NHTSA Complaint #10330925 — 2006 TOYOTA MATRIX

MY REAR DIFFERENTIAL IN MY 2006 TOYOTA MATRIX XR 4WD WAS MAKING A WHINING NOISE THAT INCREASED IN VOLUME AS SPEED INCREASED. I TOOK IT TO THE DEALERSHIP AND WAS INFORMED THAT IT WAS THE REAR DIFF. AND WOULD COST $2300 TO REPLACE. CAR HAS 68K. POWERTRAIN WARR. IS 5 YRS. OR 60K. DEALER QUOTED ME PRICE OF $2388 TO FIX?? I SAID IT SHOULD NOT HAVE GONE OUT AS I HAVE DONE EVERY MAINTENANCE ON THIS CAR. THEY THEN OFFERED ME A MEASLY 10% AS A WHINER/CONSOLATION FEE. I THEN CALLED THE "CUSTOMER CENTER" OF TOYOTA AND WAS EVENTUALLY TOLD THAT THEY WOULD UP THE "OFFER" TO $600, AND THAT WAS THEIR FINAL OFFER. THEY THEN CALLED ME THE NEXT DAY AND TOLD ME THAT IT WAS ACTUALLY THE TRANSMISSION COUPLING ASSY, AND THAT IT WOULD COST ANOTHER $400. TOYOTA SAID THEY WOULD COVER THE DIFFERENCE OF $400 SINCE IT WAS MISDIAGNOSED. I SAID THEY SHOULD COVER ALL OF IT SINCE IT WAS CLEARLY DEFECTIVE. THEY REFUSED. THEN I FOUND A TOYOTA TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN ON THE INTERNET DESCRIBING THE EXACT PROBLEM, DATED AUGUST 23, 2007. SO THEY KNEW ABOUT THE PROBLEM, AND DID NOT NOTIFY ME. I KNOW THIS MUST HAVE HAPPENED OVER A LONG TIME, AND I COULD HAVE BROUGHT THE CAR IN TO BE INSPECTED, WELL WITHIN ITS WARRANTY, BUT TOYOTA DID NOTHING. I THINK TOYOTA IS NOT STANDING BEHIND THEIR PRODUCT. $2417 LATER, TOYOTA WOULD NOT ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THIS WAS A DEFECTIVE PART, AND FORCED ME TO PAY FOR IT. I SHUDDER TO THINK WHAT MIGHT HAVE HAPPENED HAD THIS PART SEIZED UP ON ME AT 65 MPH IN TRAFFIC, OR ON ONE OF OUR ICY MOUNTAIN ROADS IN THE WINTER. *TR