A/C Noise When Turning On

I hear ya, and would agree if it was every once in a while..My noise is every time I turn the A/C on...It is kind of embarrassing when other people are in the car and to see their reaction; Especially as I was so proud of my new truck.

 

Nothing a little twist if the radio volume knob won’t solve…..

 

And by the way...I do very much appreciate the feedback...It is better to know that I am not the only one who has the issue.

 

Lol!....I will definitely be turning up the AC/DC!...#Dadjoke

 

And for complete and utter claification....When I say it makes the noise everytime I turn the A/C on...It is the first time I turn it on after it has been sitting for a while...After the 1st time turning it on, the noise subsides for the rest of the day.

 

Do you have a link to these poor reviews?

 

Yes...I am not great with social media or links...But amongst everthing I read I will do my best (Obviously not all of it was bad as I would have never bought the truck)...The reviews are also typically done in comparison to all of the trucks in the full size class

Currently, the Toyota Tundra has a score of 6.5 out of 10, which is based on our evaluation of 117 pieces of research and data.



6.5

Overall


SCORECARD
Critics' Rating: 4.8
Performance: 5.9
Interior: 6.4
Safety: 8.3
Reliability:

 

I will find some more

 

The U.S. News one looks like it is from J.D. Power

 

Agreed. It happens at most once per day. Not every time you start it. It only happens when the truck sits overnight. I’m going to start testing it again with the AC turned off when I finally park it for the night. I’m gonna let the truck sit overnight and start it while letting the truck warm up for 5-10 mins then turn the AC on and see if it still does it.

 

Personally I'd just turn on AC before I turn off the vehicle and avoid turning it on if the car has sat for a day or two over night. I just leave it on now to anticipate the next day... right now it's summer so AC is always on, if it was winter you can also turn it on with the heater (Check out Mark Rober on how to defrost your windows quickly)

 

4.5 out of 10 -'Car and Driver'

 

6.7 out of 10 - 'Edmumds': "The Tundra is a capable truck, no doubt, and the TRD lineup offers some cool off-road options to choose from. But overall, we'd recommend taking a closer look at one of the Tundra's more recently redesigned rivals, including the Chevrolet Silverado 1500, Ford F-150 and Ram 1500."...From Edmunds review

 

Again...I am not one sided...Overall, the truck is good...It is the warranty service of an obvious problem that there is an issue with...I bought a brand new (expensive for me) truck from a typically great Toyota brand for a reason...I trusted Toyota as they earned my trust prior to this issue with our great 4 Runner...Toyota has a lot of brand loyalty for a reason...This has just been my experience.

 

These scores... there is a reason why Tundras last long without big issues and has high resale. And every company has issues... I recently heard 2021 Fords have some gear issue that will lock the steering, and Toyotas had exploding air bags and knowingly sold the cars still, all companies kind of do it. Audi's had some issues years back, they go through phases... and lets not kid here, these $1billion dollar fines are chump change for these guys.

 

I don’t put much stock into the car and driver, motor trend or any of those other publications reviews. I know what I like - I like simplicity, affordability and reliability. The tundra offers all three in spades - especially when compared to the others. I updated the aesthetics to my liking and the stereo and was still $10k under what the competitors are charging for similar vehicles that don’t have close to the resale value. It has been said hundreds of times - if yo want the bells and whistles the tundra is not for you. There are plenty of Ford, Ram, Chevy forums to peruse to see their owners having much more involved issues than us……..a “noise” with no functional problems is hardly something to get rid of a truck for and certainly nothing to shun a brand over

 

Does your 4runner do it? I'm trading my tundra in on a new 4runner

 

No, 4 Runner is great!

 

What year is yours

 

2011 4 Runner...Still running like a top (Of course, this is with taking good care of it and doing that thousand dollar 90k mile service)

 

Ya that was the best generation im talking new hope they didn't use same ac unit on the 4 runners now

 

You're basing the overall quality of the Tundra on some reviews and one dealership's response to an issue.
I think you're selling yourself short if you give up on your purchase over this one thing. Its not a widespread issue, onl half of those even in this post have the issue. Take it to another dealership and have it addressed if it bothers you that much.
Otherwise, just leave the AC on when you shut the truck off and you may be OK.

 

I hear ya, but it is not one dealership's response...The dealership was great...They encouraged me to call the number they gave me for Toyota corporate when they advised that they were not approved to try and fix what they thought was wrong...Toyota corporate made the final decision that the noise we all speak of was not worth fixing...Probably to save money on a model that they are tired of dealing with and are redoing next year...I appreciate you and Sean's unwavering loyalty, but not everyone feels the same way as you...It is very apparent through this thread that there is an issue...Noises that are associated with a brand new vehicle may not affect your incredible loyalty...But it is not the same for the majority...To each their own...It was just my experience and many feel the issue should be fixed. It's easy warranty work and why we chose Toyota to begin with.

 

I feel the same way.

 

I'm not being overly loyal to anyone here. I don't have any connection to Toyota and I wasn't involved with the design or production of the truck or any of its components. But I also don't think this issue affects the majority of Tundras, not even close. Its barely even the majority of those posting on this thread. If you didn't get any satisfaction from the dealer or corporate on the problem with your truck then I wouldn't be on here complaining about it and just chalking it up to Tundra's overall poor reliability, I'd be up at the dealership with a Toyota corporate rep and I'd be holding them to the fire until they make it right. Have them start every other Tundra on the lot and show you another truck making the same noise. If they all do it, then maybe they're right, if none or only one other makes the noise, then that certainly doesn't equal a characteristic of the vehicle, and so they owe you some repairs.
Or you can throw in the towel and trade it in on something else that may work better for you. Either way, car companies don't just write off the last generation of vehicles because a new one is coming out. If that were the case then no one would buy anything the last few years of a run if the warranty was no good. There are literally 10s of thousands of Tundras from the last year that don't have this issue, so its not common, and not a characteristic of the truck. Its a problem with a few trucks that absolutely should be fixed under warranty, your's being one of them. All I'm saying is don't be so quick to give up the ship over this issue. If you like the truck otherwise, then keep the press on until they fix it. If you don't get anywhere then trade that sucker in on a 2022 or another brand and call it a day. But, if you're expecting perfection out of anything else you move to then you're probably in for a huge disappointment.

 

My brand new 2021 tundra limited has done this same noise since it left dealership with 7 miles on it!

 

My truck stopped making the noise. It hasn’t happened in a month since we spoke about it last…‍♂️

 

I’ve just been leaving the AC on before I started, then you won’t hear it

 

Down side is that is hard on your starter which is difficult to replace.

 

I continue to leave my AC on when shutting down and I've not had a problem. There's still a definite noise but nothing like the one time I let the vehicle sit for more than a day with the AC off, that had a loud noise that I could only describe as rocks in a garbage disposal.