my powered Tailgate stopped working

Took it into the dealer today. After 5 hours they gave up and told me I'm going to have to come back another day. They'll get me a loaner.
All for a pickup truck tailgate on a new truck with 3,000 miles. This is the current state of Toyota it seems

 

It would be very interesting to see if there is a retro-fit option to an unpowered tailgate available

 

Potential TIP alert!

Since the dealer looked and couldn't figure it out (had been rescheduled to dig deeper), I happened to switch on the inverter for my kids who wanted to charge something. Upon stopping at the destination and letting the tailgate down, a "happy drop" sound chimed instead of the "not good drop, good luck to you" sound.

Sure enough, tailgate power up has been operational since.

So tip for the tailgate, if it stops going up try kicking on your inverter to perform a reset.

 

Another tip for anyone lurking, if the tailgate powers open but gives you the beeps when you try to close it:
1. check if it is in the manual mode, if it is not in the manual mode…
2. squish and rub the touch sensors on both sides of the tailgate then manually close it and see if you can power open&close it after, and if that doesn’t work…
3. take it to the dealer and have them check any failure codes

 

This exactly on my last two Chevy trucks... the little clips were plastic. Luckily you can just unscrew the tailgate handle and get to them manually until you can get replacements.

I do love the tailgate drop button though in the Tundra, watched a friend struggle to get their 1985 Ford pickup tailgate open the other day and had to show them the feature. It was worth the punch in the shoulder. heh

 

Whats up Guys '25 Tundra, SAME here, started having the same issue about 4 days ago with the stupid power lift gate. Took it to the dealer they "RESET" it and it worked fine four about 1 day. today the same issue got worse. its stuck midway. tried all options short of kicking the damn thing. 2nd trip to service the service guy noticed its pushing my tailight out of alignment and scratching the edge of the bed paint. Just Great! He made an appointment with the CERTIFIED Body shop accross the street to get the malfunction figured out. The main Tech at service said he has never seen this happen and has no resolution. My problem is the car has 6oo miles and now my bed has a chip where the housing of the ligfht pushed against it. Any suggestions? Can i have them buy back the car or ?? thanks for any help in advance guys.

 

That sucks. Sorry to hear it. It sounds like there are several variations of tailgate malfunctions. Mine has always tried to work. It hangs up on the latches. Tries to open, gets hung up, changes it's mind and then closes itself. It has slowly deteriorated to now it will not open at all on it's own. I've discovered that if I push on it, while pressing the button, like I'm trying to prevent it from opening, it will not get hung up and will open, pushing my hand back. Super weird.

I had the truck in for 10K service on Tuesday and I told the service rep about the tailgate. I have an RSI smart cap on the truck. When I was dropping it off I showed it to him. I demonstrated how it wouldn't open, with the back window of the smart cap open. At the end of the day I hit him up to see where my truck was getting finished. When it was ready he sent me a video of the tech diagnosing the tailgate. He said it was because the tailgate was making contact with the cap. I said that is weird cuz I didn't see any contact. When I open the video the tech(she) was pushing the button with the back window closed. Ironically the tailgate opened in his video. But it did have to push past the rear window. I guess she thought the back window on a camper shell shouldn't make contact with the top of the tailgate. I called him back up and straight up laughed in his face and asked him if he had watched the video. He said he hadn't. I had him watch it right there while I was on the phone with them. And I had to tell him as well. You have to open the back window in order to open the tailgate. That we have had caps on trucks for 50 years and everybody knows that. He tried to defend himself by saying it was aftermarket equipment and you can't expect everyone to know how to use it. They sent me an invoice for $430. When I went and picked the truck up he told me they weren't going to charge me for the diagnostics on the tailgate. He knew they were jacked up. But I didn't get any progress on the tailgate and now it won't open unless I push on it while opening it. It's obviously the latches failing to let go of the square rings.

 

Update guys on my tailgate issue. After 5 hours of a Specialist technician looking at it.
Left actuator failed and cause the tailight to shift and chip the paint as it moved the taillight "Somehow" ... As for the Right Side. And I quote the right side actuator overheated and burned the unit out and they cant remove it since it melted? WTHell. 1 .5 weeks to get new parts and the tech says cant guarantee it won't happen again. Not loaner since it's not a safety issue.. any help please suggestions? Lawyer up time?

I will be going to have a meeting with GM tomorrow in person

BTW, 3rd visit for tailgate!

 

Bought my 2025 a week ago, having this tailgate issue as well.

Seem to get different beeos different times.

Attempted the reset (turn off function, truck then turn back on), worked and then broke again.

Seems to be an issue with the actuator or something, when i try closing via the side button, it never works, just beeps. Wjen i do the 'nudge' method, itll go up and latch on its own.

I noticed that when it lowers, jt doesnt lower all the way...the side cables will have a slight bit of slack in them....

One week old truck, yikes.

 

Whats up guys. So I got my Tundra back yesterday from dealership. Both actuators had burned out on their own, claiming the tailgate has an electrical wiring issue.

So it was under warranty but the tech said piece was 306.00 each left and right.. plus 3 hour labor time . Just FYI. Almost 1k hit..

Also, heads up. Mentioned that 3 other tundras came in with the same issue and 1 Tacoma. Soooo

He said most likely will be having a future recall or SPR. Special parts replacement issued on the power tailgate guys.

Get ready. But if ur under warranty they will cover it.... For now.

Sorry for the bad news Gents.

They put temp ones in my truck and parts are backorder until July 7th. Gotta take it back for them to put the new actuators in.

They owe me big time for the inconvenience.

Plus this was my 3rd time in for service

Good Luck guys

 

Dang 3rd time for the tailgate? Or other issues?

 

That’s why I got a 10 yr warranty. Let the dealers eat that cost…

 

Just the Tailgate. Now get this guys. Driver side taillight actuator was pushing the gap and chipped the bed paint. Now dealer is asking for 1 day return juat for them to touch up my paint. What a great experience for a 70k plus truck only 2 weeks old. I think I need a lawyer

 

Smart Move.

I going to push for extended warranty on them, swap lease, buy back at this point. Horrible experience service so far...

 

Having a way to turn off the power tailgate but still have the soft open and close would be great. The motors seem to be a long term issue as well as the sensors. It is a truck after all. After a load of gravel, good luck closing the tailgate!

Imagine the next gen Tundra with gull wing electric doors

 

Update - opening and closing via the button in the cab seems to reset/clear the issue.
Will update if it comes back.