3rd Gen Transmission Fluid level Check

The two dealers I have visited in Orange Co., CA don't seem to be in the service business.
These advisors with a chip on their shoulder take a very suspicious attitude when you bring up issues to them.
I don't blame them for trying to make money for their company, but give something in return for goodness sake.
I say fuk them, I'll be taking my business elsewhere (independent) once the 25,000 are over.

 

Not likely since this was pretty much the same issue on the 2nd Gens as well. Not until but-loads of trannies start falling out and causing fatal accidents will you see any movement. As long as Toyota fixes them under warranty, nothing can be done. Now if hundreds or thousands after warranty have issues then you could see some action but highly unlikely.

The sad unfortunate thing in manufacturing, is large corporations already factor in a percent of defects and malfunctions. Toyota sold just under 180,000 Tacoma's in 2015. A 1% failure or defect rate would only be 1800 trucks! There have been less than 100 complaints on this forum, but obviously this forum doesn't represent the masses. And Toyota probably has corrected the issue by now, just all the older manufactured trucks have the issue.

Things that will get Toyota's attention, Negative National press, which could lead to stock price drops, and fatalities, again which could lead to stock price drop.

Remember GM new for years that faulty switches were killing people and did nothing.

 

Same here, other than the free oil changes I avoid dealers like the
plague they are. Now a days it seems once you've paid, it's a big
fuck you to any complaints you have.

 

For whatever it's worth. I had the R to D hesitation when cold and inconsistent shifting. I read all these threads so I spent the time to learn and read the AC60F service advisory on checking the fluid. Mine like others was a 3/4 Qt. low. I added oil to both my differentials and greased the hell out of my U-joints. Toqued my U-bolts. Plugged my lower control arms with a hole in the plug for water drainage.
Three days ago I sent off an email to Toyota customer service. I was respectful but expressed that my product loyalty to Toyota had been tarnished. That these were basic issues that as a long time Toyota owner that spent nearly $38,000 on a vehicle I should not have to deal with. This morning I got a call from a very pleasant woman at Toyota. She took down my information, and after having me talk through the procedure to check the ATF (I think she was checking to see if I knew what I was talking about) she offered me a 100,000 mile extended warranty at no charge. I am waiting to get the confirmation email and a hard copy, but did get a case number. I know others have not had such a good experience. All I can say is, don't yell, don't curse, because once you do no matter how loud you get they won't hear you. Kill them with kindness. It's not the person you are on the phone with fault. She was made aware I did this work myself. I did not have any dealer work orders. I did tell her I had "friends" that had experienced the same issues.
I have noticed since adding the ATF a significant improvement in the shifting and the overall operation seems more seamless and smooth.

 

That is some quality gold information right there. Would love if you'd send me the verbiage in a Private Message. I'm planning to do something similar.

 

this is what I sent in the email:

I purchased a 2016 Tacoma Sport 4x4 DCSB V6 AT with tow package in December of 2015. I have been long time Toyota owner since 1980 owning 4x4 trucks, 4Runner and a land cruiser. I am writing to express my concern about what seems to be a basic lack of quality control from your company. My Tacoma was delivered to me 3/4 qt. low on automatic transmission fluid, 32 fluid oz. low on rear differential fluid, 20 fluid oz. low on front differential fluid, and dry U-joints each requiring 6-8 pumps from a manual grease gun to get to clean grease. In addition I had the howling noise at 35-45 mph from the lower drivers side control arm holes that sounded like someone blowing into a bottle. I know for certain I am not the only owner of the new Tacoma that is experiencing these issues. After spending nearly $39,000 on a vehicle it is very disconcerting that we should be experiencing these issues that could easily be corrected. I strongly urge you to take some sort of corrective measures. Otherwise you are going to lose a lot of loyalty from customers who once raved about the dependability of your product.

 

Sharp eye daddy_o, thanks. Saved it and will print it out to take with me when the time comes to bring me truck in for service. Oh it will be so much fun to watch him squirm and stutter!

Just wonder how much they ripped off from Toyota for not doing what they are paid for doing?

 

Razzle, dazzle, wow I wish I had the same gift of BS this gal from Toyota has! For her to tell you she didn't know what Toyota paid the dealership for doing a PDI is truly amazing to say the least. I could absolutely believe her if she would of said that she didn't know exactly but she would find out and get back to you. Of course your also paying a fee to have this or anything done to your truck before you drive it away which was that xxx amount of dollars they ripped you off in dealer fees!

I wonder if they have training classes on how to skate on thin ice? Yes the dealerships are independent but as a franchisee of Toyota they have set corporate guidelines and responsibilities to Toyota and to their customers. That silly statement by this Toyota representative would be like talking to a McDonald rep and hearing them tell you their franchisee can do what they please with the big Mac's they sell.

 

Long story short, it took 2 dealerships before I got my transmission fluid level checked and I accumulated 3k miles between the two dealerships. I was at 3k miles already when I initially took my truck in to the first dealership and they never "actually" checked the tranny fluid level. I called Toyota Corporation before going to the second dealership hoping everything would go smoothly and at the same time get everything documented just in case there's problems with my transmission in the future.

Being proactive with my truck at the second dealership helped more than getting TC involved because I finally got them to check the tranny fluid level; which was was about a quart low. I've been in contact with the TC rep and expressed that I'm not confident my truck would last long due to any damage that could've happened while the tranny was low in fluid. I didn't yell or cuss, but I did express my frustration through my tone of voice. Out of the several times we spoke, after my trans was topped off, I brought up an extended warranty. She said we can talk about that after she gets more info from my dealership and Toyota Technical Support. Spoke to her again today and she said that both the techs at the dealership and Toyota tech support said there wouldn't be any damage as there were no warning lights or anything. I told her I wasn't happy with that so she brought up the 7yr/100k mile warranty we previously spoke about.

Now I'm on the same boat, waiting for an email and the hard copy to be sent out. She said the hard copy could take about a month, so I asked if she can email me something for the time being; which she did. If anything, I have the case number and her extension so I can always get in touch. The way the conversation went, I feel there could've been more because she sounded relieved like that was all I wanted and at the same time she was happy to give the extended warranty.

 

So did anyone go through the trouble of getting the trans oil checked and ended up having the proper oil level? I may have seen one or two posts saying theirs was good but the vast majority are reporting they had oil added.

 

Ah this sounds like it maybe a happy ending! Keep us informed how this all turns out for you. Your saga makes me wonder if I too shouldn't also be proactive by call TC and put in a claim?

 

Good luck if you call TC, file a claim, and get anywhere. I filed a claim (have a claim number) and the TC butt nugget, case manager I spoke with advised me my truck was operating the way it should. WTF! TC Professor know-it-all has never driven my truck and to the best of my knowledge he IS NOT a service technician and even if he is he HAS NOT driven my truck, I have a service center receipt from one dealership stating the tech noticed a slight "flare" between gears, and a service center receipt from a separate dealership service center stating the transmission was about ½ quart low on ATF. In spite of the fact I have been lied to (although TC denies this) I was advised the truck was operating as it should.

I am preparing to write a letter to Corporate and if I receive a condescending, arrogant response then this matter will simply be elevated to the legal arena. Very sad that this truck was marketed with such major flaws, at least in the preparation of delivery of the vehicle.

Good luck (take some valium) if you decide to go this route.

 

I wrote this in the other thread about fluid levels, but I figured I'll post it here for people to see also :

Took possession of my new Tacoma yesterday. In my negotiations I had them guarantee that they will check the ATF before that truck moves off the lot and that I wanted to be there to watch it get done. I ended up with a super awesome tech who walked me through the whole procedure and didn't mind going through all the known issues with me. Long story short, it ended up being half a quart low. The U-Bolts also had to be torqued a bit before we got a 52 lbs reading. Didn't get an exact number at what they started at, but they got a good half turn before they were torqued to spec. Known problem of joints being dry was apparent as well, so grease was added to them. To top it off, the wind howling was apparent on the drive home, so I'll be taping up those holes this weekend.

So many of the known issues existed on my truck and corrected. Although it really scares me thinking about what isn't yet known. For what it's worth, it's from the Baja factory.

I didn't even know about the diff fluid at the time or I would have checked that also. I'll do that myself this weekend.

 

I found that my transmission was also pretty much empty. I had to pump in almost a gallon of fluid. This is a sad situation that Toyota is over looking this issue that could become a disaster of a situation with the transmission highly locking up causing single or multiple car accident which could cause serious bodily injury or loss of life. Toyota only cares about $$$$$ and human life does not matter!!!

 

holy shit! how much does it even hold?

 

It's on the internet, it must be true.

 

Doing my research the 2016 Tacoma's transmission with transmission cooler holds 11.7 quarts and without 11.2 quarts.

 

Now that's the best advice I've read about this issue. Like Barney Fife said you "nip it in the bud"! I had my salesman promise that my AT fluid and U joints would be checked before I picked it up but of course with to many Toyota dealers it was a promise that was broken. Now they say they will check it at the 5K service mark, we shall see!

 

I think I win the lowest fluid level yet. 2.7L six speed auto.
3 frigging quarts.

 

Hmmmm, how interesting. I have a transmission oil cooler and when I demanded the ATF level be checked it ended up being "about ½ quart low on fluid." Funny how .5 quarts = ½ quart. Trucks with transmission oil coolers obviously aren't being filled appropriately to account for the addition of the transmission oil cooler. This is unacceptable when the list cost on a tow package is $650. Call me crazy, but I add an option or a package to a vehicle based on the package/option being fully functional when I take possession of the vehicle.

I'm with others on here. I wonder how much the life of the transmission has been reduced by the transmission not being appropriately filled to account for a package I paid for.

The more time passes, the more facts that are coming to light on the ineptitude of the delivery preparation of this vehicle.