We purchased the Tacoma on Saturday, March 29th 2014 from Toyota of Murfreesboro. In Murfreesboro, TN. for close to $30k
After completing a short test drive, about a mile on the freeway and a mile on a frontage road, we liked the truck and move forward with the paperwork. After the transaction was completed, we jumped in the truck and headed home, which is approx 50 miles from the dealer. After getting up to around 75 mph (which we didn't get up to during our test drive) we noticed a strong vibration in the floorboard, doors and seats. We called the dealer the next day, they said to bring it the next business day. We normal carpool, so this means we have to drive separate and leave early to stop at the dealer in the morning and then leave work early to get the dealer prior to service dept closing.
The first "fix" was to air the tires..I jumped on the freeway to head home, the vibration had not changed. Called the dealer right away, they said bring it back. My wife was already half way home and had plans for the evening, so another trip to the dealer. I won't go into every single detail, but we've had it back to the dealer 8 times, to a couple tire shops, a drive line specialist, couple of non-Toyota mechanics and a Toyota certified Tech. The dealer has replaced the rear springs (which caused a low speed vibration) and re-installed the original springs, trans mount and a damper in the steering wheel was installed. The tires have been balanced, rotated and road force balanced multiple times.
After the first few visits, which was within a week of the purchase date, we met with the owner of the dealership. He did not want to take the vehicle back or work with us on trading to a different configuration/model either. He said "your Tacoma is a used vehicle and I'm not taking it back or giving you full price on a trade"
I have had the drive shaft trued and balanced, carrier bearing and u joints replaced, rims and tires replaced and the alignment has been checked a couple times too. All this did nothing to stop or even reduce the vibration! All suspension components were checked, the axles, rotors, drums, hubs and mounts have been checked.
After several months of going round and round with the dealer and Toyota, a field service technician was sent in to asses the Tacoma. He tested it with an EVH analyzer. Which measures vibrations, intensities and frequencies.Well he completed the test on our truck and then drove ours and another Tacoma that was on the lot. The work order stated that he felt vibrations in the floor and seat while driving both vehicles, so he deemed it a "characteristic on the vehicle. He would not give us a copy of the report and Toyota corp refused to as well. So, you have 2 Tacomas built in the same factory, on the same month with the same issue.. to me that says there is a serious issue. We have since driven a double cab and a 4x4 model, neither one has the high speed vibration. I have had 2 Toyota service managers recommended that I stop trying to eliminate the vibration, that I wont be able to fix it and I'm wasting my time and money. One of them told me that Toyota is aware of the problem and will likely make changes to the frame/chassis get rid of the vibration in the next generation Tacoma.
After going back and forth with Toyota customer service, worst customer service I have ever had to deal with.
We ended up going through arbitration. We lost because the vibration in our Tacoma is called a characteristic. Unbelievable! Every technician and service person has a hard time believing Toyota refuses to fix this issue, and neither can we.. well, not anymore. The service manger at Firestone (where we had a new set of tires installed on a second set of Toyota rims) test drove the Tacoma before and after the new tires. He said driving "that vibrating thing" on the freeway made him sick to his stomach, and the new tires and wheels didn't change a thing.
We ended up racking a few thousand dollars in failed repairs, components and fuel charges trying to resolve this issue. The mileage is just over 3,000 mostly from visits to the dealer and shops we've driven to.
Trying to find an attorney that will accept a Lemon Law case against Toyota in Tennessee has been a complete waste of time. We have contacted over 40 firms about the case, most don't even call us back. The online firms that claim they specialize in LL cases won't even take it. One of them did give me a hint why, she said Toyota fights every single claim and drags everything out as long as possible, which can be months or years.. at which point the plaintiff usually wants out and the firm gets nothing (fee reversal). And the she also mentioned that TN is pro business, not pro consumer or pro employee.. Toyota is a big ol' bully.
We tried really hard to be decent about this, tried working things out.. we were even willing to pay additional money and buy the double cab or 4x4 model in order to salvage this situation. We told Toyota and the dealer what we wanted, fix our Tacoma, replace it with one that doesn't vibrate or take this one back. Instead of have a loyal customer for life (we are replacing my wife's car next spring) and having me (outside sales person) telling everybody I meet how wonderful Toyota is and how they "took great care of us"..It's going to be the complete opposite.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
We purchased the Tacoma on Saturday, March 29th 2014 from Toyota of Murfreesboro. In Murfreesboro, TN. for close to $30k
After completing a short test drive, about a mile on the freeway and a mile on a frontage road, we liked the truck and move forward with the paperwork. After the transaction was completed, we jumped in the truck and headed home, which is approx 50 miles from the dealer. After getting up to around 75 mph (which we didn't get up to during our test drive) we noticed a strong vibration in the floorboard, doors and seats. We called the dealer the next day, they said to bring it the next business day. We normal carpool, so this means we have to drive separate and leave early to stop at the dealer in the morning and then leave work early to get the dealer prior to service dept closing.
The first "fix" was to air the tires..I jumped on the freeway to head home, the vibration had not changed. Called the dealer right away, they said bring it back. My wife was already half way home and had plans for the evening, so another trip to the dealer. I won't go into every single detail, but we've had it back to the dealer 8 times, to a couple tire shops, a drive line specialist, couple of non-Toyota mechanics and a Toyota certified Tech. The dealer has replaced the rear springs (which caused a low speed vibration) and re-installed the original springs, trans mount and a damper in the steering wheel was installed. The tires have been balanced, rotated and road force balanced multiple times.
After the first few visits, which was within a week of the purchase date, we met with the owner of the dealership. He did not want to take the vehicle back or work with us on trading to a different configuration/model either. He said "your Tacoma is a used vehicle and I'm not taking it back or giving you full price on a trade"
I have had the drive shaft trued and balanced, carrier bearing and u joints replaced, rims and tires replaced and the alignment has been checked a couple times too. All this did nothing to stop or even reduce the vibration! All suspension components were checked, the axles, rotors, drums, hubs and mounts have been checked.
After several months of going round and round with the dealer and Toyota, a field service technician was sent in to asses the Tacoma. He tested it with an EVH analyzer. Which measures vibrations, intensities and frequencies.Well he completed the test on our truck and then drove ours and another Tacoma that was on the lot. The work order stated that he felt vibrations in the floor and seat while driving both vehicles, so he deemed it a "characteristic on the vehicle. He would not give us a copy of the report and Toyota corp refused to as well. So, you have 2 Tacomas built in the same factory, on the same month with the same issue.. to me that says there is a serious issue. We have since driven a double cab and a 4x4 model, neither one has the high speed vibration. I have had 2 Toyota service managers recommended that I stop trying to eliminate the vibration, that I wont be able to fix it and I'm wasting my time and money. One of them told me that Toyota is aware of the problem and will likely make changes to the frame/chassis get rid of the vibration in the next generation Tacoma.
After going back and forth with Toyota customer service, worst customer service I have ever had to deal with. We ended up going through arbitration. We lost because the vibration in our Tacoma is called a characteristic. Unbelievable! Every technician and service person has a hard time believing Toyota refuses to fix this issue, and neither can we.. well, not anymore. The service manger at Firestone (where we had a new set of tires installed on a second set of Toyota rims) test drove the Tacoma before and after the new tires. He said driving "that vibrating thing" on the freeway made him sick to his stomach, and the new tires and wheels didn't change a thing.
We ended up racking a few thousand dollars in failed repairs, components and fuel charges trying to resolve this issue. The mileage is just over 3,000 mostly from visits to the dealer and shops we've driven to.
Trying to find an attorney that will accept a Lemon Law case against Toyota in Tennessee has been a complete waste of time. We have contacted over 40 firms about the case, most don't even call us back. The online firms that claim they specialize in LL cases won't even take it. One of them did give me a hint why, she said Toyota fights every single claim and drags everything out as long as possible, which can be months or years.. at which point the plaintiff usually wants out and the firm gets nothing (fee reversal). And the she also mentioned that TN is pro business, not pro consumer or pro employee.. Toyota is a big ol' bully.
We tried really hard to be decent about this, tried working things out.. we were even willing to pay additional money and buy the double cab or 4x4 model in order to salvage this situation. We told Toyota and the dealer what we wanted, fix our Tacoma, replace it with one that doesn't vibrate or take this one back. Instead of have a loyal customer for life (we are replacing my wife's car next spring) and having me (outside sales person) telling everybody I meet how wonderful Toyota is and how they "took great care of us"..It's going to be the complete opposite.
- ken m, Tullahoma, TN, US