Is it time to draft a lemon letter?

Looking for just general advice on what steps I have available and how I should navigate this issue. I live in Oregon.

Bought a 2023 Tundra limited. Came with a defective transmission from day one. I had to fight with the dealership to even acknowledge it (it was an absolute shit show). It wasn’t until I sent the videos to corporate, that it got replaced. They said it was fine to drive on the bad one until they got a new one which took about 30 days.

Fast forward to today, 1000 miles later. I went to pull out onto the highway and the truck lost all power and lit up like a Christmas tree, and threw two error codes.

1. Malfunction in electronic engine control system, electronics throttle system, or electronic transmission control has been detected.
2. Something to do with the advanced sonar system.

I also have my parking brake malfunction daily, I have terrible wind noise, and some other minor issues that I expect on a new gen.

I have lost complete faith in this vehicle it is not a safe vehicle to take on a trip. Is it time to get a lawyer and draft a lemon law demand letter?

 

What are the rules in your state?

It's generally X number of days in the shop for the same issue. Or Y number of attempts at fixing the same issue.

Do you meet either of those criteria? If so, then yes. If not, then no.

 

Yikes! Did the tech forget to plug something in when the transmission was replaced?

What does the dealer say about your new issues?

 

Lemon Laws are very specific and unfortunately difficult to have ruled in your favor. Manufactures have endless monies to take what was a good law and manipulate it in their favor. You must, I repeat, must contact a Lemon Law Attorney. The problem has to be the same issue repeated many times with the manufacturer given a chance to repair several times in a period of time. If you have 10 problems each one becomes a separate issue and your dealership must be given the opportunity to repair it several times. You must take your car to the dealership and have them document every issue you have. Make sure its on paper. If they do not repair it properly or say they can't that also needs to be documented. This is why dealerships will right up your exact problem a different way each time. Example = 1st trip - horn not working, 2nd trip - steering wheel issue, 3rd time - emergency equipment malfunction. Again, unfortunately, you need to contact a professional and me having to call a lawyer a professional just ruined my weekend.

 

Lemon Laws must be a US thing. Up here in canada we unload the lemon on some poor unsuspecting schlep with a bag of money

 

Clear the codes. Sell it.

 

I just finished up with a lemon law case here in Florida. I contacted the state lemon law arbitration office and they sent me specific details for our state. I made sure to exceed the required documentation of my problem and strictly adhered to all deadlines. I did not use a lawyer. Just followed the law and instructions given by the state. A lawyer is a safer option but for me everything was so clear I went for it on my own.

Each state is different, Florida requires 3 repair attempts of the same issue. I had 7 attempts documented on Repair Orders. There is an amount of days to qualify too but I only used number of repair attempts.

If you are planning on filing for lemon law, you have to make absolute positive that you satisfy your states requirements and that you do not miss a single required detail or deadline.

hope you get it figured out.

 

Scheduled an appointment, earliest they can get me in is this weds may 31. Will update you when I know more.

 

Thank you for the advice, it is much appreciated.

 

I am going to lawyer up on Tuesday once the holidays are over.

 

What state are you in?

 

It says it in the first paragraph of the post. I live in Oregon.

 

Looked up our Oregon Lemon laws.
Here is one of many guides.
https://pirg.org/oregon/resources/lemonlaw/

It sucks that you have so many problems. How many miles total?
I have just over 5000 now and have only had the TSB 111 fix applied.
Other than that all good so far.

 

Yeah I looked up the laws here in Oregon, I’m only at 2 attempts to fix the transmission, but I guess I’m wondering if because it’s such a vital component to safety if I fall under that bullet point?

 

I wouldn’t know, may be worth a call to one of the consultants that show up when you Google OR Lemon laws.

 

My read is Oregon lemon laws require 3 attempts to repair or 30 days in the shop without resolution. By letting you drive it until the replacement came in it seems like they stopped the clock on you, maybe by design? If you'd forced them to hold it seems to me like you'd have qualified.

 

I have had 3 peers get a lawyer on defects for Toyos in past few years. Toyo ghosts you and generally hides behind the dealer. You need to have a lawyer to communicate with them and send a demand letter. They will take you seriously then.

 

Yeah I agree, it was such a dumb mistake on my end in hindsight. I should’ve demanded they keep it in the shop.

 

That is exactly what they are doing. They keep telling me to work it out with the dealer, and the dealer has already stated multiple times, they are not doing anything about it.

 

Care to say which dealer is giving you grief?
There are many other dealer options in OR.
Fingers crossed it isn’t one of mine!

 

Absolutely I will 1000% name this dealership.
Kendall Toyota of Bend. Please remain respectful towards them but do what you wish with this information. This is just my opinion and my personal experience.

Unfortunately the next closest dealer to me is a 3 hour drive.

 

I’m in Salem area, the local Capital dealer has been great for the past 2 Toyotas.
Wilsonville is the one I bought mine from this time, due to availability. They seem pretty good so far. Just Uber busy. Usually that is a good thing.
I even took my truck to the Salem dealer to do the tranny update. No problem having them do it even though I bought elsewhere.

 

Good to know, might be worth taking it up to Salem. I just hate the thought of driving this truck that far in its condition and I sure don’t wanna cough up 600$ for a tow.

 

It does not. It would need to be the structural integrity or the safety restraint systems.

Lemon law for you has 3 conditions.

1. Part covered in the warranty
2. Reported said defect
3. 3 fixes for the same issue or 30 combined business operating days of out of service

first two are pretty easy to identify and make. Your dealership knows the law and thus why they made you drive it. Next issue state you don’t feel safe operating it until it’s repaired to manufacturer specifications and your satisfaction.

 

Toyota will tow it to the nearest dealer with their 2 year roadside assistance. Just make sure you make it more than 1/2 way here so they don’t drag it back to Bend!
Seriously though, see what happens next week and go from there.

 

Haha I like that thinking. Will do thanks for the support. Going to get legal involved on Tuesday and see what they recommend before making any decisions.

 

Personally, if you haven’t already done so, I would write up the defects and present them to the GM and tell them you want a loaner until everything is fixed to your satisfaction.
Service managers are middle men and will BS you all day long if you let them.

 

Problem he has is a 3 hour drive to next closest dealer.

 

Oh dude, the GM is the worst person of this whole ordeal, it’s a young kid and he will just lie and snake you at legitimately every turn.

I forgot to mention, during this whole ordeal, a salesman called me with no context of the truck and informed me they messed up the paperwork and I would need to come sign updated documents but with a higher interest rate cause they went up during that time period. I lost my mind, and then the GM called me saying “oh I was trying to sneak a warranty in there for you and that must’ve messed up the paperwork”. I flat out said “do you think I’m that naive, come on.”

 

I’m not concerned, I simply do not want this lemon. It’s littered with problems, I want out of this truck. Hate to admit it, but I’m done with Toyota, never again. Im not knocking any bodies kink, but I think people would agree I was treated like a lizard.