Fred purchased a new 2007 Tundra from Manhattan Beach Toyota in Manhattan Beach California in February of 2007 – here’s his bed bounce story:

“By May or June I had taken my 1st freeway drive to Palm Spring, California and I was very concerned about this bouncing problem I experienced, so I contacted Toyota. They gave me a case number, said they were aware of the situation, and that they were working on a fix.

By September 2007 I had enough of waiting for Toyota, so I went to Manhattan Beach Toyota and spoke with the owner regarding this concern. Again, I got the same answer that Toyota had given me. I then asked about the dealership buying back my truck. Since I paid $27,000 out the door a few months ago, I figured I could get most of my money back. They told me that Toyota’s have high resale value when I bought the truck, so imagine my surprise when their offer for a 6-month-old truck was only $16,000!

I declined.

I then filed complaints with the State of California DMV, Department of Transportation, Department of Consumer Affairs, a Lemon Law Lawyer, and, after all of this work on my part, the official Toyota arbitration process was started.

Before the arbitration process was supposed to begin, I got a phone call from the Manhattan Beach Toyota service manager. He said ‘Man you have caused such a stir that Toyota wants to take your truck and video tape it on a test drive..they want to fix this problem ASAP and your vehicle is the one they want to use to document the issue and come up with a solution to correct the engineering problem.‘

My experience with Manhattan Beach Toyota was terrible – I caught them in a lie about driving and video taping my truck. They claimed that the truck was tested and video taped by a Toyota engineer, but that was all a lie. My truck didn’t move from the spot I parked it in – I spent most of the day watching my truck sit in it’s parking spot from just across the street. I followed the engineer when he tested the truck, but he never went on the highway and there was no camera.

Fast forward to the arbitration hearing in November. I present my case – all written correspondence, numerous complaints from the comments on TundraHeadquarters.com, as well as videos from this web site and others.

After I presented my case the arbitrator asked the Toyota rep ‘Do you have any response to his complaints?‘ She stated ‘No sir.‘ He then asked ‘Do you agree with the statements made by the owner of the vehicle?‘ The Toyota rep said that she did. The Arbitrator then asked ‘Can you fix his truck?‘, she stated “No sir, it is an engineering issue and Toyota has no fix as of yet.

The Arbitrator then asked ‘What about giving him a new vehicle?‘, and the Toyota representative stated that ‘All the Tundra models have the same problem and experience the same issues.‘

10 days later I got the decision from the Arbitration Board…DENIED… the finding are as follows:

“The position of the manufacturer [Toyota] representative is that the bouncing experienced at high speeds is somewhat unique to California freeways (concrete material). It occurs in all Tundras and is a function of the suspension/shocks…the vehicle is operating normally.”

So I sold my Tundra with 6,700 miles on it and bought a new 2008 Chevrolet Silverado Crew Cab 1/2 ton. It’s the first new Chevrolet truck that I have ever purchased and it is amazing. I get about 17 miles to the gallon, and there’s no bed bounce on the same roads that my Tundra couldn’t handle. I’m very pleased with this truck and would recommend it to any Toyota Tundra owner.

Toyota may have a stronger truck, but if you can’t ride in it with your family without having your guts getting tied in knots, what’s the point?

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