2001 Toyota Sequoia V8 from North America

Summary:

Lemon?

Faults:

We just bought a 2001 Toyota Sequoia with 94,000 miles. Body is in beautiful condition.

We've had the car on week, already the check engine light has come on, and the mechanic said it has to do with bad exhaust system. Also, the engine makes a fluttering/ticking noise.

Did we get a lemon? Any one else having these problems?

General Comments:

Check engine light remains on due to bad exhaust system, per mechanic report.

Engine makes fluttering/ticking sounds immediately after starting the car, and throughout driving it, regardless of speed.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 18th April, 2010

18th Apr 2010, 15:15

A bad exhaust system, guess that means a new cat? Well then have the catalytic converter replaced.

The ticking noise could be a wide variety of things and can be hard to diagnose without actually hearing it. You may be hearing some valve noise, however, it could be something worse such as a rod bearing or main bearing (that's unlikely though. Those can usually be heard upon acceleration). It could be a little piston slap, which usually goes away as the engine reaches operating temperature. My suggestion is to have the "bad exhaust" replaced (I'm guessing your mechanic means the cat) and go from there.

You bought a 9 year old car with 94,000 miles (which I'm amazed at. That's pretty low mileage for a vehicle of that age) DO NOT EXPECT PERFECTION.

2001 Toyota Sequoia Limited V8 from North America

Summary:

VSC/TRAC Problems

Faults:

Around 65,600 miles, the VSC and TRAC lights came on intermittently, and now the lights constantly stay on, and have tripped the ABS and Brake lights.

I originally took it to the dealer where it was purchased, and they could not find any problems. Then it was taken back again for the check engine lights, and again the same complaint of VSC and TRAC lights coming on. Advised the only thing was found on the computer was O2 sensor in Bank 2 was bad.

Then I took it to another repair place, all the mechanic states is it reads low voltage on the computer.

Finally took it to the Toyota dealer, and they could not diagnose the problems. Since this has been going on for almost 1 year, now the Toyota dealer is telling us the VSC/TRAC computer needs to be replaced, which will cost 2000.00-3000.00.

Contacted the Toyota corp in CA - Will not assist in repairs. Why hasn't this been recalled?

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 12th January, 2009

14th Jun 2010, 13:56

Mine was doing that but it was only low on brake fluid.

14th Jun 2010, 17:00

"Contacted the Toyota corp in CA - Will not assist in repairs. Why hasn't this been recalled?"

Lots of luck. Toyota is not very good at servicing customer complaints. Our neighbors have had Toyota refuse to honor their warranty, and a local Toyota dealership has had lawsuits for defrauding their customers. Now with Toyota being forced to investigate vehicles dating back to 1991 I'd advise buying a safe and solid GM or Ford. We did. Our GM SUV just passed 80,000 with nary a problem. Not even a brake job yet.

16th Jun 2011, 17:44

Had similar issue with VSC trac lights never going off. Took it to my mechanic, and he cleaned the throttle body for 80 bucks and adjusted the idle -- problem solved.

2001 Toyota Sequoia Limited 4.7 V8 from North America

Summary:

I like the car

Faults:

I have experienced the TRAC light issue, won't go off. Also need to replace the damaged radio antenna. The dealer gave me a cost estimate to replace the antenna of about $450. The claim is that they have to remove the inner fender well to access the antenna. Can anyone verify this information?

I purchased the car out of state. The "one-owner" car-fax indicated that the previous owner had a lot of service done at the dealership in Florida. I went to my local dealer in Atlanta and asked if they could access the computer records of service performed by the Florida dealer. He told me he could not, however, he suggested that I call the dealer in Florida and request the records. He claimed that he did that on a regular basis when a customer requested the records of a previous owned vehicle... just block out the owner name. The Florida dealer refused.. cited the "privacy act"... give me a break... vehicles are protected by a "privacy act"??

So far I enjoy the vehicle, but I have brake noise when I stop in reverse, have the trac light issue and need to repair the radio antenna.

Guess I'll just have to hope that I can get the issues fixed.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 17th December, 2007