TL;DR: Paid South Coast Toyota for a diff/transfer case fluid service on my 2024 LC First Edition at 20k miles. Transfer case came back cracked at the plug boss and leaking. The dealership told me it was my engine block, told me video cleared their techs, told Toyota they’d offered me a loaner I never got, and then told me I’d turned it down. Toyota replaced the transfer case under goodwill warranty. The dealership has never answered a refund request for the service that was performed on the part that failed. Takeaways for other owners at the bottom.
On September 1 I dropped the truck off for the 20k service, the driver’s display recall, a brake TSB, and a 4x4 fluid service I paid about $500 for: front and rear diffs and the transfer case. Picked it up September 2. On the first drive there was a burning-oil smell. I assumed spilled fluid on the exhaust and gave it a few days. It didn’t go away. Suspecting an overfill, I checked the engine oil, which was a touch high but in range. On September 11 I called and texted to report it and booked the earliest slot, September 14. On September 13 I found gear oil on the garage floor and photographed it. At drop-off I asked for a loaner and was told they’d let me know.
Then nothing for two days. On September 16 I got a call: the lower engine block was cracked, the dealership was not responsible, and shop video showed their technicians hadn’t damaged anything. Bay cameras don’t show the underside of a truck on a lift. They’d “escalated to Toyota.” They’d get me a loaner “in the interim.” I pointed out that the truck had been in their exclusive custody, on a lift, with the skid plates off, for the only time anyone had ever had a wrench on the transfer case. That went nowhere. I posted a review that afternoon and sent a written letter to the GM and the Director of Fixed Operations: timeline, a request to preserve all parts and video, a request for the repair orders and photos, and a request for the loaner that had now been promised twice.
The Director’s reply opened by saying he’d become aware of the situation “after seeing your online review,” and that it was his understanding a loaner had been offered when the vehicle came back and that I “did not need one at that time.” That was not true. It was, however, now in writing, and Toyota’s case manager later confirmed it was the version the dealership had given them. The GM replied separately that evening with an apology and a commitment that Toyota or the dealership would repair the truck at no cost regardless of cause, and mentioned that parts were already on order. Nobody had yet told me what the parts were for.
The loaner finally materialized the next day. Toyota’s rental agreement contains a clause releasing the dealership from damage to your property “whether or not the loss or damage was caused by our negligence.” With an open dispute about exactly that, I asked for a one-sentence addendum carving out my truck. They wouldn’t modify the form; the GM offered an Enterprise rental at the dealership’s expense instead, which I took.
Two days later the Director wrote that Toyota had authorized the repair under warranty, parts were in, and they were ready to proceed on my authorization. He added that Toyota “does not provide rental coverage once the necessary parts are available,” and that “as a goodwill gesture” the dealership would extend the rental into the following week while I “worked through my process.” The rental had been the GM’s commitment from the start; it was now being recast as Toyota goodwill with an expiration date, two days after I’d told them my insurance appraiser was coming: pressure to authorize before anyone else looked at the truck. When my written authorization said “proceed immediately after the inspection,” I was told that meant they had no authorization.
My insurer’s appraiser came out September 22. His report said “transfer case crack.” That is how I learned the damage was not the engine block: from my insurance company, six days after the dealership’s diagnosis and three weeks after the service. The dealership’s own photos, which I’d had to ask for twice, show the crack starting at the base of a plug boss, one of the plugs their technician had removed and reinstalled on September 1. No gouges, no impact marks. I authorized the repair that day and asked, in writing and with a response date, for the removed transfer case to be held so I could photograph it, for the front and rear diff plugs to be checked since the same tech had serviced them, for the repair orders, and for a refund of the $500 service.
I picked the truck up September 25. The repair order is worth quoting. Tech notes: “found hairline fracture in transfer case housing at drain plug boss,” “no cross-threading or visible thread damage found,” “no external impact damage observed.” Stated cause: “poor casting / porous material.” The cause line says fill plug; the tech notes say drain plug. The claim was coded “goodwill warranty” (as I understand it, Toyota covering something outside a standard defect claim), $4,123.90, new transfer assembly 36100-35A30. The diff plug check I’d asked for wasn’t on it. The old transfer case wasn’t available. Nobody on site could speak to the refund.
The Director’s follow-up email said they were “happy that we were able to resolve your vehicle concern” and included copies of my invoices. No mention of the refund, the parts, or the diff check. I wrote once more to both the GM and the Director restating the open items and the response date. Neither replied. The next morning I filed a card dispute on the $500, a complaint with the Bureau of Automotive Repair (the shop’s license number is on every invoice), and an update to my Toyota case. As of today, the card dispute, the BAR complaint, and Toyota’s goodwill review are all still pending. I’ll update this thread when any of them resolves.
My opinion, which is not Toyota’s finding: a housing that survived factory torque and 20,000 miles and then cracked at the plug boss the week the plug was touched was over-torqued. But the part I’d want other owners to hear isn’t the crack. It’s that almost every piece of information the service department gave me turned out to be wrong or self-serving: the component, the video, the loaner, who was paying for the rental, and what my authorization meant. The only things that moved were things I put in writing to people above the service desk, and even those stopped moving once the truck was out the door.
If you’re getting drivetrain fluids done anywhere:
Photos of the crack attached. Happy to answer questions.
On September 1 I dropped the truck off for the 20k service, the driver’s display recall, a brake TSB, and a 4x4 fluid service I paid about $500 for: front and rear diffs and the transfer case. Picked it up September 2. On the first drive there was a burning-oil smell. I assumed spilled fluid on the exhaust and gave it a few days. It didn’t go away. Suspecting an overfill, I checked the engine oil, which was a touch high but in range. On September 11 I called and texted to report it and booked the earliest slot, September 14. On September 13 I found gear oil on the garage floor and photographed it. At drop-off I asked for a loaner and was told they’d let me know.
Then nothing for two days. On September 16 I got a call: the lower engine block was cracked, the dealership was not responsible, and shop video showed their technicians hadn’t damaged anything. Bay cameras don’t show the underside of a truck on a lift. They’d “escalated to Toyota.” They’d get me a loaner “in the interim.” I pointed out that the truck had been in their exclusive custody, on a lift, with the skid plates off, for the only time anyone had ever had a wrench on the transfer case. That went nowhere. I posted a review that afternoon and sent a written letter to the GM and the Director of Fixed Operations: timeline, a request to preserve all parts and video, a request for the repair orders and photos, and a request for the loaner that had now been promised twice.
The Director’s reply opened by saying he’d become aware of the situation “after seeing your online review,” and that it was his understanding a loaner had been offered when the vehicle came back and that I “did not need one at that time.” That was not true. It was, however, now in writing, and Toyota’s case manager later confirmed it was the version the dealership had given them. The GM replied separately that evening with an apology and a commitment that Toyota or the dealership would repair the truck at no cost regardless of cause, and mentioned that parts were already on order. Nobody had yet told me what the parts were for.
The loaner finally materialized the next day. Toyota’s rental agreement contains a clause releasing the dealership from damage to your property “whether or not the loss or damage was caused by our negligence.” With an open dispute about exactly that, I asked for a one-sentence addendum carving out my truck. They wouldn’t modify the form; the GM offered an Enterprise rental at the dealership’s expense instead, which I took.
Two days later the Director wrote that Toyota had authorized the repair under warranty, parts were in, and they were ready to proceed on my authorization. He added that Toyota “does not provide rental coverage once the necessary parts are available,” and that “as a goodwill gesture” the dealership would extend the rental into the following week while I “worked through my process.” The rental had been the GM’s commitment from the start; it was now being recast as Toyota goodwill with an expiration date, two days after I’d told them my insurance appraiser was coming: pressure to authorize before anyone else looked at the truck. When my written authorization said “proceed immediately after the inspection,” I was told that meant they had no authorization.
My insurer’s appraiser came out September 22. His report said “transfer case crack.” That is how I learned the damage was not the engine block: from my insurance company, six days after the dealership’s diagnosis and three weeks after the service. The dealership’s own photos, which I’d had to ask for twice, show the crack starting at the base of a plug boss, one of the plugs their technician had removed and reinstalled on September 1. No gouges, no impact marks. I authorized the repair that day and asked, in writing and with a response date, for the removed transfer case to be held so I could photograph it, for the front and rear diff plugs to be checked since the same tech had serviced them, for the repair orders, and for a refund of the $500 service.
I picked the truck up September 25. The repair order is worth quoting. Tech notes: “found hairline fracture in transfer case housing at drain plug boss,” “no cross-threading or visible thread damage found,” “no external impact damage observed.” Stated cause: “poor casting / porous material.” The cause line says fill plug; the tech notes say drain plug. The claim was coded “goodwill warranty” (as I understand it, Toyota covering something outside a standard defect claim), $4,123.90, new transfer assembly 36100-35A30. The diff plug check I’d asked for wasn’t on it. The old transfer case wasn’t available. Nobody on site could speak to the refund.
The Director’s follow-up email said they were “happy that we were able to resolve your vehicle concern” and included copies of my invoices. No mention of the refund, the parts, or the diff check. I wrote once more to both the GM and the Director restating the open items and the response date. Neither replied. The next morning I filed a card dispute on the $500, a complaint with the Bureau of Automotive Repair (the shop’s license number is on every invoice), and an update to my Toyota case. As of today, the card dispute, the BAR complaint, and Toyota’s goodwill review are all still pending. I’ll update this thread when any of them resolves.
My opinion, which is not Toyota’s finding: a housing that survived factory torque and 20,000 miles and then cracked at the plug boss the week the plug was touched was over-torqued. But the part I’d want other owners to hear isn’t the crack. It’s that almost every piece of information the service department gave me turned out to be wrong or self-serving: the component, the video, the loaner, who was paying for the rental, and what my authorization meant. The only things that moved were things I put in writing to people above the service desk, and even those stopped moving once the truck was out the door.
If you’re getting drivetrain fluids done anywhere:
- Within a week of any drain-and-fill, pull the plates and look at every plug boss. A hairline crack weeps before it drips.
- Photograph the plugs beforehand. Factory plugs carry a paint torque mark; a broken mark shows it was touched.
- The moment something’s wrong, stop talking on the phone. Put the timeline, a preservation request, and a records request in one email to the GM. Keep every reply.
- Open your own Toyota case (800-331-4331) and your own insurance claim. Don’t rely on the dealer’s version of either.
- Read the loaner agreement before you sign it.
- If they won’t make it right, the Bureau of Automotive Repair takes complaints online and the shop has to answer them.
Photos of the crack attached. Happy to answer questions.
happens,and how the dealership steps up when they f*ck up shows how much they value their customers.
