How do you like your Automatic?

I like my Taco automatic transmission just fine. It ain't a fucking race car, it's a truck. My transmission shifts just fine and my truck drives like a truck should drive. Tune away fan-boys, but I will leave mine just like it is.

 

Tune fixed mine up (KDMax). Without the tune I'd have traded it in by now. Before it was frustrating, now it's just gutless.

 

My 19 SR 2.7L 4x4 seems to shift clunky when cold but once it warms up it's fine. I think your are better off in Sport mode for the highway as the Cruise is not that great downshifting and revving the $it sometimes... I can live with this as long as it's reliable long term....

 

I hated it for the first 6 months and then I got the KDMAX Tune. It is a day and night improvement and now it drives like it should - no gear hunting, responsive shifting and decent power.

 

I had a manual daily driver for 30 years before get my 2016 Auto. My pre pandemic commute had gotten worse is why I wanted an AT. I drive my Tacoma very easy and am happy with how it shifts (did get the software TSB when it came out). If i need to get on the gas I will use the ECT button and it is fine. I guess it all depends on how you drive and what you expect.

 

What he said^^^

 

It seems regardless of which Auto/Truck forum I get on these days, there are folks complaining about the programming of their autotragic transmissions; funny, I never hear manual transmission folks complaining about such things.

Full disclosure, I've been driving for almost exactly 50 years; I "upgraded" to a manual transmission 45 years ago and haven't looked back. When I'm on the road and need to drive a rental, it seems regardless of which make or model I'm driving, the transmission frequently does the unexpected, something which I find disconcerting, and potentially dangerous. I'm always happy to get back in my own ride with three pedals under the dash.

 

I'm on my 5th year of my '17, and never had the issues members were complaining about.

 

My 2016 was a bit annoying but staying in gear selection mode was fine. 2021 is gold in drive mode, no issues there but in the winter I keep it in gear selection to quickly switch to lower gears for traction on ice. Went for a short road trip (180km) a few months ago and didn't have any problems with big hills.

 

Me too. It seemed to gear hunt a bit more for the first 10,000 miles but either it has stopped or you get used to it. Not sure what all the fuss is about. At almost 95,000 miles now and drives like new.

 

I hated the shifting Day 1...actually on the test drive, but I knew to expect it. I added ShiftSense within 2 weeks of ownership and wouldn't drive it without. My FJCruiser with the 5 speed shifted like mine now with ShiftSense.

 

I liked my auto so much I traded it for a manual after about a year.. I’ve now had the manual about 5

 

This ...

 

Trans has stopped me from getting speeding tickets

 

2020 with stock tune, the transmission is not my favorite. I live in a mountainous area, so lots of up and down on the highway. With cruise on, it'll downshift at even the slightest incline to maintain speed. Once up to speed, it'll shift back to 6th. Speed drops slightly, it'll downshift again. Same incline, rinse and repeat. Occasionally, if the hill is steep enough, it'll downshift and hold that gear well past the top of the hill. You'll be screaming at 5k+ rpm not even accelerating for what seems like a silly amount of time, with people looking at you like wtf? Pretty sure fuel economy suffers for this too. Outside of those specific scenarios, it behaves as expected - no complaints.

 

Mixed feelings on it. It's pretty good on flat terrain. 6th is too tall for the engine's setup for rolling hills. Be nice if we could lock 6th out but haven't found a way to do that. Maybe have a setting on cruise control that tells it to let the truck run slower on hills. S mode is next to useless. I despise it on rolling hills while using cruise control. Driving on manual and doing what truckers do seems to help a lot but who wants to foot it for 4 hours (my usual once a month trip). Otherwise, it's fine if I push it a little. Light footing seems to confuse it. I've been known to alter my routes to find flatter roads to get out of all that shifting at highway speeds even if it adds another 60 mins to my drive. I call all that shifting Shifting Hell. Pretty sure the devs for the transmission have never lived in a place with lots of rolling hills going 55+ mph for an extended period of time. Toyota needs to address it but suspect they really can't without wrecking their mpg ratings and all the "fun" that brings.

Any of you guys/gals using tunes to smooth that crap out, how does that affect your warranty? Or does Toyota not care if we tune it?

 

In my experience it depends on the specific dealer. My old dealership wouldn't even install 265/75r16 tires on factory wheels at delivery because warranty blah blah. New dealership doesn't care. That being said I've never tuned my Tacoma.

 

I like mine. No tune needed. Yes, the truck revs high but that's the nature of direct injection. That's not on the transmission. Some people just plain don't like the way it shifts. I use cruise control a lot and it works fine for me. Mine is one of the earlier models. Eventually it'll learn your driving and adjust as well. Plus, it sounds like later models have been improved with software changes.

 

Well, can always take the MT program out back and give it a tune up, beat the hell out of it, put it into a choke hold, whatever it takes. For the record, my prior was a 2018 F150 3.5 ecoboost. Loved the power and that 10 speed. 2nd best combo I've ever driven except for cam phasor problems. Just wish Ford would get off their high horse and fix the valve train on that engine.

 

I have a 2020 and got the dealer service bulletin done to improve the transmission shifting. Last year I think. It’s a lot better now than it was.