Toyota's Special Service Campaign For Rear Propeller Shaft (2007)

[TMS USA]

Hello All - Someone else has noted in this forum that we issued a recall on our 2007 Tundra. That's correct, but as the TS member correctly pointed out, the campaign involves a very small number of trucks. Here are the specifics:

• There are about 15,600 2007 Tundra 4WD vehicles involved, and the issue is a joint in the rear propeller shaft that may have been improperly heat treated.
• If that joint indeed was not properly heat treated, it may not have sufficient hardness. In this condition, a section of the rear propeller shaft could come apart at the joint.
• We're aware of one case where this has actually occurred, and there have been no accidents reported in the affected vehicles.

This is our plan for handling the vehicles in question--which, by the way, we're built between November 2006 and August 2007--and ensuring we make the most effort to ensure the satisfaction of our customers:

• Customers who purchased one of the affected vehciels, or owners of record, will receive a letter from us by first class mail in the form of a Special Service Campaign notification beginning early next month.
• The notification will ask that owners take their Tundra to their local dealership. There, the dealer will inspect the involved joint and test for proper hardness. If the hardness is not correct, the dealer will replace the rear propeller shaft. Both the inspection and, if necessary, replacement of the shaft will be done at no charge to the customer. It takes about 30 minutes to inspect one of these; an hour to replace the shaft if that becomes necessary.
• It's likely the dealer will need to order the proper part for the vehicle, because there are several variations of the rear propeller shaft. We've asked our dealers to make every effort to minimize disruption to and assure the utmost convenience for the customers who own these vehicles

That's about it. We regret any inconvenience this may cause to our customers and only initiate such an action to ensure our Tundra vehicles are made to our exacting specifications and to assure the complete satisfaction of our customers.

A copy of our news release may be found here.

[TMS USA]

Originally Posted by CACressida

Great, you guys scared the TMS guy off. Now what?

No, not scared off, not embarrassed--and there really is no connection between this campaign and any magazine reliability ratings, the departure of some fellow colleagues to other OEMs waving big $$ to attract Toyota talent, cutbacks in research and quality engineering (not true--we're spending $23 million per day in that area) or the moon phases.

Simply wanted to report the nature of this limited recall, why we're doing it and what to expect. We do read TS with interest, and we do take action to address product issues as swiftly as possible to ensure our products do meet our high quality standards and to sustain high owner satisfaction--those actions often influenced by what we hear from our customers on forums such as TS.

Will continue to report on this campaign as info is released and on other issues from time to time as TMS USA is able to do.

Thanks for the feedback.

[TMS USA]

Just to reiterate, the affected trucks were manufactured from November 2006 to August 2007.

Someone on TS asked about the availability of a VIN range list. I don't have that, but it's my understanding that our Toyota Customer Experience Center representatives may have online access today to a database that will confirm whether or not a particular VIN falls within the identified range of vehicles.

Please do not overwhelm them with inquiries if your Tundra is clearly not in question, but if you've been sleepless at night since TMS USA started this thread and cannot wait until the postman delivers customer letters next month, give them a call at 800-331-4331.

We engage in online consumer communication on TS, some select other forums and our own corporate blog because we believe it is important to be transparent in our actions involving our customers and our products and to provide a trusted, authentic voice to get the information out quickly and to correct that which may have been distorted to the point of being factually inaccurate by other media and participants in this space.

Perhaps more importantly, we participate in consumer-driven content forums like TS because it provides a rich environment for listening and then acting. So if TMS USA appears mum re certain topics, it's not for lack of caring or by no means an attempt to dodge a potential valid issue.

While the inevitable "debates" often break out among responders to this thread and others as well as on our own blog--unfortunately replete at times with some nasty verbal barbs--we kind of think it's healthy and, again, it often provides a bit of a reality check for us as we are digesting the content and determining the appropriate response. So let the mud fly, but probably keep it off the moderators.

And I would be remiss if I veered too far off topic to the very thread that I started and failed to remind Tundra fans and Tundra haters and everyone else who comes upon this discussion and devours it with the type of enthusiasm typical of we participants that the full size pickup truck we speak about here, the Toyota Tundra, was named this morning by the respected Motor Trend, its 2008 Truck of the Year.

We typically don't toot our horn very much about these kinds of accolades--and really in a thread in which we're talking recall, how appropriate is that?--but I would call your attention to the magazine's own comments about the fact that the very truck they just pronounced to the world as THE truck of the year is being recalled and hope that you find editor-in-chief Angus MacKenzie's words reassuring and confirmation of the validity of that which I've posted here on TS.