Toyota Care

For what it's worth I'm sure most manufacturers have way tighter specs than they used to due to better technology.

 

With engines with VVT, it's not that the oil is worn out at 10K but more that you stand far greater risks of plugging up tiny screens and ports in parts that use oil pressure to move. Sorry, 10K may get you very easily past 100K but past that..........yeahhhhh, I'm not going to take that chance.

And I'd bet Toyota won't check the transmission fluid even though they say they check ALL fluids.

 

Well, I'm coming up on my 5K service, and I'm going to ask about the "inspect and adjust all fluid levels". That seems pretty defined, the word "all". Wonder what the reply will be, because I'll be asking specifically about the transmission and all differential fluid, as well.

 

The owners manual is usually a pretty good place to find out what the recommended oil change interval is.

 

I've always passed on the free maintenance if it's something I can do myself. I have seen too many careless people behind the dealership wall that can't be reached when they do bad work. I just start the ass pain of tire rotations and oil changes in my little garage at 7500 to split the difference on mileage. Sure, I miss out on some free oil. I also miss out on worrying about a technician being pilled out when he forgot to properly do something.

 

That fellow that mentioned he was getting free oil changes every 5000 miles with Toyota care, I highly doubt that’s through Toyota care. That is unless the dealership is giving away $80 oil changes out of the goodness of their heart .

Back in 04-05 I bought a new Scion from one of the bigger local Toyota dealerships and my parents both bought SUVs from the same place and they had a program for an extra $250 one time payment and it would include two free oil change per year for The life of that car, as long as you own! they called it the gold ring club. It might be something similar to that that he was talking about. That program does not exist anymore but they will honor it if you still own the old cars and paid for it back then..

What I was getting at is maybe his dealership has a similar program.

 

I think we all know what the response is going to be.

You have to be kidding. Smooth compared to what?

 

^^I think he said smooth compared to cars from the early 2000’s...lol.

That can be up to 18 years ago. Haha.

 

Still have to disagree. I have driven a fair amount of cars and trucks from the early to mid 90's all the way to the present and I have to say that the Tacoma is definitely an odd duckling. Most vehicles of that time at least had intuitive throttle response where you could use your foot to change the revs precisely. I know all cars now have an electronic throttle but this gen Tacoma's has to be one of the worst implemented and tuned out there.

 

I asked the service writer to check the transmission fluid at the 5,000 mile service. Flat out refused. He said it would take 45 minutes. I asked how we would know if the fluid was low and was told the transmission wouldn’t shift properly. Then I asked if the constant gear searching could be an indicator. No, it is operating as designed. So again please tell me how we will know if it is low. Dumb look. Oh, yours was built after those transmissions had issues. (June, 2017). The conversation went downhill from there but we parted shaking hands. He empathized with me because he had a 2016. His wife got it in the divorce. I said better her than you. He grinned.

 

I think that we all can agree that the ECU programming is not in the ballpark, although mine seems to be better than most that post on TW. That one flaw does not make the mechanical engineering any worse. I was speaking about the build quality and mechanical feel from what was said in the post by @Falconsfan .

The Taco feels and drives better than any other truck that I have been in and is better and tighter than the cars of the early 2000s.

 

The Tacoma is an odd duck. Feels right everywhere, except the seat of the pants while driving due to the f'in tranny. Unfortunately, the seat of the pants is one of the most important feelings. I'm keeping my miles low while I decide what I'm gonna replace mine with since I can't give the tranny meds to help it heal. Trying to be strong, and hope I get used to crazy.

 

You can do what you want. Just make sure you get the most expensive synthetic money can buy!

 

Mobil 1 full syn only thing I ever use,and yea I will do them every 5k miles,you do yours every 10/15k if you want.

 

So true. Seriously the only characteristic about the Tacoma that prevents me from really enjoying it is the tranny and its constant gear searching. I can drive on the interstate with few hills and NO wind and enjoy the trip. I get a good feel through my seat of the pants ride. But let any breeze or wind come up and it will gear down to fifth. Hills will cause it to go to fourth. This is Oklahoma where the wind comes blowing down the plains more often than not. The cruise control is worthless.

Okay so I don’t have power leather seats. Knew that when I bought it. Didn’t know about the tranny. I am not a Ford fan but I will give the new Ranger a look when they come out. I really hope Toyota comes out with a new program for the transmission before then. That would keep me in my Taco.

 

Try premium gas. Either mine is the best one made out of these forums or it's the premium gas but I don't experience any of the gear hunting from the transmission and it holds high gears well on hills. I drive it in D everywhere

 

Coming from a Jeep this thing drives amazingly. I have not felt any searching for gear or anything or like that.

 

Hi neighbor!

That activity is precisely why I got a stick. Plenty of power and no hunting!

 

The AT truck I drove I could not "feel" it hunt, but I watched the tach dance around like crazy.

Or, the truck wouldn't come out of 4th. Ride was very smooth.

 

I have a 2nd gen. Mobil 1 every 5K. Wife’s car gets 0W-20 Mobil 1 every 10k. No worries