“You Win Some, And You Lose Some” (or Why You Should Never Buy a Toyota)

“You win some, and you lose some,” that’s what the General Manager of the Toyota dealership told me.

You see, on May 17, 2023, I brought my Toyota CH-R into the Toyota dealership for the recommended transmission service, prior to my girlfriend and I heading off on our summer camping road trip in July. I bought new tires, installed new brakes and rotors all around, a new battery, and the final piece of the puzzle was a transmission service.

Less than two weeks after this service, my transmission began making a grinding sound. It was faint at first but got increasingly louder.

I brought my vehicle back to Toyota for a diagnostic, which cost me an additional $170.00 for the shop to look at my vehicle, which they had just serviced, and tell me what was going wrong.

I was informed that I needed a new transaxle and torque converter, an $11,000 dollar job.

I will readily admit, I was in shock.

When I brought my car in for the initial transmission service, a salesperson left a written offer on my front seat, indicating that Newbold Toyota would purchase my vehicle for $15,250 dollars if I wanted to sell it to them.