I have a 2008 FJ Cruiser with 33,000 miles. Last week after a large snowfall I went to move the FJ. I locked it in 4x4 and backed out of my drive. the vehicle shuddered while shifting so I stopped and returned it to the 4x2 position. it seemed fine so I thought it must be OK. The next day I started hearing noise in the transmission and a shudder while shifting. It would not engage the drivetrain while the shifter was in the overdrive position. I immediatley drove it to the dealership and dropped it off. The next day they called and stated that I had burned the transmission up and that it would cost 5500.00 to fix. They are not going to honor my warranty due to abuse. The vehicle has never been abused and has rarely been on anything worse than a gravel road. I lock the 4x4 in periodically as recommended to keep the mechanism lubricated. The Service rep stated that the abuse was determined from the smell of the Transmission Fluid. I asked them to open the tranny to see if they could determine if there had been a failure and they have refused. Although the Service Reps have been nice and polite I think they are ripping me off. By the way the Millenium Extended Warranty is Fraud. Oh what a feeling!
Transmission Failure
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Don`t give up, go else where. If you have a warranty, they should fix it. Is your manufacturer warranty run out? What is millenium extended warranty? Also, you should still have 60k powertrain warranty, don`t you? It`s common when warranty is denied, they will try anything to make you pay. Stay on it and they will fix it.
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Welcome to the forum
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It just gets better. Stay on the top of it, call Toyota, try other dealers.
Yes we have 27000 miles left on the factory warranty. The Millenium is this dealerships version of a bumper to bumper 100,000 mile warranty that is supposed to kick in if the factory warranty doesnt cover something. What they don't tell you is that they can deny the extended warranty based on the grounds of the dealership denial. Or thats what they have told me.
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1,639 Posts
They are more the willing to take your money but when they have to pay, that is another story.
Be persistent. Most places try to wear you down so you go away.
I guess you are already in the system, otherwise you could change the transmission fluid and take it somewhere else and see if they say it smells funny. If you have another car, you could just sit the FJ around a few weeks or so and then say it just went out. Can you take it to an independent place and have them file a claim on your behalf?
Be persistent. Most places try to wear you down so you go away.
I guess you are already in the system, otherwise you could change the transmission fluid and take it somewhere else and see if they say it smells funny. If you have another car, you could just sit the FJ around a few weeks or so and then say it just went out. Can you take it to an independent place and have them file a claim on your behalf?
go over their heads. call district rep, call corporate office. i worked at both domestic and import dealerships and it's common practice to deny a warranty claim without cause. they're trying to make a buck. the only way to determine abuse is to tear down the trans and locate the root cause of the failure. you would have to bury that truck to burn up a transmission.
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792 Posts
Sure there weren't any high rpms and shifting from fwd to rvse??! Did it "shudder" while shifting or moving the vehicle? Was the snow deeeeep? Seems there's a missing link
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8,957 Posts
$5500 is a sham' alone....
trdsparks.com
AT5 Transmission, fj cruiser, 4wd 08-09
list $2,914.03
cost $2,331.22
trdsparks.com
AT5 Transmission, fj cruiser, 4wd 08-09
list $2,914.03
cost $2,331.22
Joined
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1,639 Posts
Plus, how could they tell the damage without opening it up? I had a transmission rebuilt in 2009 on a Maxima for $1,850 including labor.
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699 Posts
True this!
I already have a "reputation" at my dealer. When my transmission went, they REPLACED not repaired the entire transmission no questions asked. I even got a loaner vehicle out of them for 4 of the 5 weeks it took for the transmission to be shipped to the dealer. Your being hosed
My daughters Ford focus drove thru what my FJ experienced as far as the snow goes. When I shifted it into 4X4 there was a shudder and the 4x4 hesitated to engage. when it did engage there was a slight grind but it seemed to lock in. I backed up about 35 feet (without spinning) drove to the end of the drive again without spinning and got to dry pavement. I returned it to the 4x2 position and again it hesitated to lock in and grinded. I shifted it to neutral and park a couple of times and it finally engaged 4x2. I drove approximately 2 miles when it disengaged while going 45 mph. I moved the shifter out of the overdrive position and it would re-engage. I do have a lift and bigger tires.
OK may be I should have waited a week but I'm not real patient when someone wants 5500.00 bucks from me. The Dealership just called and they now WILL honor my warranty. He said they had a group of toyota mechanics look at each individual tranny to determine if abuse was evident and they could not see evidence of abuse in my case. Glad I didn't cut em a check on Tuesday....No I'm no Troll but Id like some hair though even if its colored!
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