Heartbreak?

[JTOren]

Thanks for sharing this info and sorry to hear. All manufacturers are having major manufacturing issues now and I definitely think ford is much, much worse in terms of reliability. If they can’t figure it out and it were me, I’d do a buy back and test drive 4Runners, Rivian, Scout, and Honda pilot maybe? I don’t have a good answer there as I really like the LC and nothing else is similar except the 4 runner.

Appreciate it! I feel the same way about the LC. There is nothing quite like it (except maybe the GX550). We did test drive a 4Runner. Ultimately, liked the size and feel of the LC. We’ll see what happens with the fix and go from there.

 

[JTOren]

IMO....... While any brand new vehicle should be good to go from the jump, stuff happens. Weather they fix it, buy it back etc......... and you decide on a different vehicle, you would run the same chance that the new vehicle would also have an issue.

I say go with whatever makes your smile biggest...... LOL

Excellent perspective. And I agree. Nothing is perfect and stuff happens. Feels more painful at the 200-mile mark, but that’s how it goes sometimes. Can’t completely mitigate risk. Right now, any car that works will make me smile!

 

[JTOren]

Is your LC manufactured in Toyota Motor Corporation's Tahara Plant or in Hino Motors' Hamura Plant? It should be on your window sticker. I saw a YouTube clip where an engineer questions QC in Hamura plant.

Good question. I’ll have to look if/when I get the car back. I know it wasn’t Mexico! I believe it was Tahara.

 

[PC3]

Look at your state lemon laws. In many states if the same problem occurs three times and cannot be fixed, it's a "lemon" and they have to buy it back. Seems like you are on time #2. Even the best manufacturers have lemons, so if you can get them to buy it back, or even swap for a brand new car (LC/4Runner/Highlander??), that might be your best bet. Had something similar happen with my 4Runner Off Road, and fortunately the issues happened during COVID so the dealership was more than happy to buy the car back for what I paid +. They didn't give me much guff on the lemon law item. Times are different now. Toyota just lost $1.3 billion in US profits due to tariffs, or so they say, so they may be less willing to play ball. Know your rights.

 

[DuckaDiesel]

I have this issue with one of the doors not sitting flesh, after repeated tries to fix, they got it to about 1.5mm in spec, but I still see it. They shut me up by giving me the 10y/ 100K warranty. But still I am not happy and would sell it. The problem is I don't know what to get. This is the one I wanted but the door just sticks out as a sore thumb and now I am turned off by whole Toyota quality myth(only 2500 miles) . Thinking of GX550 but I just don't like the Lexus name brand. Maybe Bronco

is your door making rattling noise? Mine is and it stops when I pull on it. So annoying.

 

[DuckaDiesel]

They should definitely buy it back. Call Toyota. I am sorry but 200 miles on ODO, it’s too new for you to be dealing with this crap. Or at least they should swap the car for you and let them deal with it.

 

[uraniumrich]

Get a refund and move forward, especially if you have doubts about the platform.

Get another vehicle of your choice that will never have problems.

Easy.

No such thing as a vehicle that will never have problems. Even the highest quality manufacturers will have issues. Statistically it might be 1 in 10,000, but if you're the one with the problem, it doesn't really matter that you bought a statistically highly reliable truck.

 

[JTOren]

Look at your state lemon laws. In many states if the same problem occurs three times and cannot be fixed, it's a "lemon" and they have to buy it back. Seems like you are on time #2. Even the best manufacturers have lemons, so if you can get them to buy it back, or even swap for a brand new car (LC/4Runner/Highlander??), that might be your best bet. Had something similar happen with my 4Runner Off Road, and fortunately the issues happened during COVID so the dealership was more than happy to buy the car back for what I paid +. They didn't give me much guff on the lemon law item. Times are different now. Toyota just lost $1.3 billion in US profits due to tariffs, or so they say, so they may be less willing to play ball. Know your rights.

Yep. I’ve looked into it to know my options. I live in Nashville, TN. Lemon law here is 3 attempts to fix the same problem OR if the vehicle is out of service for 30 days or more. Would agree that the buy back situation is likely the best option if we didn't want to wait it out. The only catch is then we’re back to the allocation game and tracking down another base trim.

 

[JTOren]

No such thing as a vehicle that will never have problems. Even the highest quality manufacturers will have issues. Statistically it might be 1 in 10,000, but if you're the one with the problem, it doesn't really matter that you bought a statistically highly reliable truck.

Truth. And problems are part of life. We’ll see how things play out and hope Toyota makes it right one way of another. Appreciate the wise insight.

 

[JTOren]

They should definitely buy it back. Call Toyota. I am sorry but 200 miles on ODO, it’s too new for you to be dealing with this crap. Or at least they should swap the car for you and let them deal with it.

Yep! I’m going to see how it plays put for the next week or two and go from there.

 

[PDPete]

Is your LC manufactured in Toyota Motor Corporation's Tahara Plant or in Hino Motors' Hamura Plant? It should be on your window sticker. I saw a YouTube clip where an engineer questions QC in Hamura plant.

It seems most of the 1958s are built in Hamura, while most of the base LC trim are built in Tahara...but that's just based on evidence I've seen from folks in this and other forums.

I have a 1958 that was built in Hamura, and have had zero issues with mine thus far (~7000 miles)...I'm not sure how much importance one needs to lend to the final assembly plant, though the Tahara plant is obviously the most well-known for quality in the Toyota world...but I'll still take a Japanese built LC from Hamura over a lot of other options

 

[JTOren]

It seems most of the 1958s are built in Hamura, while most of the base LC trim are built in Tahara...but that's just based on evidence I've seen from folks in this and other forums.

I have a 1958 that was built in Hamura, and have had zero issues with mine thus far (~7000 miles)...I'm not sure how much importance one needs to lend to the final assembly plant, though the Tahara plant is obviously the most well-known for quality in the Toyota world...but I'll still take a Japanese built LC from Hamura over a lot of other options

Good to know! And I’m with you on Japanese built.

 

[katekebo]

Hamura has a long history of building vehicles with Toyota badge (in addition to Hino trucks). The FJ Cruiser was built there. They also build Toyota "professional" vehicles such as ambulances and small off-road fire trucks intended to fight forest fires. They use the same parts from the same suppliers as Toyota factories. Hamura does not have experience with building luxury vehicles (Lexus) so things like paint appearance doesn't match Tahara (which predominantly builds Lexus) but Tahara paint is usually thicker (as you would expect on vehicles used for rough, professional service). Bottom line, when it comes to mechanical and electrical quality there should be no difference between Tahara and Hamura, but Tahara-built vehicles may look nicer (paint, door gaps).
Now, going to the specific issue with the vehicle. It's a relatively new model so the dealer doesn't have much experience either it. Unlike with old models, where problems become routine and 90% of the time the mechanic can quickly identify the cause because they have delt with the same issue in the past, with the LC every problem is a new experience. So it may take them longer and more than one attempt to find the root cause. Eventually they will fix it. But if it takes multiple dealer visits to get to the bottom of it, or the wait time is long (more than a couple of weeks), most likely Toyota will be willing to buy back the vehicle or replace it. The reason is that they want to keep the reputation of the LC high, and they may be interested in shipping the vehicle back to one of their facilities to assess in depth what happened and make sure that it won't become a recurrent problem (Kaizen).

BTW, let me introduce you to Otomo San, Hamura plant manager.

 

[supernova]

is your door making rattling noise? Mine is and it stops when I pull on it. So annoying.

No rattling noise for me, and mine was built in Humara Plant. Noone probably will ever notice the door imperfection but me since I have seen it once and cannot un see it . It is just a a shame that you trust Toyota brand and buy a 70K vehicle and then they leave imperfections like this

 

[DoMoCruiser24]

No such thing as a vehicle that will never have problems. Even the highest quality manufacturers will have issues. Statistically it might be 1 in 10,000, but if you're the one with the problem, it doesn't really matter that you bought a statistically highly reliable truck.

You don’t say…

 

[JTOren]

Hamura has a long history of building vehicles with Toyota badge (in addition to Hino trucks). The FJ Cruiser was built there. They also build Toyota "professional" vehicles such as ambulances and small off-road fire trucks intended to fight forest fires. They use the same parts from the same suppliers as Toyota factories. Hamura does not have experience with building luxury vehicles (Lexus) so things like paint appearance doesn't match Tahara (which predominantly builds Lexus) but Tahara paint is usually thicker (as you would expect on vehicles used for rough, professional service). Bottom line, when it comes to mechanical and electrical quality there should be no difference between Tahara and Hamura, but Tahara-built vehicles may look nicer (paint, door gaps).
Now, going to the specific issue with the vehicle. It's a relatively new model so the dealer doesn't have much experience either it. Unlike with old models, where problems become routine and 90% of the time the mechanic can quickly identify the cause because they have delt with the same issue in the past, with the LC every problem is a new experience. So it may take them longer and more than one attempt to find the root cause. Eventually they will fix it. But if it takes multiple dealer visits to get to the bottom of it, or the wait time is long (more than a couple of weeks), most likely Toyota will be willing to buy back the vehicle or replace it. The reason is that they want to keep the reputation of the LC high, and they may be interested in shipping the vehicle back to one of their facilities to assess in depth what happened and make sure that it won't become a recurrent problem (Kaizen).

BTW, let me introduce you to Otomo San, Hamura plant manager.

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Appreciate your insight. Seems like a very rational approach. Thank you. And these pics are amazing! Thanks for sharing!