2003 Toyota Sequoia Limited review from North America

The tailgate handle assembly on my 2003 Sequoia broke in the open position, but the tailgate itself was still locked. I took it into the dealer today, and they knew right away what the likely cause was, and that it would cost $230.00 to fix, due mostly to labor to tear out and reinstall the interior to get at the part.

The Toyota "platinum warranty" I had purchased when I bought the vehicle isn't worth the paper it's written on, and they declined the claim for it, so I called Toyota Motors National. They said they hadn't received any complaints about this problem before, so there's nothing they would do to offset the cost.

I informed the service tech of their response, and he said "that's funny, let's just say we've fixed enough of these that we always keep the parts in stock. The part is plastic and it breaks."

Come on Toyota, man up when you've built an inferior mechanism in your vehicle and numerous owners are bringing them in for repair. We're talking about the handle to open the tailgate. I only open it a couple times every week or two for groceries. Needless to say I'm disappointed in your lack of acknowledgment or assistance.