TSB: 2024 Tacoma Transmission Failures Issue & Replacement (9/9/24). Updated w/ VIN Lookup Tool

[DeadSetMonkey]

CTTO. Grabbed this from facebook group

So...
My VIN - 3TYLF5LN4RT002882 is affected? 2882<6367? Correct?
If so, Ugh.

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[Scooby]

Guys, I’m not saying this new TSB list isn’t real. The only reason why I was asking if it was posted by Toyota to the public is because I’m going to contact my dealer tomorrow. If they say they haven’t heard of the list, I wanted to be able to show them the list from a Toyota publication so they don’t just tell me not to worry about it and not do anything about it. I’ll let you guys know what the dealer says tomorrow.

 

[OlafTheNork]

IMO, "the diagnosis is in the known TSB VIN# range(s). Also IMO, within about another 3 months they'll probably issue a recall. I'm sure they are realizing the extent of the problem and are determining recall parameters. However, knowing what they know for the involved VIN ranges, they should issue a recall now instead of forcing customers of these expensive trucks to wait for a failure, especially if the event/codes are thrown while out of town or in the wilderness and the vehicle can't be driven. Then expand the recall when new VIN # ranges become known as just happened.

Else there will be a class action lawsuit. Time to turn up the heat on them, likely through the dealers. I have a Pro hybrid that is VIN # involved. I'm thinking about what to do and might send a lemon law or related certified letter to the dealer/Toyota (use up one of the three fix attempts and/or put them formally on notice) to get this fixed now/pre-emptively else they can pay for a tow out of the Stanislaus National Forest and all the attendant rental car, motel and finance costs.

Ford went through the same process in 2018 with their Ford Focus RS models where for a large VIN # range the factory put Mustang head gaskets on Focus RS engines. They were case-by-case at the beginning then went full-recall about 3 months later (after we made a big stink). Ford made it right and did a decent job swapping out the head gaskets (would have preferred a new engine). Somehow I think Toyota will trip over it's own hubris and screw up the process as they are now doing.

 

[OlafTheNork]

I wish we didn't have to go through all this. Especially with the hybrid guts needing to be replaced as well as the transmission and torque converter. Sounds like they'll need to extend the warranty on the whole vehicle, too because so many other parts are impacted. Yikes.

And...we won't talk about the decline in the market value/saleability of the vehicle for an involved, covered VIN # while all this goes on. They better get their act together, and quickly. Sounds like I better write that letter, given what I/we know, so they can pay my towing, rental car and out of town motel costs, else they can claim "I knew the risk" and shouldn't have driven the vehicle "off road" and deny a claim for those other costs.

 

[TacoFreak]

@OlafTheNork It can't hurt to contact Toyota and make your POV known. The more aware they are of how we perceive what is happening, the more responsive they may become. But I doubt that our feelings will be the main driver of how they proceed. I plan to contact my dealer to learn if they will provide a loaner truck to drive and what towing services I can expect if my transmission fails. As an individual consumer I really don't think Toyota cares all that much about me, but they no doubt care a lot about the aggregate perception of the reliability of their products.

Toyota is a huge company and their decision will be based on how accurately they can determine which trucks will fail. Right now we just have the ranges that Toyota knows are suspect. I think that a recall will depend on them determining ranges of VINs that are likely to fail and then recalling all of them. AFAIK that is the trajectory that the Tundra engine recall took and it was a long time before it got to a massive recall.

I know that puts us in a bad place, with new trucks which we now know can't be completely trusted. I hope that over time Toyota comes to a better understanding of which trucks need to have their transmissions replaced and which ones might be fine.

I don't agree that the hybrid drivetrains are a more complex repair however. The only component of the complex hybrid system involved is a simple electric motor, sandwiched between the torque converter and the transmission. So changing out that component is really no more involved that doing that to a non-hybrid.

As the affected VINs increase though a lot of us lose the perception that our trucks can be counted on. Most of us bought Toyotas because we thought that we could count on thousands of miles of reliable transportation. To learn that our new and expensive trucks can not be fully trusted takes away some of our trust, and that is a loss to both Toyota and to their customers.

 

[TacoFreak]

Guys, I’m not saying this new TSB list isn’t real. The only reason why I was asking if it was posted by Toyota to the public is because I’m going to contact my dealer tomorrow. If they say they haven’t heard of the list, I wanted to be able to show them the list from a Toyota publication so they don’t just tell me not to worry about it and not do anything about it. I’ll let you guys know what the dealer says tomorrow.

My 2011 Tundra was covered by bed rust TSB and I learned how their system works by going through that. I showed the service manager a printout of the TSB but he had no interest in it. He said that he agreed that my truck should fall under the TSB, but that until he could connect my VIN to a specific range in the TSB there was nothing he could do. He searched their system for 5-10 minutes before he could match my VIN to the TSB and after that it was smooth sailing. There was never any attempt to deny that the TSB was real, but Toyota had to match my VIN for it to mean anything.

The catch for us is that until one of the shift solenoids throws one of those codes they are not going to do anything at all. If we get some codes or if Toyota expands the TSB to a recall we will be set. But until that happens we are simply stuck as far as I can tell.

 

[MT-Taco]

Unfortunately, Toyota is probably playing a numbers game? If there’s a few hundred failures TSB? Thousands recall? And only Toyota knows the numbers.

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