Filed under: Trucks/Pickups, Recalls/TSBs, Toyota
Toyota expresses regret for Tundra camshaft failures on internet forums
by John Neff on May 31st 2007 at 4:29PM 
Our good buddy Mike Levine over at Pickuptruck.com has updated his report on the story surrounding the failure of 20 camshaft in the 2007 Toyota Tundra's 5.7L V8 engine. Levine noticed that Toyota has already posted on two internet forums expressing regret to Tundra owners over the incident. Though the author's name was not provided, identical posts were published by "TMSUSA" on ToyotaNation.com and TundraSolutions.com that address customer concerns and provide this expression of remorse:
"Although the number of affected Tundras is very small, we very much regret that even one of our trucks was manufactured with a camshaft processing flaw and certainly any inconvenience caused to our customers."
Meanwhile, Levine also tracked down a consultant who confirms the estimate we originally reported that it will cost $5,000 to swap out each engine that experiences a failed camshaft. Toyota will certainly pay the estimated $100,000 to repair the 20 trucks already known to have experienced a camshaft failure, but the looming question that's yet to be answered is how many more trucks might need to have their engine replaced? Toyota Spokesperson Bill Kwong told Levine, "Our dealers have approximately 1,600 new Tundras nationwide for disposal as a loaner vehicle while a customer's truck is being repaired, and that doesn't include older Tundras and Tacomas." While meant more as an assurance that the company will do whatever it can to help out customers who find themselves with an affected engine, that statement also implies Toyota is at least prepared for the number to grow.
[Source: Pickuptruck.com]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Don 4:33PM (5/31/2007)
Well, at least they're taking care of it...they can't risk further bad publicity or angry owners bashing the Tundra just after it's been released.
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Mr. Oak 4:35PM (5/31/2007)
Sure you're sorry, I say buy a GM crate motor and stick it in the Tundra.
Hey Toyota, how do ya like being the BIG CHEEEEEEEEEEEEESE??
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ViktorVaughan 5:09PM (5/31/2007)
This wasn't funny the first time you posted it, and it's not funny now either.
dragonhead08 7:32PM (5/31/2007)
Love it, excuse me while I blow my nose with bills from the 18.7 billion dollar profit I made.
Aprime1 4:36PM (5/31/2007)
90% of the Weblogs people need to learn how to spell Internet correctly.
(I hope that bold thing worked, lol)
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Aprime1 4:38PM (5/31/2007)
By the way: whether they regret it or not (why the heck wouldn't they regret it anyway?), put the blame on a supplier rather than themselves, they lose.
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Solo Racer 8:52PM (6/06/2007)
"Aprime1 @ May 31st 2007 4:38PM
By the way: whether they regret it or not (why the heck wouldn't they regret it anyway?), put the blame on a supplier rather than themselves, they lose."
Just like Ford did with Firestone. Keep in mind that Ford had plenty of engineers at those tire plants.
sp 4:59PM (5/31/2007)
it seems as if 20 broken Tundra engines is the biggest story on Autoblog for past 2 days... isnt this like 4th story about it?
as to the GM engines - emm, anyone read any comparos between Tundra and Silverado? Where Tudra is quicker and gets better mpg in real life?
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Bob R. 9:59PM (5/31/2007)
That is true, but the GM motors havent had a camshaft break.
colorman 2:13PM (7/12/2007)
You may want to check real life fuel mileage before you make claims like that. I have a friend that is a diehard Toyota guy and he says his new truck gets 3 mpg less than the Chevy he traded. I think the EPA estimates are less also.
Carlos 5:00PM (5/31/2007)
Yeah, they do lose, but it'll be forgiven and forgotten soon (case in point, the first Lexus recall). When a company doesn't fix the problem, like the Honda V6 auto transmissions that had to replaced multiple times or the Toyota V6 sludge problem that they fought to not fix for years, then people do remember, with bitterness. So they're taking the least bad path available.
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Mr. Oak 5:31PM (5/31/2007)
Okay Viktor.... have it your way. Since you didn't think that the best Tundra on the road, would be one with a GM crate motor, How about a Hemi or a PowerStroke?
I'm just trying to give Toyota owners some options here.
LyonKing 5:12PM (5/31/2007)
no matter what way you look at it, this is horrible news for Toyota.. now please lets move on. I don't want to hear any more about this until (if?) they issue a full scale recall. Now back to our regularly scheduled autoblog
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Jeff 5:25PM (5/31/2007)
Thank god its not Ford. If it was ford they would have taken the following actions:
1- Deny it
2- Deny it more and send out a PR chick to reassure people
3- More denying
4- If its not going away blame it on a supplier
5- Sue the supplier to make the public really believe it was the supplier
6- Finally replace only affected vehicles
7- If it gets this far then correct the whole problem.
Thank god its not Ford. Remember the Firestone and roof problems?
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Barney 5:42PM (5/31/2007)
Ford would sell you the correct replacement parts,however. They even offer to have their mechanics install the parts as well AND rent you a vehicle while you wait a week or so.
Greek Boy 6:07PM (5/31/2007)
Jeff,
Ford replaced every Explorer with the faulty C-grade Firestone tires - even though it sold many other tires and never had a problem with those. I would say the only thing Ford screwed up on is using Firestone in the first place.
And as for their roof problem...there never was a problem. Every single Ford exceeded all ratings for rollover. That's a fact.
Touareger 7:32PM (6/05/2007)
Jeff:
You are right absolutely right about
Ford motorr company
even I loved my ex-mustang. I owned a 94 Mustang V6 for 8 years, had two engine gasket problems.
First time was at 112K, Ford denied the bill because it was over 100K. I got the recall letter a few months later stating to covered the gasket issues up to 6 years or 100K. Shame on Ford.
And at 210K it got it again, then I donated the it.
Then I went to VW now.
AndrewQ 5:27PM (5/31/2007)
Its amazing how one sided Autoblog is. They always bash the imports every chance they get. How many times did you guys report on the Focus recalls? Or others? Whatever. Lets not make this a them and us bitchfest. Just report on it in a journalistic matter and move on. Why 4 reports in 2 days and filled with speculation?
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ViktorVaughan 6:15PM (5/31/2007)
Actually, my comment was directed at your 'huuuuuuurrrrrr big cheese' line.
Tool 5:31PM (5/31/2007)
Like I said in my other post regarding the 5.7L in the Tundra, Toyota has deep, structural quality problems as an organization as a result of their too-fast market share grab.
Every launch is full of problems. Toyota and Lexus have their share but they are becoming more frequent with larger number of problems.
The good thing is that Toyota will do what is right at whatever cost to make these vehicles right. They are well aware that these is a key launch for them and if they don't recover, it will set back the truck program years.
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