Obviously the 2018s have had the engine/tranny issues fixed...???

OK, so I got a 2016 Limited when the 3rd Gens first came out. Got rid of it after about 7000 miles because of the engine/tranny issues... Constantly searching for the right gear, the little buzz in the steering wheel and floorboard at certain miles per hour, and the gas mileage that would top out at about 16mpg if you babied it.

(Fast forward to now....)

Traded my '17 F150 for a used '18 Tacoma(TRD OffRoad) that a local Ford dealer had on the lot. I am OVER-JOYED that I am seeing NONE of the issues I had with my '16. I picked it up yesterday and with mixed driving I am getting 20.3 mpg according to the display. No buzz or vibration at all in steering wheel or floorboard/gas pedal, and it has so much more pickup and holds the cruise speed very well on the interstate. I mean the gas pedal is so much more responsive. If driving my '16 at say 50 and you wanted to pass a car, you had to really press down on the pedal to get it to speed up. Not so with this '18. A slight press of the pedal gets it going very quickly at speeds.

Are you all experiencing the same thing? I guess you'd need to have owned or at least driven both to really tell. But I'm just saying that Toyota musta figured it out. And I could not be happier!

 

Mine was built 7/18 and mines fine 2.5k Miles later

 

That's great to hear. I can't stress enough the night and day difference in the driving and performance of this '18 vs my '16. WAY better with the 2018!

 

If you've never tried the S modes, try S4 up to about 35mph. 35-65mph use S5. Use S6 over 65mph.

You'll be amazed how much different it is than regular D mode!

FYI there is also a transmission update that came out in July (TSB 58-18). A vast majority are reporting improvements with it.

 

You did'nt get the TSB that they had issued. I got tsb 0062 blah blah something and it fixed all the shifting issues and i have 16.8 mpg now. after all. i am on 33's and not regeared yet. i'll regear with 35s. but i didn't buy this fucking truck to get good gas mileage. i used it to play around in.

 

Right. My 17' OR rips 17mpg on the trails. Toyota worked some voodoo there.

 

I got rid of the '16 before there were any TSBs to fix the issues. 2 closest dealers told me it was performing how it was designed. Regarding gas mileage...I'm not sure anyone buys a truck FOR the great gas mileage. But when the window sticker says 18-23 and you are averaging about 14? That kind of puts a bad taste in your mouth pretty quickly. But I am glad they finally got a TSB that fixed all the issues.

 

I've used them just for the novelty of it a couple times. But if I'd wanted a 'manual' tranny, I'd have bought one...

 

I'm glad that they issued the TSB to fix the issues on the '16s and '17s. My OP was it looked as if the '18s seem to not have the issues. Anyone with an '18 chime in and let me know if your truck was fine right 'out of the crate'...

 

I have no experience with any years previous, but my 18 doesn't seem to hunt for gears at all. i'm getting 20.8 mpg 75% highway driving.

 

Haven't yet experienced the issues many here have with the transmission.
Happy so far!

 

I'm lifted on 32s and I can't hold 6th gear on the highway very well, but this thing SIPS offroad. Kinda crazy honestly.

 

My 2017 has always been fine. I think its the early 2016's before there was a transmission TSB to reprogram it gave everyone a scare, then everyone that had a Tacoma turned into a hypochondriac thinking this or that is wrong with their truck.

 

Purchased my trd off road in the mid May and have over 8000 on it. I took a trip from NM to MI and back and the truck performed great. I get about 22.5 average on the highway. Shifts are smooth and it holds gears good. I have not got any tsb updates up to this point. I figure, if it ain't broke, no need to fix it. I'm really happy with the truck.

 

I don't use S modes like a manual. I just put it in S4 when I'm driving around town. And it's a totally different feeling than D. Same goes for S5 and S6 on the highway. I'm certainly not shifting up and down constantly like a manual.

For most of those that don't like the way their trucks drive in D, If they'd try an S mode, I think they'd be very surprised and how different the truck drives.

 

This matches my experience as well. No issues

 

Jim, I can't talk for most but this Tacoma is way better than the Colorado I test drove back in August. The tranny shifts very smoothly and with a total of 3800 miles on it (built in El Paso this July and I bought it in August) I'm averaging 24.4mpg right now on this 3.5 liter. I can't say enough good about it so far.

 

I test drove 3 2018s. One at the beginning of the year, one in July and one in August. I walked away from the first two because I didn't like the test drive and bought the one I drove in August.

 

I just consider D as am ECO mode that I use 95% of the time while driving around town or on the interstate and usually average about 21 miles per gallon per tank.

If I want the truck to have a little more pep or hold the gear longer I kick it over to S Mode, sometimes even add ECT. I haven't found the need to make one mode of the transmission act like another mode with a reflash or purchase the ovtune when I'm perfectly happy with it the way it is now.

The transmission has the different modes to select from why not use it?

 

From the responses here at least, It seems the majority of the '18s and even the '17s seem to be free from the issues that plagued the earlier models. Great to hear.