2017 TRD OR; 2 issues, Trans and idle [rant on record]

How about taking a few test drives at different dealerships (same model) and see if all the other trucks do this or just certain ones or none of them or if it's just you?

I just picked up my 2017 TRD Off Road 4x4 DCSB the other day and have a like 300 hundred flawless miles on it thus far, country roads and city. No it does not have the TQ or brute HP of my former Ram Big horn but for all the talk of the shit tranny and unbearable driving experience it seems very nice thus far and far more nimble and easier to park, etc..

I though about and did test drive both an auto and stick (initially hated the auto cuz I just got done reading a thread on the tranny issue and I think subconsciously I was trying to fool the tranny into messing up. Plus it was a late last min test drive in the dark before the dealer closed). A few days later I drove a Manual TRD Off Road and though it was pretty nice but the more I though about my commute into the hell hole known as Philadelphia I decided to give the auto another chance... plus Crawl control..

Needless to say I took another test drive in an auto and just drove it normally and found it fine. Yeah I won't be so naiive as to say the tranny doesn't shift early into high gear and has to downshift at speed on occasion but it ain't that bad...


Low and behold while I was sitting in the white taco I just test drove and had my eye on when my new truck pulled into the lot as a local dealer trade....fell in love with the color and here I am.

Meant to be

 

The tech said he drove others on the lot to compare, not sure if I believe him, but he said it was doing the same as those. But it is a good idea.

Now, the first 200 miles of my truck were absolutely perfect...

also, the truck is fine when I am driving, it really is only a couple of scenarios that causes this problem. Other than these, the truck is great!!!! which is why I am so torn and pissed...

 

You should go out on a few test drives of other new tacomas yourself and compare. That's what I meant.

Or another option is have the tech go on a drive with you in yours and see if it happens...


Sure sounds like you are having a crappy experience thus far though. Sorry to hear and hope you get it sorted out sooner than later.

 

If it makes you feel any better, as far as axle wrap and driveline clunking, all the old square body Chevy's I've built for offroad use did the same thing. It's the nature of flexy suspension and limited slip differentials. That's why anti wrap bars are a thing. So when I got my OR, which essentially comes stock with what I've done before, all those things didn't seem strange to me. I think it's off putting when people get told it's normal.

 

Whelp now I feel like a total dick, I really shouldn't have made assumptions and don't feel the need to post a video just for me I believe you know what you're talking about. If you've been through the E30 and WRX scene you're no noob.

Sorry to be a jerk about it, I don't doubt that there are in fact 3rd Gens out there with legitimate issues (like yours), its just most of the time people complain about stuff like this is turns out to be normal, but not always and after hearing you out I think you know whats up. Best of luck bro hope Toyota ends up taking care of you

 

You weren't being a dick, didn't take it that way. You raised valid and important points that I hope help others ease the transition to something they are not used to...

 

Oh and I also noticed the 3.5 doesn't feel like any other engine I've driven. It feels and sounds like a small diesel engine. I chalked it up to the dual port/direct injection and Atkinson cycle.

 

yeah, i dismissed the European small diesel truck noise after smitty99 clued me in on the way an attikins/otto cycle sounds and youtubed it, honestly never heard one in person I don't think until my truck. Neighbor with a TRD Pro Taco has an exhaust on it so you could never really hear the engine...

 

Toyota built a no BS offroad capable truck. It's the nature of these beasts. They just don't handle like pavement queens.

 

amen to that, I had to go up a washed out road to the range I shoot at for quals, and the truck was amazing...and I am not looking for pavement queen or I wouldn't be thinking about a lift and tires, just worried form a long term perspective and somewhat of a safety perspective, if I let my better half drive it and it does this too her, not sure if she would be calm during it.

 

Ironically you're actually the opposite of the customers I was originally describing. You actually seem really level headed and understanding.

Hope they fix your shit bro

 

My girlfriend and I are both auto techs, she's driven a truck her whole life. She knows when shit isn't right. She drove my Tacoma to the grocery store once and said she didn't like it. I said, that's just how vehicles set up like that are. Lol.

 

Nope got a lady who is both hard core and a princess at the same time...can shoot better than me, is more ripped than I am, but she likes her high heels, nail polish, and Mini Cooper S (stick shift)

 

Yeah, I know how that goes. Shes been in the Army almost as long as I have. We both turn wrenches as federal technicians. Surface Maintenance.

 

went out and took a video real quick, don't have much time [i know, you are on a computer typing this...] because I have to pack and do a bunch of other shit...but I was able to get two bucks of the truck, but its not easy to see on the camera, it doesn't translate well. I will try to get a better video when i get home...

 

I wouldn't worry to much about it unless it becomes a constant problem. These computers on these things nowadays are so complicated, there gonna glitch here and there. They all do. We are all gonna just have to except the fact that this is the world we live in now.
I have a good example with my 17 off-road. I was trying out the hills tart assist and noticed it is different than Hills tart assist that I've had in other vehicles that I have owned. So I kinda like it because it actually allows you to roll back a little. Most vehicles hold the brake briefly after you release it manually so when you step on the gas it takes a second for the break to release. The tacomas hills tart is way better in my opinion but back to what I was getting at is that after letting mine role back a few times testing it, my truck stalled in the road and read on the center screen " transmission temp to high" or something close to that anyway. I had just cranked my truck 1 minute prior to this, so I new there was no way the tranny could get hot in less than a minute. Never done it again. Sometimes these new vehicles have glitches that come and go. I'd forget about it unless it keeps happening.

 

Or sometimes things are normal that are kind of dumb. My 2000 Dodge Ram would lock out overdrive if the ambient temperature was below -5. I've never had any other automatic transmission limited that way. It really sucked, horrible gas mileage during winter.

 

Dude. Your mistake was reading all the stuff here on Tacoma world. You do realize that most here have no clue what they are talking about and even if they did, it makes zero difference in your situation. The members here are not your dealer nor are they Toyota. Those are the only two entities that can help you. Not Smitty nor anyone else. I can tell after reading your posts you wouldn't have half the problems you have if you hadn't read about them.
Get rid of it. You will never ever be satisfied.

Last thing... a Word .doc is time stamped and date coded. You should document your stuff there instead of on the internet in a forum. You claim you worked for Toyota and 75 (!) Dealers... and you were a service writer. Which one are you going to give more credibility - A careful record of all problems you documented yourself on a private file or a forum post? That is a no brainer as, you should know, very few mechanics or really anyone who is a professional in the auto industry respect forum posts.

Good luck. Get rid of it.

 

Wow, really don't know how to take this one, so I will take it as a misunderstanding on your part.

I will address a couple of things in order to hopefully help you understand, and maybe draw a different conclusion. Which I shouldn't this is the internet, and really am I am ever going to meet you, like ever...but I am bored waiting for laundry to get done so why not.

I worked for CarMax out of undergraduate, at the time that I left we had just opened the 75th store (I worked, or went through all for at least a day except the last 5). if you are in N.A., CarMax has brand new dealerships as well as used car dealerships. One of the main staples of these dealerships, is Toyota. As a regional Manager, who was in training to take on a national manager job, seriously, it was dumb luck I got all the positions I had in a short time, i guess I did something right...You have to go through what they call MIT, Manager In Training program. In which you do several rotations through all the various departments, I wrote service for 7 weeks. While writing service, I was trained by an amazing group of people who know how to be service writers and advisors and how to run a team, because of them and one of them going out on emergency leave, leaving me my team and her team, I booked 2000 hours. A record I believe to still stand today. Now on to the Toyota Corporate...because of what my role was going to be when I was given the promotion, I had to do a rotation with Toyota at Corprate to take their training as they have specifics on how new dealerships were to be built, run, etc...and we were the one group that were throwing up the most dealerships at a single time back then...while there I wound up working on several projects for them, because again, dumb luck me and not giving a crap I opened my mouth at the wrong and right time. So I stayed on longer than supposed to, and then left. I opened a couple of Toyota Dealerships for CarMax did a couple of more things and left...I have built rail cars, done my own welding, built my own motors, etc...but i have no formal engineering degree as it relates to mechanical. I sited those things to express that I have the appreciation of both what Toyota, the dealer and the service writer have to go through. I apologize if that was not clearly conveyed.

As for the word .doc, while you might think that is a record, and I can take a picture and go through the process of uploading my binder of my records. A Word doc's create date can, be manipulated to whatever I want. This forum, as best I can tell without doing a right click inspection and looking at the surface code, is built on BB frame work, and such, it is hosted somewhere. I doubt it is in some dudes basement of his moms house. So, it would be some considerable effort for me to to track down the hosting company, figure out a way into their shared storage, get through their Cisco Firewalls, Palo's, Application security, etc...to find the one server this is residing on that has 1k other hosted sites, and then change the creation date that appears at the top by pulling down the site so as I can effectively change one date. Plus, I archived it through Internet Archive so now it sits on another sever in a different part of the world, and google has cached it...thats why they always look at headers when it comes to emails in court cases. <-I do this stuff for a living now.

As for reading what has been going on here and getting brainwashed. I understand that the people on here are not Toyota or my Dealership, however, I do believe in the power of a community and the power of enthusiast. I have met a great many, talented, brilliant people through these forums, and have learned a ton of information through my car tinkering days. People who visit these forums come from all walks of life, some are engineers, some are mechanics, some are lawyers, some are doctors, some are college kids, some 16 some 90 years old. To say that no one who visits these forums isn't capable of coming of up with a solution, idea, notion, or recommendation is short sited. It is like dipping a cup of water in the ocean and saying there can't be any whales in the ocean because there are none in the cub of ocean water you just collected. I did not all of sudden think my truck was "broken", this stuff happened over a period of time, and miles, for the first part everything was great, it wasn't until about 600 miles after I first posted on here that I decided to recall my concerns. I had no clue about the problems others were having, and didn't search the forums for these problems until I started noticing them...I asked those who came before me because why beat my head against the wall if others have been there done that and impart wisdom, or is that not how we learn anymore? I once again site RevLimited, Nasioc, or countless other forums that have postings of some joe-smo finding the solution to a problem that many people were having...I have done this, and proud I could help others, so they could enjoy the things that bring happiness to them, in this case vehicles.

As for selling it, the plan is not to sell it, I want to keep it I like the truck otherwise, but I rather Toyota get their shit together.

IF I am off base on any of this, and it was not warranted I deeply apologize and offer to delete the text of this post...and you are very much intitled to your opinion, and I will defend your right to express it, but please take the time to maybe consider some other possibilities.

Thanks

-Burn

P.S. Not going to edit this for grammar, spelling, clarity...

 

Good luck man. You are way too over the top for me. If you don't like it and can afford it, get rid of it. Then you don't have to worry about date stamps and crap.