I took my '07 Tacoma truck in to the local Toyota dealership because of a grinding noise when traveling at highway speed and lightly pressing on the gas pedal. They verified a defective drive shaft assembly, “play in the slip joint”, and said it’s covered under the 60K power train warranty. However the part isn’t available and had to be back ordered from the factory, and meanwhile they tell me if I now go over 60K while I’m waiting the repair won’t be covered. They said it may take until the end of next month to get the part in, and my truck is at 59K now - has anyone else been in this situation, where even though a warranty repair has been authorized you still have to continue to stay under 60K until the work actually gets done? Is that standard with automotive warranties?
Actually if the issue is discovered and diagnosed under warranty it is covered after.
Call Toyota customer care and explain situation. They will educate your local dealer.
You have what is called an Ongoing Warranty Issue. How this works is, if you bring a vehicle in for a repair that is covered under the warranty, and in your case the warranted part isn’t immediately available, the warranty must still be honored even if the vehicle goes out of warranty for the repair. This also applies if you bring a vehicle in under warranty, and the repair is made but doesn’t resolve the problem, the dealer must continue to repair the vehicle under warranty even if the warranty expires until the problem is resolved for the original complaint under the warranty period.
As long as the problem was reported while the vehicle was still under warranty, the dealer has to honor the warranty. Afterall, it’s not your fault they don’t have the part.
Tester
The dealer’s spokesperson is either misinformed or lying.
Once you’ve reported the problem and the dealer verifies it, it’s covered, even if your truck has more than 60K miles when the part becomes available. It’s not your fault there are no parts.
Document everything, and call Toyota. Go over the dealer’s head.
I’ll assume that you talked to a service advisor and that you got a receipt for your visit. You definitely should have gotten a receipt with the diagnosis. It will show that you brought your truck in within the warranty period. Go back to the service area and ask to speak to the service manager. Explain the situation and see if the manager knows the correct procedure. If not, you can either talk to the service manager’s boss or contact Toyota directly. Another option is to take it to another dealer. I don’t think that the dealer is lying to you. They gain nothing by it. Toyota will pay them to fix your axle as long as the dealer verifies that the problem exists.
Just one more “stupid dealer comment” vote - they can’t escape their warranty obligations by delaying parts delivery. No way.
I was in that situation with my 87 Mazda pickup. A shop nearby would make a new one so I waited a day and a half to get the truck back. I waited that long because the first new one was an inch and a half short. I was in Lompoc Ca.
I appreciate the replies! It seemed pretty bogus to me, they even printed on my receipt that I had to stay under 60k until the repair is done. I don’t see a motive for it either, since they get paid by Toyota to do the repair, hopefully just an ignorant service rep. I do have the receipt with mileage and diagnosis, and have written to Toyota about it to see what they have to say - no response yet. There is only one dealer on the island, so no choice to take it elsewhere.
Motivation? I THINK some of the people with industry experience here have said that the manufacturer pays a reduced for warranty repairs. So, the dealer will make more money if you pay for it. This sounds a little far fetched, as I’d guess the money difference is not big, but unscrupulous repar shops have been know to chisel for such amounts.
Even though you’re in the right, and should be covered, you might also call Toyota to get it straight, once they confirm go to the dealer and have them also confirm it with Toyota. Being right still doesn’t ensure the dealer will do what he’s supposed to do.
Take the truck to the dealer and tell them to give you a loaner until the truck is repaired. This will keep the truck under 60K. If they refuse the loaner then tell them to delete the “under 60K” requirement.
If the dispute continues put a call into Toyota headquarter consumer affairs dept. with the service manager next to you. Put your cell phone on “speaker phone” so everyone can hear the discussion.
Dealers want to have the “perfect” feedback scores on service, they aren’t deserving of good feedback based on your experience.
Well, his lips were moving, so I’m going to go with he was lying.
Do what the other guys said - call Toyota Corporate and tell them about their crooked dealership that’s besmirching their company’s name.