Warranty Issues

October of 2017, I purchased a 2017 Tacoma TRD Sport DCSB from Colchester Toyota in Connecticut whilst I was away from home working (Live in Maine). The Truck had a 2" Lift with a Leveling Kit, 275/65-18 Tires and Wheels on it, sold to me as a Toyota Certified Vehicle (Had extremely low mileage). I double checked with the dealer, and they stated that the full warranty of the vehicle was still in tact, 3yr 36k mile), along with the 125k mile warranty for being certified. I purchased a bunch of extra addons to the truck through the dealer to install it all as i wanted to make sure that it was done correctly and would all be under warranty.

Well, starting in November of 2017, I started having some minor hitching with the vehicle, and have since, been to a few different dealers (nearing a dozen times now) all of them blaming my Lift Kit for this. After getting jerked around by dealer after dealer, I called Toyota and opened a case on my truck a couple weeks back. They stated since my vehicle has a lift kit, it has no Warranty to cover them looking into the now extremely horrible shaking/hitching/bouncing between 40-65mph I get when driving the truck (Service Manager drove truck and felt it instantly). Obviously, I was extremely surprised, as well, it was a certified Tacoma through the dealer, and now finding out nearly a year later, that nothing in my driveline is covered under warranty due to the lift kit that was on the truck, dealer installed, and sold as certified.

Toyota is refusing to do anything about the shaking/hitching, which the truck is getting to the point of being undriveable now with how bad it is, the dealer where I purchased it says that Toyota is full of shit, and they sell them like this all the time w/Warranties still in tact and no issues at all. I am now currently in NH for work, and the dealer here tried their best to figure the issues out but got stopped by Toyota when they were told the truck isn't warrantied due to the lift.

I don't know what to do at this point. I'm pissed I spent $43k on a truck that has issues, and now being told I have 0 warranty and haven't had it a year yet. Anyone have any ideas as to what I should do next? I'm completely lost, screwed up truck, no warranty I guess, and don't know what to do. I called Lemon Law lawyer, and they stated lemon laws only apply to things that aren't fixed that are covered by warranty, and since the truck isn't under a warranty, they can't do anything about it. What do I do? Any help/Suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I'm suddenly regretting buying my new 18 T4R Pro a few months back, as Toyota is basically shitting all over me at the moment, and I've been a loyal customer of theirs since 1998.

 

Unfortunately, this is what it is like having a lifted truck, you're always chasing down a problem. It sounds like you're out of luck with warranty. Next thing to do is start researching and fixing things that could be wrong, but if you don't absolutely love your truck, your attitude may be more along the lines of "I shouldn't have to fix a newish truck". And if that's where you're at, then this forum wont offer much assistance other then people telling you "if it was me I would drive it through the front door of the dealer and never turn back". If you are willing to fix it, then maybe start searching your lift + vibrations. There are lots of topics about this, and they aren't limited to tacomas or toyotas even

 

Only thing you can do is possibly take it back to the dealer you purchased it from and call them out on it and see if they will service it. They are under no legal obligation to though because often in the paperwork you sign you acknowledge that there is no other warranty that what is written in the contract and anything else mentioned by a sales member does not apply.

You can try to find the manufacturer of the lift. Often times that larger guys will have their own power train warranty coverage for situations similar where a manufacturer won't honor warranty and blame the lift. Now if that's transferable from the previous owner to you is anyone's guess if it even has one.

 

Honestly, if I were you, I would be looking for some Sport take off parts and getting my truck back to stock. Then, sell the lift kit. If you are not willing to do that, I would contact a good offroad shop and see if they can sort the issue out. A 2" lift is nothing. You should not have issues with that. It has got to be something stupid. I would not pursue Toyota and just call this a lesson learned.

 

I'm guessing this is an easily solved problem if you go a local shop to have them look at it and work on it. 2" lift shouldn't cause the issues you're describing unless something wasn't installed correctly or is faulty...hard to to say without seeing your truck. Sucks that the dealership won't help you out, but that's what they're known for.

Just bite the bullet and get a reputable shop to take a look. If they tell you it's something catastrophic and insanely expensive (highly doubt that's the case) then pursue it further with Toyota I guess but I'm betting it's an easily solvable issue.

 

Ty guys for the replies. I'll keep being a thorn in the dealership and Toyotas ass for now, but will take it to a shop and have them to over it. I have enough mechanic friends/family to take a look at it for the high end cost of a case of beer. But not giving up on dealership and company. That's what they bank on.

 

So, as a test last night, I put 93 Octane into the truck, using Irving as the fuel company. The 40-65 hitching is almost completely gone, and to top it off, better fuel mileage also. Not quite sure what's happening now. Guess I'll be calling Toyota again today with an update and see how they explain a fuel octane change effects my lift kit.

 

Normally get 23mpg on this trip.

 

Your shaking and bouncing at 45 to 60 could be a bad tire/tires/rim/rims. Out of round tires or a bent rim will cause this exact issue/issues.

 

I second this. I used to work in a tire shop and shaking at those speeds was almost guaranteed to be tires out of balance.

 

Yup!

 

I'll have that checked out also. Ty

 

No problem. It might just be that your tires need balanced. But if it’s a tire or rim, still way less expensive than the other alternatives to fix. Good luck!

 

Firstly, I’m sorry you were misled, that was wrong, you were told the warranty covered it and it didn’t.

Secondly, knowledge is power. Warranties come from Toyota not from the dealer. Toyota will never modify a warranty for what an individual dealer does and you wouldn’t either if you were Toyota.
Dealers just sell Toyotas cars, that’s it. Toyota shares no corporate liability or responsibility with the dealers.

Toyota has NOT treated you poorly. They have never agreed to warranty a suspension or driveline after a lift kit has been installed.

The culprit is the dealer that lied to you at point of sale. Shame on them for that. But also shame on you for #1 not assuming car salesman do anything but lie and #2 not doing your due diligence on researching the modifications you added to the vehicle. ALL lifts can cause driveline issues. Spacer lifts especially. Lifts decrease the longevity of the parts involved, this is just the price you pay for installing them.

What I would do:
1. Try to fix the lift. Tell us what lift you have and we will tell you if its trash and you need to get a different one.
2. Have the lift removed. If the problems persist. THEN you might have a chance Toyota will fix it.

You may have a shittily installed lift or a crappy spacer or even worse a body lift. Dealers are not the best people to have install stuff.

In the future I would have more experienced people install your mods. Have a 4x4 shop instal your lift, not some tinny bopper at a dealership.

Install other more easy to do projects yourself. Having a dealer do it just insures you will grossly over pay for the install.

But to be clear Toyota has not treated you bad. If you were in their shoes you’d be telling you no too.

The individual dealer hosed you. I’d raise hell with them.

But this will probably have to be chocked up as a learning experience.

Never buy modded vehicles from a dealer. Thats just doing business with the devil.

Let us know what lift you have. Tons of people on here can help get the issue fixed.

 

Rotate your tires and see if the vibration changes in origin.

 

While rotating, might as well have them balanced. Can’t hurt. Some places offer a little discount to have them both done at the same time.

 

People reduce their agreements to writing to lend clarity and enforceability to their relationship...if you did not receive the benefit of your bargain the very contract thought to raise and limit your actions...then go file a claim in a court of competent jurisdiction but without supporting documentation it’s and AS IS sale. If that’s the case then it’s your liability and not Toyota or the dealer. Good luck!

 

I still have all the paperwork from dealership showing warranties and certified. (kit was installed by guy who owned it before me at the dealer)


It's a 2" block rear with differential drop and a top coil spacer.

 

Was the lift noted on the sale paperwork? Was it part of the CPO inspections? If so, then it should be warrantied unless there is wording about non-toyota parts.

Also, if your Taco is feeling better with a different octane, it might not be the lift at all. If the dealer is going to bat for you, have them install the TSB-0058-18 or TSB-0062-18 updates (same software) and check the trans fluid quantity.

 

It's a tough situation, no other dealer wants to spend time and money working on a truck they cant bill anyone for. If toyota sent out someone to see the truck, they would see the lift and likely deny the claim which means any time the dealer has invested was for nothing. The only one that should be standing behind the lift is the selling dealer, not any other toyota dealers fault your lifted truck has an issue.

Tldr; bad situation but dont be mean to the dozen other dealers because they dont want to fix someone else's error for free, none of them owe you anything