Something we all know that Toyota told us but didn't catch

Maybe they're told that this is normal. One way to keep them away and avoid it.

 

I can almost guarantee that. It doesn’t mean there isn’t a problem.

 

Lol, also doesn't mean there is a problem....

 

your story and mine are almost the same. i felt the same about it when i bought it, to the point that i believed i would need to sell it due to the miserable driving experience. but instead of switching vehicles i got the OV tune for the MT and achieved everything. love the truck, drive is great now.

 

They feel exactly like you do man. This forum is not a good cross section of owners to use any demographic or tech or problem data.
Before anyone screams, consider I can use:
1. Internet forum complaints for data or
2. Tens of thousands customer visits to thousands of service departments.

No brainer. Remember there are people who post here about problems and they don't even own a Tacoma!

 

This. 2 3rd gens and 4 total tacomas in my daily work circle jerk, and were all quite happy. No complaints. Before someone screams “ANECDOTAL” remember this... I don’t give a fuck.


My whole life is anecdotal.

 

Sometimes enough people will complain that something gets done.

A recent example of this was when people complained about the performance on iPhones. A small minority noticed that the older an iPhone was the worse it performed. Some wrote it off as just old hardware not performing. It was revealed years later that Apple did indeed throttle phones with old batteries to slow down the battery drain.

We have seen Toyota release several TSBs for this problem and those with the OVTune have reported an improvement. Mat with OVTune has released graphs of the shifting logic on the stock ECU and it looks like a jumbled mess. This and the way this truck feels is enough to convince me there is indeed a problem.

I hope Toyota fixes it some day. The majority will never know that there is a solution like OVTune out there.

 

I agree, if enough people complain something will be done. Even if everyone knew of OV tune though, very few would choose to use it. Why would they? They are happy with what they have.

 

Happy with what they have but would probably be happier with better performance in a tune if they tried them back to back if there were no sacrifices made.

 

It's at least 500lbs lighter...

 

Sorry about that, how long have you had yours? My AT has been great in all sorts of conditions, including towing and loaded down.

 

It depends on the trim level of both vehicles.

 

I just test drove a 2.5 liter Mazda 3 with my dad the other day for fun and It felt like that thing had more torque than my truck. I get that "a truck is a truck" but you'd think Toyota could do better than this. You can get a new Mazda 3 for half of what most of us paid for a Tacoma and it gets double the fuel mileage my truck does.

Tacoma's are much heavier than cars, but I'm getting the same mileage as a fullsize with way less power and erratic sluggish shifting.

 

Gen3 4x4 dcsb weighs in at 4425. Mazda 3 grand touring weighs in at 3100. That's more than 42% more weight. Scaling 185HP up by that ratio equals 264HP. Take that, the considerably better aerodynamics, the more freely revving 4 cylinder, and yep, it probably felt that way.

 

First off, either you didn't read my post or your reading comprehension needs some work. That post, though it was posted in the OVtune thread, wasn't about the tune and what it did or did not do for this truck. In fact, as awesome as the tune is (with the tune the truck actually responds to what your right foot does), the point was that with this particular engine/transmission combination, the tune will not be able to fully "fix" the "problem" (those quotations are because I understand not all agree it's a problem that needs fixing). Obviously TOYOTA CONSIDERS IT A PROBLEM, or they would not have issued 2 TSB updates related to engine management software. I mean if as you say, SALES ARE THE DETERMINATE OF QUALITY, then obviously there is no "problem" with the engine management software TOYOTA FELT THE NEED TO UPDATE...TWICE. This engine doesn't need more power...it needs transmission gear ratios more suited to it's power delivery. This transmission is fine too, it just needs an engine that makes big torque in the low RPM range to handle it's double overdrives (like the Hilux TDs). In this truck the eng/trans combo is significantly less than ideal. This is all my opinion of course, which I shared in a thread about the shortcomings of the powertrain. If one feels the powertrain has no shortcomings, then I'm not sure why they would even bother coming into a thread ABOUT THE POWERTRAIN SHORTCOMINGS...unless they felt the need to "white knight" for the Tacoma.

You keep parroting "sales" as if that has ANYTHING to do with quality or performance. It does not. Quality and performance are quantifiable, sales, while quantifiable in numbers, have many determining factors that are not quantifiable and completely unrelated to CURRENT quality/performance. Sales #s are driven by many things, current performance/quality are only part of them (and a relatively small part)...reputation (based on PAST quality/performance), style and cultural values (p/u trucks have become MUCH more culturally fashionable in the last decade...that is why GM and Ford are jumping back in the small truck market) all play a MUCH bigger role in the CURRENT sales numbers of ANY vehicle than the current quality/performance of said vehicle.

Look, we all get it. Anytime someone creates a thread bashing the powertrain performance of the 3rd gen you feel the need to go into the thread and tell everyone how wrong they are about how THEY FEEL ABOUT THEIR TRUCK. I'm not sure what your problem is. An amateur psychologist would say that subconsciously you have tied your ego to the 3rd gen Tacoma and just cannot take any criticism of it whatsoever. It actually appears to be offending you. The way you run around the boards defending it is frankly a little embarrassing for a grown man. You love your truck as is, awesome! You are in no way qualified to tell other people they are wrong about why they do NOT love their truck...it's a subjective topic even though TOYOTA AGREES WITH THEM. I'm not sure why you just don't stay in the all the "My Tacoma Makes My Pecker Hard" threads and ignore ALL the threads where people question the 3rd Gens powertrain? And save your "white knight" excuse about needing to "counter" 3rd gen powertrain questioning threads for the people who might be on the board looking for feedback on a Tacoma forum. There are literally 100s of "I love my Tacoma" threads on here...and they should counter that just fine.

I like my truck, but I'm disappointed in the powertrain. I have no desire to convince people (like you) who love their truck AND it's powertrain that they are wrong, simply because they are not, FOR THEM. Why don't you just go start your own "I LOVE THE 3rd GEN POWERTRAIN" thread and post in there to your hearts content and leave those of us looking to mitigate our concerns with the powertrain to ourselves? That would seem to be the most logical approach for all involved.

 

Well shit. Good point.

 

I have had mine since the first October they were sold. Great in conditions is not a problem, everyday driving on highways and up hills or any incline that causes the car to get bogged down and to downshift out of the two overdrive gears, 5 and 6, is the problem.

 

This is exactly what most of us are saying. If I was stuck in some mud or snow on a backroad (or no road) I'm thoroughly convinced this Taco is capable of getting me out. However, I've come to realize that this is not a great daily driver.

 

Dude.
Are you saying misery loves company?
Toyota is not perfect. I had a Toyota with problems. I got rid of it and got another Toyota. Big deal. I quoted you because you were stating your opinion as fact. It's not. It's just your opinion.
Sales are absolutely important. If a vehicle does not run to the owner's expectations, the vehicle will not be desirable. If the vehicle is not desirable, the sales go down. Simple. In order to sell ANYTHING, you must meet your customer's expectations. If you don't you won't sell shit. Tacoma sales are expanding, so they must be meeting a majority of their cusrtomer's expectations. That's just simple business 101.

Now, I applaud you for your above post, where you fix your statement of "fact" with the additional verbiage of "It's my opinion..." good for you.

I have no problem with reading comprehension. Been reading for 50 years and I even read for pleasure. But, every now and then, when someone such as yourself decides to start spouting opinion as fact, I post up just to set the record straight. No harm no foul man. Have a great weekend!