His 2021 Toyota Highlander has low mileage, despite being five years old. The dealer was also able to replicate the problem and confirm that the transmission whine existed. That's pretty good -- as we'll see below, sometimes noise issues can be difficult to diagnose.
John writes on this Facebook post in the Toyota Highlander Owners Club.
Looks like I am getting a new transmission on my 2021 XLE AWD with 38k on it. Dealer confirmed the whine. Glad we got the Gold Certified warranty as they said it will be covered!
By covered, he means the factory warranty, which is five years/50,000 miles on powertrain. Even though the customer also purchased a Toyota Gold Certified warranty.
That particular program includes a 12-month/12,000-mile comprehensive warranty and 7-year/100,000-mile limited powertrain warranty.
So the powertrain, which includes the transmission, would fall within time and mileage limits -- for both the Gold Certified warranty and the original-equipment warranty. The original Facebook poster pointed out that he was being covered under the OEM warranty, even though the Gold Certified extended warranty would also apply.
Torque News Says, Work With Your Dealer And Tech
Tracking down noises can be frustrating. Sometimes a tech might not hear things the same way you do. And some of the more unscrupulous dealerships out there will try to deny warranty work, because customer pay jobs make more money for the shop and service writer -- and often, the tech, too.
Even the most honest shops will struggle to diagnose noise issues, as noted. Sometimes the problem might sound normal or be so faint that they're hard to hear.
But in this case, it appears that the customer was able to get the dealership to hear the noise, thus leading to the transmission being replaced under warranty.
It's not clear if the customer rode along with a technician and/or service writer, but sometimes riding along and pointing out the noise is a good way for customers to help a shop diagnose a problem.
Occasionally a dealership employee may need to take a car home, with permission, in order to hear the noise.
Once Again, Torque News Explores The Pros And Cons Of Extended Warranties
We've discussed this before, but the choice on whether to buy an extended warranty or not comes down to many factors. We've also discussed how car owners interested in an extended warranty might want to wait until the factory warranty before buying the extended warranty.
That's because some extended warranties begin on the date of purchase. So if you're purchasing a car with a 3-year/36,000-mile factory warranty on June 1 and you add on a five-year/50,000 extended warranty, that extended warranty only really covers two years.
That appears to be the case here. While our customer bought the Gold Certified warranty, and the car was within both the time and mileage limits for that, the factory warranty also still applied -- the customer was within five years (just barely) and well below the mileage limit.
While the customer is happy that the repair -- again, an extensive and expensive repair -- was covered by warranty, I think the customer should be happier that the dealer was able to identify the issue in the first place. No dealer is going to authorize a warranty repair that it's unable to diagnose, obviously.
Of course, as noted above, transmission repairs and/or replacements are very expensive, generally speaking, so the customer should be happy both that the dealership identified that there's a problem and will fix it, along with the fact that a warranty, in this case the OEM warranty, will cover the cost.
Although the factory warranty was at play here, the customer's purchase of an extended warranty shows that they can be valuable. Had the truck been just a little bit older, the customer would've needed the protection and coverage of the Gold Certified warranty.
Having to pay for a new transmission would be financially for a lot of people. Transmissions are generally expensive, and the labor involved in repairing or replacing one is also extensive -- and most dealers charge more than $100 an hour for labor.
So, we're happy for this customer for having this work done, and done without paying out of pocket.
About The Author
Tim Healey is an experienced automotive writer and editor from Chicago. He has covered automotive news at Consumer Guide Automotive, Web2Carz, AutoGuide, and was the managing editor at The Truth About Cars. Tim is a member of the Midwest Automotive Media Association. You can find him on Facebook, X/Twitter, and on LinkedIn.
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