NHTSA Complaint #10704114 — 2007 TOYOTA TACOMA

ONE BY ONE, ALL FOUR ELECTRONIC DOOR LOCK ACTUATORS THAT LOCK AND UNLOCK THE VEHICLES DOORS STOPPED FUNCTIONING. THE LOCAL DEALERSHIP REPLACED THEM, ONE AT A TIME UNTIL ALL FOUR WERE WORKING AGAIN. THIS WAS COVERED UNDER MY EXTENDED WARRANTY THAT I HAD PURCHASED WITH THE VEHICLE. NOW, AT 84,000 MILES, TWO OF THE DOOR LOCK ACTUATORS HAVE FAILED AGAIN ! THIS TIME, THE DEALER TOLD ME BECAUSE THE EXTENDED WARRANTY EXPIRED I WAS OUT OF LUCK AND WOULD HAVE TO PAY ROUGHLY $500.00 PER DOOR TO HAVE IT FIXED! MY RESPONSE WAS " THIS IS A PRE-EXISTING CONDITION, SO THEY SHOULD BE REPLACED BY TOYOTA". THE SERVICE REP TOLD ME THAT THE PARTS WERE ONLY WARRANTEED FOR ONE YEAR. THE DEALERSHIP CONTACTED TOYOTA, AND SUBMITTED ALL OF THE PAPERWORK FROM MY PREVIOUS PROBLEMS. TOYOTA RESPONDED WITH A "TOO BAD, WE'RE NOT GOING TO DO ANYTHING TO HELP YOU". SO, HERE I AM WITH FAULTY DOOR LOCKS THAT YOU THINK ARE LOCKED, BUT ARE NOT. WHICH LEADS TO A SAFETY AND SECURITY ISSUE FOR ME AND ANYONE THAT RIDES IN MY VEHICLE. AFTER DOING SOME RESEARCH ON THE INTERNET, THIS SEEMS TO BE A COMMON PROBLEM WITH THESE TRUCKS. I'M WONDERING WHY THERE HASN'T BEEN A RECALL REGARDING THIS SAFETY ISSUE. *TR