Rel repair timeline

[Jud]

40 minutes ago, wgscott said:

I love the idea of actives, and someday I will, but it looks like I am going to be auditioning cars first.

 

 

 

Gack.

 

Wonder what the Consumer Reports frequency of repair records show about Sienna transmissions; and also whether there are any recall notices out about this (they aren't well publicized).  If there are, it might not get you a new tranny at this point, but it could result in "consideration" from the dealer if you talked to him or went up the line at Toyota USA Western Region a step or two.

[wgscott]

To my knowledge, there aren't. (I've kept close tabs on the recalls).  It has a very good repair record.  https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/toyota/sienna

 

 

[Jud]

37 minutes ago, wgscott said:

To my knowledge, there aren't. (I've kept close tabs on the recalls).  It has a very good repair record.  https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/toyota/sienna

 

 

 

OK, so no recalls.  The annual car issue (April) shows detailed frequency of repair records by year and system, so it would show if there was any trouble with transmissions specifically that model year, even if overall the repair record was very good.  Without a recall, though, that won’t help much (except to show you what specific systems might have problems in the most recent model years of whatever vehicle you’re considering now).

[wgscott]

Stopped working completely.  I managed to donate what remains of it to a charity.  So that is that.  Maybe I should ask them if they want a partially incinerated subwoofer, too.

 

I'm a huge fan of Consumer Reports.  Thanks.

[esldude]

https://www.truedelta.com/

 

This is a much better than usual site for car reliability and repair information.  Sign up for a free account to get even better access, but even without that it is a useful site.

[esldude]

I can vouch for these working pretty good in some friend's AV systems.  Cheap enough to get two.

 

https://www.parts-express.com/dayton-audio-sub-1200-12-120-watt-powered-subwoofer--300-629

 

Take high level input from the main amp or from RCA line inputs.  The larger and smaller size also have good reps. 

[Jud]

2 hours ago, esldude said:

https://www.truedelta.com/

 

This is a much better than usual site for car reliability and repair information.  Sign up for a free account to get even better access, but even without that it is a useful site.

 

Very nice site.  Good detailed information about where you can expect to see problems arise with your particular model.  (Assuming Bill's Sienna was 2010 model year or older, it looks like he was part of the "lucky" 13% of all problems/repairs that involved transmission and drivetrain for those Siennas.)  What I don't see, at least at a glance, that Consumer Reports has is a quick, convenient assessment of whether the number/percentage of cars having problems with a particular system is better or worse than the average for all cars.  You can get to something close indirectly by noting that the Sienna has a very good repair record overall, and only 13% of all problems were with transmission and drivetrain.

 

It would also be interesting to know how many people's records go into Consumer Reports' stats versus True Delta's, and what the demographics look like for each (which is a truer cross section of all owners?).

[esldude]

6 minutes ago, Jud said:

 

Very nice site.  Good detailed information about where you can expect to see problems arise with your particular model.  (Assuming Bill's Sienna was 2010 model year or older, it looks like he was part of the "lucky" 13% of all problems/repairs that involved transmission and drivetrain for those Siennas.)  What I don't see, at least at a glance, that Consumer Reports has is a quick, convenient assessment of whether the number/percentage of cars having problems with a particular system is better or worse than the average for all cars.  You can get to something close indirectly by noting that the Sienna has a very good repair record overall, and only 13% of all problems were with transmission and drivetrain.

 

It would also be interesting to know how many people's records go into Consumer Reports' stats versus True Delta's, and what the demographics look like for each (which is a truer cross section of all owners?).

If you sign up, almost everything gets a green to yellow to red graph.  With average marked and whether something is above or below average for that statistic.

 

They also give details on how many reports things are based upon including sometimes saying we don't have enough. 

 

As for the cross section, almost all review or reporting sites for such things are going to have more angry people who were unlucky letting everyone know than is proportional.  True delta has you sign up with your car or cars.  Asks you to spend a couple minutes reporting on anything that happened in the last three months.  That probably reduces people who are angry and go report their problems.  Most reporting didn't sign up to report something.  They just signed up to take part over a longer time period.  You update very quarter or if you wish whenever you have a repair occur. 

 

The main thing is it isn't automated in some way so it likely keeps participation rates low.  The more who use it the better results will be of course.

[Jud]

1 hour ago, esldude said:

If you sign up, almost everything gets a green to yellow to red graph.  With average marked and whether something is above or below average for that statistic.

 

They also give details on how many reports things are based upon including sometimes saying we don't have enough. 

 

As for the cross section, almost all review or reporting sites for such things are going to have more angry people who were unlucky letting everyone know than is proportional.  True delta has you sign up with your car or cars.  Asks you to spend a couple minutes reporting on anything that happened in the last three months.  That probably reduces people who are angry and go report their problems.  Most reporting didn't sign up to report something.  They just signed up to take part over a longer time period.  You update very quarter or if you wish whenever you have a repair occur. 

 

The main thing is it isn't automated in some way so it likely keeps participation rates low.  The more who use it the better results will be of course.

 

Thanks.  Looks like a good source of information.

[wgscott]

Like the Rel, the Toyota performed really well until very near the end (2004 model obtain in late 2003, 185K miles).  

 

Unlike the Rel, I didn't have to first buy a lemon that failed twice and throw a fit to get a replacement unit.

 

Unlike the Rel, I got 14 years out of it (almost 5X warranty lifespan, vs. 1.25 X warranty lifespan).  

 

Unlike the Rel, the car didn't catch fire and emit a toxic stench in my house.

 

Unlike the Rel, I think I might have hastened its demise by driving it down steep hills in 3rd gear.