Yep. Sounds exactly like the excuse I heard.Not sure, let me try just a cut and paste.
Same for me too. What kind of alternate universe are we in where an almost new Toyota can't be counted on to start and the dealer just shrugs and says that is normal?
Again, easy for me to say since I still have my 3rd Gen, but if it were experiencing this, I’d start looking into a lemon law claim. See what you need to document and so forth, state specifics can vary.
I have owned so many Toyotas that I am not very familiar with lemon laws, which I guess needs to change. I know some lemon laws state that the dealer has to correct the problem in three attempts or 30 days out of service. But what happens when the dealer says the truck is actually fine? They can't fail to repair a vehicle which they say is working properly, right? Maybe this falls more under a class action lawsuit? I know there are a fair number of hybrid owners in this same situation and Toyota does not seem to be doing anything about it.
Yes. I have and others have as well.
That is one of the things that is confusing. Why are some trucks fine after sitting for a while when others go dead overnight? I think it is clear that deep discharge batteries are needed in the hybrids, but they come with normal lead acid batteries. Then when they fail Toyota sometimes avoids the warranty claims by denying that there is anything wrong. I charged my 12 volt to 12.85 volts with a charger but after a week of driving it daily the battery settled at its usual 12.2 volts.
From what I understand - again I'm armchair quarterbacking and YMMV - if the dealer claims something is normal, and you've documented repeated attempts to get the dealer to fix the issue, one would get a diagnosis from an independent mechanic documenting the issue as abnormal and the dealers refusing your attempts at resolution. This then would be the basis for the LL claim. Chance of success would vary due to different state laws.
I'm going to push back on the idea that deep cycle batteries are needed on the hybrids, and instead suggest that some portion of the hybrids are failing to keep the 12V battery fully charged. A deep cycle battery would merely mask the underlying faulty charging system.
I agree but a deep cycle battery will probably keep my truck running and I am not ready to move on yet. I don't want to sell my truck until I get past the first couple of year's big depreciation hits. This combined with my truck being in the transmission failure VIN range probably means that I will not keep it in the long run anyway.
Yes, the charging system is obviously not working as it should, but since virtually all dealers tell their customers that the trucks are fine, I think that is Toyota's corporate answer. What the service writer told me was identical to what other dealers have told other customers. They didn't have my truck long enough to diagnose the charging system or the battery, they just trotted out the corporate lie.
