Toyota Motor Corporation Consumer Reviews - Page 6

INDIANA -- My husband and I purchased in 2005 a 2001 Toyota Tacoma 4 door, 4 wheel drive, off road package with only 24,000 miles for $21,000. We spent a lot of money on this vehicle knowing it would last forever. This is the 5th Toyota in our immediate family. We never thought that with only 92,000 miles we would need a new motor. We have called to let Toyota know about this, to see if there was any type of warranty for it being under 100,000 miles and they said no.

They said we should have taken it to the dealership to have the coolant changed every 30,000 miles. Our mechanic said they were blowing us smoke. I just know if Toyota can't stand behind their vehicles to last up to 100,000 miles, this will be the last time we own a Toyota. We will go back to Honda. I thought Toyota would have at least offered us something.

MARYLAND -- On December 15, 2008 I parked my car outside of a shop in MD and within 10 minutes of returning, I saw white, electrical smoke rising from under the hood. During this time the vehicle was off. As I walked to my vehicle several witnesses and the mall security had arrived and were ready with a fire extinguisher. I opened my hood and suddenly the entire engine burst into flames and almost burned several people including myself.

This incident did not burn the vehicle but only the engine and it was reported to Toyota/Scion within 30 minutes of the fire. Toyota did very little to investigate the cause of the fire and over 20 days later, while my vehicle is UNDER WARRANTY, sent me a letter saying, "The cause of the fire was not from a manufacturer defect." They did not give a reason for the cause of the fire and have not done anything else about it. Also, the vehicle was 100% Toyota stock with all wiring, electrical, and even the brake pads were original.

Since the letter, my phone calls are not being returned and when I call to escalate the situation to the next step, I'm told that "The letter is final and no one else can go further." After 7 new Toyotas and an on-time paying customer to TFS (Toyota Financial Services) with 0 late payments, this is my answer!!!

ORLANDO, FLORIDA -- I took my car for annual maintenance and I had complained about the smell coming from the a/c. And they said that the a/c had to be replaced and it was under warranty and they said it would be fixed in 8 hours instead it took 3 days. And I had to call for updates on my car, because no one called me with updates. And when my car was ready the interior of my car was filthy and my seats were stained with oil and grease. I left with my car filthy and I had to replace my front seat covers. And they did not refill my coolant for the a/c and that also cost me money. The best thing they can do is give me a free gas card. P.S. - I will never purchase another Toyota car ever again.

This is most likely true for all automotive companies but Toyota should represent a higher standards. First there is no control over who sells their vehicles. Dealing with Toyota dealers is like dealing with the bottom of the barrel, just one half step up from politicians. Nothing they say should be taken as true. Do your homework before shopping. I found by entering various zip codes along with having the Consumers Report print out determined the bottom line. I walked out of several dealerships when the salesperson insisted "This vehicle is hard to get, you'll have to commit today" HAH!

After you buy a Toyota don't expect long range quality. Now that they are made in the USA, the vehicles are equal only to USA manufacturers. My old TOYS still owned by a younger generation (made in Japan) are holding up well. The vehicle I bought will never make it just by assessing the materials and construction.

Because my 2000 Tacoma was recalled (HEY Toyota what took you so long?) we ended up buying another only to take advantage of the incentives involved in the buyback. The truck is no equal to the 2000 in quality. I know one voice won't do much but I am definitely writing Toyota (Japan, not USA road blocks). Hopefully enough disgusted new TOY owners will do the same. Perhaps then someone will listen.

GREENVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA -- Wanted to purchase my daughter a new Corolla base model. I was made to feel as I did not know what I was talking about. The AD listed $14,500. I was told we sold that one a few min. after we opened. What do you have available? 17,000. I told the GM I just bought a new Camry 3 months ago for $17,000. The car I wanted was a base model Corolla.

The Sales Manager said "No You Did Not". No one would sell you a Camry for that. He said why don't you go back and buy another one. So I did. Because of gasoline prices the dealers want to make as much as they can. I'm so glad I did my homework and a little more experienced. I really feel sorry for other people who don't know they have options.

I bought a brand new Toyota Hilux from our local Toyota Dealer and I was surprised to find that the air conditioner broke down after only one day. I went back to get it mended and they simply recharged the cooling circuit with gas but this measure did not solve the problem since it happened again after a few weeks.

When I got back to TOYOTA TUNISIA, they simply recharged the gas again and said that a broken seal had been replaced. Later a worker at the company acknowledged to me that they had used a non-original seal and that this was a probable cause of the problem. While this is extremely ironic, given that TOYOTA warns customers from the dangers of using generic components and it uses them itself.

Two months later the whole compressor broke down and they refused to do any free repair on the pretext that I had manipulated the compressor, which is not true, for I would not manipulate a brand new car. If any of you knows how to help me in this regard, let me know, I would be very grateful if anybody could advise me in this regard.

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA -- I went to my local Toyota dealers service department to check my car, because the engine check light was on. They found the problem and replaced the thermostat. They stated that my power steering fluid was disgusting and needed to be flushed and refilled. I told them that I just had that service less than 3000 miles ago. They would not respond to my answer and walked away.

Either the mechanic that was working on my car was totally incompetent or I paid for a service, last visit that I did not receive. I asked again before I left and got no response. I emailed 3 different supervisors 6 times and never got a response. I have found out later that if you tell them you received great service, they send you a survey. They knew I was upset with them, so I never received a survey. I emailed the dealerships supervisors again about never receiving a survey and never got any response. Toyota has just lost all of my business.

OCEANSIDE, CALIFORNIA -- I just recently purchased a new X Runner from Toyota and I got it financed through the dealership. I am in the military and the easiest way for me to make monthly payments is through financial allotments. The only problem I am having at this point is that Toyota Financial doesn't seem to know if they even have a routing number. I tried calling the customer service number and after the typical 10 minutes of automated garble I managed to connect with a human being who was polite and friendly but had just about as much knowledge on the subject as I did! Very frustrated and if anyone has any idea if I can get a routing number off these guys let me know.

VIENNA, VIRGINIA -- I have a 2004 Limited 4Runner Toyota, all wheel drive, with v8. After about 20 thousand miles, my vehicle began making a very loud noise when coming to a stop, while simultaneously surging forward like I was rear ended. This noise also has a distinct metallic sound and jarring vibration each and every time. If the brake is not pressed firmly, the car will lunge forward. This noise and "clanking" also occurs when lifting my foot off of the brake when the car was stopped and not in neutral.

I first reported this problem to Toyota about a year ago and they said that it was a lubrication and maintenance issue. They tried to charge me 500 dollars for a four-wheel drive service. When I protested that this was not in the manual, they admitted that they lubricated the propeller shaft and that they wouldn't charge me this time. Well, that eliminated about 90 percent of the problem, but the "clank" came back in about a month.

I have recently read that all Limited Edition 4Runners from 03-06 have this clanking problem, in addition to the Lexus GX-470, that shares the same driveshaft. However, Lexus is fixing the problem while Toyota is playing stupid and saying that it is normal. Toyota should step up to the plate like Lexus and fix the problem. If not, this will be the last Toyota that I will ever buy!

GEORGIA -- Last month the clutch pressure plate went out in my 2006 Tacoma. Toyota refused to warranty this so I had my truck towed to a local transmission shop who agreed to replace this for half of what the dealer wanted. When the transmission shop received the new clutch and pressure plate they called me to come look at the new parts they received from Toyota. The clutch and pressure plate were completely redesigned.

After some research I found out Toyota changed this part # in 2006 after I purchased my truck. Even though I found other complaints of failure and have proof of a part change Toyota denies changing this part or that there was a problem. Toyota has offered no assistance in the $1300 it cost to repair my 2006 truck.