The TERRABL Build Thread - '25 Limited Crewmax

So at the time of purchase, the truck's license plate/nickname was going to be BBQSAUZ... But after it ended up like this at 1,270 miles 10 days into owning it, my brain switched it to TERRABL. This won't be a short read, but I promise that at some point, there'll be more photos. I'm typing this thread as the truck has spent the past 2 days at a local dealer after it sounded like the internals wanted to be externals, leading to the tow truck scene below. For those wondering, at this point they have no update for me regarding what the failure/problem is nor a plan on what needs to be done to fix it.



Quick back story, we absolutely loved (and immediately regretted selling) my last Tundra, and so when the itch started earlier this year to start a new project, another Tundra was at the top of the list. My last daily/trail vehicle was an Ineos Grenadier (build thread), which was absolutely fantastic. The story, the vehicle, and the community are all great and I was a day 1 reservation holder for it (way back in 2021, when I still had the last Tundra), but the itch for a new build hit me around the 10 month mark. One of my faults is that I enjoy the build process more than the long term ownership, and so when I was told "if you want a new project, why don't you get a daily and a trail truck", I jumped at it. Trail truck is easy, it'll be an older 4Runner, GX, or Tacoma, but the daily is the "special" one because it will pull double duty for travel as well.

Enter the search for a Tundra, because I couldn't just go with something common. After learning that what I really wanted (double cab SR5, Terra, black softex, TRD Off Road, premium audio) was impossible, I reevaluated what I was ok with and found this Limited Crew Max TRD Off Road at a local dealer. One quick test drive and it was like being home again (we spent a lot of time road tripping in our old Tundra), add to that a dealer that gave me a very strong trade-in number on the Grenadier, and I was happily backing a Tundra into my driveway for the first time in 3 years.

So where is this build going... I told my better half that I would limit modifications to this truck to "quality of life improvements" only, she said "well that sounds like a really vague limit". Shhhh, it is

Plans from the start

• Tint
• Mats
• Topper
• Slight lift
• Wheels/Tires
• Some aesthetic stuff inside and out
• On board air
• Fridge and supporting electrical
• Sound deadening/insulation
• Some extra bass
• Some extra lights

Tint was done on day 5, Xpel XR Plus 20% on the front sides, 35% over factory tint on the rear 3 windows, 70% on the windshield, and Xpel XR 35% on the pano roof. Massive improvement for both light and heat. While sitting at the tint shop (great work by The Wrappers in Westminster, MD btw), I placed an order for a GoFastCampers topper (not the camper), scheduled for delivery in Mid August.

Around the same time some boxes arrived... Amazon purchase of an adhesive cover for the center console (around the shifter) to cover the piano black with matte black, AJT Design armrest liners, AJT Design key, and WeatherTech mats for the front and back.

I also popped on the ICS Fab dash mount with some RAM Size B bases and magnetic mounts for our phones, and a dual USB-C charger plugged into the 12v outlet in the dash cubby.

A whopping 9 days in (yes, the day before the motor unalived itself) I gave it the de-badge and de-sticker treatment and a baseline detail, topped off with Adam's Graphene coating. I've used Chemical Guys, P&S, and Griots products/coatings on previous builds, and it's a constantly evolving process in my driveway. I'm by no means a detailer, or person who always has clean vehicles, it's a light hobby of mine.

Sitting in a box waiting to go on when the truck gets back (eventually? hopefully?) is a screen protector (Xpel stealth PPF) for the 14" screen, BlendMount to mount the V1 Gen2, Rexing 4K dash cam (with 5 pin plug adapter for power), an auto start/stop eliminator, Lamin-X door cup protectors, Lamin-X Headlight reflector film, and Xpel door sill film.

Sound/thermal insulation will most likely be the pre-cut SoundSkins for the doors and Siless hybrid on the floors and back wall; all covered with 3M Thinsulate (I have plenty of SM200L and AU40002-5 left over). I'll probably throw a layer of Thinsulate and maybe 3M Low-E between the headliner and roof as well at some point since I have a lot left over from previous builds.

Wheels/Tires will probably be a set of Raceline Rogue's in 18x8.5 (ET35), specifically because finding wheels that don't poke seems to be almost impossible. And still debating whether I want to go skinny 35s (285/75) or 34s (285/70); the truck will occasionally see some trail use, but it's mostly aesthetics, and I don't know if the trade offs will be worth it to go to 35s.

Lift is still up in the air, but Radflo 2.5s may be the move, along with some Dobinsons springs in the rear, I'm only looking for ~1.5" in the front and 1" in the rear.

Fridge will likely go on a platform in the back seat area. Extra bass and lights? We'll see as it happens.

 

Big plans! Hopefully it comes back better than before! Haven't heard of this happening to a '25

 

It was mentioned in the other thread I was posting in that following the saga of my motor fix was muddled with other conversations/problems... So I'll use this post to just keep a running list of updates whenever they actually happen and give an order of operations/play by play.

June 24 - The truck had a bit of a rattle at idle when I started it up, almost sounded like an exhaust heat shield rattling. Didn't think anything of it really, but it was noticeable that my girlfriend asked what it was as we were getting in. About 10 miles of driving later, on the highway (1600-1800rpm) I noticed it had a slight stumble under very light load/throttle. As we pulled off the highway and to the first traffic light, it missed the "normal" idle point, stumbled for a moment, surged up to about 1,000rpm, and then calmed back down at around 650 but with a horrible sound similar to something going for a ride in your dryer. Limping it to the adjacent parking lot was an adventure in almost no power and it really not wanting to exceed 1,200 rpm with the sounds getting quite bad around 1,000rpm. Called Toyota roadside, learned the tow radius is 25 miles, which my purchasing dealer was outside of, so I had it towed to a dealer that is part of a dealer umbrella that I've had plenty of good dealings with (Heritage Toyota of Catonsville). This was my mistake for not investigating further before choosing where it went. The truck arrived to the dealer a little after they closed, so we had some friends pick us up to get us home, and I awaited a call from the service department in the morning.

June 25 - Around 8:30am the service writer contacted me, listened to what happened, confirmed a few times that in fact it only had 1,270 miles on it, and then advised me he would call be back in the afternoon with an update on the vehicle as well as an update on getting me a loaner so I had a vehicle to drive. Around 3:30pm, having not heard from the dealer I called and left a voicemail. I called several other times between then close of business, and never was able to speak to my service writer.

June 26 - I started a case with the Toyota Brand Engagement Center, as well as with NCDS; adding not only my issue with my 10 day old truck blowing up, but also that the dealer had effectively ghosted me. I started at 8:30am again calling the dealer, leaving more voicemails, and not getting any communication. Through the Toyota app I was able to ascertain that they pulled the truck into a bay around 9am (hood open, doors unlocked, windows down) and pulled it back out and parked it around 1pm; this had not happened on the 25th. Around 3pm I called to speak with any other service writer, finally got passed to another gentleman who took down my name and said he would have their service manager call me back. A few hours later, I got a call from my service writer, who advised me that Toyota engineers were involved (I understand they are actually dealer technical reps) and that it was in their hands as far as what repairs or parts are ordered. He also added that their process takes 24-48 hours to figure out what is wrong and what needs to happen. When I asked him again about getting a vehicle to drive in the meantime, he stated that their dealer doesn't offer any sort of loaner vehicle, and if Toyota corporate deems that I should get one, one must be given to me from corporate. Luckily later on this day a fine forum member linked me to the Toyota Transportation Assistance Policy, which states that any Toyota dealer in the US is required to provide a vehicle for any warranty repairs that extend overnight or longer, whether that is due to extended diagnostics, labor times, or parts shortages.

June 27 - After many phone calls, another voicemail to my service writer, and a voicemail to the service manager; the service manager finally answered the phone (coincidence that it was about a minute after a previous call, but the call he answered was from my work number, not my personal). I asked for an update on my vehicle, to which I was told that a short block had been ordered, but no ETA was available as of yet. He advised to call back on Monday (this was on a Friday) for an ETA. When informing him that I was told they don't have vehicles to give out, but that the Toyota Transportation Assistance Policy states they are required to, he quickly backtracked the story given by the service writer, and stated that he would have two vehicles available the following morning.

June 28 - Went up to the dealer to get my loaner (a dealer "rental" since there is a rental agreement) and was given a new Camry SE; a far cry from the Tundra unfortunately. My service writer wasn't there and the service manager walked past me while I was waiting for the Camry without a word (I'm only confident that he knew who I was as he was presented my repair order by another service writer to figure out what car to give me). Found the truck parked in the way back of the service parking lot, left unlocked since it was parked midday on 6/26.

June 30 - After another handful of calls and a voicemail or two, I got a hold of my service writer who seemed quite surprised to hear from me. I asked about the ETA for the short block and was told that "since it was only ordered on Friday, it's still too soon to know when it'll show up, call back on Wednesday or Thursday". In the mean time I've been communicating once every other day or so with my Toyota Brand Engagement case manager, stating that since they have yet to figure out what the failure was, I don't feel safe with a short block, and wanted a long block. I made it very clear that a precedent exists for vehicle buy back or vehicle replacement in this situation, especially with involvement from NCDS, however I was stopping short of requesting all that and just asking for the long block.

July 1 - Chatted with the TBE rep again, further plead my case for a long block vs a short block, including that I understand short cuts are taken when techs are being paid flat rate, and even more so when it's warranty pay flat rate; and that a long block allows far fewer potentially-critical short cuts to be taken. She agreed that shortcuts do get taken sometimes, but that Toyota techs are a ridiculous amount of training hours and are fantastic at what they do. She said she hadn't heard back from the dealer, but would call me back by EOB on 7/2 with an update.

July 2 - TBE Rep called to advise me that there was no update as she had been unable to get ahold of anyone from the dealer. She advised that she had been calling daily and left voicemails for the service manager, who hadn't returned any of her calls since she started calling on 6/30.

July 3 - A blessing of the internet... After reaching out to my circles of social media friends across decades of being in the industry, a few degrees of separation allowed a connection to someone who, at the very least, was able to make a few phone calls/messages to reiterate my frustration with the situation. At the very least having another pair of eyes somewhere on the Toyota Corporate ladder looking at the case can't hurt; and as I have said before, I am thankful beyond words for the folks who have offered "phone a friend" assistance. After a half dozen or so calls that rang and went to voicemail, I finally got my service writer on the phone, who seemed very shocked to hear from me. I advised him that the TBE rep had been calling daily since 6/30 and hadn't gotten a call back, to which he advised they hadn't gotten any calls or even heard of that division. I asked for an update on the parts, and was passed off to the service manager. Service manager said he spoke to the TBE rep on 7/2 and "everything is good and taken care of with her". When asked about the parts, he advised that they were backordered. I confirmed if there was an ETA on restock and he said "they're backordered" and refused to elaborate further. I called TBE to follow up later in the afternoon and while my rep was unavailable, another rep jotted the notes down. I also advised that I wanted to see if, since the vehicle had not been disassembled yet and was still in a running state, I could pay to have it towed to another more competent and communicative dealer.

July 4 - This day marked being just as long without my truck as I was with it.

July 5 - Not sure whether that last note to TBE triggered a flag somewhere or pure coincidence, but the dealer pulled the truck into the shop and tore it down (Toyota app lost communication finally).

July 8 - I learned I have two separate TBE cases, one for a "parts concern" and one for a "product concern"; my "parts concern" case is apparently because I have warranty parts on backorder. My ETA for the parts I'm "waiting on" is 7/10-7/25.

July 10 - Got two very cryptic emails letting me know that "all special ordered parts have arrived" for my R.O./Invoice from the dealer the truck is at. My order of operations involved a chat with my TBE "product concern" rep before I called the dealer, who wanted to verify that the "parts concern" rep had advised me correctly, and that they had a solid date of 7/25 for my "backordered parts" to arrive. She also advised me that she has been calling, now almost daily, and has yet to get a call back from the service manager at the dealer. I told her that he told me on 7/3 that he talked to her, she confirmed that in fact he did not. I called the dealer, and somehow on the first ring and first call of the day my service writer answered the phone. He advised that "Toyota engineers" were at the dealer currently working on the truck and were "taking your motor apart piece by piece because it's a guinea pig, to figure out what happened". When I told him about the emails saying "all special ordered parts have arrived" he said "oh, ok", which I thought was a bit of an odd response. He also assured me that while he wasn't sure what the failure point was in the motor, I was getting "a whole new engine, but they had to do it the long way so it's piece by piece, but it's a whole new engine just like the recall trucks". When asked for an ETA of completion he said he had no idea. I said I would check back early next week and he said "yea that sounds good". It's a bit disheartening to have such poor communication from the dealer and a complete lack of proactive communication. I've read more than a handful of other folks who have gone from being towed in to being back on the road in as little as 3-4 days (not to mention watching all the same-day or next day turn arounds of long-block replacements on YouTube), so it's definitely a let down when allegedly "Toyota engineers" are the ones working on my vehicle and there's no ETA. Also an interesting discrepancy between the dealer saying all parts are in and corporate saying it'll be another 15 days for the backordered parts to arrive.

July 12 - The truck turned 4 weeks old today... 18 days of which have been broken.

July 14 - Called to follow up as instructed last week and left my service advisor a voicemail mid-afternoon. Not surprised, but no call back today. I did add in my voicemail that I may stop in tomorrow. The dealer is about 20 minutes from me, but at least I can't easily be ignored if I'm standing there.

 

Reserved for additional updates as needed

 

OMG. Sorry bro. Reading your experience is giving me flashbacks to nearly identical issues with my alfa romeo stelvio several years back.