Thinkin Of A T-sport, What Probs?

[danno]

Hi all, thinkin of a t-sport but I understand there are a lot of gearbox problems?

How many have had any probs and how many havent?

Also any other issues to look out for?

Cheers for the input :D

[Panners]

Problems appparent with mine after 9 months:

Constant VSC warning lights

Radio hanging out of dash

Electric window switch trim popping out on passenger side front door

Seat adjuster handle fell off after the first week

Rear caliper slides moved and were grinding against the disc (dealer charged for this!)

No gearbox problems so far, but that doesn't stop me from trying...

[MikkyB]

I've got one of the very first Tsports on a 51 plate, so I would expect some of these issues to be fixed in later revisions:

- Clunky gear change 1st to 2nd when cold - not really too bad

- When accelerating in first, second or third, backing off without depressing clutch causes a mechanical clanking noise - took it to a dealer and an independant, both said not to worry about it

- Window trim issues, still seals properly, but if you were picky it might annoy you - dealer fixed for free on my previous T3

- Radio doesnt fit flush with dashboard during summer - probably my biggest greivance, can be fixed but not cheap, annoying, but it doesnt make any noise so not too bad, cant help but point it out to my passengers though

Thats it really - too many positives to list :D

[K19NE G]

Problems appparent with mine after 9 months:

Constant VSC warning lights

Radio hanging out of dash

Electric window switch trim popping out on passenger side front door

Seat adjuster handle fell off after the first week

Rear caliper slides moved and were grinding against the disc (dealer charged for this!)

No gearbox problems so far, but that doesn't stop me from trying...

Had the dash issue from this list... and VSC, TRC, EM lights coming on but that was due to the induction kit for which I got a fix...

I've got one of the very first Tsports on a 51 plate, so I would expect some of these issues to be fixed in later revisions:

- Clunky gear change 1st to 2nd when cold - not really too bad

- When accelerating in first, second or third, backing off without depressing clutch causes a mechanical clanking noise - took it to a dealer and an independant, both said not to worry about it

- Window trim issues, still seals properly, but if you were picky it might annoy you - dealer fixed for free on my previous T3

- Radio doesnt fit flush with dashboard during summer - probably my biggest greivance, can be fixed but not cheap, annoying, but it doesnt make any noise so not too bad, cant help but point it out to my passengers though

Thats it really - too many positives to list :D

Same again - none of these issues except the dashboard one...

Hi all, thinkin of a t-sport but I understand there are a lot of gearbox problems?

How many have had any probs and how many havent?

Also any other issues to look out for?

Cheers for the input :D

Had the brake disks skimmed and hubs cleaned under warranty @ 4.5k, the auxiliary belt tensioner replaced under warranty @ 8k, the dash trim fix done under warranty @ 5k, the gearbox seals and bearings replaced under warranty @ 13k and that's it.

[T Sport 1978]

Hi all, thinkin of a t-sport but I understand there are a lot of gearbox problems?

How many have had any probs and how many havent?

Also any other issues to look out for?

Cheers for the input :D

I have an 03 reg 5dr T Sport and i love it.

Problems.

1. Breaks - Constant squealing and grinds. (Changed front discs and pads under warranty)

2. Bonnet Catch - Will not release bonnet. (Fixed under warranty)

3. Slight lost in LIFT Cam power - Lift goes missing at 6200rpm or weak lift. (Fixed by using better fuel)

Positives.

1. No gear box problem for me (Fingers crossed)

2. Always starts first time.

3. The car operates and sounds the same as from day one i had it, and it sounds great.

4. Very frugal if you drive it and dont bend it (38mpg with Optimax).

5. Tremendous fun when you do bend it!

6. Performances are under quoted on paper, real life is much better.

7. Relatively cheap on insurance

8. Very well spec-ed.

9. My 5dr is very versatile.

[danno]

Cheers for the replys so far guys

[cmarshall]

They dont sound very reliable :!Removed!:

[K19NE G]

They dont sound very reliable :!Removed!:

Go to the Focus ST owners club site!!! :!Removed!: I'm really tempted by one, but am put off slightly at the mo! MUCH more problems...

[nrgizerbunny]

had a gearbox problem when the car was new, i ended up fixing it myself because the half *R$ed morons at my local toyota garage told me there was nothing wrong iwth it.

basic problem was crunchy gear changes from 2nd to 3rd. Fixed that and i have had no problems since touch wood.

[T128]

i never had gearbox problem on my cts just had one clutch problem,but alot of time gearbox fault are course by the driver cruching the gear's or forcing a gear with incorrect fast changing style , if you want to avoild bad gearbox problem look for a car with less owner's as possible for example if a car is less than 3 year's old from new and already had 2.3,4 owner's walk away ! , gearbox do need to run in and gearbox do not like different style of driving during there running in period which can take aslong as 2 year's believe it or not, the more owner's a car have the more different driving style the gearbox has to put up with and that is not good for the long run so the best tsport are owner'a who had them from new but you still need to test drive it before deciding to hand the cash over,in the end of the day buying any used car is a gamble if you want a piece of mind then buy a brand new one.

i can honstly say all cts dont have any majoy fault's i am still happy with my cts which is why my cts is getting a bodykit this year and it will put all the standard looking facelift cts to shame mind you i be using a facelift side skirt's :D .

[PaulT]

I've not had any gearbox or clutch problems in 35k miles, and that is including some track use. I even find the gearbox pretty slick when it comes to quick upshifts, but I am beginning to wonder if there is a driving style issue as some people seem to have had serious problems.

Obviously the cars were all assembled in Burnaston, but I guess it is possible that in the course of manufacturing this model the same gearbox parts were sourced from different suppliers. It's possible that components from one supplier may have had a relatively high failure rate which didn't come to light in testing. Hence some of us have had trouble, the rest have been fine.

I haven't heard of any guidance from Toyota, though. You'd think if the failures were associated with a particular supplier there would be a recall. Perhaps not enough breakages have occurred to justify the cost of a recall.

Apart from the poorly-fitting radio and one glitch with the TRC light, my CTS has been flawless.

Paul.

[Bero]

gearbox do need to run in and gearbox do not like different style of driving during there running in period which can take aslong as 2 year's

T128 - What are you basing this on?? Even if this was true and it was run with one sole person driving i would think it would be the worst thing possible to then change the style (person) (and what would you do if you got a new car in the family?). I would agree about the number of drivers but due to, lots of owners going throught the 'thrash it every where because its getting sold next month/week' stage.

[T Sport 1978]

had a gearbox problem when the car was new, i ended up fixing it myself because the half *R$ed morons at my local toyota garage told me there was nothing wrong iwth it.

basic problem was crunchy gear changes from 2nd to 3rd. Fixed that and i have had no problems since touch wood.

bunny,

How did you fix that yourself?

[T-Sport_Jay]

What Problems?????

Well to be honest i'm quite shocked at this gearbox problem that keeps popping up. I got mine last april with 53k on it and now its just gone past 97k. I drive cornwall-manchester-cornwal every weekend to see girlfriend and family ect. And in all those miles not had any problem with mine. No dash problem, brakes or anything ooooooooooopppppps sorry just remembered by aircon has started to not blow as cold as it used to so thinking the gas needs replacing.

Anyway :!Removed!: apart from that no problems i think they are a superb car! really do and there isn't a great deal of cars out there that can keep up with it either.

So my advice is get one you'll never look back, much more reliable that fords or vauxhalls seats etc.

By the way has anyone seen those power boost things on eBay???? £5 plugs into your ecu somewhere and claims to boost power up to 20bhp. Doubt it'd boost up that much but thought even a relative increase is worth it for a fiver plus no tools needed for fitment and easy to take off??? Any comments?

[nrgizerbunny]

had a gearbox problem when the car was new, i ended up fixing it myself because the half *R$ed morons at my local toyota garage told me there was nothing wrong iwth it.

basic problem was crunchy gear changes from 2nd to 3rd. Fixed that and i have had no problems since touch wood.

bunny,

How did you fix that yourself?

two issues really, one is the gearbox oil. gears are in constant mesh, so the crunchieness is caused by the synchro not synching properly. Changed the oil to decent stuff, problem gone also a lot smoother.

Other issue is regarding sloppy gear changes, the gear lever itself is mounted on rubber bushings, I bought a TRD kit and this reduce the throw and also came with metal bushings, now there is a definite engage no engage on the shift.

hope that helps.

sanj

PS if anyone wants more info please let me know and i'll put up a guide or somehting

[St3ve]

By the way has anyone seen those power boost things on ebay???? £5 plugs into your ecu somewhere and claims to boost power up to 20bhp. Doubt it'd boost up that much but thought even a relative increase is worth it for a fiver plus no tools needed for fitment and easy to take off??? Any comments?

That my friend is about 20p's worth of components, i.e. a resistor which you plug in between your ECU and the coolant temp, fooling the ECU into thinking it's cold and adding more fuel.

Not worth is as they are likely to %$( your engine with borewash and do the cat no end of favours.

HTH

[toyota owner]

Gear change crunches from from 2nd into 3rd which the dealer won't fix.

TRC and VSC system failure lights - been returned 6 times so far, had the ECU's, sensors changed and re checked.

Catastrophic steering rack failure which Toyota suggested was the cause of the TRC VSC faults, which re-occured after 200 miles. Car is 12months old now and last time I saw it it had done 11k miles.

If anyone is interested Toyota Customer Services is a joke, they wrote hoping I would regain some confidence in the vehicle, and acknowledged the car was back for the same fault again! They also provided the cantact details for Toyota Europe and Japan as they weren't capable of looking into the failures.

Toyota Financial Services even worse. Wish I had kept my Astra, beats driving an Avensis Courteys car for over three months!

Dealership also stole from the vehicle, failed to valet, damaged bodywork and interior trim and won't provide feedback forms after the vehicle has been in for work. Did it once and didn't like the results.

[bert.tsport]

Gear change crunches from from 2nd into 3rd which the dealer won't fix.

TRC and VSC system failure lights - been returned 6 times so far, had the ECU's, sensors changed and re checked.

Catastrophic steering rack failure which Toyota suggested was the cause of the TRC VSC faults, which re-occured after 200 miles. Car is 12months old now and last time I saw it it had done 11k miles.

If anyone is interested Toyota Customer Services is a joke, they wrote hoping I would regain some confidence in the vehicle, and acknowledged the car was back for the same fault again! They also provided the cantact details for Toyota Europe and Japan as they weren't capable of looking into the failures.

Toyota Financial Services even worse. Wish I had kept my Astra, beats driving an Avensis Courteys car for over three months!

Dealership also stole from the vehicle, failed to valet, damaged bodywork and interior trim and won't provide feedback forms after the vehicle has been in for work. Did it once and didn't like the results.

take it to another dealership , you do have that right... some are good some are bad...

[toyota owner]

If anyone is interested Toyota Customer Services is a joke, they wrote hoping I would regain some confidence in the vehicle, and acknowledged the car was back for the same fault again! They also provided the cantact details for Toyota Europe and Japan as they weren't capable of looking into the failures.

Toyota Financial Services even worse. Wish I had kept my Astra, beats driving an Avensis Courteys car for over three months!

Dealership also stole from the vehicle, failed to valet, damaged bodywork and interior trim and won't provide feedback forms after the vehicle has been in for work. Did it once and didn't like the results.

take it to another dealership , you do have that right... some are good some are bad...

Its not just the dealer, they are trying to help now, but Toyota GB, I wrote to the Chairman who couldn't assist, neither can Customer Services, the Toyota Field Engineers dont know what to suggest to replace next either. No one has asked what I want... Toyota Financal Services ignore correspondance from myself, Customer Services and Solicitors...

by the way, I have it in writing that Toyota don't produce written reports into catastrophic component failure, not the best policy, especailly as Toyota Japan has 3 directors under police investigation for covering up seroius faults and avoiding issuing recalls for up to 8 years. Try driving a car with the first 180degrees of steering wheel movement doing nothing, not the best when joining the motorway.

[wilber]

no problems at all with car slight gap in top of stereo (common dash fault )other than that perfect.

[g3m xr]

perfect too , and for sale lol

[Snert]

Hi all, thinkin of a t-sport but I understand there are a lot of gearbox problems?

How many have had any probs and how many havent?

Also any other issues to look out for?

Cheers for the input :D

On my 2nd TSport here.

1st was a 52 plate (bought at 1 year old), Carlo Blue three door that I did 35000 miles in over 2 years. Faults were, in no particular order, squeeky parcel shelf, rattle from inside the rear trim by the light cluster (was a loose cable), brake discs went porous and both window seals went out of shape. All these issues were dealt with under warranty by my local dealer. The car returned an average of 36mpg, was cheap to ensure and easy to live with...

so I bought another one

05 plate (bought at 1 year old), Black three door facelift that is how the car should have been the first time round. It's altogehter tighter, just better built with none of the aforemention squeeks and rattles. Handles better, drives better and looks better, in my opinion.

I'd considered and test drove an Astra turbo, but it was just too hairy for me, so stuck with the Corolla and I don't regret it.

Never seen or heard of any gearbox problems with any TSport owners around my way, but then, there aren't very many of us :)

Snert

[toyota rally]

dash snag fixed with heavy duty clips.

only other snag is my alarm goes of every now and then

[t-sporttinny]

No probs with mine apart from some TW** broke the back window, love the car.

I you live with the faults like the badly fitting radio,etc you love it.

Went up and down country to find mine found it in sunny blackpool, mines from Kent orginially.

You either love it or hate it.

My pride n joy

[Blacksheep]

05 plate (bought at 1 year old), Black three door facelift that is how the car should have been the first time round. It's altogehter tighter, just better built with none of the aforemention squeeks and rattles. Handles better, drives better and looks better, in my opinion.

Same as me Black 53 3door T Sport, no problems at all fantastic car...