so here is something nuts. my sons taco needed a new short block under warranty. the dealer agreed the short block was warranty. So in may they ordered all parts and told him that they would be ready june 3rd for him to bring it in.. It has now been at dealer since then. Its now july 7th. today they told my son...its a big job...and the only mechanic that can do this has had personal issues and is off work.

WTF

am not happy with toyota at this moment

wtf


edit....we are in the middle of bum frick alaska....the only other dealer is over 350 miles away....and owned by same group...owned by a dealer group in the lower 48...kendal toyaota...eugene oregon...this does not make me happy. saddly i will not recomend a yota to any one looking to buy a yota. nor will I recomend bringing in a yota needing work to the dealer. pretty sad
my son just wants his taco back that he bought new at the local dealer...but he does not want to be a bug and have some half arsed kid try to put the engine back together that some chump who has no clue how to rebuild ...have it blow up in a few months.... frustrated to the max...not happy with yota...

how does one contact a fac rep and say WTF

Maybe try the contact info at the bottom of the linked website page.

Be sure to have all info concerning the dealership, contact rep, VIN number, etc., etc. on hand before calling them, and get a report/case number from them if they can help you so you can reference it in the future if you have to contact them again.

Contact Us | Contact Toyota

Toyota Quality

thank you.....its my sons taco so I will pass this info to him as i can not be the one contacting them. thanks

Agreed. Id contact toyota directly to open a case. If he bought it through that same dealership, Id be talking with the sale and service managers or owners looking for them to make car payments for the last month they had my car and providing a nice rental in the mean time or even pushing them to work with Toyota to get a new tacoma since this one is under warranty and they cant fix it

This isn't a Toyota issue. This is a dealer issue. People often dont understand that they are not one in the same. Just like if you went to your local McDonalds and found a rat in your cob salad (points if you get the movie reference). It isn't McDonalds problem there was a rat, it is the franchisee who operates that store who is responsible for the issue.

Your best course of action is to contact Toyota of America. They may be able to find an alternative way of repairing what they, Toyota has deemed a warranty repair. Your dealer simply submitted your original issue to Toyota for approval. If it isn't approved, the dealer doesn't get paid.

Phone: 800-331-4331
Fax: 310-468-7814

Mon-Fri: 8:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. ET
Sat: 9:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. ET
CLOSED: Monday, July 4th, 2022

So it's likely they have made this job a "master tech" only kinda deal. And if their guy isn't available, he isn't available. Yes they could be more transparent with you, but it's not like they can "poof" another master tech out of the Alaskan wilderness.

Maybe corporate can fly in an Ace to get the job done, or farm it out.

If I was the dealer, I'd offer you the option of contracting it out and getting a different shop to do the job. Although, I don't know that they could get corporate to foot the bill with all those caveats, so it wouldn't be covered under warranty.

I don't know the solution, but you are in a sticky whicket and perhaps corporate can get you and the dealer moving in the right direction.

agree its not a problem with toyota but the local dealer. they are providing a loaner car free of charge. yesterday they told my son that the master mechanic working on his car has "some personal issues and taking time off" they also told him it has turned into a bigger job then they expected. It was supposed to be a new short block , under warranty, for a piston pin that came loose...they say.

my son does not want to make a big issue and push it as he is reluctant that they would rush it and do a crappy job .
but it has been an issue not having his pick up in the family for pick up type stuff to do.

he has been in touch one time with the alaska rep for toyota, as at first they said it was not a warrnaty issue and was gonna be 6k to put a engine in. Then after my son talked to the area rep, they said it was warranty and his only costs would be things like fluids etc.

As far as the dealer working out a deal on a new one for him...he does not want a new one..

Okay, something is getting lost in translation or something weird is going on here...

-What is the age/mileage of his vehicle? If it's under 5yr/60k it shouldn't be a particularly difficult matter to get it covered under powertrain warranty.

-Did you son not have records for the vehicle or did the engine let go while he was doing something like off-roading or missed a shift (if it's a manual?) It seems unlikely a wrist pin (I'm assuming that's what you mean by the Piston Pin) would be something the customer caused unless they either weren't maintaining the vehicle and/or doing some not good things to their vehicle; otherwise I'd say it's more likely a manufacturer issue.

-Why would they warranty the engine and then charge him fluids? Assuming this is being done as a factory warranty job and not a "one-time goodwill" everything should be covered?

-What do you mean by "Area Rep?" Is this the Toyota DSPM or FTS that your son is talking to, or the Kendall Region Rep? Because the first two are Toyota's employees, the latter is the dealership network's rep; ultimately the first two will be the ones that will be able to advocate for Toyota to step in and warranty the issue (and in this case, they'd likely be involved already as short block stuff is a LOT of paperwork).

-Also I know the shop up there is on the smaller side... but they only have one technician that is qualified to swap a short block? I wonder if it's because he's like the only MDT they have and are needing him to DPR it and such? In any case, I guess it is what it is; just strikes me as odd.

I'm not saying that your son is lying or anything like that; it's just what you posted has some odd twist and turns in it that seem a bit weird to me. Granted, anytime you have to warranty a short block it's a huge ordeal with a lot of paperwork, phone calls, double-checking, and documenting; so who knows. I had to deal with all of that last year when I had to replace a short block due to a leaking galley plug.

In any case I am really curious about all the details here, it's weird that it's taking them this long to actually get the job done, short block is a big job; but if the guy is left alone, it should be about 2-3 days at most. Usually the biggest pain is actually waiting for a short block after you've done the song and dance to get approval for one and Toyota releases it; we've had one take almost an entire month to get to us before because of supply issues.

son ( 37 years old) is original owner. yes under 60k, 2017, no off roading , it developed a knock. At first they tried to say that since he had no records of oil changes etc they were not responsible but would talk to the area rep ( these are the names my son told me..rep etc) They then called back a day later and said that it would be warranty.. They said he could continue to lightly use the truck as they ordered a new short block. It took 2 weeks to get the short block. He then took it in on june 5th. They have had it since ( today is july 9th. As they say its a bigger job than expected, and dont go into detail.

sounds like you are knowledgeable on all this, maybe even in the toyota net work somehow, if so you could check records yourself

Not really, being able to look in on TAS Cases and things like that is above my pay grade unfortunately.

But the additional details make a bit more sense now, they do get very picky/uptight about having oil change records for engine warranty issues; you'd be surprised how many people think 20k+ is a good interval for their vehicle.

But it does make a bit more sense on the wishy/washy-ness from the warranty side of things. I wonder if they found damage to the cylinder heads; that would slow things down some as for whatever reason Toyota just doesn't sell "crate" parts; everything has to be piece meal (i.e. you get a bare cylinderhead without even spark plug tubes and have to order every single piece to make them "complete). Unfortunately this is the type of warranty work that gets very complicated very quickly simply because there's so many eyeballs on it and so much crossing i's and dotting t's.

I would have your son politely push the dealership (i.e. maybe talk to the service manager) as well as talk to Toyota Corporate to figure out what is going on and why the process has stalled (beyond their only technician able to do a short block being unavailable). I'm sure Toyota isn't happy footing the bill for a loaner for months at their expense.

so here we are....dealer said today ( 7/20) that they should have it done by friday....well lets see...it went in june 5th for a short block under warranty and dealer orderd parts in may.

you could possibly have a legal issue if there was an “agreement” made for the time that the taco warranty work be ready. it could be breach of contract (needs to be written - text, email, letter, etc.) especially considering the extended length of time and lack of communication from the dealer about the circumstances

son finally got his taco back. So basically 51 days to put a warranty short block in. No costs.