Cliffs Notes:
Toyota acknowledges lunging problem - tells us we are SOL.
We have a nightmare experience trying to get a leaking main seal replaced under warranty.
The frame of our 5 month old car is rusting and we are told it's normal and we are SOL.
Full post:
Update: We're just about fed up with our Sequoia. The car still lunges forward on occasion, but I guess we're getting better at reacting to it. Still unacceptable, but we're kind of stuck with it.
We had to take our car in to a different dealership to deal with a leaking rear main seal. We mentioned the lunging to this dealership - they say "oh yeah, that's normal - nothing you can do about it". Funny that they had heard about it when the first place played dumb. We also talked to Toyota Customer Service (who managed to get dealership # 2 to look at the leaking main seal issue), and they said "Yes, we are aware of the lunging issue. It's something we are trying to fix for the 2008 model, but we do not have a fix for your vehicle." <== that's the official word from Toyota folks. Unbelievable.
A few new issues:
Leaking rear main seal:
My wife brought it to our mechanic to get the oil changed. The mechanic is a family friend and does good work. They got it up on the lift and instantly spotted that there was a huge oil leak around the rear main seal. Told us to bring it to a Toyota dealership for warranty work and that it was impossible to verify that it was indeed the main seal until the transmission was removed.
We brought it to the dealership where we bought it - the same one that said they couldn't help on the lunging situation. They looked at it and said that there was no oil leak. They said there was "residue", but it was probably cosmoline and that we wouldn't know what that is. They said they removed the inspection panel to the main seal and that it was fine. Then they said they cleaned off the residue, drove the car for 20 minutes and that there was no leak. The funny part is that there is no inspection panel for the main seal and they managed to do 20 minutes of driving in only 10 minutes. We tell them that we're leaving for a week long camping trip the next day and want to know if the car is safe - they say the car is fine.
The next morning, we're feeling a bit weird about what the dealership told us, so we brought it back to our mechanic. Up on the lift, you could see lots of nice clean, fresh oil dripping down along the main seal again. Since the first dealership cleaned the area really good, it was obvious. We took pictures and called the dealership. They told us that there was no leak and that it sounded like we wanted something to be wrong with the car. Then they told us that they didn't want to work on the car any more!
So we go to another Toyota dealership. They get it up on the lift and say "wow - oil leak". They then tell us that it's probably from getting our oil changed by someone other than a Toyota dealership! WTF? After a lot of bitching on our part, they agree to do a die-test. They add the die and tell us that we can go on our trip. We ask them if they can guarantee that the car is safe . . because losing oil when your camping in the middle of nowhere would not be fun. They tell us to leave the car and give us a rental.
Four days later they call us to tell us that there's no leak. We ask them if they checked the die - but they said they didn't have to. We ask if they DROVE it at all after the die was added. They said no. We tell them that we're not going to pick it up unless they drive it and check for die. They agree.
We stop by the dealer the next day to pick up the car, since they say that even if it is the rear main seal, we can't get it fixed for at least a week. The car isn't there when we're supposed to pick it up. The service manager says that the guy driving it should be back any moment so they can do the test. After 30 minutes of waiting, my wife has to run to the store to buy a bottle for our baby . . and she sees our car parked on the street. I then see our car par pull up to the dealership and a service guy get out with bags of chinese food!
So they do the die test and surprise, surprise, the rear main seal is leaking. They replace it a week later - they have to pull the transmission out to do it. They promised to give us a "free detail" because of the chinese food thing, because the car reeks of fried eggrolls. Of course, when I go to pick it up they've forgotten to detail it. They say they will detail it and bring it to my office. When it shows up, it looks like they just hosed it down - there are still bugs stuck all over the hood. Ugh, it's just frustrating.
Rust on frame:
When it was up on the lift, we noticed a number of rust spots. We bought this in March, 2007. They said that was normal and nothing we can do about it.
