6 times to fix rear end leak.
Speed sensor gave out at 120,000kms.
Seats have worn very badly.
Ticking in engine told to be valves at 125,000kms.
Rack and pinion slop at 127000kms.
Paint on fenders and rocker panels gone at 70,000kms.
On 6 different occasions the rear end had to be rebuilt. The side axle seals were leaking which caused gear oil to leak over the rear drum brakes. This caused the brakes not to work and stained my front driveway. Toyota did not know how to fix the problem so I took it upon myself to fix it. The problem with the rear end was a spacer needed to be inserted into the axle. Toyota didn't know about this so I made one on my lathe. The axle hasn't leaked since.
At 120,000km the speed sensor gave out. This was a $400.00 part.
There was a ticking coming from the engine at approximately 125000 km. We put the truck in the shop and were told that a valve adjustment was needed. This was impossible because the valves were not adjustable, but they could be shimmed. The price for the shim kit was $13 per shim and there were 20 shims per valve and 32 valves per engine... Do the math and you can tell it's more than the truck is worth.
While having a tire change over in the fall a service technician checked the rack and pinion. He was quick to say the steering was sloppy and worn out.
Since the purchase of this truck the paint has been terrible. Even after being waxed on several occasions the paint has flaked off. Toyota has replaced the paint bumper to bumper. But before they did the truck looked 20 years old. People looking at the truck would never tell that it was a 2000 model.
The leather seats in the truck have worn very badly. There are cracks in the drivers seat and the rear bench seat is a different color than the front buckets.
Overall I would not recommend this truck to anyone. I think it's a total piece of junk. There are more body squeaks than a old Jeep.
I simply can't understand why Toyota has the reputation it does. Everyone I know who has had one has experienced all sorts of niggling problems such as you mention. None of them has been the "Solid, Reliable" car Toyota's are supposed to be. But then again I suppose people buy into the reputation and uphold it whatever the reality. The problem with any car (and any board such as this) is that unwillingness to admit you bought a car that sucks trumps honesty in most cases.
I had a 2001 tundra with a bad knock in the engine when it was cold. I was told it was piston slap and normal. I sent my engine oil to a lab to be tested. It came back with a high level of gas in the oil. Finally I got a new truck after paying 1000.00 more. I hate to say it, but these trucks are made in the USA now. I believe that is the reason for the lack of quality.Sorry.
There is no way that a valve adjustment on any car can cost over $8000, as your comment would suggest. My valve adjustment, including shims, came out to about $750 or $800 on the same vehicle; still a lot of money, but one has to protect such a large investment the right way or else suffer the consequences later. I think you must have misunderstood something there.
It always comes back to blaming America, doesn't it? You would think that our own citizens would be willing to stand up for our country, but apparently not. We instead get ex-patriotic, intellectually void, comments like the second one here. I guess I can see now, how we get the reputation for supposedly being lazy. Maybe we are just plain tired of defending our freedom (although I do not see much effort from many of our citizens as of late), or maybe we just plain take it for granted. If our own citizens have that little enthusiasm for defending our country, I do not have high hopes for the future. I do not begrudge the Japanese for their patriotism. Perhaps you might learn that lesson from them.
To the "patriot" in the comment above. You are off base. It is true that american manufactures fare less than average; hence, the reputation. Especially of american cars, ie. they earned their reputations. As an american, we should demand better domestic products, it's not anti-american.
I bet you're a flag waving psyco from a red state. Go bushkee.
I had a built-in-America Nissan that was very out of character for a Nissan in terms of reliability. I think it is a matter of the parts suppliers that spring up around the manufacturing plants. I'm glad I came across these reviews as I will stick to a truck that is made in Japan.
Patriotism be damned when it comes to my hard-earned dollars. I don't get my butt out of bed each day to go to work to blow my money on a vehicle that is going to frustrate the hell out of me.
I know from experience that the Japanese vehicles are superior to others in terms of build quality, reliability and longevity.
Jeff "by-God" Chamberlain.
"Patriotism be damned when it comes to my hard-earned dollars."
Absolutely! I buy what I think will hold up. If American car companies want me to buy American, they should build products worth buying.
I had an older (87) Toyota, and it died at 140,000 miles, and it was properly maintained :- (
"Maybe we are just plain tired of defending our freedom"
Yes and you are best at waving the freedom flag. What did you do today to defend your freedom? What does "freedom" have to do with car manufacturing anyway? Patriotism does not equate defending your countrymen blindly when they should be held accountable. It's time Detroit takes some responsibility and stop blaming other brands.
Go for it if you want to buy domestic and good luck to you. But DO NOT tell others they are unpatriotic if they buy foreign. Have you checked around your house lately and seen how many products are made overseas? Oh wait, you live in a Cave, my bad.
The rear end on this guy's truck was redone 6 times! I would call that a bad design, not the result of a lazy American on the assembly line. I find it sad that when someone finds out the premium price they paid for Toyota 'quality' was money stuffed down a rat hole, they immediately blame an American auto worker.
I would expect a better quality control investment by the manufacturer in question to address these concerns. Also the manufacturer pays and invests in retooling, robotics and the quality control aspect. If there is an increase in production perhaps many of the QC elements in place are not sufficient. The manufacturer invests in tooling, training or do they not keep pace with increased production and ship profits back overseas.
I have had many imports... the lower production at the time seems to be that there was not a rush to get products out the door. The 36,000 mile warranty offered by some imports is pretty telling as well. All mfrs. should have the same warranty if I am buying; I want 100,000 mile warranties. I am tired of having zero leg to stand on when a low mileage vehicle fails on me. Even with scheduled maintenance done. I have always had dealer maintenance performed during any warranty period. All issues seem to always show up on Carfax...the car dealers love showing this to you at trade in time. Everyone knows all the mechanical issues for those that report into Carfax.
If your vehicle has had engine replacements or trans replacements, it did not help my resale.
I agree, it's best to not rush out blindly and buy an import anymore. Test drive both, cover the nameplate and buy features, benefits and a lengthy standard warranty.
I was sorely disappointed buying import only lately... I examine all and track repairs. The next vehicle is based on my last purchases that performed, not what happened several cars back.
I buy every few years and my Japanese import only was not working.
After three Japanese imports that "didn't work", my family is firmly (and permanently) back in the domestic camp.
Something I don't understand about this review:
I owned a 2000 Tundra as well. My dad has a 2001. Neither one of us had ANY of the problems he did. Yet all of the problems he mentioned would appear to be engineered in and some should appear on most of the Tundras that rolled off the line. Neither of ours leaked a drop of oil from the axles (it would seem that they should have if there was a missing spacer). The paint seemed to chip fairly easily but it didn't peel off. I also owned mine until it had 109,000 miles on the odometer and the engine was still running smoothly. There was no slop in the steering. I did have a water pump go out and the dome light broke. It was never in for warranty service because the water pump failed (was starting to fail) at 90,000 miles. My dad's has never been in for any kind of service. It has 90,000 miles on it.
I'm not trying to say that these things didn't happen to this guy... just saying that it's surprising that at least ONE of the mentioned problems didn't crop up on mine. It's also strange that the main KNOWN problems didn't happen for him. The biggest problem with these is the front brake rotors. Yet they aren't mentioned as problematic. My Tundra had a little shudder in the brakes that wasn't bad enough to fix before I sold it. My dad's hasn't had this problem.
Well, 90,000 miles and 109,000 miles is not really that many, anymore. My 2002 Ford has 105,000 and still runs and drives like new, with no repairs ever. Sometimes vehicles are made with a certain lot-number of parts, and that can be why some of the same model have different problems if that run of parts was outside tolerance. Whereas the warped rotors would be a design problem from the engineers using a rotor too thin and small to stop the vehicle.