NHTSA Complaint #10375297 — 2008 TOYOTA 4RUNNER

I OWN A 2008 TOYOTA 4RUNNER SR5 4WD. I PURCHASED IT NEW FROM MY LOCAL TOYOTA DEALERSHIP IN NOVEMBER, 2008. BY THE FALL OF 2009 I NOTICED A SPORADICALLY OCCURRING DELAY IN THE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION WHILE SWITCHING FROM REVERSE TO DRIVE, LASTING APPROXIMATELY 5 SECONDS. THIS WOULD HAPPEN WHILE BACKING OUT OF A DRIVEWAY OR PARKING LOT, OR IN THE MIDDLE OF A U-TURN. STILL UNDER WARRANTY, I FIRST TOOK THE CAR INTO THE LOCAL DEALERSHIP IN NOVEMBER OF 2009. UNABLE TO DETERMINE THE CAUSE, THEY RESET THE CAR'S "CPU" AND I RETURNED HOME, ONLY TO HAVE THE PROBLEM CONTINUE. AFTER THREE MORE VISITS TO THE DEALERSHIP, THE LAST IN MAY, 2010, THE DEALERSHIPS SERVICE DEPARTMENT STOPPED RETURNING MY PHONE CALLS AND FAILED TO RESOLVE THE PROBLEM. SINCE FEBRUARY 2010 I HAVE DOCUMENTED OVER 45 OCCURRENCES OF THE PROBLEM, WHICH HAVE OCCURRED AS FREQUENTLY AS 4 TIMES IN ONE DAY AND AS INFREQUENTLY AS A MONTH APART. THE MOST DISTURBING INCIDENCE WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF A BUSY URBAN STREET WHILE MAKING A 3-POINT U-TURN. WITH THE DELAY LASTING A SOLID 5 SECONDS, IT IS AN UNSETTLING EXPERIENCE NOT KNOWING WHEN AND WHERE THIS PROBLEM WILL OCCUR. THE DEALERSHIP SERVICE DEPARTMENT ACKNOWLEDGED THAT THEY WOULD/COULD NOT DO ANYTHING UNDER WARRANTY WITHOUT GETTING THE CAR TO REPEAT THE PROBLEM. I FINALLY VIDEOTAPED THE EXPERIENCE WHILE IN THE CAR, BUT WHEN I SHARED IT WITH THE SERVICE PEOPLE, IT PROVED FUTILE. I ALSO DISCOVERED AN ONLINE TOYOTA 4RUNNER FORUM (T4R.ORG) IN WHICH OTHER TOYOTA 4RUNNER OWNERS SHARED THE SAME EXPERIENCE. THE DEALERSHIP FAILED TO ACKNOWLEDGE THIS FACT, AND STOPPED MAKING ANY ATTEMPT TO RESOLVE THE PROBLEM AS OF LAST JUNE. I AM FRUSTRATED BY MY EXPERIENCE AND WOULD LIKE TO HAVE THE PROBLEM RESOLVED SO I CAN DRIVE WITH THE PEACE OF MIND KNOWING THAT MY CAR IS SAFE. TO DATE, NO REPAIRS OR PARTS REPLACEMENTS OF ANY KIND HAVE BEEN MADE BY TOYOTA TO CORRECT THE PROBLEM. *TR