I am a police officer and purchased a new 2002 Sequoia with high expectations. Shortly after my purchase I noticed that something felt loose in the steering column whenever I shifted the gear handle. The dealer said that there was nothing wrong with it and don't worry about it. The dealer also failed to document my concerns into my vehicle's service record history. Since that time, the vehicle has never received any mechanical damage or had any type of work other than routine maintenance done to it. Now, here I am with a Toyota vehicle with only 40,000 miles and a piece of metal has snapped inside of the steering column. The defective parts failure has caused the vehicle to be completely unsafe to operate and the slightest bump to shift the transmission to and from different gears while operating. I took it to the dealer to be repaired under the 5 year warranty and they said that they had never seen this problem before and it shouldn't have happened, but that they would do absolutely nothing to help me out with the problem. I informed the dealer to save the defective part, because it needed to be examined for manufacturers defect. At no time did the dealer ever mentioned, much less offer to have Toyota engineers examine the defective part. I should be receiving the defective part within the next few days. This problem was strictly due to a manufacturers defective part, yet Toyota refuses to do the right thing and stand behind their product. I am very disappointed in Toyota's lack of quality and especially in it's lack of service commitment. Needless to say, I will never buy another Toyota product and will definitely spread the word about Toyota's refusal to warranty an obviously defective part. Updated 6/01/06

- Coppell, TX, USA