good solution - "we'll prevent water from possibly intruding into your sensor, but will turn off the functions the sensor enables"? Nah.

 

Letter of law true, but spirit of law false.

I do not think that sealing the unit will fix it and in fact may be dangerous. The recall is to protect against water intrusion, they're probably really good reasons to NOT seal the unit. (drive from death valley to Denver, CO)

Adding a lift itself doesn't change any angle. Adding different lifts to different tire locations will change the angle.

Citing that MM doesn't apply here is incorrect.

If you lift your truck and the TSS fails or there is a recall (or a TSB) on the radar, it's your problem. WRONG. It's their problem. The issue is a defect with the part, they need to fix that.
What's they're doing after that is refusing to calibrate, people are constantly confusing those two things. One is a physical piece that is faulty. The other is the angle/placement of that piece and how it is calibrated to work with TSS.

Yes, until the part itself has water intrusion from a faulty design......

Fckn spot on. Changing tires only changes the angle if your an idiot and run different sized tires on different wheels.

They have tested and need to certify that the system works when completely unloaded and at max payload ratings with stock setup. That is all. Since you only calibrate at a dead stop unloaded, as long as all the measurements line up from stock, they should have zero basis to deny calibrating under warranty.

Fck yes, spot on. Thank you sir.

Id recommend against that. Any time you remove the grill, it needs to be recalibrated. They remove the grill to add the shitty piece of waterproofing. So they need to recalibrate...

No software glitch. It's water intrusion into the physical sensor. That's why they should be forced to recall the sensor, no matter what.

Doesn't apply to the recall itself. Only the calibration. They still need to fix the part that could kill you (sudden application of brakes due to faulty sensor design)

Has zero relavence to whether or not the faulty sensor will get water in it and kill you.

Also, true. But has zero relevance to the recall. You hitting someone because sensor didn't go off is your fault if you misaligned it.

Your truck braking suddenly without warning, killing you and 40 people because the bus full of nuns behind you isnt following at a safe distance is Toyotas problem. No matter the alignment of the sensor, it braked because a faulty design allowed water intrusion. 100% Toyotas fault.

It always could be done. Toyota is wising up to what I've been saying all along. The sensor is bad, the sensor needs to be fixed. Part of the fix is Recalibration (because you have to remove the grill, and when you do that, you need to calibrate). If Recalibration cannot be done to spec because of aftermarket lifts, then it can't be done period. No waiver will alter this, and they need to flat out refuse to give you your car back if it's unsafe.

The waiver part is bullshit and shouldn't be signed. The fact the waiver exists shows that the calibration CAN be done, they just don't want to, and want to pass along any and all liability.

The other fact is plenty of people have lifts and aftermarket tires, and aftermarket grills and have passed calibration. This proves the tolerances of the sensor allow for these modifications. If those dealers that did the calibration had failing calibration numbers but let you drive away anyway, then they need to be sued into the ground and those trucks need to be taken off the road (highly unlikely).

 

^^ this response had to take a while

 

Holyshit batman

 

So glad for the multi quote feature lol. Also, your government dollars working on a Friday.

 

LOL nice!

 

You are not educating the innocent. If you have an explanation for why this does not need to be in the test procedure, I'd like to know what it is. Given what I think I know about phased array radars and sensor fusion systems, it makes sense to me. I think most of my colleagues would tell you that you should think twice about making modifications to safety-related systems if the cognizant engineer who is responsible for real world performance, is discouraging it.

 

Sounds like they are fixing modified vehicles now as of the last few days.....

 

They did mine without question back when it first came out. Mine is definitely modified. Didn't have to sign any paperwork and it's been working fine.