Third Light Recall Question for Owners with Mold?

Took my 2016 in for the Third Light Recall and unfortunately I'm one of the unlucky owners with mold. While the dealership did give me a'22 Corolla to drive they had two other trucks there that had been waiting on parts for three months. Have any of you other recent "mold" folks gotten your trucks back or got any updates on parts? Thanks in advance.

 

Huh....... the dealer has customer trucks sitting there for MONTHS and you thought, hey why not let my truck sit there too? Are Camry's that cool that you didn't want the dealership to rescind their Camry offer?

Why wouldn't you ask the dealer to call you when they got parts in?

 

Greetings, got my truck back today and very happy! New carpet, padding and sound insulation, new car smell. A call to Toyota Customer Service, creating a case file with a Rep sped up the process. They were great to deal with.

Those who have not dealt with this issue don't understand the steps in the process when mold is found. Disassembly after the problem is found to get an idea of the extent. Then another company, ServPro in my case, has to treat the cab and it has to pass tests before the interior can be reassembled with the new components and reinstalled. All this, including their rental car is on Toyota's dime. I picked it up this morning, no charge what so ever. Work looks great! Toyota does NOT want you driving the truck with black mold in it. I'm inclined to agree. It's debatable but black mold is not good for you. I'm not sure if they would pay the dealership to reassemble it for me to drive, then start all over again when the parts did come in. And it needed to be there so ServPro could do their thing on their schedule. I'm told that process can take a couple of weeks.

If any of you are dealing with this and have any questions about my experience, I'm more than happy to "help".

 

Going to have to figure something out. My truck still smells like mold three weeks after getting it back. They did not get everything and my truck was sitting there for months.

 

Is is possible the adhesive is what you're smelling? Did you get the new carpet and insulation? I would not hesitate to call Toyota.

 

It took me three months to get my truck back, the wait was due to carpet underlayment (jute). They gave me a 2021 TR4 Premium that I almost didn't want to give back.

The strong chemical smell took about two weeks to dissipate and there are a lot more scratches on the interior pieces then there used to be. Every week I find a new one and try rubbing it away in case it's dirt, most of the time it isn't.

Although I'm glad to finally have my truck back I'll be getting a 4runner for the wife when inventories are better.

 

I wish. It smells exactly like how it did before I turned it in. I got new carpet and all that, but hard to say if they actually pulled all the seat covers and replaced the underpad. They said they did but who knows. Fog bombed it again and will wait a day.

One of the treatments even shorted out one of my speakers so I know they tried.

 

Wow, I came out pretty lucky looks like. The dealership that did the work on mine is one I've had bad experiences in the past with and had not done business with in a long time. They are my local dealer while the one I like to use is an hour's drive away. This light recall seemed to be a simple thing at first which is why I went local. I let the Shop manager know up front I'm a guitar and amplifier tech and as picky as they come. I asked who the tech was that was going to do the work and how good he was? And that I would be a pain in the ass if the job wasn't "Right". In the end I believe it was my case I opened with Toyota Corporate that reinforced that the job be well done. After one of their follow up calls from Corporate (yes they actually touched base with me a couple of times thru the process) I called the Shop manager who said, and not very happily, , that she has just gotten off the phone with them. But perhaps it was just luck of the draw and I'm thankful it came out well.

 

I put 5k miles on their new 4runner while I waited for my truck so it was a fair trade for a few scratches only I see.

 

Ugh i am dealing with this same issue.
Dealership says the replaced foam, but didnt replace the seat cover fabric?? why tf would you not replace the fabric. Def going to call coporate and try to get them to re do it. Any luck with pestering them about it? Ordering and retest on the mold , or an independent mold test to pressure them?

The bozos at the dealership also forgot to replace my cabin air filter when they rushed to put the truck back together. Dont go to prestige in kingston, Ny lmao.
I usually get all my dealer service done in western NC..great experiences in asheville .

 

Nothing yet. I am spraying everything myself today. I tried one of those ozone generators (borrowed from a detailer) and also the chlorine bombs. Worked for a bit and now it is back. Does not really smell that off, but after you get out you can smell it on your clothes and bags so its always there.

 

For what its worth I like to watch the Youtube channel Ammo- NYC.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoIdHKSjN3s

Starts at roughly the 20 minute marker.

He used a product called Simoniz Odor-out. Looks like some good stuff and might help with the mold and smell.

https://www.kleen-ritecorp.com/p-62547-simoniz-s6002006-odor-out-auto-deodorizer-kit.aspx

 

That stuff is really good. It got rid of all the smells. Unfortunately some mold exists somewhere because it came back. I am going to clean everything myself and demold it then try another one of those tablet systems because it was amazing until it came back.

 

Finally traced the problem. Dealership never cleaned underneath the sound proofing in the rear, which is dumb because obviously that is where the leak was. The contractor they use just sprays stuff all over the place, but you have to lift up the soundproofing rubber and get rid of all that mold. Toyota needs to update the TSB as it will never result in a full clean. I already had my storage bins removed or you would need to do that as well.

I cleaned and then sprayed whole truck with concorbium mole control spray. Ensure you get the rear vents well and underneath carpet and black rubber sound proofing. You need to spray all the way underneath the rear seat, you should remove them, but it can be done with them still in. Then shampoo cleaned all seats and cleaned interior. Then used star bite odor control bags which is similar to what someone linked above. It is a slow release of chloride which eliminates all smells. This only works if you got rid of the mold in previous steps or it will return.

 

Update:

After a grip of back and forth with Toyota corporate and (a different) dealership - the new dealership stripped the truck down again. Found the original dealership had not removed sound proofing in rear and there was still mold. (Similar to what Redempire found above I’m assuming?)

Idk if they are following Toyota protocol or what, but it didn’t seem very thorough to me. The Rep seemed to agree it wasn’t done properly so Thankfully round 2 is being covered by Toyota . Annoying to drive a Camry for a month but I feel validated at least.

 

Dealt with this BS with my f150 and why I got rid of it.

 

Question - Has this problem been sorted in later build years? Do I have a potential concern with my 2022?

Thanks

 

Always a potential but not a known concern

 

^ Thank-you. That’s why I avoided a sunroof to avoid leaks.
Anyone found a proactive approach to address this potential problem?

 

They apparently solved the problem on later years by sealing the 3rd brake light better (with the same circumferential seal that they put on the recall vehicles I believe). I had my 2017 done which kinda sucked since you have to take your topper off for them to do it.