Serious use 3rd gen issues

I hear you. I’m used to leaving it in N and parking brake on if it’s not on a hill, works for me

This parking brake grabs like a mofo in my taco. Even with one click it engages pretty good, I tried it many times while driving at low speeds. My ranger’s parking brake wasn’t as aggressive, I put it in gear and parking break on slightest hills just to be safe. Not the case with this taco.

 

I have seen this video the axle was ripped out while attempting to recover the vehicle using a fj cruiser with a winch .

 

To each their own. I don’t use mine because of my original post. Unless it’s summertime and I’m parked on a grade. Also I have an automatic transmission

 

That makes sense, if you have an AT then there is no use for a parking brake IMHO.

 

Except for loading the weight of your vehicle onto the transmission.... Let the brake take the weight. Cables are easy to adjust, rebuilding transmissions is expensive.

 

I have never put the parking brake on an automatic car unless I was on a hill and this is over 3 decades and 100's of thousands of miles on many different cars, with zero transmission problems. Now on a hill, I always apply parking brake to any car, because the weight of the vehicle combined with the slope of the road does put stresses on the drivetrain.

 

2200 miles on mine, overall it's a good truck...not my daily however so I'll probably never even hit 50K.
at 200 miles the HVAC mode door got replaced under warranty, this was likely bad from the factory and I just didn't notice it at first.
There's a clunking noise from the front right when turning on uneven ground. Probably something with the strut or CV, I haven't had time to narrow it down before taking it in to the dealer.

Overall, great little truck. Though I will say I would have jumped on a 2nd gen with lowish miles for less than $30K instead if that existed around here.

 

Only issues on mine are: Very prominent rear diff howl, A/C expansion valve whistle on clutch engagement, and the 15-25 mph driveline vibe.

By far the most annoying issue has been the diff howl though. It's gotten to the point where I'm considering dumping the truck since Toyota has no resolution for it. I can't take road trips with this thing without wanting to pull my hair out.

 

^This a million times over. Jesus so many of these guys have just flat out, never owned a truck before. Yeah, it doesn't drive like your old WRX because it's a fucking truck. I think some of these guys just saw a few too many of those Ram commercials and felt like they weren't manly enough or something haha

 

That is true, yes.

 

That really sucks. I do have a slight diff howl at like 55-60 but it’s super quiet, you gotta turn off the music and listen for it.

 

I noticed mine got a lot quieter when I was swapping suspension and got slightly larger tires. I guess just changing a few characteristics will change the harmonic howl.

 

can confirm

 

Some of us already had it before we bought....

 

I’m close to 60K miles without any issues. Besides the stock skid plates being bashed in from the constant abuse, the truck is trouble free. Mine is a work truck and I can confidently say that our Tacoma’s are just as capable as heavy duty trucks. Obviously it can’t tow or haul what a HD truck can, but the Tacoma is definitely a power house that doesn’t complain.

 

Love how the thumbnail says "What just happened?".... but nowhere in the video do they actually explain what happened.

 

A fairly reliable metric is looking at resale values. I think you'll find Tacoma's hold their value about as well, or better as any mass-produced vehicle. Does not mean they are perfect. I personally find the low-speed throttle response and transmission mapping to be laughably bad, the brakes are too "grabby" at low speed and the back seat is almost un-usable for adults......so, of course, I own 2 of them.....

 

The parking break is one of my favorite features!! It doesn’t matter if I’m parked on a flat surface, I’ll throw it in neutral, pull the lever, and then put it in park. You are right I rather replace the cable than put any more strain on the transmission.

 

I always use it. But I also park with the manual transmission in neutral.

 

I’ll be honest and say there are a whole host of things I don't like about these trucks. I had to do a lot of modding to get it to where I like it. Had I been forced to keep it in the stock configuration, it would’ve been gone a long time ago. The biggest issue I have with it, has already been addressed as of 2020 with the power seats. The seat configuration in the turd gens before the power seating was available sucks!! Thank god for seat spacers or I’d be driving something else. It was that bad.

Overall, there’s more good than bad - obviously or they wouldn’t sell the way they do, but I really miss my full sized Tundra. Don’t need all that room, comfort and power but I do miss it.