Has anyone had car issues the first 3 months owning it? The check engine light on our new Toyota Sienna has gone on for the 3rd time in the past month. I'm starting to wonder if we purchased a lemon. Anyone have car issues this early? I've never owned a Toyota (only BMW before) and this is incredibly disappointing.
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Not exactly, but my neighbor hit our new Sienna and just paid $750 to fix it.
It seems like in my family something always happens to new cars in the first month.
I had a Toyota before and never had any problems at all. Can you take it back to the dealer? -
@oliviaoblivia: We are for the 4th time tonight. I'm starting to lose my patience.
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@oliviaoblivia: Ugh, that's the worst. I'm sorry. I hope everyone was okay!
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@BandDmommy: that's insane! What are the lemon laws in VA?
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Wow. Yea I would start looking up lemon laws and start documenting EVERYTHING. I would keep a daily mileage log, etc.
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@oliviaoblivia: this is there last shot and then it's a lemon.
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@T.H.O.U.: definitely documenting everything
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Yep. My brand new VW Jetta needed new brakes and pads at 1 year of ownership. Less than 10k miles. We had our trusted mechanic look at it and he told us he had never seen a problem like this before. Because of the way the body was built, he told us that we will probably need new brakes and pads every single year. We ended up sucking up any loss and trading it in. Even though I know a lot of people love their VW's, I swear it was a lemon but no one at VW would help us so I will never buy another VW again.
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@mediagirl: literally, the next time we started the car after picking up from shop the check engine light popped on AGAIN!!
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@mediagirl: my husband is threatening to do the same. Just return it and get a different brand.
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@BandDmommy: I have very little faith in companies that can't seem to fix simple little issues like that! Who has time to be in there all the time? That's such a huge hassle.
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So frustrating.
Toyotas are known for being reliable! It might be a lemon
We didn't have any problems with our new Toyotas. We've owned 9 cars and the worst mechanically was our Cadillac SRX (it was in the shop every 2 months). Our Ford, VW and Dodge's weren't great either so we sold them quickly. Our Honda's have been the best mechanically (bare minimum maintenance only...one of them is 11 years old and the other is new). -
@BandDmommy: That's so funny because my parents' BMW was in the shop ALL the time. They've paid about 10k in repairs since buying it. They just traded it in last weekend for a Cadillac Escalade - so we'll see how they like that one!
I have a Toyota and have had NO problems in the 8 years I've had it. We're outgrowing it and I'm sad to get rid of it soon because it's been such a reliable car.
Yours is probably just a lemon which is such a bummer. I'd definitely be looking at a trade in sooner than later before something major pops up.
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I’ve only had 1 brand new car (I prefer to buy a couple years old, low mileage) and I didn’t have any issues with it. I did buy a lemon once (young and dumb) and that GMC vehicle had issues within the first week I purchased it!! It was a miserable money pit. My Toyota I bought a few years old and then owned for 8 years and it was never once in the shop except for planned/routine maintenance. So far, my husband and I have had the same experience with Lexus (same corporate ownership as Toyota).
So, sounds like it might be a lemon. Have you talked to the dealership about it? I know all dealers vary, but my Toyota dealer is *awesome*, so it might be worth connecting with them before doing anything drastic.
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My family has owned Toyotas for decades and something like that literally never happened - we only do routine maintenance. I would definitely think it's a lemon.
We just bought a Sienna last week and love it. Coincidentally, we traded in our Jeep Grand Cherokee because it constantly had sensors going off and it cost us a FORTUNE to maintain because every visit cost at least $160. I will never buy or own a Jeep again for that reason so I totally understand your frustration. I would speak to your sales manager or fleet manager and throw a complete fit - these dealerships count on repeat business.
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I had a Toyota Camry out of college and it was perfect. My bro leased one because he loved my car and his was perfect too.
What are the lemon laws in your state? I think in FL you have 14 or 21 days to return a defective vehicle?
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Get it checked while under warranty. These things happen but I am also not a Toyota fan. Loved my new 4Runner but it didn't have longevity.
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@coopsmama: interesting. I've had 3 BMW and no issues.
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@BandDmommy: Yes, the mechanic they go to (who solely works on BMWs) said that very, very occasionally he sees a BMW that is just a lemon. He said with BMWs there are either incredibly sound or they are not and he recommended they trade it off as soon as possible. In his career though he has only a handful of lemons and said my parents just got a lousy one. (It was an X5.)
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@BandDmommy: I know two people who had BMW lemons and they went insane. One person had saved for a long time to get their dream car and it was just a total lemon and they were soooo upset. I guess when the BMW is a lemon it's like the worst - like not a subtle lemon but a hot mess.
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@gingerbebe: interesting. I'm just not impressed with Toyota. When I took it in first time they lectured me about what type of gas I was putting in (um, I'm not an idiot, I just bought car two months ago, I remember what you said) and then just reset the buttons without actually looking at the car.
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@BandDmommy: I would try another dealer - that is really shocking to me. I'm big on customer service so if my dealer blew me off like that I would speak to a manager and get pretty pissy. Also, no Sienna requires special gas!
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No luckily...but my 10 year old car is now giving me problems. Hope you figure it out!
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@gingerbebe: We don't care enough about having a Toyota to keep trying different dealerships. If the next repair fails it will be deemed a lemon and we will just get a different car.
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I owned a Toyota for 11 years that we bought used so it was 17 years old when we sold it. I never had any issues with it other than routine maintenance. The only reason we sold it was that it was a small 2 door car, and we wanted something bigger.
I drive a Hyundai now that we bought new 2 years ago. I have also never had any issues with this car.
It definitely sounds like you may have a lemon.
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When I was younger I leased a Saturn that was a lemon in every way except on paper. I had it 3 years and it was in the shop 24 times for everything from the engine mounts to reprogramming the computer several times to the seats staining whenever water got on them. Getting it officially deemed a lemon is hard. GM paid 2 payments on it for me for the inconvenience but I turned it in early and ate the cost.
All that to say if it's already having issues I would see about getting rid of it, instead of dealin with the constant stress and headaches.
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Ugh that stinks, hope someone's more helpful and willing to look into it! I'd totally go bonkers though.. I don't think people know they shouldn't mess with pregnant moms with other kids running around already lol!
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