Pfft….I AM the warranty.

Well boys, 12k on the clock and today I had a wicked smell of coolant by the radiator. No evidence of the relief venting, 65 degree day with some spirited driving.

my first thoughts went like:

- 50k for this?!

- glad I have a warranty

- knows warranty means go to the dealer a dozen times where they can’t “reproduce the problem”

- will save time (more valuable than money) chasing it myself.

maybe I don’t buy a new car next time. To be completely honest it was a long trip and she ran well, if I had to guess it’s no big deal. That said, my patience is too little to fight with Toyota when a day of anger and at most a few hundred bucks resolves the issue.

10/10 would buy again, 0/10 for buying new cars for the “warranty”

 

No worries. They will tell you what's wrong as soon as your warranty expires.

 

A smell, and no visible evidence of a problem? I don’t know of any car makers who warrantee against smells. Perhaps your truck was venting because the circumstances called for it. Regardless, call the dealership and explain what you smelled. Maybe there’s a thing or two they’ll check. Better than just writing off the whole warranty process from the get-go.

 

I can confirm the toyota warranty process is like pulling teeth.

 

So you bagged on it and smelled coolant? Cool story bro! My wife's brand new Grand Cherokee had to make multiple trips to the Dodge dealership empty on coolant before they finally agreed something was wrong and had to replace the head gaskets at 15,000 miles. I have had a couple minor things on my Tacoma addressed under warranty, in addition to a clutch throw out bearing and Toyota was phenomenal to deal with. I can also assume you've never dealt with a GM dealership on warranty issues lol.

 

I’ve had two warranty issues with Toyota vehicles since I bought my first one in 1982. The first was a 1988 4Runner with a very faint tick in the speedometer. They replaced that after my first visit.

The second was actually a recall or TSB. My wife’s 2013 Rav4 that we bought used started making a rumble-strip sound. After researching it a little, I made an appointment with my dealership. They heard the sound, and ordered/replaced the torque converter at 140k miles.

Both were pleasant experiences. Sorry to hear yours haven’t been.

 

Well, bro…

Thats your fault for buying a Chrysler product… or an American one at that.

I have every right to be upset. You don’t smell coolant if there isn’t a positive pressure leak…. So yeah kind of annoyed.


To everyone else, all new cars have issues (whether you hear about them or not is different). My bigger issue is cheaper manufacturing techniques and lower quality of assembly technician is making this more common, at a time when automakers are making cars too complicated to keep (from a cost standpoint).

mark my words… I’ll eat ‘em if I’m wrong: this is the last generation of decently built cars from any manufacturer… the ones that survive will be because of consolidation.

 

Idk man, the warranty in my case only serves to replace driveline parts (catastrophic failure).

it’s much less aggravation for a legitimate mechanic/engineer/car nerd to deal with the smedium sized problems rogue. Many will agree.

also, so many that comment on dealers have never worked for one. If you heard the way they talked about you and saw how they treated cars…. You’d never go back (not unlike working in a restaurant).

this was just meant to be lighthearted (but true), everyone gets so defensive like their last name is Toyota. Much like a first girlfriend…over a long enough timeline you’ll realize it’s flawed all the same

 

I’m not super impressed with the toyota dealers with regard to warranty either. Especially with their wanting to charge you for “could not replicate” situations. Kind of a conflict of interest if there ever was one.

That said, my first toyota never needed warranty, and my 4runner has only been for a squeaky rear seat, which they oddly could not replicate it despite being able to make the noise on demand.

Oh, and the needle bearing on the front diff. But it’s been intermittent since new, and I have also added a lift, so I pretty much knew that was going nowhere. Oddly enough, they did hear the noise, but they blamed it on my K02s and charged me 160 bucks. NEXT…don’t let the door hit ya on the way out!

All said, I don’t I regret buying toyota, and would do it again, just because my sienna was flawless for 14 years of ownership, and my 4runner is both fun, and the flaws are minor annoyances.

 

I agree 100%.

 

Did you figure out what the issue was?

So far, Toyota has been good about fixing things in my experience (needle bearing and fuel pump). I don't know what they would do about a coolant smell, unless they found a leak.

Agreed that new vehicles have issues. We probably have it pretty good, but it seems worse because we hear about every problem that any member has.

 

I always try to diagnose before going to the dealer in/out of warranty to verify they are capable, and potentially save time if its an odd issue that's hard to diagnose.

Some things are just hard to diagnose.

 

Heard dat. Possibly the description of all warrantees, when you actually go to use it for something worthy.

 

same reason you never get a hookup at the subway without greasing some kid with cash. When the franchise model runs wild, you end up with the franchisees scheming (I.e. charging for ketchup or prices not reflecting menu which is common in fast food).

my wife demanded I pay attention to her this weekend, and she pays half the payment so not much choice. Early next week there are 2 oil changes, complete audio change in her rav, and gonna look into the issue.

 

It is the wife's fault and she was warned. Should have bought a 4Runner or Highlander IMO but its her money.

I am just befuddled by the fact that you drove a 4,500lb brick like it was a sports car and experienced a negative result and then proceed to crap on the manufacturer.

Honest question, when you took it in for service did you explain to the service writer the conditions you experienced this at? Or did you play Johnny Tight Lips?

I am not a mechanic nor engineer so may be wrong, but would there not be some sort of pressure relief for the cooling system which may explain the coolant smell? Have you checked the coolant level to see if it is lower? I would also have the radiator cap pressure tested.

 

first of all sparky, I’m not new to machines. An average trail run would have been a greater load with more heat generation and coolant surging. If it were 90 degrees I would be more inclined to agree, but not a 65 degree day at highway speed with 100% moisture in the air from a rain storm adding to the heat rejection properties of the air passing over the radiator and engine.

it’s most likely a hose settling in, if you’ve ever removed an old hose they essentially melt to the pipe they clamp onto. When new they can be slightly pinched or sticking from dry assembly and poor attention to detail. This is more and more common from cheaper spring clamps, and the shear number of connections on a modern engine (given a long enough timeline, nothing is impossible. This applies to complexity figuring a 1% failure rate in assembly with 300 theoretical potential leak paths would be a numbers from air explanation). If it were a pinhole leak I would be more shocked.

People seem personally offended by my joking complaint and seem to miss the point, this is a sign of what’s to come. It is absolutely inevitable, because the consumer isn’t spending NASA money for a vehicle. They keep adding crap, pushing new cars out of the broader middle class consumer market as well as creating a disposable industry due to the exorbitant cost of repair.

everyone can blame the driver (me) when it’s pushing some boost, until that time driving in suburbia simply cannot present a scenario that stresses a vehicle designed so well that militants all over the world Mount machine guns to them, so….