I am really trying to like my new Tacoma....

Surely just a benevolent human ‘paying it forward’…

 

I own nothing but yotas but if i were to ever buy from a different brand I would buy a ram 2500 cummins. That whole yota reliability thing for the tacomas ended in 2015. The 3rd gens all i hear is about that tranny and thats why some folks buy the 6speed. Idk much about the engine though.

 

My early production 16 had a lot of quirks. I nearly sold it after my first week long camping trip with it because it drove so terribly with weight in it. OVTune helped, KDMaxx fixed it. The engine and trans are good to go. The 3.5 is not a 5.9B, but it's plenty powerful for the application. Unfortunately, the shit trans and throttle tune hobbles it terribly and makes it miserable to drive. After getting the KDMaxx tune I like my Taco more all the time. It is worth every penny. Mine also rumbles a little upon decel, the diff whines and the brakes are not great. It is an imperfect vehicle. In my estimation, it is the best option to fulfill what this size truck is really for if you also value longevity.

 

I have owned 1st and 2nd Gen's before my 3rd and don't think reliability is any different.

 

I avoided the 6 speed because my 2006 6 speed had some issues. The throw out bearing rubbed and the 3rd gear synchros went around 75k. The 1-2 rpm drop was also huge nas reverse was way too tall.

Also, it's kind of early to decide if 3G's are reliable or not compared to other gens. There is only 5 years of 3G data vs 19 (I think) for the other gens.

 

Sorry to hear that. I had a ‘16 sr5 4Runner that never drove well at highway speed- the shaking went from the steering wheel through to the pedal. Was unable to get resolution. My ‘20 Tacoma had been great. It’s definitely not perfect— the transmission is a little weird— but I’d speculate you’ve possibly not put enough miles on yours yet to know if it’s “a problem-“ (even at your mileage!) and there are mitigation options- (ECT button, tunes). Hope you find what you expect from your ride!

 

Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I love my truck. When I test drove it I wasn't impressed with the shifting, but I went with it because of my and my family's history with Toyota and their reliability and longevity. Now at 2k miles the truck drives a jillion percent better. It's learned how I drive, and I've learned how to drive it. The latter is just as important. Call me silly, but I didn't expect it to do a sub 7 second quarter mile. It's....wait for it.....a truck!

 

You aren't crazy.

I bought a 2016 quicksand trd OR. Check out carcomplaints. The biggest issue is transmission and I felt the same way, but mine is on 35" tires. I put a lot of work into it with tsb updates/tuning/better exhaust and sound dampening to compensate. It's super quiet now and kdmax made it about 85% of where I thought it could be.


The throttle and weird downshifting times, and sticky throttle, and the fact I can either go 70mph or 85mph but not inbetween still pisses me off. I drove a gladiator rubicon and it was very nice with the 3.6 and 850re trans that is BMW made. Smooth as fuck, almost like its not there and knows what to do and how to react. Look at the 850re's first gear... couple that with the rear which is 4.10 verses the tacoma and its 3.91rear but strung out first gear. 4.10 with the ultra low 850re first gear and usable overdrives - Now thats a good ratio for being able to use overdrive on highway and feel confident off the line. Look at the tacoma? About 75% worse, and considering how the 2gr-fks prefers to lay down power at the high rpm band, versus the more linear pentastar engine... well I'm just a hobbyist mechanic but the parts don't play nice in the toyota, compounded by horrible shift logic and 6 speed.

I felt betrayed, but resale value is very good for me. It won't be tood bad for you either. Get something you like and test drive it a ton before you buy. If I had known how shitty this truck was for the price I would have probably got a gladiator or ram rebel...

I will be extremely skeptical about toyota from now on, I know they added all this tech and tunes for longevity, but I'd rather have 250k miles in a pentastar than 350k miles in a toyota that drives like shit. And the people who can afford brand new Tacomas can def afford nice driving trucks.

Life is too short, I never enjoy driving my toyota, it's just a reliable truck.

Also looking at the tune files it does not have a high enough sampling rate on pedal position to even properly modulate the throttle... thats a huge problem because of dead pedal.

Also my bumper ripped off while offroading lol my cousins hummer was unaffected by same manuever. Will most likely not look for toyota when it comes to trucks in the future.

 

yup, as an owner of a 2011 frontier that made 160k miles with no problems before it was totaled (not my fault), I can vouch for their reliability

I have also been keeping a close eye on the 2022 frontier with its 300+ hp and 280+ ft/torque engine. 9 speed transmission I actually have mixed feelings about. For one, the frontier should get MUCH better gas mileage than it is getting with that 9 speed, last I heard it is the same as the taco, just 19mpg. And second I would worry about the difficultly in locating someone able to repair it if it did have any future issues

But the extra power of the 2022 frontier cannot be denied. It also looked like (based on the test drive videos I saw) a smoother and quieter ride than the 2021 TRD off road

As I mentioned before, they have a terrible turning radius still, which to me is a minor thing

I would be interested to put my KDMAX tuned 2021 AT Taco in a race against a 2022 frontier. If I hit the ECT I have the most aggressive throttle setting possible with 87 octane, and it definitely moves. But I still think I would lose to that engine. Especially in the future if people figure out how to fine tune the frontier engine for even more performance

 

What grades are we talking about here?

My MT taco with 4.30 rear end climbs slight hills in 6th at about 1200-1400 rpms no problems at all. I actually use 6th a lot in city driving, 1100-1200 on flat roads and very minor hills, no issues at all.

2 of my buddies with 3rd gen ATs got no issues at all on hills. The tranny holds gears on hills and downshifts when it gets steeper.

This 3rd gen tranny “hunting” bullshit is so overblown, it’s ridiculous.

 

Every one of these trucks are different, I've had 3 my 21 had been the best. But my concern would be a car fax report or similar. Doesn't seem right. Maybe start pulling carpet look for water damage not disclosed. Just a thought.

 

I’m sure my taco with the premium SFOB will smoke a frontier no problem.

Those high rpms on that 3.5 will be the icing on the cake.

 

So if you don’t know much about the engine and the tranny, why would you say that the reliability ended in 2015? 2nd gens had their own issues as well, just like any vehicle. You guys read all this shit on TW and believe everything you read. 3rd gen is the better and more refined version on 2nd gen.


I actually wanted to buy a 16 valve Cummins with a 5spd before my taco, but I couldn’t find one in decent shape and for a reasonable price. I drool when I see mint 16 valve MT Cummins. Awesome trucks, tons of power, reliable and get better MPGs than the taco.

 

People not liking Toyota’s shift programming choices and reliability are two separate issues. They have nothing to do with each other.

I agree many have complained about the 3G transmission/engine/throttle tuning, however, not due to it having failed. They just don’t like Toyota’s choices.

 

Quote of the week for numerous reasons:

"This 3rd gen tranny “hunting” bullshit is so overblown, it’s ridiculous."

 

Here, now you can delete your account…

 

what does the premium SFOB stand for again? Not familiar with most of the acronyms yet

 

super full otto version B.

for what it's worth.