Hilux Auto Transmission Failure
At the start of 2016, whilst traveling from Brisbane to Adelaide, my 2008 Diesel Hilux, which had done 237,000km, suffered a complete failure of the Auto Transmission main bottom seal, 60kms North of Hay, NSW.
Fortunately the day was only 27c with a cool breeze blowing, because the oil blew out over the exhaust, causing heaps of smoke, but the vehicle did not catch on fire.
I had noticed that after numerous services at two Toyota dealers, there was no mention of servicing the transmission, so I asked the service departments why not and received the answer that it was “inspect” only, they did not even know how much oil the transmission used, one service manager even stating that if they serviced the transmission it would void my warranty.
It took over two weeks to get the transmission repaired, the cost was almost a week of holidays lost, $5,300 to get the transmission repaired, $1,000 for a hire car and a week of extra living costs in Hay, NSW.
I spoke to the Auto Transmission repairer, who confirmed what I believed, that if the transmission had been serviced at regular intervals and the oil changed, it would most likely have not failed.
My attempts to contact Toyota via email were all unsuccessful, it seems that Toyota do not want any written contact, only via telephone to a very unhelpful operator.
If anyone can advise me how I can contact Toyota via email, I would be grateful, thanks.
