My 2nd Gear experience

[Steeps 294]

Instead of spamming the other thread I thought it would be better to have its own.

 

Gearbox in my GT86 was always a bit crunchy from new but I was assured at the time of purchase (1st follow up) that this would settle down and get smoother once broken in. About November time while having issues with the radio (another long post) I mentioned it again but the dealer once again dismissed any issues and assured me the car was within spec and it wasn't a fault. In February the car went back in for the 4th attempt to get the radio replaced and they supposedly replaced the gearbox oil and adjusted the clutch (but later denied the clutch)... This made it worse.

 

Instead of being very crunchy it is now not possible to downshift to 2nd (and 1st) unless approaching a complete stop or until the engine had warmed up. Car went back in to have its linkages adjusted but again it made no improvement. At least I had the joys of borrowing an Aygo for this session. Towards the end of February I got Toyota Finance involved who according to the dealer when selling me the car were supposed to be on "my side" if there were any issues and warranty work, as it is in their interest to have a fully working car on their books.

 

Emails started going between TGB, Toyota Finance and the dealer. I noticed talking between all of them that they kept leaving details out in their communication with eachother, be it works attempted, suggestive approaches or just ignoring what had been said. At this time their approach was to loan me another GT86 to test to see if I got on better with another car, to create a benchmark. It was suggested that I should contact another dealer to see how they would handle this situation but when I mentioned another dealer was involved they refused to look at my car unless TGB gave them permission. What was really frustrating at this point is the dealer had told TGB that my car was within factory tolerances and there was no fault, so more emails had to be fired off that I was not happy with the condition or the communication.

 

At the end of March another GT86 was finally sourced, and it was night and day the difference. From cold the gearbox felt firm and there was only a hint of a notch a couple of times, no crunching, no blocked gears and it felt just right. Once warmed up it was smooth all the way through. If it wasn't for the fact the car was previously owned by a heavy smoker I would have considered taking a hit on the age (5 months older), mine still has the new car smell at 9 months old.

 

2 Weeks later (now) my car is back in for someone from TGB to give it a test, with such a difference between the stock cars it must be possible to adjust or replace components to make the experience better while still keeping the warranty. Unfortunately the weather is now a lot warmer than the previous times it was in the garage so I don't have much faith in the Toyota engineer to describe it as a fault, as it clears up quicker than before.

 

I am not willing to accept this being a "characteristic of the car" because the one I borrowed over a long weekend didn't have these issues. Will keep on pushing until mine is fixed, a replacement provided or a refund. This thread is only a summary of what's happened, with a huge trail of emails, call logs and dealer trips in between.

[Keethos 842]

I really do hope you get this sorted cos this is just not on....I'd be absolutely livid.  Just a quick question, when your at high revs, do you get an buzzing from the gear stick?  There is a notice in to have the gear stick replaced or a section of it placed to get this fixed, maybe see if they can get that done first, see if that will help at all (probably not but see if they're willing to do so as I've been told that there's an official notice to have these replaced or something along those lines).

[Steeps 294]

I am livid, but shouting and yelling at people who rarely have the power to take action doesn't usually help diffuse a situation. Having the post on the forum detailing exactly what has happened at each step as it happens has been a fantastic log and they are supposedly taking my issue more seriously than if I was to sit inside their showroom ranting at them. It is annoying that it's taken months to look into these issues. At least now I'm getting GT86 courtesy cars instead of Aygos which I didn't insist on.

 

Can't say I've noticed a buzzing, the car doesn't usually get to high revs due to a fair bit of peak time driving and a lack of overtaking space, I'll see if I can make some space on the road on the way home tonight in the courtesy car. I don't want to do any evening testing as I want the gearbox to be cold in the morning to see if this one has a better 2nd or not.

[Lauren 2259]

Just out of interest what is your mileage?

 

Mine is still a bit reluctant to go from third to second when it's cold and in cold weather at 35K miles. But it's always fine after a few minutes driving. 

[Steeps 294]

Mileage is just under 9k, but the one I borrowed that had no issues had only 12k on it. Each day I have between 4-8 places depending on traffic within the first 4 miles where 2nd is the best gear (parked cars, mini roundabouts, blind junctions, crossings etc) and over the "winter" it struggled at all of them, I'm concerned that if we had a real winter it would be far worse.

[CHOSENMAN007 81]

You keep pushing mate. I feel for you. Your well within your rights. Just a thought why not just go to another more Forum friendly dealer. Ie rrg or jemca toyota they help out a lot of us who have tuned cars. I'm sure they will not leave you cold especially on a full stock car. car.either way if its tuned or not your trans is stock so they must sort it out. Hell i had a squeek from my fuel pump. , twice. West over toyota changed it no questions asked not even a bat of a eye lid. Sounds to me you just have a main dealer issue. Shop around, as a toyota owner you can go to any dealer for work. give it a go. Just a pity you have to go else where. Write in to Toyota UK. I'm sure they will sort out your local dealer plus comp.name and shame.

[Steeps 294]

 Write in to Toyota UK. I'm sure they will sort out your local dealer plus comp.name and shame.

 

Half the problem is Toyota UK, I've sent them emails about work being done and they're only passing on half messages then believing the dealer when they say work is being done... then forget to relay messages back to me.

 

Should hopefully hear back about their latest findings today, luckily it was cold overnight so I hope they get to test it this morning. As for this week's courtesy car, it felt really tail happy on the dualcarriageway last night and I nearly lost it on a roundabout. On the way to work this morning the TC was constantly working around the sweeping corners on a NSL road. There's a pair of Nexen N8000's on the back!

[CHOSENMAN007 81]

Sounds fun. The car is mega tail happy. All good but I tamed that by putting on Dunlop sportmaxx rt's on. They are a very soft compound tire and work awesome. No more uncontrolled slides. I slide when I want her to now with provocation. : ) that's the way I like it. The Dunlop's are not dear either.

[CHOSENMAN007 81]

If anything when you do get your car back and if you do need further work gobto a forum friendly dealer mate. Much better. As for Toyota UK they are doing nothing wrobd thus far as they can only work with what the dealer feeds them. But keep pushing. Call them everyday and ask for situation reports. Ask to speak to the mechanic in person that is working on your car bud. I feel for you as I can imagine how you feel. As for me total opposite, great relationship with my local dealership.

[Steeps 294]

Bad news for all those suffering from dodgy gearboxes.

TGB have confirmed that my car is "within specification" and there is no fix or adjustment that they are willing to provide to fix a non-issue which I think is very poor service considering the varying levels and issues others are having with this, especially when just a couple of weeks ago they loaned me a car which had none of those issues.

However because of how long this has gone on for and "to keep the customer happy", as I was fortunate enough to find a car with a suitable gearbox still owned by the dealer they have offered to swap my gearbox for the one from that car. If I still have issues after the swapout I will be rejecting the car. I can't believe that being unable to select a gear fairly critical for town driving is considered acceptable.

[Keethos 842]

Dude, that sucks big hair....you knows what.....I'm glad to hear that the dealer is on your side and is helping you out with a possible solution but I can't believe TGB thinks that this is acceptable.  With the amount of people complaining about this same issue over on the other forum and I assume on the FT86 forum too, that Toyota would accept that this is a problem and actually look into it....have the others on the other forum not complained to their dealers and directly to TGB at all?

[Steeps 294]

Got the car back from the dealer last night, left it 12 hours to cool down.

 

Instantly there's a difference, this morning just 200 yards I had to stop at a crossing, straight into second and straight into first. It had the usual stiffness I would expect with the gearbox being cold however it didn't fail to select/block me changing which the issue was with the last one. No crunching either.

 

The real test will be when the weather is cold again, but as the last one crunched even when warm I can't see it being an issue.

[rob275 1817]

They still shouldn't of given you 2nd hand parts... But at least it's sorted I guess

[Keethos 842]

Glad it's kinda sorted for you mate, hopefully it'll be smooth sailing from now on but still, that's a bit pants them not actually replacing it for new as this will only pass the problem onto the next owner of the car they took it from

[Steeps 294]

I agree it sucks that the only solution offered was a pre-loved gearbox, but it also highlights that Toyota themselves don't have any confidence in the product when they wouldn't issue a new one because it might be better or worse than mine. Again back to the radio situation, this should have been done straight away instead of being fobbed off with excuses, that's what annoys me more than it being second hand. There is a clear difference between the gearboxes and it should have been replaced from the start.

 

When working in retail we used to issue warranty replacements using DSR stock because quite often we couldn't sell the DSR stock as new due to boxes/packaging being opened. In fairness the GT86 that donated its gearbox they would struggle to sell anyway in its current condition due to the really strong smoker smell, hopefully for any future customer they will find a suitable adjustment for the gearbox while airing it out themselves.

 

I'm going to try and get a copy of all the reports, videos that they have made and keep a complete file of the issue so I have both sides, rather than just my own evidence.