2003 TOYOTA SEQUOIA Complaints

VSC/TRAC AND ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. DEALER SAID PROBLEM WAS O2 SENSOR. THEY REPLACED 02 SENSOR AND ALL LIGHTS CLEARED. AFTER ONE WEEK THE VSC0/TRAC LIGHTS CAME BACK ON AND THEY GO ON AND OFF EVERY TIME WE DRIVE THE TRUCK. DEALER SAID WE NEED TO REPLACE SKID CONTROL ECU. WE DECIDED NOT TO REPLACE THE UNIT BECAUSE OF 1800.00 COST. *TR

PURCHASED NEW IN 07/2003, ON 9/21/08, OUR SEQUOIA WITH ONLY 39,000 MILES HAD ITS VSC TRAC, VSC OFF, & ABS LIGHTS COME ON FOR NO APPARENT REASON. THERE WAS A BAD SENSOR AND A BAD ECU. WE LOCATED TSB.BR006-06 FOR THIS PROBLEM WHERE THE RECOMMENDED FIX IS REPLACEMENT OF THE SKID CONTROL COMPUTER BECAUSE OF A CHANGE IN THE SOFTWARE TO CORRECT THE PROBLEM. THIS IS A VERY EXPENSIVE PART. TOYOTA CUSTOMER SERVICE WOULD NOT HELP. MY DEALER WANTED $1,300 FOR THE ECU AND $330 FOR THE SENSOR, BUT I GOT THEM DOWN TO $940 FOR THE ECU AND $240 FOR THE SENSOR. AFTER TAX IT WAS ABOUT $1300, PLUS $255 FOR THREE HOURS OF LABOR. THIS IS CLEARLY, IN MY OPINION A SOFTWARE BUG, SINCE THE NEW ECU HAS A NEW PROGRAM AS STATED IN THE TSB. I'M PRETTY UPSET THAT A SOFTWARE BUG ISN'T A MANUFACTURING DEFECT, BUT THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE VEHICLE OWNER. I'M GOING TO APPROACH AN ATTORNEY TO START A CLASS ACTION ON THIS MATTER. HOPEFULLY, IT WILL BE WORTH THEIR CONTINGENCY. *TR

2003 TOYOTA SKID CONTROL COMPUTER, I AM WRITING TO REQUEST THAT A FORMAL COMPLAINT BE FILED TO TOYOTA. I RECENTLY TOOK MY CAR INTO MY LOCAL TOYOTA DEALERSHIP BECAUSE OF A FEW LIGHTS THAT WE ON IN MY DASH. THE SPECIFIC LIGHTS WERE THE VSC, VSC OFF AND THE ABS LIGHTS. AFTER DOING SOME RESEARCH I SEE THAT THIS IS A FAIRLY COMMON PROBLEM WITH TOYOTA AND THEIR SKID CONTROL COMPUTERS. THE PROBLEM IS THAT IT IS NOT COVERED UNDER THE POWERTRAIN WARRANTY AND IS A VERY EXPENSIVE PART TO HAVE REPLACED. MY QUOTE WAS FOR $1800 EXCLUDING TAX. I PURCHASED THE VEHICLE WITH 47,000 MILES AND WAS OFFERED AN EXTENDED WARRANTY UP TO 60,000, BUT IT WAS A VERY EXPENSIVE EXTENDED WARRANTY SO I DECIDED TO PASS. THE MANUFACTURES WARRANTY FOR MY CAR WAS 55,000 MILES I BELIEVE AND THE LIGHTS CAME ON AT 55,500 MILES....OF COURSE. I SINCERELY HOPE THAT THERE CAN BE SOME SORT OF RESOLVE FOR THIS SUCH AS A RECALL OF THE SKID CONTROL COMPUTER OR CHANGING THIS ISSUE TO BE COVERED UNDER THE POWER TRAIN SECTION OF THE WARRANTY AS IT IS UNFAIR FOR THERE TO BE SO MANY PEOPLE TO BE HAVING THE SAME PROBLEM AROUND THE SAME MILEAGE AND SOME OF THOSE PEOPLE HAVE SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES TO THE COMPUTERS MALFUNCTION SUCH AS ACCIDENTS AND POSSIBLE DEATH. PLEASE TAKE WHATEVER ACTION NECESSARY TO SOLVE THIS UNNECESSARY ISSUE. *TR

TOYOTA SEQUOIA 2003, VTRAC AND ABS LIGHTS CAME UP ON THE DASH DURING A VERY WET INTERSTATE TREK TO MICHIGAN FROM CALIFORNIA. HAD NO CRUISE CONTROL BEFORE THIS, THE CRUISE CONTROL FAILED THE YEAR BEFORE DURING THE SAME WET TREK ACROSS COUNTRY! THE TOYOTA DEALER IN SAGINAW MICHIGAN TOLD US THAT THE COMPUTER CONTROLLING THE VTRAC AND ABS WAS DISPLAYING FAULT CODES AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED, COST $1200. THIS IS A 5 YEAR OLD VEHICLE WITH 70K MILES ON IT NOW (THE FAULT HAPPENED AROUND 66K MILES) WHICH IS NOW MUCH HARDER TO HANDLE UNDER HEAVY BRAKING, WHICH WE NEED MORE AND MORE WITH THE LOW QUALITY DRIVERS OUT THERE. IF THE GAS PRICES WEREN'T SO HIGH, THIS TRUCK WOULD BE OUT OF HERE HERE, BUT WE CAN'T AFFORD TO SELL IT FOR THE CURRENT VALUE, AND BUY ANOTHER VEHICLE, SO THIS SUV WILL NOW BE LIMITED TO TRIPS WHERE WE NEED THE STORAGE/TOWING CAPACITY. SO, EVEN THOUGH WE HAVE 2 CARS, WE ONLY REALLY HAVE 1 1/2 NOW. *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 TOYOTA SEQUOIA. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE ABS/DSC WARNING LIGHT INTERMITTENTLY ILLUMINATED ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL. THE DEALER ASSURED THE CONTACT THAT THE ISSUE WAS NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT AND WAS NOT A BIG DEAL. THE ISSUE WAS LATER DISCOVERED TO BE A COMMUNICATION ERROR BETWEEN THE SKID CONTROL AND THE ECM. THE SERVICE DEALER STATED THAT THE ECM SHOULD BE REPLACED; HOWEVER, THE STEERING ANGLE ON THE VEHICLE WAS ALSO OFF AND A RE-CALIBRATION WAS PERFORMED. AFTERWARDS, WHILE DRIVING BETWEEN 30-40 MPH, THE CONTACT DEPRESSED THE BRAKE PEDAL AND HEARD A LOUD THUMPING NOISE. SHE FELT VIBRATIONS COMING FROM THE BRAKE PEDAL. WHILE SLOWING DOWN AND SWITCHING FROM BRAKING TO ACCELERATION, THE VEHICLE HESITATED TO ACCELERATE AND COASTED MOMENTARILY UNTIL REACHING FULL ACCELERATION. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 83,106 AND CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 99,000.

THE VEHICLE STABILIZATION CONTROL COMPUTE FAILED FOR THE SECOND TIME AND HAS TAKEN OUT MY ABS BRAKES. THE COMPUTER THAT CONTROLS IS HAS FAILED BOTH TIMES. *TR

VSC,TCS LIGHTS GO ON AFTER A NOISE COMING FROM RIGHT ANTERIOR WHEEL / ENGINE. LIGHTS STAY ON. *TR

ON 4 OCCASIONS DASH LIGHT INDICATING VSC AND BRAKE PROBLEM APPEARED. EACH TIME THE BRAKING OF THE 2003 TOYOTA SEQUOIA WAS COMPROMISED. EACH TIME THE TRUCK WAS BROUGHT TO TOYOTA SERVICE CENTER FOR REPAIR. EACH TOYOTA SAID THEY COULD NOT REPLICATE THE PROBLEM BUT REPLACED SKID COMPUTER ANYWAY. 8/20/08 PROBLEM RECURRED WITH DASH BRAKE INDICATOR LIGHT COMING ON. BRAKING AGAIN COMPROMISED, HEARD LOUD "CLUNKING SOUND" COMING FROM CAR WHILE DRIVING. IMMEDIATELY BROUGHT TO SCOTTSDALE TOYOTA SERVICE CENTER. AGAIN, SAID THEY COULD NOT REPLICATE PROBLEM AND RETURNED CAR WITH NO REPAIR. CALLED TOYOTA CUSTOMER SERVICE AND FILED A COMPLAINT. TOYOTA INDICATED COMPLAINT IS NOW ON RECORD. PROBLEM WITH DASH BRAKE LIGHT COMING ON AND BRAKING DIMINISHED RECURRED AGAIN 8/27/08. AFTER SHUTTING ENGINE OFF, INDICATOR NO LONGER LIT AND BRAKING BACK TO NORMAL. I FEAR FOR BOTH MY SAFETY AND MY FAMILIES. SIMPLE GOOGLE SEARCH INDICATES A LARGE NUMBER OF SEQUOIA OWNERS ARE HAVING THE SAME PROBLEM. *TR

TRACTION CONTROL LIGHT, SKID CONTROL LIGHT, ABS LIGHT AND CHECK ENGINE LIGHT ALL JUST CAME ON WHILE DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD. NO PREVIOUS PROBLEM NOTED. *TR

VEHICLE TRACTION CONTROL, VEHICLE SKID CONTROL, ANTI BRAKE SYSTEM LIGHTS HAVE COME ON CAUSING CONCERNS OF SAFETY FOR MY FAMILY. *TR