I made a mistake ...

[RideWithYanu]

I also urge you all to keep your trans temp on your dash if you are driving slowly up hills. It is a real issue with the hybrid iForce.

Odd, the only time I got a transmission temp warning was when I was driving up some windy and steep dirt roads in a very spirited manner. The transmission was constantly gear-hunting up and down until I got the temp alert. Switched to manual mode so it didn’t gear hunt and it’s never happened again.

That really sucks you’re having that issue - “just drive in 4Lo” sounds like something someone needing a lobotomy would say.

Toyota like all other automotive companies is after one thing: profit. Unfortunately the enshitification of the world means that comes before anything else.

 

[rysn]

Curious on the definition of "slowly up a hill". Is this 5mph up a trail? 20mph on a steep gravel road? 50mph up a winding, hilly highway?

And what is the duration? 1 minute? 15 minutes? Thanks.

Just really curious as to the situation causing the overheating but "slowly up a hill" is too vague. Thank you!

Well 50 I would say is slow in a McLaren but a Prado I would say that is moderate

Ah man, I need to commit this to a doc so I can copy pasta with the amount of people I have explained this to haha.

This will probably still be vague but better than nothing. (in this context 50%=trans operating temp 100%=redline)

Road speed on roads, it is more-or-less ok. If it is something around a ~15-20º grade on road and it is stop go/creeping traffic it will overheat within minutes if not less than a minute. I can watch it go from 50% to 75% within 10 yards or so— if traffic keeps on at that rate I have no choice but to pull over and let the trans cooldown. I guess I could go with Toyota's rec. & throw it in 4L in town.

Once temp is in the trans I have noticed that even when I am moving at road speed again, if that speed is less than ~30mph I can still watch the trans temp climb. Example, I nearly overheated 100% in Aug. driving up to Alta in Little Cottonwood Canyon, SLC). If anyone has been there/lives there you will know that the road in front of the Alta lodge is basically flat, but the temp was still increasing. What set the stage for the trans getting hot in LCC was construction around White Pine where they had to drop the 2-way road to 1-line with port-a-lights. There we were between 3-10mph as we crept forward.

I also went with the dealer foreman and drove around the avenues in DT SLC showing him how easy it was to put temp into the trans. That is when they advised driving in manual & 4L off road as much as possible.

Off road, pretty much as soon as I start going around 15 mph on grades ~5º+(?). Any terrain that I would typically use 4H for will overheat the transmission— so I do not really have much use for 4H simply because any situation that calls for it will overheat my trans. Below is the only way I have been able to keep the temp down while in 4H.

As for the 'spit' Toyota is having me rub on this wound (I wouldn't even call it dirt and definitely not a bandaid), driving in manual does help, but does not stop the temp increase—it will help you though so do it! 4L will also help, but only to an extent. It just prolongs the temp increase out to ~1-2 hours before you will start to see the temp increase.

Off-road example, for the OP and anyone in AZ, I had to bail off the Tele track at Bartlett Lake due to the trans temp & time. From the start to Devils Hole in 4L (whole time) we had to stop to let the Prado cool down, we still had about 1/3 to go and decided we did not have time to stop a couple more times to let the trans cool off.

We decided to let 'er chill for a bit & then rip up the wash, which the wash is not steep at all, I am unsure of the wash's grade— guessing, I would say flat to less than 5º for like 97%. The terrain did not call for 4L and honestly, we did not want to drive that far on flat ground at 10mph—instead, to keep the trans temp down in 4H I had to go 30 mph through the wash, otherwise the trans started overheating. Temp stayed at about 75% for most of the drive out, but was increasing rapidly under 20mph.

These are only a couple examples, but I have redlined the trans temp a few times & run at like 80-90% often under an immense amount of stress & worry. Driving to and from AZ from SLC had me stress sweating the whole time waiting for the trans to give out. That drive made 1st & reverse incredibly harsh, someone looked at me with much confusion from the thud when I reversed into the gas stall.

Also, corporate and the dealer are aware of all of this & they know that I am worried about my safety and the safety of everyone around me. From the outside looking in, it makes me think that Toyota largely do not give a shit.

(This commentary is solely my personal viewpoint and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Toyota. Any experiences shared are based on my own observations, research, communications & general ownership experience. this commentary should not be taken as official Toyota statements.)

 

[RideWithYanu]

Well 50 I would say is slow in a McLaren but a Prado I would say that is moderate

Ah man, I need to commit this to a doc so I can copy pasta with the amount of people I have explained this to haha.

This will probably still be vague but better than nothing. (in this context 50%=trans operating temp 100%=redline)

Road speed on roads, it is more-or-less ok. If it is something around a ~15-20º grade on road and it is stop go/creeping traffic it will overheat within minutes if not less than a minute. I can watch it go from 50% to 75% within 10 yards or so— if traffic keeps on at that rate I have no choice but to pull over and let the trans cooldown. I guess I could go with Toyota's rec. & throw it in 4L in town.

Once temp is in the trans I have noticed that even when I am moving at road speed again, if that speed is less than ~30mph I can still watch the trans temp climb. Example, I nearly overheated 100% in Aug. driving up to Alta in Little Cottonwood Canyon, SLC). If anyone has been there/lives there you will know that the road in front of the Alta lodge is basically flat, but the temp was still increasing. What set the stage for the trans getting hot in LCC was construction around White Pine where they had to drop the 2-way road to 1-line with port-a-lights. There we were between 3-10mph as we crept forward.

I also went with the dealer foreman and drove around the avenues in DT SLC showing him how easy it was to put temp into the trans. That is when they advised driving in manual & 4L off road as much as possible.

Off road, pretty much as soon as I start going around 15 mph on grades ~5º+(?). Any terrain that I would typically use 4H for will overheat the transmission— so I do not really have much use for 4H simply because any situation that calls for it will overheat my trans. Below is the only way I have been able to keep the temp down while in 4H.

As for the 'spit' Toyota is having me rub on this wound (I wouldn't even call it dirt and definitely not a bandaid), driving in manual does help, but does not stop the temp increase—it will help you though so do it! 4L will also help, but only to an extent. It just prolongs the temp increase out to ~1-2 hours before you will start to see the temp increase.

Off-road example, for the OP and anyone in AZ, I had to bail off the Tele track at Bartlett Lake due to the trans temp & time. From the start to Devils Hole in 4L (whole time) we had to stop to let the Prado cool down, we still had about 1/3 to go and decided we did not have time to stop a couple more times to let the trans cool off.

We decided to let 'er chill for a bit & then rip up the wash, which the wash is not steep at all, I am unsure of the wash's grade— guessing, I would say flat to less than 5º for like 97%. The terrain did not call for 4L and honestly, we did not want to drive that far on flat ground at 10mph—instead, to keep the trans temp down in 4H I had to go 30 mph through the wash, otherwise the trans started overheating. Temp stayed at about 75% for most of the drive out, but was increasing rapidly under 20mph.

These are only a couple examples, but I have redlined the trans temp a few times & run at like 80-90% often under an immense amount of stress & worry. Driving to and from AZ from SLC had me stress sweating the whole time waiting for the trans to give out. That drive made 1st & reverse incredibly harsh, someone looked at me with much confusion from the thud when I reversed into the gas stall.

Also, corporate and the dealer are aware of all of this & they know that I am worried about my safety and the safety of everyone around me. From the outside looking in, it makes me think that Toyota largely do not give a shit.

(This commentary is solely my personal viewpoint and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Toyota. Any experiences shared are based on my own observations, research, communications & general ownership experience. this commentary should not be taken as official Toyota statements.)

Yeah that’s highly irregular. I’d be livid.

When you say Toyota corporate “is aware of this,” what is their response? Are they suggesting this is within expected performance range?

 

[Chadx]

Well 50 I would say is slow in a McLaren but a Prado I would say that is moderate

Ah man, I need to commit this to a doc so I can copy pasta with the amount of people I have explained this to haha.

This will probably still be vague but better than nothing. (in this context 50%=trans operating temp 100%=redline)

Road speed on roads, it is more-or-less ok. If it is something around a ~15-20º grade on road and it is stop go/creeping traffic it will overheat within minutes if not less than a minute. I can watch it go from 50% to 75% within 10 yards or so— if traffic keeps on at that rate I have no choice but to pull over and let the trans cooldown. I guess I could go with Toyota's rec. & throw it in 4L in town.

Once temp is in the trans I have noticed that even when I am moving at road speed again, if that speed is less than ~30mph I can still watch the trans temp climb. Example, I nearly overheated 100% in Aug. driving up to Alta in Little Cottonwood Canyon, SLC). If anyone has been there/lives there you will know that the road in front of the Alta lodge is basically flat, but the temp was still increasing. What set the stage for the trans getting hot in LCC was construction around White Pine where they had to drop the 2-way road to 1-line with port-a-lights. There we were between 3-10mph as we crept forward.

I also went with the dealer foreman and drove around the avenues in DT SLC showing him how easy it was to put temp into the trans. That is when they advised driving in manual & 4L off road as much as possible.

Off road, pretty much as soon as I start going around 15 mph on grades ~5º+(?). Any terrain that I would typically use 4H for will overheat the transmission— so I do not really have much use for 4H simply because any situation that calls for it will overheat my trans. Below is the only way I have been able to keep the temp down while in 4H.

As for the 'spit' Toyota is having me rub on this wound (I wouldn't even call it dirt and definitely not a bandaid), driving in manual does help, but does not stop the temp increase—it will help you though so do it! 4L will also help, but only to an extent. It just prolongs the temp increase out to ~1-2 hours before you will start to see the temp increase.

Off-road example, for the OP and anyone in AZ, I had to bail off the Tele track at Bartlett Lake due to the trans temp & time. From the start to Devils Hole in 4L (whole time) we had to stop to let the Prado cool down, we still had about 1/3 to go and decided we did not have time to stop a couple more times to let the trans cool off.

We decided to let 'er chill for a bit & then rip up the wash, which the wash is not steep at all, I am unsure of the wash's grade— guessing, I would say flat to less than 5º for like 97%. The terrain did not call for 4L and honestly, we did not want to drive that far on flat ground at 10mph—instead, to keep the trans temp down in 4H I had to go 30 mph through the wash, otherwise the trans started overheating. Temp stayed at about 75% for most of the drive out, but was increasing rapidly under 20mph.

These are only a couple examples, but I have redlined the trans temp a few times & run at like 80-90% often under an immense amount of stress & worry. Driving to and from AZ from SLC had me stress sweating the whole time waiting for the trans to give out. That drive made 1st & reverse incredibly harsh, someone looked at me with much confusion from the thud when I reversed into the gas stall.

Also, corporate and the dealer are aware of all of this & they know that I am worried about my safety and the safety of everyone around me. From the outside looking in, it makes me think that Toyota largely do not give a shit.

(This commentary is solely my personal viewpoint and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Toyota. Any experiences shared are based on my own observations, research, communications & general ownership experience. this commentary should not be taken as official Toyota statements.)

Thanks for the details. I'd be interesting to hear if anyone else is having the same high temps in similar driving situations to better understand if it is isolated to your rig or a potential issue with all similar LC. All those scenarios we often drive in my wife's 2020 4runner. Our typical mountain, forest-service roads are rough, steep and slow going.
This (and some other findings) are giving us pause on an LC purchase.

 

[TakaraLC]

Well 50 I would say is slow in a McLaren but a Prado I would say that is moderate

Ah man, I need to commit this to a doc so I can copy pasta with the amount of people I have explained this to haha.

This will probably still be vague but better than nothing. (in this context 50%=trans operating temp 100%=redline)

Road speed on roads, it is more-or-less ok. If it is something around a ~15-20º grade on road and it is stop go/creeping traffic it will overheat within minutes if not less than a minute. I can watch it go from 50% to 75% within 10 yards or so— if traffic keeps on at that rate I have no choice but to pull over and let the trans cooldown. I guess I could go with Toyota's rec. & throw it in 4L in town.

Once temp is in the trans I have noticed that even when I am moving at road speed again, if that speed is less than ~30mph I can still watch the trans temp climb. Example, I nearly overheated 100% in Aug. driving up to Alta in Little Cottonwood Canyon, SLC). If anyone has been there/lives there you will know that the road in front of the Alta lodge is basically flat, but the temp was still increasing. What set the stage for the trans getting hot in LCC was construction around White Pine where they had to drop the 2-way road to 1-line with port-a-lights. There we were between 3-10mph as we crept forward.

I also went with the dealer foreman and drove around the avenues in DT SLC showing him how easy it was to put temp into the trans. That is when they advised driving in manual & 4L off road as much as possible.

Off road, pretty much as soon as I start going around 15 mph on grades ~5º+(?). Any terrain that I would typically use 4H for will overheat the transmission— so I do not really have much use for 4H simply because any situation that calls for it will overheat my trans. Below is the only way I have been able to keep the temp down while in 4H.

As for the 'spit' Toyota is having me rub on this wound (I wouldn't even call it dirt and definitely not a bandaid), driving in manual does help, but does not stop the temp increase—it will help you though so do it! 4L will also help, but only to an extent. It just prolongs the temp increase out to ~1-2 hours before you will start to see the temp increase.

Off-road example, for the OP and anyone in AZ, I had to bail off the Tele track at Bartlett Lake due to the trans temp & time. From the start to Devils Hole in 4L (whole time) we had to stop to let the Prado cool down, we still had about 1/3 to go and decided we did not have time to stop a couple more times to let the trans cool off.

We decided to let 'er chill for a bit & then rip up the wash, which the wash is not steep at all, I am unsure of the wash's grade— guessing, I would say flat to less than 5º for like 97%. The terrain did not call for 4L and honestly, we did not want to drive that far on flat ground at 10mph—instead, to keep the trans temp down in 4H I had to go 30 mph through the wash, otherwise the trans started overheating. Temp stayed at about 75% for most of the drive out, but was increasing rapidly under 20mph.

These are only a couple examples, but I have redlined the trans temp a few times & run at like 80-90% often under an immense amount of stress & worry. Driving to and from AZ from SLC had me stress sweating the whole time waiting for the trans to give out. That drive made 1st & reverse incredibly harsh, someone looked at me with much confusion from the thud when I reversed into the gas stall.

Also, corporate and the dealer are aware of all of this & they know that I am worried about my safety and the safety of everyone around me. From the outside looking in, it makes me think that Toyota largely do not give a shit.

(This commentary is solely my personal viewpoint and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Toyota. Any experiences shared are based on my own observations, research, communications & general ownership experience. this commentary should not be taken as official Toyota statements.)

There is something wrong with your transmission. I got stuck in stop and go traffic for hours in dead of summer multiple times and transmission temperature didn’t budge, let alone overheat.

 

[rysn]

Yeah that’s highly irregular. I’d be livid.

When you say Toyota corporate “is aware of this,” what is their response? Are they suggesting this is within expected performance range?

lol yes, actually. Both the dealer & corporate continuously try to tell me this is normal. They also continuously go with this is a weird one & we've never heard of this before.

There is something wrong with your transmission. I got stuck in stop and go traffic for hours in dead of summer multiple times and transmission temperature didn’t budge, let alone overheat.

Yea, thats what I keep suggesting to the dealer, but there is not a code, so they will not touch it. I had to twist their arm just to do an ATF exchange.

 

[SJR]

Well 50 I would say is slow in a McLaren but a Prado I would say that is moderate

Ah man, I need to commit this to a doc so I can copy pasta with the amount of people I have explained this to haha.

This will probably still be vague but better than nothing. (in this context 50%=trans operating temp 100%=redline)

Road speed on roads, it is more-or-less ok. If it is something around a ~15-20º grade on road and it is stop go/creeping traffic it will overheat within minutes if not less than a minute. I can watch it go from 50% to 75% within 10 yards or so— if traffic keeps on at that rate I have no choice but to pull over and let the trans cooldown. I guess I could go with Toyota's rec. & throw it in 4L in town.

Once temp is in the trans I have noticed that even when I am moving at road speed again, if that speed is less than ~30mph I can still watch the trans temp climb. Example, I nearly overheated 100% in Aug. driving up to Alta in Little Cottonwood Canyon, SLC). If anyone has been there/lives there you will know that the road in front of the Alta lodge is basically flat, but the temp was still increasing. What set the stage for the trans getting hot in LCC was construction around White Pine where they had to drop the 2-way road to 1-line with port-a-lights. There we were between 3-10mph as we crept forward.

I also went with the dealer foreman and drove around the avenues in DT SLC showing him how easy it was to put temp into the trans. That is when they advised driving in manual & 4L off road as much as possible.

Off road, pretty much as soon as I start going around 15 mph on grades ~5º+(?). Any terrain that I would typically use 4H for will overheat the transmission— so I do not really have much use for 4H simply because any situation that calls for it will overheat my trans. Below is the only way I have been able to keep the temp down while in 4H.

As for the 'spit' Toyota is having me rub on this wound (I wouldn't even call it dirt and definitely not a bandaid), driving in manual does help, but does not stop the temp increase—it will help you though so do it! 4L will also help, but only to an extent. It just prolongs the temp increase out to ~1-2 hours before you will start to see the temp increase.

Off-road example, for the OP and anyone in AZ, I had to bail off the Tele track at Bartlett Lake due to the trans temp & time. From the start to Devils Hole in 4L (whole time) we had to stop to let the Prado cool down, we still had about 1/3 to go and decided we did not have time to stop a couple more times to let the trans cool off.

We decided to let 'er chill for a bit & then rip up the wash, which the wash is not steep at all, I am unsure of the wash's grade— guessing, I would say flat to less than 5º for like 97%. The terrain did not call for 4L and honestly, we did not want to drive that far on flat ground at 10mph—instead, to keep the trans temp down in 4H I had to go 30 mph through the wash, otherwise the trans started overheating. Temp stayed at about 75% for most of the drive out, but was increasing rapidly under 20mph.

These are only a couple examples, but I have redlined the trans temp a few times & run at like 80-90% often under an immense amount of stress & worry. Driving to and from AZ from SLC had me stress sweating the whole time waiting for the trans to give out. That drive made 1st & reverse incredibly harsh, someone looked at me with much confusion from the thud when I reversed into the gas stall.

Also, corporate and the dealer are aware of all of this & they know that I am worried about my safety and the safety of everyone around me. From the outside looking in, it makes me think that Toyota largely do not give a shit.

(This commentary is solely my personal viewpoint and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Toyota. Any experiences shared are based on my own observations, research, communications & general ownership experience. this commentary should not be taken as official Toyota statements.)

Show pics of transmission temps

 

[SJR]

We have two LC's stop and go driving in 100 deg Texas heat with no issues. Also towing boat in Texas heat.

 

[RideWithYanu]

lol yes, actually. Both the dealer & corporate continuously try to tell me this is normal. They also continuously go with this is a weird one & we've never heard of this before.


Yea, thats what I keep suggesting to the dealer, but there is not a code, so they will not touch it. I had to twist their arm just to do an ATF exchange.

Yeah dude that’s nonsense. Something is highly defective. I’m driving in the exact manner you describe (long, steep, windy dirt roads at slow speeds) 3-7 times a week - never experienced this.

I’d stop posting about it here (to protect your potential suit) and get a lawyer.

 

[TakaraLC]

lol yes, actually. Both the dealer & corporate continuously try to tell me this is normal. They also continuously go with this is a weird one & we've never heard of this before.


Yea, thats what I keep suggesting to the dealer, but there is not a code, so they will not touch it. I had to twist their arm just to do an ATF exchange.

Ask a tech to ride with you and drive “stop and go” in their parking lot until it overheats. If they still say it is normal, ask them to get another LC of the lot overheat doing the same thing.

 

[RideWithYanu]

Ask a tech to ride with you and drive “stop and go” in their parking lot until it overheats. If they still say it is normal, ask them to get another LC of the lot overheat doing the same thing.

Agree - though going to a different service center entirely would be my first choice if possible.

Either that or park your Land Cruiser outside the dealership with a big sign that says “this vehicle is designed to fail.”

 

[sweet5ltr]

To blow both front shocks, something I've yet to hear of anywhere, yeah, you ran it hard. Buy a Bronco Raptor if that's your intention off-road.

I've got a few hundred miles of OnX trails and technical tracks done, zero issues, we love it. Also, the LC 250 enjoys being in low-range while off road, a lot of people are driving around in 4H while running technical tracks or up steep inclines, which contributes to a lot of related 'overheating' issues with the transmission. Zero issues here, multiple trips to Moab and across the PNW.

Again, these same people will often leave it in (D), not understanding the PCM/TCM will continue to try and find the most optimal gear (hunting continuously), until the fluid starts to superheat and the driver finally notices when its pegged on the gauge.

Most of these issues are solved by running it in manual mode and holding a gear (which IIRC is stated in the manual). Off road, 2nd gear, 4-low, and go. That will solve most problems under 15-mph. Difficult concept, I know. Leaving it in 4H and (D) is not the thing to do while rock crawling or climbing up a 15° vertical slope on the side of a mountain.

Once you cook the trans fluid it will never be the same. Toyota doesn't make any of this clear and assumes people are knowledgeable enough to do the above, which they aren't (and Toyota should assume this and build a large enough transmission cooler to compensate, but they don't).

So what you went through was rare. I'd get my money and move on, maybe look onto the legacy 200-series.

 

[rysn]

We have two LC's stop and go driving in 100 deg Texas heat with no issues. Also towing boat in Texas heat.

sounds pretty flat, do you live in a flat earth area? lol. You probably won't have any issues on flat ground tbh.

 

[rysn]

Ask a tech to ride with you and drive “stop and go” in their parking lot until it overheats. If they still say it is normal, ask them to get another LC of the lot overheat doing the same thing.

Already rode with the foreman and he watched the temp increase to about ~75%. They are aware.

 

[rysn]

Show pics of transmission temps

Sure, I went for a drive yesterday looking for houses around Capital Hill & the Avenues around downtown SLC. This is what my trans looked like by the time I left.

 

[Nuke]

I had all these problems myself. Sadly with a few toyotas, and broncos, and jeeps....Must be all these new electric, software "upgrades", cheap product material...etc. But just have Trouble with the cars, trouble with the dealerships, trouble with the manufacturers..... no responses. Then finally had it and got hold of an amazing lemon lawyer who took care of EVERYTHING. Got the car buyback, the insurance payments refunded, the registration refunded, and then they were able to get me a nice settlement for the headache the manufacturer put me through. made it so easy. In CA btw, so i know every state different, but id never go through a buyback with the manufacturer, its just a headache. and the extra money for the difficulties i went through they got me was nice!!

And surely the lawyer was also compensated generously. The manufacturers play the odds, i.e. only a small percentage of owners will jump thru the hoops to finally hire a lawyer. Sad.

 

[Skidaddl]

Hello. First post, long time lurker.

I want to share my experience with my 2025 LC 1958. I don't know if my experience is a unique case, because most people on this forums seems happy with their Land Cruisers. Bottom line for me is that buying the LC turned out to be huge mistake.

Few words of background. I like off-roading. I have owned several off-road vehicles during my life. A couple of Wranglers, a Cherokee, and the last a 2022 Ford Bronco before getting the LC. All served me well and I never regretted buying them. Except for the LC.

The Bronco was an amazing off-road vehicle. Nimble on- and off-road. Fantastic off-road capability thanks to great ground clearance and short overhangs. A few typical Ford glitches, all fixed under warranty, and never left me stranded. The only complaint I have was highway noise. I wanted something more suitable for long road trips without losing off-road character and capability. I also trusted Toyota supposed reliability (I had a 2005 Camry once). So in March 2025 I decided to trade the Bronco for a 2025 LC 1958. Although the LC lacked Bronco's agility, I was happy with the LC. For a whole two months.

In May I took the LC for its first serious off-road ride. I figured that at 2000 miles it was already broken in and ready for it. I swapped the original tires for BFG All Terrain T/A and drove it for about 20 miles on a familiar trail. Nothing extreme, just a typical Arizona trail with a few stones and bumps. I didn't push the LC any harder that I would do with the Bronco or a Jeep. I didn't crawl, but I didn't fly through the trail either. One week later I noticed that the LC was handling "funny". Deep nose dive when braking, and steering just didn't feel as good as before. Took a quick peak and found both front shocks covered with oil. Took it to the dealer, and they confirmed that both shocks were blown. Initially they refused to replace them under warranty claiming "owner's abuse", but I pointed to them that there was no other damage on the vehicle that would indicate abuse or extreme off-roading. After a few days of back-and-forth discussions, Toyota agreed to pay for the shocks as sign of "goodwill", but made it clear that they would only do it once. Lesson learned - the LC is not a Jeep or Bronco and I will have to "baby" it on the trail.

Then, the horrible brake squeak started. Took it to the dealer and they replaced front pads. Not a big deal, but another inconvenience.

Then, in the middle of August heat, the climate control failed. It was blowing cold air, but I couldn't change any of the modes. Another trip to the dealer. They told me that the whole A/C box behind the dash had to be replaced, but the parts had to brought from Japan and it would take between 3 and 4 weeks. I decided to keep driving the LC instead of taking a "loaner". When the parts finally arrived, the dealer took 3 days to repair it. They told me that being a new model they didn't have much experience with this repairs, so it took them extra time. The A/C works now, but they left my LC with some nasty rattles in the dashboard. I notified the dealer but they said that there is nothing they can do. Their explanation is that many of the dashboard fasteners are "one time use" only and don't hold the dash the same way it was done in the factory, and that the only remedy would be to install a completely new dashboard, but Toyota wasn't going to pay for it as rattles and noises are considered normal wear and don't affect vehicle usability. While the dealer tried to be helpful, dealing with Toyota was PITA. Never got such a bad and arrogant treatment from Jeep or Ford.

Fast forward to early December. While driving to work, I stop at a traffic light and hear a horrible screeching that appears to come from under the car. Another trip to the dealer. They took two days to diagnose the problem and told me that a pump failed in the transmission and I needed a new transmission. They told that this was a common problem with the LC (they already had a few cases before mine). The only problem is that the transmissions are backordered and one won't be available until mid-January. I told them that this was unacceptable, but Toyota was adamant that they can't do anything. In Arizona, the Lemon Law says that if the dealer can't repair a problem within 30 days and the vehicle is less than two years old, it's a lemon. I contacted a local lawyer and we filed a lemon law case with the DA office. Two days later, a Toyota arbitration rep called me and told me that Toyota will give me a "very generous offer" to buy back the car if I withdraw my lemon case with the DA office. They also implied that I will have to sign a NDA. I commented this to the lawyer and he told me that this is a common Toyota practice to settle the matter privately and confidentialy in exchange for dropping lemon cases to protect their "reputation of reliability". So basically Toyota is trying to bribe me into silence so that nobody knows that my new LC is a lemon.

After talking with the lawyer I decide to continue with the lemon case. Screw Toyota. The lawyer believes that we will be able to get at least the same amount of money plus some damages. I was smart enough to record the call from the arbitrator and the lawyer says that this would be powerful evidence if the matter ends up in court. The arbitrator has been calling me almost daily since than but I refuse to answer.

I wonder if anybody has had a similar experience with Toyota in general or their LC in particular.

Yep, you got a lemon alright. Hope it all turns out OK for you.

 

[ultane]

I had all these problems myself. Sadly with a few toyotas, and broncos, and jeeps....Must be all these new electric, software "upgrades", cheap product material...etc. But just have Trouble with the cars, trouble with the dealerships, trouble with the manufacturers..... no responses. Then finally had it and got hold of an amazing lemon lawyer who took care of EVERYTHING. Got the car buyback, the insurance payments refunded, the registration refunded, and then they were able to get me a nice settlement for the headache the manufacturer put me through. made it so easy. In CA btw, so i know every state different, but id never go through a buyback with the manufacturer, its just a headache. and the extra money for the difficulties i went through they got me was nice!!

Welcome to the asylum.

 

[Bucky Badger]

Very frustrating for sure. I had a Wrangler that would out of nowhere (and usually in the middle of nowhere) refuse to start. The dealership could not diagnose- after the third time I went lemon law and they replaced out. I sold the replacement immediately. Once you don't trust a vehicle it's time to move on.

 

[WookieBait]

Sure, I went for a drive yesterday looking for houses around Capital Hill & the Avenues around downtown SLC. This is what my trans looked like by the time I left.
View attachment 56711

Yep looks about right, I mentioned I had this issue driving around and had someone try to clown on me for looking at the temps or not using 4lo. Shouldn't need to be using 4lo on city streets and it's not practical to be switching between the two on city streets. Pathetic this transmission even has all these problems