Toyota didnt screw you, you screwed yourself by allowing the dealership to tell you nothing was wrong and you accepting it, when you knew that was not the case.
you should have left the ttruck at the dealer overnight when it happened alays cold in the morning and went for a drive.
you could have called toyota, asking for a divisional rep to look at your truck. the dealerships are not toyota, they just sell toyota products and work on them if you choose to go there.
you had 15,000 miles were this was ocuring, sorry, I am not blaming toyota for this, I disagree.
I have had issues were I had to leave the truck, and drive with the tech the next morning to display the issue. I have had to get corportae toyota involved. If you do, while under warranty, you will be taken care of.
Effort is the key, no one is going to help if you dont help yourself first.
sorry, but dont give up on toyota for this
most recent:
08 4runner, brand new. would vibrate, alignment was off, and tires would not balance.
1st appt,-they balance and align. say i am good to go. Not.
Call back up, they state computer says everything is within spec, sorry. I say sorry to them, they will have to figure out how to correct the issue without computers then since they cant get it right with one. He said he would have to talk to his rep, I said dont bother I am calling toyota and will call you back.
2nd appt-after contacting corporate toyota, I get free of charge, 4 new michelin cross terrains at the tune of 180.00 per tires, new balance, and new alignment. I remind the dealership this is the second attempt to fix, one more after this and they can clear a spot on thier lot as they will be taking it back under the lemon law.
Woudnt you know, it was all taken care of the 2nd time.

 

Your trans ran 24 thousand miles with a sometime issue that would not show up when at the dealer!
Obviously not that much of an issue or it would not have ran almost 25,000 miles!
It finally failed with almost 70k on it which is not unheard of for auto transmission by the way. Actually about average for a GM or Dodge in a truck.
It is pretty low miles depending on your driving habits but 70k is not a new truck by a long shot and it does happen sometimes even to a Toyota.
Sorry for you trouble but it's just not that unheard of for full size vehicles to drop auto trannies with only 70k on em.
And the I heard a squeek on my truck so you must give me a new one is just not reality as you may have noticed.

 

Dang, those first two replies were tough!

Personally, I think a vehicle, properly maintained, should perform for 200K miles. I got 3 Toyotas in my driveway right now and, like you, I think customer loyalty means something. If the manufacturers knew how many customers they lose in the service department every day, maybe they would rethink a few things.

Meanwhile, those Mitsubichis and Nissans look pretty good these days.

 

Well that sucks. Had the same crap with the dealer myself in the past (not transmission but other things). But they are out to make money and if they can do it by screwing you they will. Don't kid yourself Toyota is a company just like any other company out there, the reason I choose to own a Toyota is because the risk is less than average. All automakers would do the same thing in the same situation so the idea is to pick the vehicle which is least likely to cause you to be in the situation in the first place. If I was you I would just go in a politely talk to the manager of the dealership, dont get angry and complain or yell just calmly explain your case and say that you feel as though you have been taken advantage of and ask if there is anything he could do to keep you as a customer. If not than take your business elsewhere, the biggest blow to any company is losing a customer (even big ones)

Feel for ya though it sucks when things like that happen

 

Sucks that the transmission went out at under 70K but we are all unclear if it was properly serviced over the years.

 

Was the fluid and filter changed every 25-30,000 miles? Or was it never changed? That is what I want to know before I make a judgement on this one. I am on my fourth Toyota (still own #2 and 4) since 1990 and have never had a transmission problem with any of them. My girlfriend had a Pontiac Sunfire and wiped out the tranny at 70000 miles. Seems she didn't know you had to change the fluid and filter in tranny to make it last. Now she drives a Camry.

 

The fluid was changed twice, at 35K and again when it first started slipping, along with the transmission filter. I personally change oil every 4k. I maintain my vehicles and I expect, given the very low mileage I had on it, for the truck to perform much longer than 70k for a transmission. BOTH TIMES IT WAS AT THE DEALER it stayed two days for cold start up check since that was the complaint. And I FULLY, COMPLETELY disagree that dealers are not Toyota. They represent Toyota and in my experience, not very well. The truck is six years old now and while I had no intention of trading it in while my son is still in school, I plan to do so anyway. Toyota, in having their company represented by less than competent dealerships has lost a loyal customer. Thats on them, not me.

 

I agree with you that the dealers do represent the manufacture but you have to realize that they are two different entities. I think you could've done more to help your cause but none of my business.

I think you should sell your truck immediately if it is causing that much stress and buy one of the big three or two now (Ford , Chevy, Dodge). Their dealers would've definitely replaced your transmission 15,000 miles out of warrantee, gave you rental car and paid your hotel costs without any problems. Heck, I bet you could've gotten paid for you time on top of all that!

Lastly, someone on here will take that unreliable Tundra of your hands and suffer through the ownership of a low mileage piece of crap made by a sorry manufacture.

 

You can fight Toyota on this and you'll probably win. My family used to own a multi-line dealership and if you have a well documented case of a problem during warranty, that problem should be covered at any reasonable period beyond the warranty.

Any GOOD dealer would have gotten this covered even after the fact, but you were away from home. What has your home dealer had to say about this? No, they're technically not Toyota, just franchisees and as far as brands go Toyota seems to distance themselves the farthest from their dealers. But you have recourse here, you'll just have to tough it out and go after them. Then if you feel slighted, stop buying from them. That's all you can do.

And at my family's dealership (both domestic brands) it was quite common to cover a transmission replacement at 70, 80, even 100k miles if it was a good customer that we knew had taken care of their vehicle. The fact is, no matter what some of the die-hard rose-glassed Toyota fans think around here, 70k miles is NOT normal even for a domestic. 120k-150k yes, but not anywhere under 100k. And they do not REQUIRE 30k fluid changes to make it that far.

 

You can fight Toyota on this and you'll probably win. My family used to own a multi-line dealership and if you have a well documented case of a problem during warranty, that problem should be covered at any reasonable period beyond the warranty.

Any GOOD dealer would have gotten this covered even after the fact, but you were away from home. What has your home dealer had to say about this? No, they're technically not Toyota, just franchisees and as far as brands go Toyota seems to distance themselves the farthest from their dealers. But you have recourse here, you'll just have to tough it out and go after them. Then if you feel slighted, stop buying from them. That's all you can do.

And at my family's dealership (both domestic brands) it was quite common to cover a transmission replacement at 70, 80, even 100k miles if it was a good customer that we knew had taken care of their vehicle. The fact is, no matter what some of the die-hard rose-glassed Toyota fans think around here, 70k miles is NOT normal even for a domestic. 120k-150k yes, but not anywhere under 100k. And they do not REQUIRE 30k fluid changes to make it that far.

I agree totally with you! I was simply saying that I would've called Toyota to get it fixed and that he seemed to give up too easy. Our society is "one of take the easy road" and just complain.

 

Had the damn thing failed near my home, I'd have taken the time needed to press Toyota to do the right thing. However being 275 miles from home and the dealer not recognizing that by saying "I don't know when I'd even be able to get it done unless its in my shop", forced my hand to get it done by the towtruck/repair company.

DH’s less than clever sarcasm, suggesting a “big three” domestic dealerships would bend over backwards to help me misses the point completely. Yes my decision to sell the truck and buy from another manufacturer is based in part on emotion. I don’t like being screwed and my only recourse, since I’m already out the money, is to go elsewhere with my business. Keep in mind I contacted Toyota’s customer service group via email, detailing with vin number everything that happened. That was a week ago and my only reply was an email saying “Thanks for contacting us, we’ll be in touch”. Good customer service? Perhaps by DH’s standards, but not by mine. I’m director of Service and training for a small HVAC distributor (15 branches, 100M in sales). If I or anyone who works for me treated our customers this way, our company would long since be out of business. Would I expect better service from a big 3 dealership? Absolutely. Will I get it? Only time will tell.

By the way, the repair shop that replaced the transmission, a small little business located in the middle of nowhere North Carolina, provided a level of customer service that any dealership could learn from. The owner promised me the truck would be ready by Friday. He called on Friday at noon to let me know his vendor had shipped him a transmission for a different year Tundra and it would be Monday or Tuesday before it could be finished. Of course I was pissed and even though it was not his fault, he understood my frustration and did something about it. He found another transmission and drove 10 hours, 5 hours each way, to get the correct one. They had it finished on Saturday afternoon. He did not ask for additional money, but stated that he understood my problem and since he promised to get it done, he felt an obligation to go the extra mile. I paid the bill and after arriving safely home, I sent him a gift certificate to take his entire family out to dinner as thanks, along with a letter of recommendation should he want to show others a satisfied customer.

I’m not shy about complaining when I think it’s justified. However by the same token, I recognize good service when I see it and am willing to show it.

 

I’m not shy about complaining when I think it’s justified. However by the same token, I recognize good service when I see it and am willing to show it.

You should get on the phone to Toyota customer service, not email them. There is a process for reimbursement of warranty repairs that are made at independent shops so don't write-off the money. Have you talked to your local dealer that attempted to diagnose the problem? They are the ones that could go to bat for you and get you reimbursed. The $2,000 you paid was about half what Toyota would have charged anyway.

 

Lotta dealerships and consumers were putting wrong types of Tranny fluids in those early Tundras and was causing issues? did the specd type fluid get put in it both times per owners manual. I had a friend that saw a dealership putting wrong type in one of those early Tundras and the dealerships were the ones casuing the problems. Guess it was a bulk Tranny fluid that they felt would work and got cheap? i would call Toyota and get them involved ASAP!

 

The fact is, no matter what some of the die-hard rose-glassed Toyota fans think around here, 70k miles is NOT normal even for a domestic. 120k-150k yes, but not anywhere under 100k. And they do not REQUIRE 30k fluid changes to make it that far.

WOW, finally someone on here who isn't so elitist that they can admit a 'big three' truck can be decent if not good also.

I'll tell anyone, my last truck (01 Silverado 5.3) in my opinion is a better "truck" than my Tundra is, but of course I have my reasons for switching over.

*sorry for hi-jacking the thread*

Cigar_stub

Unless you have documented proof that you brought it into a dealership complaining of the issue I don't imagine that you'd be able to do much. If you have proof of the problem prior I'm sure you can get Toyota to at the very least reimburse you for the repair.

That and as far as taking your business elsewere based on one dealership blowing you off, well it seems a bit excessive to me. After all dealerships are not corporate owned, just like somebody has already stated, although a dealership does represent the company, you still have to recognize that they are separate, and there is only so much Toyota can control as far as day to day activities at the dealerships.

 

That and as far as taking your business elsewere based on one dealership blowing you off, well it seems a bit excessive to me. After all dealerships are not corporate owned, just like somebody has already stated, although a dealership does represent the company, you still have to recognize that they are separate, and there is only so much Toyota can control as far as day to day activities at the dealerships.

This has been my experience as well. I spoke with my nearest dealership when my tranny died at 65,000 miles and they gave me the "Sorry, you are out of warranty" speech. They would not bend even a little on this.

I then went to another dealership prepared for a lengthy battle, and was stunned when the service manager agreed right away with everything I said. He then volunteered a rental while he replaced the tranny under warranty. He explained that dealerships get a certain amount of "Goodwill" repair money from Toyota and he could cover it with this money. He guessed the other dealership had no "Goodwill" money left for the year.

 

I read this thread with interest, I Own a Lexus RX300 and my tranny went also, but at 100k miles and two states away. I had serviced the tranny every 30k miles. Lexus (Toyota in big bucks) treated me like crap. I ended up paying $4300. Failures on this brand of vehicle under 100k is rediculous. File a complaint with the NHTSB online, the only way Toyota will do anything is if someone pressures them. I love my RX, but the tranny lost so early really made me mad.

 

Boy this one hits home. As I type this, my '03 AC (with the '02 engine/tranny) is sitting at the dealership waiting for the diagnostic testing regarding my transmission. It has 55,933 miles on it, and the tranny has been occasionally slipping and "banging" into gear for the past month.

Last weekend, I dropped the pan and low and behold, there was metal twice the size of a bb all over the magnets. Took digital pictures, put the pan back up and new fluid back in and called Toyota Corporate to lodge my concerns. They told me to contact my local dealer and get the truck in.

The customer care manager at the dealer set up a "free" diagnostic" with the service department manager. I already suspect they will likely come back and tell me I don't have a problem, as it doesn't do this all the time. If I show them pictures of my findings, twill hey will tell me that I voided my warranty by doing what I did?

I feel for you, know exactly what you are going through. I hope the fact that I documented my concern with Toyota corporate while still within warranty, and took it in for evaluation will help me when the planetary OD gear lets go. I just don't want to be stuck with the repair bill. Good luck!

 

Had the damn thing failed near my home, I'd have taken the time needed to press Toyota to do the right thing. However being 275 miles from home and the dealer not recognizing that by saying "I don't know when I'd even be able to get it done unless its in my shop", forced my hand to get it done by the towtruck/repair company.

DH’s less than clever sarcasm, suggesting a “big three” domestic dealerships would bend over backwards to help me misses the point completely. Yes my decision to sell the truck and buy from another manufacturer is based in part on emotion. I don’t like being screwed and my only recourse, since I’m already out the money, is to go elsewhere with my business. Keep in mind I contacted Toyota’s customer service group via email, detailing with vin number everything that happened. That was a week ago and my only reply was an email saying “Thanks for contacting us, we’ll be in touch”. Good customer service? Perhaps by DH’s standards, but not by mine. I’m director of Service and training for a small HVAC distributor (15 branches, 100M in sales). If I or anyone who works for me treated our customers this way, our company would long since be out of business. Would I expect better service from a big 3 dealership? Absolutely. Will I get it? Only time will tell.

By the way, the repair shop that replaced the transmission, a small little business located in the middle of nowhere North Carolina, provided a level of customer service that any dealership could learn from. The owner promised me the truck would be ready by Friday. He called on Friday at noon to let me know his vendor had shipped him a transmission for a different year Tundra and it would be Monday or Tuesday before it could be finished. Of course I was pissed and even though it was not his fault, he understood my frustration and did something about it. He found another transmission and drove 10 hours, 5 hours each way, to get the correct one. They had it finished on Saturday afternoon. He did not ask for additional money, but stated that he understood my problem and since he promised to get it done, he felt an obligation to go the extra mile. I paid the bill and after arriving safely home, I sent him a gift certificate to take his entire family out to dinner as thanks, along with a letter of recommendation should he want to show others a satisfied customer.

I’m not shy about complaining when I think it’s justified. However by the same token, I recognize good service when I see it and am willing to show it.

You confirmed everything I was saying. I don't blame you for switching! In fact I'd recommend a Ford and avoid a Chevy like a cheap whore. In fact I've left the big two for the same reasons you are switch accept I tried a little harder, again none of my business.

This proves the free market works. If enough people dump a certain manufacture they will react or go out of business.

 

any updates?

 

You confirmed everything I was saying. I don't blame you for switching! In fact I'd recommend a Ford and avoid a Chevy like a cheap whore. In fact I've left the big two for the same reasons you are switch accept I tried a little harder, again none of my business.

This proves the free market works. If enough people dump a certain manufacture they will react or go out of business.

It is funny how things happen sometimes. I would be pissed of my trans. went anywhere short of 100k unless I had been off roading or pulling heavy often. I have a 95 Chev. 1500 with 250k and have never had to replace the trans. I have at one time pulled a TT and then later a 18ft Boston Whaler to the Keys 6 hours each way with the Chevrolet. I love my Tundra but would be pissed if the trans failed at less than 100k and would not buy another when I traded it. Yea, I went with a Toyota because the last car I bought new was a Chevy and the only thing that worked very long were the dash warning lights.

 

I've been traveling on business, but Toyota finally responded and asked for the following:

1. Copy of Repair Order (RO) or Invoice from Independent repair shop on transmission repairs completed.

2. Copy of independants statement on their letterhead noting cause of failure with transmission.

3. Copy of Toyota dealerships inspection you stated that was completed at Richmond VA Toyota dealer and Norman, OK dealership showing inspection and "no trouble found" during their inspections.

4. Copy of your proof of payment for the transmission repairs completed by the independent repair shop.

5. Copy of your most recent vehicle state registration.

6. Copy of your vehicles service history on oil changes and transmission services during the past 3-years.

I'm going to provide the information and will let you know (for anyone who might care to know how it turns) what happens.

JB

 

Boy this one hits home. As I type this, my '03 AC (with the '02 engine/tranny) is sitting at the dealership waiting for the diagnostic testing regarding my transmission. It has 55,933 miles on it, and the tranny has been occasionally slipping and "banging" into gear for the past month....

I don't think you've voided your warranty just by dropping the pan, so long as you reinstalled it correctly.

How often was it banging? When did it bang?

I'm curious, keep us posted on what happens.

 

Do you live in a cave? Have you seen the light of day within the last decade? Last time I remember this is America. People are get screwed no matter where they go now-a-days. With the economy prairie-dogging into a recession, why would you expect any different? The service sector of our economy is draining into the sewers. With more outsourcing, gas prices being what they are, paying to paint that giant wall blocking all of Mexico from the US, etc.

When I go somewhere i expect to have to spit in someones face and step on their toes before i get an honest answer out of them. 25,000 miles and not getting tough with them is most definitely, in my opinion, your fault. If i'm going somewhere to get something done, i'm carrying a bat in my hands to get s*** dealt with.

 

Do you live in a cave? Have you seen the light of day within the last decade? Last time I remember this is America. People are get screwed no matter where they go now-a-days. With the economy prairie-dogging into a recession, why would you expect any different? The service sector of our economy is draining into the sewers. With more outsourcing, gas prices being what they are, paying to paint that giant wall blocking all of Mexico from the US, etc.

When I go somewhere i expect to have to spit in someones face and step on their toes before i get an honest answer out of them. 25,000 miles and not getting tough with them is most definitely, in my opinion, your fault. If i'm going somewhere to get something done, i'm carrying a bat in my hands to get s*** dealt with.

I agree with you as far this issue but boy are you an angry one!

 

I agree with you as far this issue but boy are you an angry one!

I guess he is a scary person.