Update on my friend's bad Taco (the truck kind)

"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
04/18/2016 at 13:52 • Filed to: Customer Service

A few weeks ago I told you about/asked your opinions of the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! my friend purchased, and didn’t even make it out of the parking lot. The TL:DR version is: he bought his first new vehicle, his dream truck, and the check engine light came on in the parking lot of the dealer. He ended up driving home in a used Altima loaner. The dealer wanted to pull the engine to tear it apart and find the problem. Some of you speculated that because this is a new motor, Toyota requested this to see if there were any production problems.

I just thought I should update you on what happened. Indeed it was Toyota corporate who wanted the motor pulled, although they didn’t end up taking the engine out because they were able to figure out the problem on the top end, a damaged cam shaft. Unfortunately because this is a new motor, parts were not available for two-three weeks.

So here’s the good news. Both Toyota and the dealer stepped up to make this right for my friend. They canceled the sale of that truck to my friend. He still really wanted a Taco, and not just any Taco. He wanted a Taco in that color (orange), with an Access cab 4x4, and some other package I don’t recall. There were none available in a thousand mile radius.

The dealer ordered him a new one exactly as he wanted, and Toyota corp. bumped him to the front of the custom build line. That still puts the truck at another 4-6 weeks away, but in the meantime, the dealer is switching out the Altima loaner for a pickup truck loaner.

It still sucks for my friend to have gone down this way, but ultimately he is satisfied with the resolution.

DISCUSSION (36)

HammerheadFistpunch > shop-teacher
04/18/2016 at 13:55

That’s a bummer that this happened to him, but it sounds like Toyota is doing all they can to make it right, good for them. Strange about that camshaft though.

MR2_FTW - Group J's resident Stig > shop-teacher
04/18/2016 at 13:58

I left Toyota a few months ago, but we had already been seeing a lot of issues with the new Tacomas. I’ve seen transmissions and diffs replaced with less than 2k miles, and this isn’t the first camshaft issue I’ve heard of on the new V6's.

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > shop-teacher
04/18/2016 at 14:01

Well... At least he’s getting taken care of.

shop-teacher > MR2_FTW - Group J's resident Stig
04/18/2016 at 14:01

That’s interesting to hear. I’ve always held the belief that you should never buy the first model year of a new vehicle. I guess that even holds true for the much revered Toyota.

Dru > shop-teacher
04/18/2016 at 14:01

That's astounding. Toyota has a custom build line?

shop-teacher > HammerheadFistpunch
04/18/2016 at 14:01

Yeah, that pretty well sums it up.

shop-teacher > Dru
04/18/2016 at 14:05

Well, you can chose your own version from the regular options, and there’s a line of people who want to do that, but it’s not a separate production line building all kinds of crazy weird Tacomas. Sorry if I wasn’t clear on that :)

boredalways > shop-teacher
04/18/2016 at 14:05

great customer service goes a long way.

despite how long it takes, glad to here that your friend will eventually get what he asked for.

shop-teacher > boredalways
04/18/2016 at 14:07

Agreed.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > shop-teacher
04/18/2016 at 14:08

You know what, I gave Toyota a lot of crap on the first post. While this 100% still sucks I am going to give them some sincere props for doing everything they can to make it right which it sounds like they’re doing.

You’ve never heard me say this and you probably won’t ever again, but you know what? - Damn fine work Toyota.

shop-teacher > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner
04/18/2016 at 14:11

Haha! Yeah, they did the right thing to make the best of a crappy situation.

HammerheadFistpunch > MR2_FTW - Group J's resident Stig
04/18/2016 at 14:12

You think this is characterized as a design or build problem?

MR2_FTW - Group J's resident Stig > HammerheadFistpunch
04/18/2016 at 14:15

I saw one post on Reddit where and oiling hole in a cam journal wasn’t machined properly, causing poor lubrication. As for the trans/diff, I have no idea.

MR2_FTW - Group J's resident Stig > shop-teacher
04/18/2016 at 14:16

Toyota has been coasting on a reputation for reliability it built in the late 70's through the late 90's. Since then the added complexity of modern vehicles has brought that reliability down, and other manufacturers have stepped up a bit, narrowing the gap. At least in my experience.

HammerheadFistpunch > MR2_FTW - Group J's resident Stig
04/18/2016 at 14:17

Its interesting with the trans since this is the same unit thats going into the Global Hilux, the diff too is strange. I’m wondering if there are some build quality issues at play or if they are cutting the tolerances too tight in the design phase.

Dru > shop-teacher
04/18/2016 at 14:18

I always thought they just made what they made and you could take what they had.

Future next gen S2000 owner > shop-teacher
04/18/2016 at 14:20

A guy I work with bought one of the last ‘15 when they where available due to the redesign in ‘16. It will be interesting to see whether his ‘15 holds up better than my ‘16. We took delivery about 8-9 months apart.

boredalways > shop-teacher
04/18/2016 at 14:59

* [on phone on hold] Thanks for shopping with Family Toyota. While you are here, ask a salesperson about our secret “Oppo” preferred sevice. Don’t forget or you might just get Kinja’d! [cue Muzak, then repeat]

Ash78, voting early and often > shop-teacher
04/18/2016 at 15:01

Wow...this is one of those rare cases where a screwup can actually help the company because they handled it well. Even though this shouldn't have occurred, their appropriate response can really build more customer goodwill than if they hadn't screwed up in the first place. One of the great ironies of customer service.

TheRealBicycleBuck > shop-teacher
04/18/2016 at 15:06

Orange you glad it all worked out in the end?

garagemonkee > MR2_FTW - Group J's resident Stig
04/18/2016 at 15:21

Does the new truck suffer from the drive train vibration problems of the previous generation?

MR2_FTW - Group J's resident Stig > garagemonkee
04/18/2016 at 15:39

I wasn’t aware there was one.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Dru
04/18/2016 at 15:59

You can “order” through pretty much any manufacturer. The dealer may say you can’t though. Because dealers suck. The problem is they’ve already ordered all these cars on the lot and they’d much rather move their inventory.

vdubyajohn > shop-teacher
04/18/2016 at 16:02

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

HA!

shop-teacher > MR2_FTW - Group J's resident Stig
04/18/2016 at 16:30

That’s what I’ve observed from afar, but I’ve never actually owned a Toyota.

shop-teacher > Dru
04/18/2016 at 16:32

Like MontegoMac said, you can always order your own version, but a lot of dealers discourage it, or even outright won’t work with you. Often times you can’t take advantage of any special offers either. In the case of a Tacoma like my friend got, there are never any special offers anyway :)

shop-teacher > Future next gen S2000 owner
04/18/2016 at 16:32

That will be interesting to see.

shop-teacher > boredalways
04/18/2016 at 16:33

Hahaha!

Just to be clear, that’s not his truck or the dealer he used. I stole that from da googles.

shop-teacher > Ash78, voting early and often
04/18/2016 at 16:34

Yes, exactly. Instead of losing a customer forever, they made him want one even more.

shop-teacher > TheRealBicycleBuck
04/18/2016 at 16:34

Golf clap?

Golf clap.

CaptDale - is secretly British > shop-teacher
04/18/2016 at 16:35

Good dealer is Good!

shop-teacher > CaptDale - is secretly British
04/18/2016 at 16:37

Indeed!

boredalways > shop-teacher
04/18/2016 at 17:02

oh yeah

welp, can’t knock free advertising either

shop-teacher > boredalways
04/18/2016 at 17:32

Yeah, I didn’t think anybody would mind. Especially since I said good things about both Toyota and the dealership.

rockingthe2 > shop-teacher
04/18/2016 at 20:42

You sir, are not helping my want for a Tacoma. Granted I REALLY want the Tacoma TRD Pro or for them to announce a diesel Tacoma, but still. Shame on you.

shop-teacher > rockingthe2
04/18/2016 at 22:25

Hahaha! Sorry.

I’m not going to get one, but the special edition “cement” color looked so good, it had me tempted.