Tacoma Owners Bristle as Toyota Takes Their Trucks

Owners of Toyota Tacoma pickups are increasingly frustrated with the automaker instructing dealers to hold onto their trucks while waiting for parts to make repairs associated with a large recall.

“I’m making payments on a vehicle that I can’t drive,” Darren Owen of Kansas City, Mo., told Trucks.com.

For almost two months, Owen’s 2016 Tacoma Limited has sat at a local dealership awaiting repairs for an April truck recall affecting more than 228,000 2015 and 2016 Tacomas. The automaker needs to repair a possible oil leak in the rear differential, which could cause damage and increase the risk of a crash. TRD Pro, TRD Off-Road and certain 4WD models are not affected.

The dealership’s service department told Owen it might not have the necessary parts until the first quarter of 2018.

“This is extremely inconvenient,” Owen said.

Owen is one of several Tacoma owners frustrated over losing their trucks for an uncertain period of time. For many, it’s already been months. Some say they are seeking legal advice.

“You’re making payments on a Toyota Tacoma, not a rental vehicle,” said Shari King of Visalia, Calif.

Her 2016 Tacoma Limited has been with the dealership since late June and she has received no estimate on when it will be repaired.

“It just made me mad that Toyota did this,” said Tim Turner of Birmingham, Ala.

Turner received the recall notice and shortly after took his 2016 Tacoma SR5 in for an oil change. The service manager noted a leak and said the dealership would have to keep the truck, but could not provide a timeline for repairs. The dealer covered the cost of a rental car, a Chevrolet SUV.

“It’s a nice car but I just need a truck,” Turner said.

Toyota is “working diligently to increase the supply of replacement parts,” said Victor Vanov, spokesman for the automaker.

Vanov said Toyota has already completed repairs on 35 percent of all affected vehicles, but a vast majority of those are retightening of bolts in trucks that did not have significant leakage.

The trucks that have leaks will require new carrier gaskets. Vanov estimates that only 5 percent of all recalled Tacomas will require the new parts.

At the end of March, Toyota also changed the assembly process at its plant “to include a bolt retightening process,” Vanov said, so that new Tacomas will not experience problems.

Toyota is supplying repair parts to dealerships on a first-come, first-served basis according to the order in which dealers request parts, Vanov said. The company is attempting to increase the supply of parts so that when available, they can be delivered quickly.

The Tacoma is an important model for the automaker. Toyota has sold nearly 95,000 units through the first six months of the year, according to industry research firm Autodata Corp. That represents 48 percent of the midsized pickup market.

The recall hasn’t seemed to slow sales. Tacoma sales are down just 0.5 percent compared with the first half of 2016. During the same period, the midsized pickup market has contracted by 5.3 percent.

Owen, who works as a sales manager for a surveillance company, said he needs his truck to haul tools and equipment such as cameras, monitors and laptops. He traded in his 4Runner to buy the Tacoma specifically so he could lock the valuables inside a protected tonneau cover.

“I bought it off the showroom floor because it was exactly what I needed,” Owen said.

After the recall, his dealership supplied a loaner Camry sedan, but when it leaked oil and Owen requested something larger they gave him a RAV4 crossover. That didn’t suffice, either, and Owen is now back in a Camry.

“This is getting a little bit ridiculous,” he said.

Toyota owners can find information about current recalls by entering their VIN number at the automaker’s information site.

Related: Tacoma Truck Owners Frustrated by Delayed Recall Repairs