Mark86
Super Moderator
Today had to be the worst day of my life. This story is something that probably nobody is going to believe but it is true. I almost forgot for a moment that I was driving a Toyota.
I am driving down Route 9 in New Jersey and everything is going fine. The light turns red so I come to a stop. All of a sudden, the electronics in the truck turn off and the warning lights on the dash all come on. I thought maybe it stalled out, so I shift into park and restart. The truck starts, but that is about as far as it gets. The only things that are working is the engine, dash lights, and power door locks. Everything else in the truck is completely gone. So, thinking I will bring it to the nearest dealer, I try to shift it out of park and nothing is happening. I restart the truck again and it is not going anywhere. Now the traffic light turns green and I am stuck in the middle of a busy intersection. I get on the cell phone and call AAA and the cops because I am in a very dangerous situation. The cop comes within 5 minutes but nearly passes me up because he couldn't believe a brand new Toyota is stuck. He was very nice and blocked off the lane I was stuck in. A few nice people came over and tried to help push it out of the way but I couldn't get it into neutral. The flatbed comes a few minutes later and what better feeling than watching your 3 month old Toyota 4Runner with 3,500 miles being put on a flatbed. He told me that he feels it is an electrical problem rather than a transmission problem. Finally, my brand new 4Runner is on the flatbed and ready to go. It was flatbedded to the dealer that it was purchased from and then I run into another problem. I was riding with the windows down and the power windows are not working anymore. Since rain is in the forecast here in NJ, they had to bring it into one of their bays for protection. When I examine my 4Runner more closely at the dealer, I find that many warning lights are on (ABS, airbag, park brake, 4LO, and tire pressure warning), auto headlights don't work, auto dimming mirror doesn't work, radio/nav doesn't work, whole center display gone, power mirrors and windows gone, and backup lights gone. Nobody can imagine how annoyed I am. When I was watching it go on the flatbed, I thought steam was coming out of my head. The only thing that acutally made me chuckle was the faces on the other 4Runner drivers that passed. Their jaws were on the floor when they saw this. A few of them literally almost went off the road they were so shocked.
For those of you that still can't believe a 4Runner can do this, here are a few pictrues that my brother took with his camera phone at the scene. Warning, they are not pleasant to see!!
That is a 4Runner on a flatbed you are looking at!
I am driving down Route 9 in New Jersey and everything is going fine. The light turns red so I come to a stop. All of a sudden, the electronics in the truck turn off and the warning lights on the dash all come on. I thought maybe it stalled out, so I shift into park and restart. The truck starts, but that is about as far as it gets. The only things that are working is the engine, dash lights, and power door locks. Everything else in the truck is completely gone. So, thinking I will bring it to the nearest dealer, I try to shift it out of park and nothing is happening. I restart the truck again and it is not going anywhere. Now the traffic light turns green and I am stuck in the middle of a busy intersection. I get on the cell phone and call AAA and the cops because I am in a very dangerous situation. The cop comes within 5 minutes but nearly passes me up because he couldn't believe a brand new Toyota is stuck. He was very nice and blocked off the lane I was stuck in. A few nice people came over and tried to help push it out of the way but I couldn't get it into neutral. The flatbed comes a few minutes later and what better feeling than watching your 3 month old Toyota 4Runner with 3,500 miles being put on a flatbed. He told me that he feels it is an electrical problem rather than a transmission problem. Finally, my brand new 4Runner is on the flatbed and ready to go. It was flatbedded to the dealer that it was purchased from and then I run into another problem. I was riding with the windows down and the power windows are not working anymore. Since rain is in the forecast here in NJ, they had to bring it into one of their bays for protection. When I examine my 4Runner more closely at the dealer, I find that many warning lights are on (ABS, airbag, park brake, 4LO, and tire pressure warning), auto headlights don't work, auto dimming mirror doesn't work, radio/nav doesn't work, whole center display gone, power mirrors and windows gone, and backup lights gone. Nobody can imagine how annoyed I am. When I was watching it go on the flatbed, I thought steam was coming out of my head. The only thing that acutally made me chuckle was the faces on the other 4Runner drivers that passed. Their jaws were on the floor when they saw this. A few of them literally almost went off the road they were so shocked.
For those of you that still can't believe a 4Runner can do this, here are a few pictrues that my brother took with his camera phone at the scene. Warning, they are not pleasant to see!!
That is a 4Runner on a flatbed you are looking at!