Mold 2022 Tundra - water intrusion w/ Updates

Here I am waiting for my engine to throw a bearing and this happens. I think I would of almost preferred the engine to go?

I’ll try to keep this as straightforward as possible with the important information.

Welcome to THE shit show.

Vehicle info/details

• Build date Jan 2022
• Took delivery Feb 2022
• 100% stock
• 17 months of ownership & 20,777 miles
• Noticed a mildew smell that comes and goes, around 3,500-4,500 miles
• Never noticed any sitting water or visible leaks
• I clean the inside of my vehicle regularly.
• Finally, most recently doing an interior cleaning, when I pulled my drivers side floor mat, the carpet was saturated and signs of white mold growing between the carpet and rubber mat. Smell was unbearable.
• This was all the tip of the iceberg.
• Brought to dealership, they’ve seen this before. Water intrusion from a faulty body plug/seam sealer in floorboard.
• Master tech was able to confirm by blowing compressed air and water from underneath.
• I live in the snow belt, so likely slushy/melt snow, salty, rain water has been slowly making its way in.
• This Monday(3rd), will be 3 weeks no truck.
• Currently in a Sienna as a loaner. Oddly enough Toyota corp reached out to me stating them or the dealer isn’t required to give me a loaner(poke the bear?)
• Plan of attack, entire interior will be removed(everything)
• Serv Pro for mold remediation
• Porous interior pieces replaced, hard plastics cleaned
• Asphalt sound deadener, which is covering the leak will need to be scraped up and removed, and replaced.

I highly encourage anyone having a weird musty, mildew smell check their carpet for dampness. Or you can very easily pop the plastic door sills off and get a hand under the pad, under the carpet to check. I’d check everywhere, as the dealer has seen this on passenger side as well.

 

More photos.

 

That sucks…

 

Wow, thanks for the heads up!! This sucks and is a pretty bizarre set of circumstances. How long will your rig be down?

 

So unacceptable for how new and expensive these things are.... thanks for the tip to do a quick check.

 

Sorry man for your hazmat condition. I’ll keep an eye on the carpet moisture next rain season. Thx for the heads up on the body plug issue.

 

I’ve been without my truck for almost 4 weeks. Initial estimate was 4-6 weeks. The dealer has seen this leak before and done this repair on a 3rd gen a couple months ago.

 

Had the same thing happen to mine. Before that happened, had to have the pano roof replaced. Wife noticed water stains on the retractable shade. A few weeks after roof was replaced, noticed driver's side carpet was wet. Brought it to dealership. Got a call a few days later saying it was the sunroof drain tube and the issue was resolved. Showed them the wet underfloor. They ordered new underflooring and carpet and had me take the truck home until parts arrived. Next day, noticed carpet was wet again. Brought it back and they tore out the interior to find a 3/8" gap in the floorboard seam. Water was running off the windshield and leaking into the gap under the brake pedal. They sealed the leak and replaced the underflooring and carpet. Now, I check the carpet almost daily. So far so good. Dealership was very responsive and helpful. Too bad quality control from the factory was lacking.

 

Man that’s horrible, thank you for sharing

 

Wild, on a 2023 no less? Sounds like it was caught soon enough where mold wasn’t an issue?

I’ve posted this on various platforms and have had a fair share of people with this exact same issue. Even the dealer, whose out in the middle of nowhere has seen it.

 

Update — After 6 weeks without my truck I picked it up earlier this week. With the entire interior being removed, ServPro for mold remediation, repair and reinstall of the interior; I’ve been dreading the worst to say the least.

Long term verdict is still out on my contentment of the repair. Hopefully, I can be 100% as we spend a lot of money for these trucks, here’s what I’ve noticed and brought to the dealer’s attention.

—Couple interior pieces weren’t fully snapped/adjusted into place, which I was able to address myself.

—Gray headliner, has some specs/blotches(not finger prints) of grease and or dirt. I’m assuming this is from hanging around outside the truck in a shop environment for weeks. It was bound to collect something. Quite frankly, I’m surprised Toyota wouldn’t just replace it due to it being soft and porous(good place for mold spores to collect?)

—Overall I do appreciate the thoroughness of the Toyota master techs work/notes. My battery was also replaced under warranty, as I’m sure it was constantly being under load with the doors open and not being started, that didn’t surprise me at all.

Dealership has been overall pretty good to work with. Couple bumps in the road, and head scratchers, but all good, I think.

I have an offer I’m debating, trading me out of this and into a new 2023 Platinum. They’re heavily discounting the 2023, and I feel the trade in is fair all things considered. The real kick in the nuts are the interest rates, and my state has next to non existent tax savings on trade. Even with close to 30k of equity in my 2022, nothing can come close to the 1.9 I have now. I would also be lying if I’m a tad bit gun shy going for another Tundra. This was my first brand new Toyota Tundra(previously always owned GM trucks), and I’ve never in a million years thought I’d be in this situation.

 

This shouldve been a lemon law buyback after 4 weeks...at least in california they only get a total of 30 days.

 

I’ve been in contact with a Lemon Law attorney since day one. In all honesty the last thing I want is litigation, I can’t speak for Toyota, but I would assume that’s mutual. However, I did want to protect myself as a consumer and have the paper trail started. I do have a Toyota corporate case manager whom I’ve been pleading and negotiating with to do the right thing and get me into a new truck. They’ve been quite frankly worthless and what you’d typically expect from a big corporation phone/paper pusher.

The lemon law firm advise me to continue with the repair and get my vehicle back and provide them with the complete work order, once available to see if I have a leg to stand on. Now that my vehicle is back and I have a completed RO, with day in and day out(vehicle returned), I now have a case they’re willing to take on with the manufacturer. The downfall is this can be an additional 3-6 month process.

There is also no guarantee on how I will be reimbursed. Apparently for my state it can be cash settlement where I keep my truck, traditional buyback or vehicle replacement.

 

I went through a Toyota buyback in 09 or so with a Highlander. Remote start didn't work from day 1 and I reported the issue at 80 miles on the odometer. Took 31 days to diagnose/get parts/return the vehicle to me. The LL attorney had me do the same thing as you, wait till its returned. I was charged some pennies per mile (From time I first reported the problem) and got the rest of my money back after a month or two (Had to continue makin payment(s)). I think I paid the attorney like $250 out of pocket to prepare and send off the demand letter, never made it to actual litigation.

Does your state cover the cost of the lemon law attorney? California makes the manufacturer pay up to $500, iirc. I was only offered a buy back, don't think we have any other options, but I would've taken another Highlander.

Toyota was definitely a hold up for my attorney, the dealer had no skin in the game as they had sold the vehicle and now it was corporate who had to pay up. Dealer did try to get me to trade it in before I lawyered up but I was gonna lose my booty on the trade in.

 

Thanks for sharing your experience. For my state, the manufacturer is 100% responsible for all legal fees. I’ve been repeatedly told and reminded by the LL firm, no risk and nothing out of my pocket. They did disclose fees start @ $4500.

This all boggles my mind beyond belief from a financial standpoint that Toyota(not dealership) wouldn’t have just got me into a new truck. The way I look at it; the entire warranty repair, ServPro, 6 weeks paying reimbursements to the dealer for my loaner was not cheap(any guesses how much?). And now possibly being on the hook for $4500 LL fee and making me whole?

One would think the cheaper route would have been take my truck, get me into new. Wholesale/sell my old truck to a dealer to fix and Toyota walks away. This also saves time and brain damage for myself and the numerous parties involved. Additionally, increasing the likelihood of retaining a customer for life, by ya know, doing the right thing.

My assumption is most consumers roll over and play dead. Zero follow through and accountability is held. Toyota and most manufacturers obviously know this and clearly take advantage of the situation.

 

My first Toyota product was wife's 2009 Lexus RX. It developed such a loud road roar from a poorly designed spare tire/cargo area that my wife and I could not understand each other sitting in the front seats. The Lexus attitude from the dealer upward was "We are Lexus we don't have problems" and blew me off left and right. So buying Toyo may reduce your chances of problems but if you one have one Toyo USA is the most dismissive OEM I have ever dealt with (I have owned probably 10 different makes of new cars)