The news is spreading among frustrated owners who are being told no to their used Toyota Tundra trade-in due to the engine recall. Dealers are saying thanks, but no thanks.
All of this relates to the machining debris recall affecting 100k+ Tundra and Lexus LX600 vehicles.
[Related post: Toyota Tundra engine recall investigation details revealed]
Dealers turning down Toyota Tundra trade-ins
Owners are starting to encounter this trend and are reporting issues on Facebook groups, popular forums like Tundras.com, and in our inbox.
Joe Pichette sent us an email stating he was done with the Tundra after numerous attempts to have a bed-knocking issue addressed and after several recalls. He wanted to trade in the truck for a 2024 GMC AT4X.
His local dealer, Castle Automotive Group in McHenry, Illinois, said thanks, but no thanks on the trade-in writing in an email.
“Unfortunately that is not something we are currently interested in taking on trade or purchasing. There have been a few owners on the Carfax but more importantly, there are two severe recalls that do not yet have a remedy,” Jonathan Speaker, Brand Ambassador for the dealer told him via an email shared with us from Pichette.
Another owner, Jesus Varelas, responded to my query on Facebook and said, “yeah I was first offered 50k but I was trying to get more for it so they were trying to wholesale to others dealers. Then they were informed about the recalls and they decided they didn’t want it after all.”
Tundras.com forum member PaulPhilly had a similar issue with a dealer and responded to my request for information on this issue.
“I called a Toyota dealer late last week and actually spoke to the GM about a used ‘20 Land Cruiser. God as my witness, his response was ‘I’m not interested in buying your Tundra.’ He did recommend I try Carmax, Carvana, and a private sale. I said I would lose trade tax credit that way. But, he wouldn’t budge and stood firm. He had absolutely no interest in my ‘24 Pro built 3/24. I suspect this trend will aggressively get worse in the upcoming days/weeks Tim.”
Notably, the 2024 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro isn’t part of the safety recall since it only affects gasoline-only engine trucks. The iForce Max hybrid engines don’t lose full power when the engine stalls allowing them to use the battery power to keep “motive power” per the recall.
There is a growing concern among owners that hybrids will eventually be included in the recall.
Several owners said they were able to trade-in their trucks before the recall was announced.
Why don’t dealers want them?
The simple answer is they don’t want to sit on them for months since a fix hasn’t been announced.
Dealerships are required by law to fix all open recalls on certified pre-owned vehicles prior to selling them.
These means dealers taking Tundras on for trade either have to wholesale them to another business interested in taking them in. And if that doesn’t work, they would have to sit on them until the recall work has finished.
Owners can sell the trucks privately if they can find a potential buyer. With Carfax reports showing the recall and the internet, that seems to be a long shot.
The bottom line
Unfortunately, these 2022-2023 Toyota Tundra owners are in a pickle. They can’t get rid of them and they don’t know what the fix may entail.
They are also stuck wondering about how the recall will affect their resale value.
Finally, and probably the most worrisome part, is they don’t know if, when or where their truck could end up on a flatbed tow truck with a bad engine.
