2019 trans shifts fine...

I have been driving Toyota’s pretty much my entire adult life. My entire family does as well. I currently own three and traded in my 2008 Tundra for the Taco I just bought. I’ve never experienced any transmission problems with any of them in the well over thirty years I’ve been driving the brand. Not so sure I will with his one. I could be wrong but it sure seems to shift just fine. Don’t understand why it would all of a sudden go all Jekyll and Hyde on me...

 

I dont believe it’s normal even for Toyota but maybe we are thinking about different issues. I had an 08 with zero issues that was lifted 2 inches with bigger tires and also 03 tundra with the 6 cylinder. I noticed the hard shifting in the tundra and it didn’t bother me. What’s driving everyone nuts is the erratic shifting from 4-6 on the highway and my 17’ would actually get stuck in 4th at 3500rpms and refuse to shift down after the the road leveled out. So constantly feathering the gas pedal to help it shift on cruise control and getting 14mpg isn’t normal. Also, go look at the dealer lots and I bet you 60% of Tacoma’s on the lot are used with 5k-30k miles on them yet there isn’t a problem? I took multiple trips to the dealer to reflash and ended up buying OVtune that gave it’s some low end torque but never fixed the highway driving. Ultimately I traded it in after 2 years and it’s became probably one of the most disappointing experiences I’ve had. I loved everything else about the truck but the transmission was enough for me. Sounds like the 19’s and some of the 18s have better reviews so hopefully Toyota has it figured out bc they dropped the ball on the first two years of the the 3rd gen.

 

I don't even understand what you're getting at with the used comment. When a 2-year-old Tacoma is only $5k less than a new there's no reason to buy used so clearly they're going to stack up. There is zero correlation between the availability of used cars at dealerships and those cars having issues.

If the truck isn't downshifting after a hill you either have a problem or you still have your foot in it. Given you're reporting getting 14MPG, I'm going to guess the latter but either is possible. Even if it's not your fault, it isn't indicative of a problem with the Tacoma, it's indicative of a problem with *your* Tacoma.

Just because you have problems and you've heard of others having similar symptoms (1) doesn't mean you all have the same problem, and (2) doesn't mean Toyota has a problem as a whole. The hunting and firm shifts are 100% by design because they help meet the fuel economy targets mandated of the company.

Again, this website is a massive echo chamber where everyone circle-jerks the good and bad. This is not indicative of the real world by any stretch of the imagination.

 

This post nails it. Sadly a lot of folks don't understand the realities of EPA/CAFE/CARB regs that ultimately force the manufacturers to make compromises that some end users don't like.

 

That may be true and in my opinion a lot of users don’t like the end results otherwise there wouldn’t be so many 1-2 year old Tacoma’s on the lot. I commute 100 miles a day for work so for ppl who putt around town all day I can see how it doesn’t effect them. I test drove a JL rubicon on the same roads and the drivability was night and day different than my Tacoma. Keep in mind I live in Kansas so I can’t imagine ppl in states such as Colorado or NC.

I have no interests in the GM twins or the new ranger but I haven’t heard any complaints of lack of power or anything on erratic transmissions. Once again, as a big Toyota fan and owning many Toyotas throughout my life. I’m just disappointed in my experience with the 3rd gen.

 

I respect your opinion. But just know that this regulatory disease is spreading to all makes/models and will only continue to get worse. Small displacement engines, more and more electronics, 10 speed autos, not one but two overdrive gears, trans that hunt for the best gear based solely on mpg, etc. Fleet fuel economy ratings only raise, never lower. It's not going to get better.

 

Exactly my point. This is the new normal and if people think this is bad, it's not getting better.

 

I have a 2019... I have not experienced any of the issues some other have been complaining about...

 

So what are you driving now?

 

I ended up buying a 16’ F150.

 

What engine?

 

It’s the 5.0 I had a tundra all but bought but found the used lariat with 7k miles for right at 40k so decided to take the chance.

 

It's a good motor. I had a 2016 with the 2.7 ecoboost and it was a great engine. Plenty of power and good mpg.

 

I would argue that it's far more likely people buy the Tacoma only to realize they don't want a vehicle that rides so much like a typical truck or that they decide they need more truck.

Either way, the JL has the new 8-speed which goes back to my prior point. It's easier to have smooth shifting and less hunting when you have smaller jumps between gears. Toyota will get there eventually but until then, people either need to get used to it or buy something else - it's not something wrong with the truck, it's people buying and keeping vehicles that don't meet their expectations.

 

Dude, this is Tacomaworld.com, you’re going to have to stop with the common sense if you wanna fit in around here...

 

So why wouldn’t Toyota save the headache and put a 8 speed in it? I’m just lost and don’t get how this 3.5/6 speed combo rides like a typical truck. What other vehicles have you been in that shift like this? I mentioned earlier that about my 08 and the 4.0 never had this problem. They should have just carried that over but your whole point is the epa/cafe/carb regs so the 4.0 wouldn’t pass? I apologize but I’m obviously ignorant on this subject and don’t understand how toyota thought this was acceptable to sell.

 

They did, they fixed it by releasing it with a MT .....

On a serious note there is a tsb for it that might be apart of the “fix”

 

@koditten see the title ......

 

Well considering that it's the number 1 selling mid-size truck.............

 

Yea the reason I bought the truck too. Reliability and it’s a great looking truck but to bad it drives like a pig compared to its competitors. I’ll be anxious to see how well the reliability holds up.