Toyota To Give Guy New Tundra

[L84Cabo]

Pretty cool story. Guy in the Paradise fire used his Tundra to rescue himself and others. And the truck looks pretty crispy. But Toyota has offered to replace it for him.



Camp Fire: Toyota offers hero nurse replacement truck

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[clearconscience]

I was just reading this. Good on Toyota.

 

[Mister Bisley]

Some people would pay a lot of money for a custom paint job like that

That's pretty cool of Toyota, but wouldn't his insurance cover this?

 

[v0lcom13sn0w]

that looks pretty cool anyway...

 

[po18guy]

He needs the vanity plate "FEARTHIS"

 

[P7M13]

Having received a free vehicle from Toyota, they're pretty cool.
They will sell many, many more trucks just because of this.
If that was my scorched rig, it would stay that way.

 

[RicInOR]

Meet the 'badass nurse' who drove his Toyota pickup truck BACK INTO PARADISE to rescue patients

 

[Oregonhunter5]

And now you know why I love my Toyotas. Had 4 tundras. 3 land cruisers. Several 4 runners. Many Camry's. Many SR5 pickups.
Currently driving a 2017 tundra.
Love my FJ 40's.

Toyota always treats people right. Dodge? Ford? Um no!!

 

[Stomper]

Y'all aren't considering one VERY important factor in all of this... he'll get hit with having to pay a gift tax on it.... fact.

 

[parallax]

If it were me. I would drive it the way it is. Just to show people how tough a Toyota is

 

[Mister Bisley]

Y'all aren't considering one VERY important factor in all of this... he'll get hit with having to pay a gift tax on it.... fact.

That's why I would just let my insurance handle it, assuming he has comprehensive coverage. That's why they get paid the big bucks.

I agree though, I would leave it, minus repairing the melted mirror

 

[Oregonhunter5]

TAKE IT.
And submit insurance claim
Wife gets one of the new ones

 

[L84Cabo]

And now you know why I love my Toyotas. Had 4 tundras. 3 land cruisers. Several 4 runners. Many Camry's. Many SR5 pickups.
Currently driving a 2017 tundra.
Love my FJ 40's.

Toyota always treats people right. Dodge? Ford? Um no!!

I can personally attest to the fact that they do not. And this is coming from a guy that has owned Toyotas since he was 16. I'm 52 now and drive a Tacoma daily.

Several years back I had a 4WD Tacoma (way before they started calling it a Tacoma). The thing had a vibration in the driveline they could never figure out. It was diagnosed by multiple experts. Toyota's service people knew it was there. Because we drove the truck together. They felt it. They heard it. They tried to fix it. They couldn't.

It took me a full year, an attorney, and lemon law arbitration to get Toyota to step up. And here's what is most telling about the process...

It took me a year to get into arbitration with lots of hoops to jump through. Once in arbitration Toyota's attorneys asked me what I wanted. I said simply for them to take the truck back and refund my money. We were done in 10 minutes. No haggling or fussing at that point. All the hoops and all the crap they made me jump through for an entire year were purely to see if I had the stomach to go the distance.

That is not a company that does right by people. Not when they absolutely knew there was a problem. And on something like this we're way past the dealer level. I was working directly with their corporate people. And they were all about saying "no" at every turn.

I get that everyone makes a lemon from time to time. Overall I still believe in Toyota's quality which is why I still buy them. I do not, however, have any illusions about Toyota doing the right thing. Which is why it was so nice to see them do this for the guy. He absolutely deserves it.

BTW...when I got my money back I bought another Toyota 4WD. At 84K miles the oil pump seized up and shot a connecting rod through the engine block. It's pretty rare for oil pumps to go out like that at 84K. At least in Toyotas. The dealer hooked me up with the repairs. They didn't cover it for free since it was out of warranty. But the dealer did ok.

The current Tacoma has 95K miles on it. And all I've ever done is change the oil and spark plugs. Ya get good ones and not so good ones. The dealers will usually try to work with you on stuff...up to the point that you want your money back. Then you may be in for a battle. And once you get up to the corporate level, definitely expect a battle.

Your mileage may vary.

 

[No_Regerts]

Some people would pay a lot of money for a custom paint job like that

That's pretty cool of Toyota, but wouldn't his insurance cover this?

"Battleworn"

 

[L84Cabo]

TAKE IT.
And submit insurance claim
Wife gets one of the new ones

Ya know...that's a really interesting point. I know sometimes people have two insurance policies from different companies on things. And in those cases what usually happens is that the policy holder doesn't have to pay the deductible and the insurance companies work out the rest between themselves.

But this isn't another insurance company. Surely this guy is entitled to collect on his policy under the law, no?

There is also clearly some after market stuff on that rig that isn't Toyota. So if any of that is damaged he should certainly be able to get that covered too and be made whole. Which is great.

 

[P7M13]

And now you know why I love my Toyotas. Had 4 tundras. 3 land cruisers. Several 4 runners. Many Camry's. Many SR5 pickups.
Currently driving a 2017 tundra.
Love my FJ 40's.

Toyota always treats people right. Dodge? Ford? Um no!!

Rented a Tundra on one of my trips to Idaho, we were going up inclines that quads couldn't handle. The tires sucked (two flats), but that truck sure could deliver!
Recently bought a FJ80 with 283K miles and I love it. Except for the 10mpg, that is....

Y'all aren't considering one VERY important factor in all of this... he'll get hit with having to pay a gift tax on it.... fact.

Gotta pay for that sanctuary state shizzle somehow....

 

[Camelfilter]

Ya know...that's a really interesting point. I know sometimes people have two insurance policies from different companies on things. And in those cases what usually happens is that the policy holder doesn't have to pay the deductible and the insurance companies work out the rest between themselves.

But this isn't another insurance company. Surely this guy is entitled to collect on his policy under the law, no?

There is also clearly some after market stuff on that rig that isn't Toyota. So if any of that is damaged he should certainly be able to get that covered too and be made whole. Which is great.

It'd be pretty unusual for insurance to cover aftermarket *anything*, unless you specify such in the policy.

And yah, if somebody gifts the guy 100 pickup trucks, has nothing to do with his insurance covering that one.

 

[Oregonhunter5]

I can personally attest to the fact that they do not. And this is coming from a guy that has owned Toyotas since he was 16. I'm 52 now and drive a Tacoma daily.

Several years back I had a 4WD Tacoma (way before they started calling it a Tacoma). The thing had a vibration in the driveline they could never figure out. It was diagnosed by multiple experts. Toyota's service people knew it was there. Because we drove the truck together. They felt it. They heard it. They tried to fix it. They couldn't.

It took me a full year, an attorney, and lemon law arbitration to get Toyota to step up. And here's what is most telling about the process...

It took me a year to get into arbitration with lots of hoops to jump through. Once in arbitration Toyota's attorneys asked me what I wanted. I said simply for them to take the truck back and refund my money. We were done in 10 minutes. No haggling or fussing at that point. All the hoops and all the crap they made me jump through for an entire year were purely to see if I had the stomach to go the distance.

That is not a company that does right by people. Not when they absolutely knew there was a problem. And on something like this we're way past the dealer level. I was working directly with their corporate people. And they were all about saying "no" at every turn.

I get that everyone makes a lemon from time to time. Overall I still believe in Toyota's quality which is why I still buy them. I do not, however, have any illusions about Toyota doing the right thing. Which is why it was so nice to see them do this for the guy. He absolutely deserves it.

BTW...when I got my money back I bought another Toyota 4WD. At 84K miles the oil pump seized up and shot a connecting rod through the engine block. It's pretty rare for oil pumps to go out like that at 84K. At least in Toyotas. The dealer hooked me up with the repairs. They didn't cover it for free since it was out of warranty. But the dealer did ok.

The current Tacoma has 95K miles on it. And all I've ever done is change the oil and spark plugs. Ya get good ones and not so good ones. The dealers will usually try to work with you on stuff...up to the point that you want your money back. Then you may be in for a battle. And once you get up to the corporate level, definitely expect a battle.

Your mileage may vary.

That's a tough thing to go through. Sucks! I guess I should say Toyota is better to deal with than the big American companies. I worked for Lexus in high school and college, and they always did the right thing with clients. Owned a few also.