Truck broke down today...

Exactly. Do your research, ask your questions, weigh your options, then do what your heart says. In my opinion driving is a passion and you gotta love what you drive. Turned the 2016 F150 loaner in yesterday after picking up my truck (dealer provided absolutely superb service), and although the 150 was REALLY nice and comfortable, the Tacoma just felt like home. It might not be logical, but that's where my heart is.

 

There were a ton fewer people on the internet truck forums in 05. Just sayin'. You can't really use that as a data point, nor any web-reported statistics comparing volume from 11 years ago to today.

 

Yep I'm figuring out who is what around here. Lyndsay sorry to derail your thread but hang in there it will get fixed and will be a great truck.

 

This sums it up.Mechanical,sooner or later it will break.Doesn't care where,when or why...

 

Makes perfect sense to me, and even if you did this every day it's not supposed to break down this soon. Period.

Keep us posted.

 

The rated towing capacity takes into account a number of things besides the engine and powertrain, including vehicle weight, weight distribution, braking ability and handling characteristics along with a margin of safety. I highly doubt towing a 5000 lb trailer was the sole cause of the OP's engine failure. I think there may have been a defect or anomaly with that particular engine that resulted in its failure under increased load due to towing the trailer. Under normal circumstances I would expect the transmission to fail before the engine did.

 

man I love my 2nd gen more and more everyday, had 06 and 2014 and never had issues with either so far. So glad I made right choice and got my 14 instead of waiting for the rd gen

 

Not sure how this makes you love your truck more, but that's good that you do. I don't love my wife more because some other chick is a total b*&ch.

 

Coming up on your 31 day lemon law mark. How are things? Still waiting on parts?

 

I do. When I see a woman acting like a bitch. I appreciate mine that much more.

 

Well, I've had 2 different 2nd Gen's and the 3rd gen is the best one of the bunch! all 3 are different......

 

Not much of an update. Haven't heard from the SW so I sent off a text to see where we're at and will follow up with a phone call this evening if I haven't heard from him.
My parents have a friend who owns a Toyota dealership in the area, I guess they have contacts for other dealerships so she was kind enough to give me names and phone numbers of people to speak with to get the Lemon process started. Tomorrow is day 30 and I will be going into the dealership to speak with the GM and who I believe is another manager on Wednesday (day 32).

 

Well, that is kind of a bittersweet situation isn't it? I know you wanted your baby back but maybe its time to get a different baby now. Good luck with the meeting and let us know what happens.

 

Yeah, after thinking it over quite a bit it wouldn't make sense to hold onto a truck like that despite any odd sentimental attachment I may have formed in 5k miles. ;]
The safety of what I'm towing as well as myself and my passengers needs to come first and I feel like I'd better accomplish that with a brand new truck. If that's the path they allow me to take.
I'll approach this situation calm but with an edge of "this needs to be corrected" towards corporate.

 

I'm posting this, not to preach, but to tell those who are not that knowledgeable about towing about a general rule of thumb for recreational towing, for safety sake. The rule of thumb that I've heard from many sources over 40+ years is never exceed 80% of the rated weight of the trailer or 80% of the rated towing capacity of your vehicle. I've seen first hand what can happen. I was coming back from fishing with a buddy and his trailer frame broke in half. It was a name brand trailer and the failure was not due to any lack of maintenance, corrosion or wear. Luckily there were no injuries. Afterwards, he found out on a truck scale that he had been carrying a gross trailer weight of 6,000 lbs on a trailer rated for 6,000 lbs. The ONLY way to make sure what you are towing is on a certified truck scale. The truck stops usually charge about $10-15 to weigh it. I have found that boats are always considerably heavier than people estimate. I went thousands of miles towing my 5,000 lb boat/trailer behind my 2nd gen Tundra. The engine/transmission/suspension had no problems, but I do not feel that I would have been comfortable towing more weight even though the truck was rated for much more. No way would I even attempt it with my 3rd gen Tacoma.

 

My 1100 pound trailer and two 550 pound Honda Fourtrax Ranchers can be felt plenty behind my 2nd gen Tacoma Prerunner DC V6. Not sure I'd want to go much higher. I really would not want to pull twice that without some trailer brake help.

 

Replacement seems like the logical choice. After all they will be getting your truck back. Any depreciation or other costs are more than offset by the inconvenience and trust they shook by the breakdown and service delays.

 

I understand completely. Maybe I told this story already, I'm not searching thru 20 pages.

Wife and I were out of town with my previous, first gen Tundra and blew the transmission. 100 miles from home. Got home and changed the transmission. No biggie.

My wife says "after that ordeal, I can never feel comfortable using this truck again".

Up for sale it went and it got sold.

If you have any discomfort or unease about a vehicle, dump it. I got a good feeling the dealership is going to treat you well. Hell, just link them to this thread if they get weird. You've been good and not ran them into the ground...yet.

 

Go get them girl!

 

I see you met my wife.