This Tacoma Has Been at The Toyota Dealer for 2 Months, and We Just Can't Believe Nobody Else Has Come To This Dealership With The Same Exact Problem

A Toyota Tacoma has been at the dealership for two months with what be a simple problem with a simple solution -- and both the owner and other Toyota Tacoma owners following the story are confused. We are too, as the problem seems so simple.

2023 Toyota Tacoma driving in the mountains

May 19, 2026 - 8:34PM EDT
By: Tim Healey

It's a bit hard to make out the entire story, due to the poster's poor grammar (we'll do what we can to fix it), but it appears that a "check charging system" warning came up on this Toyota Tacoma owner's truck and it stayed at a dealership for two months.

A few commenters suggest that this is just the normal warning light that comes on whenever the key is turned to the accessory position. It's unclear what year the truck is, though the story is being told in an owners' group for 2016-2023 Toyota Tacomas. It's unclear if the truck has keyless starting or not.

The owner says that technicians have replaced the ECU, ECM, and a push-button ignition switch (so maybe it is a truck with keyless starting), and that a wiring harness might be next, but the service adjuster wants to try re-keying the truck first.

The frustrated owner then suggests he's ready to sell the Tacoma, but the dealership is telling him to make sure it's running first, for maximum recall video.

Finally, the owner admits that Toyota is paying for the work, but he still wants his truck fixed so he can drive it, especially since its been the shop for so long. He's also shocked no other Tacoma owner have had a similar problem.

Here's What Torque News Found Happened

You can read the whole post below. Be warned the sentences are missing periods and other grammatical necessities. Sic'd throughout.

Mark Ruble writes in the 2016 Thru 2023 Toyota Tacoma Owners group on Facebook:

Well my truck has been at the Toyota dealer for 2 months now for a simple check charging system that came up on my dashboard so far they have put a ECU and ECM a whole new push button ignition and now they want to do a wiring harness the adjuster came in and told them before they do the wiring harness he wants them to rekey the truck with 2 new keys and try that first I would like to just trade the truck in at this point so I can get a truck back into my life and they're telling me that they need to get it running for my truck to have a decent trade-in value and the way I look at it what's going on with it shouldn't affect the value of my truck because this isn't my problem they're the ones that can't find out what's wrong with it.. I mean it's not costing me any money they said Toyota is taken care of the entire bill I just can't believe that nobody else has come to this Toyota dealer with the same exact problem and have had to wait this long to get their truck back

As noted, some commenters thought maybe there was nothing wrong with the truck.

"Doesn’t that message come up when you’re in the accessories screen and the truck isn’t started? That’s it way of telling you don’t kill the battery and fire it up," one said.

On the other hand, maybe the message isn't something normal. Another commenter seemed to suggest that the message pops up as a software glitch.

"My 2017 TRD 250k mile has had the message in ACC mode since day 1. Software glitch doesn't cause any problem. Why is the dealer swapping parts?" he asks.

2017 Toyota Tacoma towing a small trailer

Torque News' Perspective

Torque News is obviously not in a position to diagnose this particular truck's issue, but we can understand the frustration of a customer who has had his truck in the shop for two months. Especially if it's unclear if the issue that caused the customer to bring the truck in in the first place may actually not be an issue at all.

What we can tell you is that doing research online before you drop your vehicle off -- or sometimes after -- can help. There are lots of forums out there for each make and model that can help.

What's more confounding is that no one else has brought their Tacoma to that dealership with the same problem -- it seems that others have encountered the issue.

We hope this Tacoma owner gets an answer soon. Have you been in a similar situation? Tell us in the comments below please.

P.S. Not every Tacoma story is like this. We also have good stories about Toyota Tacoma. For example: Discover why one lifelong Toyota fan insists he'll never own anything but a Tacoma again, and see if his story matches your own truck experience

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.