2010 TE Seat Issues--Help!!

[MyTinCan]

Seldom used passenger seat (95% solo driven 100K Miles) occupant sensor not functional, air bag always off and seatbelt dings when noboday in seat. On top of that passenger seat only reclines on one side with a twisting motion. Dealer says I need new seat bottom frame (occupancy sensor not sold separately) and back...$2300.

Had identical issue with the driver seat back a few years ago and they were able to fix it. Im pretty sure that was associated with reclining back onto a folded up back seat, however, the passenger seat has virtually never been reclined. They were able to fix at that time for $150.

Service manager says he has never seen the issue..not sure how many of these they see though.

Has anyone ever heard of this before? Any ideas on how to locate a whole used passenger seat?

What really p's me off is that these seats aren't even comfortable to begin with and KILL my back after an hour in them. Amazingly reliable and capable off road vehicle otherwise.

 

[BlackWorksInc]

Not entirely sure what they did the first time for $150... but there's a TSB that sounds similar to your issue that says to replace the seat frames for the condition.

View attachment T-SB-0038-11.pdf

 

[MyTinCan]

Not entirely sure what they did the first time for $150... but there's a TSB that sounds similar to your issue that says to replace the seat frames for the condition.

View attachment 221942

Thanks for info Blackworksinc. Passed along to the service rep who was sure there were no recurrent issues with seats.
Do you think because the issue was documented (and soon after manufacture in May 2011) there is a chance Toyota will pony up for some of the part costs? $1200 for just the seat back frame is crazy. Could get a salvaged one, but what good does that do if its a common issue. Putting a call into corporate tomorrow...