Looking to buy my first manual Tacoma

ok, stupid question here...

but i test drove a manual 6sp 2012... no one at that dealership could put that damn thing in reverse though. i mean, no one.

please splain? i cant be THAT retarded. trans feels nice though.. got a lot of travel in the clutch.. but i can live with that.

 

Push Down and over.

 

thats what i thought. gotta push it down while centered? i pushed it over toward reverse, pushed down, and nothing. they had three people fuck it up.. no one could get it in reverse.. perhaps it was just jacked up already? seems kinda odd four people cant get one silly ass transmission into reverse.

 

Take your clutch out, put it back in again. Shove the stick as hard as you can to the left and then push it up. When you're in reverse, it'll beep.

Get the stick. It's a helluva lot of fun. I always felt like I had more control over the car in a stick. Also, I've found that I pay a lot more attention to the traffic and road driving manual.

 

I own a 6sp manual, and there's no real "trick" for getting into reverse, it's pretty straight forward...but having said that, you do have to use a bit of force to get it there.

To be honest, I don't think I push "down" at all [maybe I do?], but essentially from neutral, you pull the shift knob to the left as if you were going into first gear, but instead of going up, you just force it one more stop to the left then up in Reverse. Unlike all other gears though, it won't slide right in, you do have to use a little force to get it over there. If you got it, you'll hear a beep and the backup cam will popup in the rear-view (on the 2012 models with that option).

EDIT: Red bar shows the "stop" where you'll have to apply force to get it into reverse:


At first I missed my old 5speed configuration with Reverse below 5th gear, but I'm used to the 6 speed now, and the shift from reverse to 1st is nice and quick too.

 

Is the 2012 6-speed really that hard to get into reverse? If so it must be different than prior years somehow. Mine is easy.

 

A.) Who buys a an automatic mid size truck these days that arnt female?

B.) To get the 2012s in reverse, just push over to the left abit more and then up. You dont need to push down.

 

DCLB BITCH

 

Why not just buy a full size truck then? Like a Dodge or even a Tundra?
Bitch?

 

I don't want a Dodge or a Tundra , or a 4' bed 0n a Tacoma

 

There's a lot of issues with that post. The first one he went too fast for me to catch it all though...

I'm with the "try a standard first". I've had 11 cars, and only one of them was an auto. And I spent the whole time wishing I had a manual again. But that being said, when I got my first car, my Dad told me, "You'll be so sick of manual after 3 months, you'll wish you never got it". 20 years later of driving highway, in town, back road, traffic jams, stuck on hills, high speed gravel doing power slides (closed course), I still prefer manual. But then, some question why I'd ever make that choice to the point of excluding vehicles that didn't come in manual.

My point is, not everyone prefers it, and the last thing you want to do is buy a new truck, attempt to learn how to drive it (and possibly burn out the clutch if you really don't have anyone to teach you, and have a hard time learning), only to go, "You know, I don't like this choose your own gears thing". As for the dealership teaching you, they are under no obligation to. Giving the increasing fewer number of manuals showing up, as someone already found out, your salesperson might not be able to, or even worse, can do it well enough to shuffle cars around the lot, not teach you the proper way (I know some are saying, "What's the improper way?", but my sister going through multiple clutches tell me there is one).

As for shifting...meh...after 10 manuals (not including the wife's cars), some sports cars, some econo cars, and a few trucks...to me, it shifts like any other truck...in some ways, better.

 

so then why not a extra can reg bed? no sense in a dclb. whats the purpose? whats the price split between a full size like the tundra and a dclb? most ppl drive tacos for the fact they are not full size trucks and get decent gas mileage. you have a dclb and its just like a full size truck minus towing cap. and hp. plus u cant even get it in a manual!

 

Just say "teach me how to drive it, and I'll buy it!"

 

If it isn't a daily driver get the manual. But be forwarned the manual isn't the best and has issure. Search befor you buy.

I have had zero issues with my auto and it pulls my trailer and weekend racer nicely.

 

I opted for the AT since I use my truck to pull/launch/retrieve my boat at the local boat ramp. Having a clutch can complicate the process on the slippery ramp after a day of cold beverages!

Plus, I like the idea that my 80 y/o mother can take the Taco to Lowes to get potting soil on her own.

 

No, it isn't hard at all, but does require a little extra "push" get over there (at least on the 2012s), so I understand why folks at the dealership may have been unable to figure it out, although I certainly don't excuse it -- you should know how to operate the vehicles you sell!

A LOT of folks apparently. I think I saw somewhere that only about ~5% of the Tacomas that come off production are stick shift. That number may be a bit off, but obviously the vast majority are automatics. My last Taco was an auto, and it was a great transmission at that. I do prefer manual transmission though, and went with that when I got my newest Tacoma

If you're looking a new vehicles, the 2012 model has had many of the issues of previous models fixed. I find the manual transmission on mine very nice to drive. The TRD Sportshifter option makes it even better.

I have no complaints about the auto transmission in these vehicles though -- either one is great choice, and essentially, should be left to the driver's preference. I only have experience with the 4.0L V6 in either case.

 

The 5-Spd manual transmission is solid with no issues on the latest model tacoma. As for being a daily driver, i drive 85 miles a day , 425 miles a week with no complaints. Everyone has their own preference of transmission, there is nothing wrong with the automatics either but its a very subjective argument.