You must really believe that Toyota is going to publicize and admit what is causing the problem with acceleration to have bought another one.
I would have traded the first one back to them for any used car of another brand on their used lot to get my value out of it. I wouldn't have kept driving it.
Interesting they said it was a sensor on the second car. How much would it cost to replace all sensors in certain of their Toyo models compared to the cost in lives?
One time i borrowed my brother inlaws rental vehicle a 200x jeep grand cherokee. Seeing as it was a rental i was stomping on the gas every chance i got and was driving the poop out of it. The accelerator got stuck but i was swift acting enough to reach down and pull it out with my hand (im 6'2 not hard of a reach). I am glad nothing happened but it did give me the shakes...i can't remember if the floor mat caused this but i don't think it did ...this was about 4-5 years ago though.
I am always just a little skeptical when someone 1, finds this web site, 2, registers, 3 finds a particular forum, 4, makes their very first and only 2 posts, 5, makes some sort of unbelievable claims about a certain brand and 6, disappears without being heard from again.
I've experienced it personally in two cars. The first was a 1980 Accord that a friend of mine had, back in college. I remember we were riding in it, when a jacked-up full-sized Blazer or Jimmy went to pass us illegally (2 lane road, double yellow line). Well being an idiot, my friend sped up to try to mess with this guy. Nevermind the fact that if he had to swerve back into our lane while beside us, that blazer would've squashed us like a bug. All of a sudden, my friend starts panicking and freaking out, pulls to the side of the road, and kills the ignition.
My other friend and I didn't know what was going on, until my friend said that the gas pedal got stuck. Well, the whole Audi 5000 thing was still fresh in our minds back then, and I remember saying something rude like "Sudden acceleration, Huh? Didn't seem so 'sudden' in this case!" :P
I don't know if my friend ever did get it fixed, because that car didn't last too much longer. As I recall, if you shut it off, it would be okay when you started it back up.
Now, a few years later, I was teaching a friend how to parallel park, using my '68 Dart. I was standing outside the car, and my friend was inside, when suddenly the engine started revving really fast, to the point it was screaming. I thought my friend was just being stupid, so I hollered at him to knock it off, when he said he wasn't doing anything! Turns out the throttle return spring on the carb had broken, and the pedal went to the floor, and the throttle was wide open. Good thing it happened while the car was in park, rather than in gear! :surprise:
I think I just tied the spring back up as best I could, and forgot about it. It held for awhile. Until one late night coming home from work, on the highway, the car suddenly started picking up speed. My first instinct was to put on the brakes, and the car had no trouble slowing down, but it kept revving back up. So I put it in neutral, turned it off, and coasted to the side of the road. I think I either tied the spring back up again, or had a spare in the car, can't remember which.
Then lightning strikes him twice, and the 2nd Lexus also has the throttle fail?
Buy a lottery ticket because those odds are less than one in a billion.
Brand new member (with perfect timing of course), a couple of posts, hit-and-run style. Textbook trolling.
For anyone gullible enough to believe that story, I can get you a good price on the Brooklyn Bridge.
Am I wrong? Prove it. Provide the VIN. I'll even pay for the CarFax, if I'm wrong. It would show the crash history. If I am right, whoever challenges me pays. Deal?
Anyone foolish enough to take that bet?
Let's remember investigators found a plastic floor mat in that Lexus - it was there, that's not up for debate, there was in fact a plastic mat there.
Let's remember investigators found a plastic floor mat in that Lexus - it was there, that's not up for debate, there was in fact a plastic mat there.
It was also larger than the OEM rubber/plastic floor mat. My guess is the dealer slaps cheapo floor mats in loaners to protect the new carpet from stains. This time it may have caused 4 fatalities. Though I am still bugged about the shifting into neutral. I can believe the brake pedal was also impeded by the extra long floor mat. Did he try to shift into neutral? My first impulse after hitting the brakes with no results would be to get the car out of gear. We are talking a five mile ride at 120 MPH.
My experience with this Toyota Sequoia is that there are gremlins. Many times while at a stop with the brake pedal depressed I will get a bit of a surge forward. Never WOT. I only drive with my right foot. Left foot is only used with a manual transmission. Old habits are hard to break. I also never take my right foot off the brake pedal till I am ready to take off.
With a name like "Houdini" I can see why. I have posted on this website before about this problem a couple of years ago when I first experienced the SAI with my 2005 Lexus. I am hoping that Lexus will be forced to face up to this recurring, dangerous problem soon before there are more accidents like the one in CA. Believe me, it is for real.
Are some throttle-by-wire systems getting stuck? I believe so.
The cause isn't always a faulty throttle - given the evidence that they found a plastic mat tangled up in that wreckage. I do believe such system are not fail-proof, though.
Did one single person encountery that problem on 3 occassions with 2 different Lexus?
Don't believe everything you read on the internet.
Something else that is troubling me about all these alleged Lexus incidents; recent Lexus are fitted with Brake Assist. I should think that it would be relentless in bringing the vehicle to a stop, once triggered, even against the engine at full power. Or is the driver unable to trigger brake assist in all these alleged cases?
First was an early-to-mid-'80's Mustang rental car. I'm sure it was a four-cylinder...maybe a six, but it was definitely not an eight. That car would go 55 mph without your foot on the pedal! It was a late-model car, too--maybe a year old? I met a coworker for dinner one night--he's a Ford guy and I was a GM guy--and he accused me of just whining. I said 'let's go for a ride'. He saw exactly what I meant!
Also, my first new car was an '81 Monte Carlo, unusually equipped for the time with the baby 267 V8 (most were V6's); no air, positraction and a pretty two-tone light jade hood and roof over dark jade everything else. In the mornings, in reverse, you had to push with both feet on the brake pedal as hard as you could to get it to stop in reverse (as in the end of your driveway). I once was talking to someone at work who brought up their similar-vintage Cutlass Supreme which did that and I told him my Monte Carlo did too. He was concerned he'd run over a kid on the sidewalk in front of his house one morning. I never read or heard a single thing in the press about this, or the Mustang's situation.
Bill
2024 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray 2LT; 2019 Chevrolet Equinox LT; 2015 Chevrolet Cruze LS
Yes since my 1964 Land Cruiser. I did buy my son a 1994 Toyota PU to thrash. Only drove it a couple times. My last 3 new vehicles prior to the Sequoia did not do the surge thing. If you were sitting at a intersection without the brake you would probably bump into the car in front of you when it happens. I'm not really impressed with Toyota. To each his own.
Yes, well even if your '64 had A/C which I would bet it didn't, Toyota hadn't started using the idle kick-up switch yet. It increases the idle a few hundred rpms when the engine is idling and the A/C compressor kicks in, in order to give you better cooling.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
That explains the clicking noise also. The Service manager could not give me an explanation at the Toyota dealer. Makes you feel comfortable leaving a $50k vehicle for them to work on? We just leave the climate control on AUTO so the AC comes on pretty regular in So CA. Thanks for the explanation.
My GMs don't have AC compressor kickup; they are all variable displacement so they adjust to the needs for cooling capacity and are engaged continually. The idle step solenoid concept sounds like old technology involving a click that's audible. Most cars would use the computer to adjust the mixture and keep idle speed the same with compressor and ancillary fans on as when they are off to avoid an idle speed change. If they actually increase the idling speed because of AC, the system must be undercapacity.
Yeah, well that's a good illustration of the difference between domestic and Japanese A/C. Domestic is colder, Japanese saves a little more gas by being a smaller system.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
>Domestic is colder, Japanese saves a little more gas by being a smaller system.
I suspect gas saving is not the end result; people turn the unit slightly colder usikng more interior air flow volume requiring more time on from the compressor to supply the cooling they want. Other other hand the variable system provides a constant temperature requiring less load on the motor. The difference most likely is in minimization of the cost on the compressor where the variable compressor costs more to build. The added inertial load of starting the compressor spinning twice a minute also eats up gasoline. Yet another engineering aspect of the whole system is the constant pressurizing and then relaxing of the parts as the compressor goes on and off invites failure at any weak points in conendenser or evaporator much earlier than a system where the pressure stays the same, relatively, during the on time. I also wonder how the constant starting up of the compressor and the engaging of the clutch adds to wear and tear and eventual failure.
For some reason, I'm thinking my '89 Gran Fury was "smart" enough to kick up the idle when the a/c compressor cycled on. I could be wrong there, though. I dunno if the Intrepid does it or not. I did have to get used to the electric fan cycling on and off, though. It's not so noticeable during the day, but at night there's a slight dimming of the lights when it first turns on.
I'm not a mechanical engineer but everything you have written sounds sensible to me. Given that, then why do the Japanese manufacturers who seek reliability go with what may be an inherently less reliable system? It seems to me that they must consider the possible trade off of less reliability versus reduced cost to be worthwhile.
Well, they have had that system since my 1990 4Runner, whose A/C was still working just fine three years ago at 200K+ miles when I sold the thing.
A/C has never cropped up as a systemic aging issue on Toyotas (at least not since the 70s models).
As for imidazol's remarks, the system's total capacity is lower by being a smaller system, which means it draws significantly less power when it is running. Yes, the interior of the car doesn't get as cold under really hot conditions, so the domestics have the edge there. But Toyota does it to eke out some gas savings, I'm sure.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Would make me suspicious, too, but don't assume people who pop in once in a blue moon (like myself) have ulterior motives or are trolling. I read this site every single day as a guest and rarely post - only make a post when something really strikes a fancy. I have used information here on numerous occasions for repairs and car purchases, but haven't used it for "trolling purposes". I really like the site and it has been very useful for me - it has no doubt saved me a lot of money - but I don't usually have the need to post \.
I don't believe a number of the posts here. I read this site for over 3 years before joining it and at times I look just to see how silly some people can get. I had a neighbor telling me the proverbial story about the manufacturer having carbs with 100 mpg, but the oil companies bought the patents. When I let him know that story had been around for years the next thing he told me was about his dad's car getting 50 mpg in the 70s and GM sent engineers to see how it happened and it only had 7 pistons and thus got better gas mileage. I assume he is not aware of the concept of compression I don't know if he comes to this site, but I know there are some like him here. I think they just want to "be in print" or maybe have an axe to grind with some manufacturer. But I don't think that's any worse than the dealers/salesmen coming here and feeding all the BS to the edmunds community, either.
I had a neighbor telling me the proverbial story about the manufacturer having carbs with 100 mpg, but the oil companies bought the patents.
Yeah, those types of stories are amusing. My favorite has to be an old friend of mine who used to have a 1966 Dodge Coronet. I forget what engine it had in it, but I think it was a big-block V-8. He put a really tall 2.06:1 axle in it, and claimed it would do 200 mph! :surprise: He probably just did a math calculation, taking into account where the axle ratio, circumference of the tires, and what rpm the engine redlines at. If only it were that easy. Heck, my 2000 Intrepid pulls about 2000 rpm at 60 mph. I think it redlines around 6500. But that don't mean it's gonna top out at 195 mph! :P
He also claimed he could get 30 mpg just by playing around with the shift linkage to the transmission and the throttle. I think he said that if you set the linkage so it upshifted to 3rd almost immediately, set the throttle so that it really wouldn't pump gas no matter how hard you pressed the pedal, and set the idle really fast so the car just pulled itself along, you could do it.
Also a really stupid thing to complain or get upset about.
What would you consider a legitimate knit pick? Here are some of the items I gave to the service manager at the Toyota dealership on my first service:
1. Lift gate hydraulics do not lift the tail gate when the Temp is at or near freezing. 2. NAV cannot find places that have been on the maps for 20 years. 3. CD player will not play many of my disks that worked fine in my 2005 GMC PU OEM 4. Plastic wheel inserts loose make rattling noise. 5. Home link has poor range. Only works right next to the garage door. Guess how many they fixed? ZERO!
By the time we drove to the dealership it was above freezing so the lifts work. They have no clue on the NAV. CD player.The CD plays their test CD so it must be good. No fix for home link or wheel inserts.
Little things that I feel the dealership swept under the rug. A good reason to never buy another Toyota. I use a local mechanic to change oil and filters. Cost less and save a 30 mile drive. I live with the crap electronics until I sell this thing.
1. Every jeep I have ever owned had problems with the lift hydraulics when the temp was near freezing doesn't surprise me.
2. What kind of places are we talking about here? Navtech makes the DVD map data for just about every NAV software on earth. I can't see their being much difference from make to make. Even so I can see them just not bothering to make certain out of the way areas. The Denso NAV that Toyota uses is the same nav that Rover uses and every once in a while stuff would be missing on those discs. What is the copyright date on your disc? Make sure you have an up to date disk.
3. That is odd are they burned CD or commercially bought CDs? Some OEM CD players have problems with burned CDs.
4. What plastic inserts do you mean the lug covers? They just aren't clipped in right its an easy thing to do wrong. Find another Toyota dealer yours doesn't sound so bright about that.
5. I never use homelink ever so I can't really comment on that. It always seems stupid in most every car I have seen it in. Just seems to be more trouble then it is worth. Take it to another Toyota dealer and have them replace the whole homelink unit under warranty. Maybe there is a bad transceiver in yours.
Not that you won't find something else to complain about. You seem like someone who would always find something to complain about on anything.
Hey I ran a shop and was a technician longer then I sold cars so if anything I am a typical grease monkey.
So you were the guy that reset the computer and told the customer I have never heard of that problem before? Just swept it under the rug for someone else to deal with. As a technician for the better part of my 46 years in communications, I followed behind technicians that would just let the next guy fix the problem. There is too much of that in every field. So yes I will and do complain about little things that are screwed up. Like plastic inserts on my 2007 Sequoia limited that rattle and according to the service people they were designed that way. :confuse: And yes I will complain about my copied CDs that play fine in every CD player I own including several vehicles, when they skip in the POC CD player in my Sequoia. And I also complain that the dealer told me they had an XM player that would work with my system, and could not deliver after I gave them the cash. And when my buddies $200 Garmin has 20 year old roads and My $2000 OEM NAV does not, I should have a right to complain. You may consider mediocrity OK in this day and age. I think when the truth is sorted out it was mediocrity at the service level that killed 4 people in that Lexus loaner car.
That old story about the 100 mpg carbs! I heard it when I was a kid in the late 1970s from a guy about my Dad's age who told me the owner of the local Buick dealer developed a carb that made a 1957 Buick Roadmaster attain 65 mpg! Then executives from the Sinclair Oil Company visited him and bought the patent and destroyed the carb.
Lift gate hydraulics do not lift the tail gate because you didn't get a power liftgate
I think gagrice has a legitimate complaint here, you should be able to open the tailgate and beyond a certain point be able to let go of the tailgate and have it completely open on it's own.
2007 Sequoia Limited 4X4. 1. no power lift gate option 2. Just expected more for $2000 NAV option 3. I use only the best Mitsui Gold CDs available. I mass produced Karaoke disks with these blanks with rarely a failure. The CDs all played perfect in my 2005 GMC with Bose. I don't know for a fact that they tested. It was marked on the printout after service was complete. 4. All four plastic inserts are very loose. The service man said they are all that way. You only hear them when rolling slow with the window down. Only been to the dealer once in two years. I guess that makes me a real thorn in the side of the dealership. It is over 30 miles from home. I don't think it is worth 4 gallons of gas to be given the run around. 5. I just live with the homelink and the poor range.
I am always nice even to people that don't treat me fairly.
I almost forgot. I asked them to put 40lbs of air in all the tires. I checked the next morning and they were at 36lbs. Bottom line they were too lazy to crawl underneath to fill the spare. I did it myself and added it to the list of dissatisfaction.
The vehicle drives and rides very nicely. Getting ready for a 6000 mile road trip. Hoping the gas mileage is better on the trip than around home.
It rarely hits freezing here so not a big issue. We are headed to MN and other areas that may be cold. I will have to remember to duck as that is when I realized they did not go up all the way in the cold.
Dunno about lift, it should hold once you open it, though.
I think that issue is pretty universal, at least in the brands I've owned. Ford Escort 3 door hatch, a couple of Subaru wagons, a couple of Foresters, and my van.
The Toyota isn't any worse, in fact I think my Sienna is better than average, if anything.
The strut isn't there to lift the hatch, but rather to slow it down so it doesn't slam shut. On a real hot day, it might swing out and knock you over.
Yeah I have that too (Points of Interest/Auto Service), but no car "dealers" are listed, at least I haven't found any in my area.
However...
If you type in "Ford," or "Subaru" as a keyword, it will try to find those words in its data bank. In doing so, it did find a local Subaru and Ford dealer. So, I was half wrong.
Comments
I would have traded the first one back to them for any used car of another brand on their used lot to get my value out of it. I wouldn't have kept driving it.
Interesting they said it was a sensor on the second car. How much would it cost to replace all sensors in certain of their Toyo models compared to the cost in lives?
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Did you ever answer the question about why not putting it in neutral?
2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460
Maybe it is just my suspicious nature.
2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460
My other friend and I didn't know what was going on, until my friend said that the gas pedal got stuck. Well, the whole Audi 5000 thing was still fresh in our minds back then, and I remember saying something rude like "Sudden acceleration, Huh? Didn't seem so 'sudden' in this case!" :P
I don't know if my friend ever did get it fixed, because that car didn't last too much longer. As I recall, if you shut it off, it would be okay when you started it back up.
Now, a few years later, I was teaching a friend how to parallel park, using my '68 Dart. I was standing outside the car, and my friend was inside, when suddenly the engine started revving really fast, to the point it was screaming. I thought my friend was just being stupid, so I hollered at him to knock it off, when he said he wasn't doing anything! Turns out the throttle return spring on the carb had broken, and the pedal went to the floor, and the throttle was wide open. Good thing it happened while the car was in park, rather than in gear! :surprise:
I think I just tied the spring back up as best I could, and forgot about it. It held for awhile. Until one late night coming home from work, on the highway, the car suddenly started picking up speed. My first instinct was to put on the brakes, and the car had no trouble slowing down, but it kept revving back up. So I put it in neutral, turned it off, and coasted to the side of the road. I think I either tied the spring back up again, or had a spare in the car, can't remember which.
One rainy evening, the accelerator pedal got stuck, and the car started accelerating. Of course, this was a Gremlin, so it accelerated very slowly.
In a Gremlin, ANY acceleration - unintended or otherwise - was very much appreciated.
Throttle failed, crashed, failed again, didn't crash, BOUGHT ANOTHER!??!?!??! :surprise:
Then lightning strikes him twice, and the 2nd Lexus also has the throttle fail?
Buy a lottery ticket because those odds are less than one in a billion.
Brand new member (with perfect timing of course), a couple of posts, hit-and-run style. Textbook trolling.
For anyone gullible enough to believe that story, I can get you a good price on the Brooklyn Bridge.
Am I wrong? Prove it. Provide the VIN. I'll even pay for the CarFax, if I'm wrong. It would show the crash history. If I am right, whoever challenges me pays. Deal?
Anyone foolish enough to take that bet?
Let's remember investigators found a plastic floor mat in that Lexus - it was there, that's not up for debate, there was in fact a plastic mat there.
It was also larger than the OEM rubber/plastic floor mat. My guess is the dealer slaps cheapo floor mats in loaners to protect the new carpet from stains. This time it may have caused 4 fatalities. Though I am still bugged about the shifting into neutral. I can believe the brake pedal was also impeded by the extra long floor mat. Did he try to shift into neutral? My first impulse after hitting the brakes with no results would be to get the car out of gear. We are talking a five mile ride at 120 MPH.
My experience with this Toyota Sequoia is that there are gremlins. Many times while at a stop with the brake pedal depressed I will get a bit of a surge forward. Never WOT. I only drive with my right foot. Left foot is only used with a manual transmission. Old habits are hard to break. I also never take my right foot off the brake pedal till I am ready to take off.
During warm up it would be normal for any car to idle higher than normal, so the park-brake interlock was a good safety feature.
The cause isn't always a faulty throttle - given the evidence that they found a plastic mat tangled up in that wreckage. I do believe such system are not fail-proof, though.
Did one single person encountery that problem on 3 occassions with 2 different Lexus?
Don't believe everything you read on the internet.
First was an early-to-mid-'80's Mustang rental car. I'm sure it was a four-cylinder...maybe a six, but it was definitely not an eight. That car would go 55 mph without your foot on the pedal! It was a late-model car, too--maybe a year old? I met a coworker for dinner one night--he's a Ford guy and I was a GM guy--and he accused me of just whining. I said 'let's go for a ride'. He saw exactly what I meant!
Also, my first new car was an '81 Monte Carlo, unusually equipped for the time with the baby 267 V8 (most were V6's); no air, positraction and a pretty two-tone light jade hood and roof over dark jade everything else. In the mornings, in reverse, you had to push with both feet on the brake pedal as hard as you could to get it to stop in reverse (as in the end of your driveway). I once was talking to someone at work who brought up their similar-vintage Cutlass Supreme which did that and I told him my Monte Carlo did too. He was concerned he'd run over a kid on the sidewalk in front of his house one morning. I never read or heard a single thing in the press about this, or the Mustang's situation.
Bill
I'm sorry to hear that. This explains a lot.
This is probably the AC compressor turning on and off - when it turns on, the idle rpms of an automatic will rise slightly. Perfectly normal.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Domestic overkill, vs. just-enough efficiency.
Having said that, if the system screwed up and caused the WOT being stuck ... :surprise:
I suspect gas saving is not the end result; people turn the unit slightly colder usikng more interior air flow volume requiring more time on from the compressor to supply the cooling they want. Other other hand the variable system provides a constant temperature requiring less load on the motor. The difference most likely is in minimization of the cost on the compressor where the variable compressor costs more to build. The added inertial load of starting the compressor spinning twice a minute also eats up gasoline. Yet another engineering aspect of the whole system is the constant pressurizing and then relaxing of the parts as the compressor goes on and off invites failure at any weak points in conendenser or evaporator much earlier than a system where the pressure stays the same, relatively, during the on time. I also wonder how the constant starting up of the compressor and the engaging of the clutch adds to wear and tear and eventual failure.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
A/C has never cropped up as a systemic aging issue on Toyotas (at least not since the 70s models).
As for imidazol's remarks, the system's total capacity is lower by being a smaller system, which means it draws significantly less power when it is running. Yes, the interior of the car doesn't get as cold under really hot conditions, so the domestics have the edge there. But Toyota does it to eke out some gas savings, I'm sure.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Pretty much all Volvos do IIRC. Land Rovers too. I don't remember on Saabs. I have seen it happen on Mercs and BMWs too.
It is a pretty common system really.
Also a really stupid thing to complain or get upset about.
EDIT:
Actually I think my Jeep does too. I don't drive it enough to be sure though.
You can also tell the last login and the join date.
Do you honestly believe that after experiencing that twice you'd buy another one? As someone mentioned above, it's the very definition of insanity.
Yeah, those types of stories are amusing. My favorite has to be an old friend of mine who used to have a 1966 Dodge Coronet. I forget what engine it had in it, but I think it was a big-block V-8. He put a really tall 2.06:1 axle in it, and claimed it would do 200 mph! :surprise: He probably just did a math calculation, taking into account where the axle ratio, circumference of the tires, and what rpm the engine redlines at. If only it were that easy. Heck, my 2000 Intrepid pulls about 2000 rpm at 60 mph. I think it redlines around 6500. But that don't mean it's gonna top out at 195 mph! :P
He also claimed he could get 30 mpg just by playing around with the shift linkage to the transmission and the throttle. I think he said that if you set the linkage so it upshifted to 3rd almost immediately, set the throttle so that it really wouldn't pump gas no matter how hard you pressed the pedal, and set the idle really fast so the car just pulled itself along, you could do it.
I'm a bit skeptical, though :shades:
What would you consider a legitimate knit pick? Here are some of the items I gave to the service manager at the Toyota dealership on my first service:
1. Lift gate hydraulics do not lift the tail gate when the Temp is at or near freezing.
2. NAV cannot find places that have been on the maps for 20 years.
3. CD player will not play many of my disks that worked fine in my 2005 GMC PU OEM
4. Plastic wheel inserts loose make rattling noise.
5. Home link has poor range. Only works right next to the garage door.
Guess how many they fixed? ZERO!
By the time we drove to the dealership it was above freezing so the lifts work.
They have no clue on the NAV.
CD player.The CD plays their test CD so it must be good.
No fix for home link or wheel inserts.
Little things that I feel the dealership swept under the rug. A good reason to never buy another Toyota. I use a local mechanic to change oil and filters. Cost less and save a 30 mile drive. I live with the crap electronics until I sell this thing.
2. What kind of places are we talking about here? Navtech makes the DVD map data for just about every NAV software on earth. I can't see their being much difference from make to make. Even so I can see them just not bothering to make certain out of the way areas. The Denso NAV that Toyota uses is the same nav that Rover uses and every once in a while stuff would be missing on those discs. What is the copyright date on your disc? Make sure you have an up to date disk.
3. That is odd are they burned CD or commercially bought CDs? Some OEM CD players have problems with burned CDs.
4. What plastic inserts do you mean the lug covers? They just aren't clipped in right its an easy thing to do wrong. Find another Toyota dealer yours doesn't sound so bright about that.
5. I never use homelink ever so I can't really comment on that. It always seems stupid in most every car I have seen it in. Just seems to be more trouble then it is worth. Take it to another Toyota dealer and have them replace the whole homelink unit under warranty. Maybe there is a bad transceiver in yours.
Not that you won't find something else to complain about. You seem like someone who would always find something to complain about on anything.
And you sound like a typical car dealer. :P
PS
Everything should work properly on a $51k vehicle. You have become jaded selling problem prone Land Rovers.
So you were the guy that reset the computer and told the customer I have never heard of that problem before? Just swept it under the rug for someone else to deal with. As a technician for the better part of my 46 years in communications, I followed behind technicians that would just let the next guy fix the problem. There is too much of that in every field. So yes I will and do complain about little things that are screwed up. Like plastic inserts on my 2007 Sequoia limited that rattle and according to the service people they were designed that way. :confuse: And yes I will complain about my copied CDs that play fine in every CD player I own including several vehicles, when they skip in the POC CD player in my Sequoia. And I also complain that the dealer told me they had an XM player that would work with my system, and could not deliver after I gave them the cash. And when my buddies $200 Garmin has 20 year old roads and My $2000 OEM NAV does not, I should have a right to complain. You may consider mediocrity OK in this day and age. I think when the truth is sorted out it was mediocrity at the service level that killed 4 people in that Lexus loaner car.
Honestly, overall I think your opinion of Toyota is slightly less bad than it was before you bought your Sequoia.
As for each issue:
1. Lift gate hydraulics do not lift the tail gate because you didn't get a power liftgate
2. NAV POI database is 3rd party, and you can go to their web site and make suggestions/corrections (have you?)
3. CD player on my Sienna plays home-made CDs, so try a different brand of blank CDs, maybe. Mine even plays DVDs.
4. Plastic wheel inserts loose make rattling noise - legit complaint. Compare to others on the lot.
5. Home link has poor range. Only works right next to the garage door. No idea on that one, as I have a car port. Maybe try re-programming.
None of these are being "swept under the rug" except perhaps the rattle issue. Be persistent (but nice) until they fix it.
I think gagrice has a legitimate complaint here, you should be able to open the tailgate and beyond a certain point be able to let go of the tailgate and have it completely open on it's own.
1. no power lift gate option
2. Just expected more for $2000 NAV option
3. I use only the best Mitsui Gold CDs available. I mass produced Karaoke disks with these blanks with rarely a failure. The CDs all played perfect in my 2005 GMC with Bose. I don't know for a fact that they tested. It was marked on the printout after service was complete.
4. All four plastic inserts are very loose. The service man said they are all that way. You only hear them when rolling slow with the window down. Only been to the dealer once in two years. I guess that makes me a real thorn in the side of the dealership. It is over 30 miles from home. I don't think it is worth 4 gallons of gas to be given the run around.
5. I just live with the homelink and the poor range.
I am always nice even to people that don't treat me fairly.
I almost forgot. I asked them to put 40lbs of air in all the tires. I checked the next morning and they were at 36lbs. Bottom line they were too lazy to crawl underneath to fill the spare. I did it myself and added it to the list of dissatisfaction.
The vehicle drives and rides very nicely. Getting ready for a 6000 mile road trip. Hoping the gas mileage is better on the trip than around home.
I think that issue is pretty universal, at least in the brands I've owned. Ford Escort 3 door hatch, a couple of Subaru wagons, a couple of Foresters, and my van.
The Toyota isn't any worse, in fact I think my Sienna is better than average, if anything.
The strut isn't there to lift the hatch, but rather to slow it down so it doesn't slam shut. On a real hot day, it might swing out and knock you over.
We've discussed this in the GPS thread and I agree, although that is also pretty much industry-standard.
Subaru's didn't have the Exxon gas station that is right next to (of all things) the Subaru dealer.
Audi's didn't list Miller Subaru in PA, though my conspiracy theory is that they removed it because it's an AWD competitor.
Acura's navi doesn't list BMW dealers, I've heard.
Aftermarket is the way to go.
Bob
Aren't they one and the same?
2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460
However...
If you type in "Ford," or "Subaru" as a keyword, it will try to find those words in its data bank. In doing so, it did find a local Subaru and Ford dealer. So, I was half wrong.
Bob