Taco Down:(

Oof, mpp... Should have gotten the Toyota VSA.

 

Is that on better? I got MPP platinum warranty, but didn’t remember I bought it or how much I payed for it. Will be interesting to see how it shakes out

 

screwy is a relative term .. That being said everything I’ve posted on here has been 100% honest and I’ve given all the info I can think might be relevant in order to try to figure out what the hell happened because to be honest my truck breaking down is a bummer cause I love my little taco and want to figure out what the hell happened at the end of the day.

just spoke to Toyota customer service advisor and they’re going to escalate it to a “senior advisor”, but they said “it’s really for the tech at the dealership to diagnose and Toyota corporate doesn’t do that.” I should hear back by end of day tomorrow.

 

I agree a thermostat usually fails open and even if it fails closed the car will gradually overheat. As for the sensor I don’t see how it’s the issue here. A faulty sensor may not report the overheating but won’t cause it.

Your guess is as good as mine what truly caused this. But based on what you’re saying here I can’t see how either are the culprit here.

 

bad temp sensor wouldn’t cause the overheat, but could cause a bad water pump to escalate to blown head gasket, warped head etc. I was thinking that knowing if the temp sensor was faulty or not would help reduce the possible causes for over heat or blow head gasket. Seems like if that temp sensor is good then it was a bad / failed head gasket.

 

Don’t disagree just seems like a long shot. To me the sensor works or it doesn’t. And if it the gauge went from cold to normal on the drive it leads me to think it was working.

You unfortunately seem to have a rare situation here and might just be one of those shit happens types of deals. And never 100% know what caused it.

But I’m far from an expert. In the end hopefully you get it covered one way or another.

 

I hear ya. It’s good to have folks to help think through it. I’m feeling like it was bad head gasket if I was a betting man I’d put cash on that as the cause. May never know but I really want to haha

 

I hope this works out for you OP but why aren’t you satisfied if they replace it with a rebuilt engine? Your engine had 65k miles on it; it’s used. If they replace it with an engine with 65k miles on it, you’re made whole. If they replace it with an engine with less than 65k miles, you made out better. Just because you purchased the truck new doesn’t mean it’s a new truck anymore. Your truck was used 65k miles, so a rebuilt engine makes perfect sense. It’s the same thing if your iPhone shits the bed on day 364; Apple will give you a refurbished iPhone that will have the remainder of your factory warranty or 90 day warranty, whichever is greater.

 

Thank you. All good points and I see why anyone would ask the question and take that angle, but the biggest thing to me is that miles are relative. Let say someone was ragging their shit for 20k, 65k or 95k miles and didn’t take care of it or didn’t maintain it and that’s the motor I get? I drove 64.5k miles of my 65k miles and took care of my shit in a way most humans don’t these days. I changed the oil every 5k not that 10k bullshit, it was mine and I took care of it. What if they replace it with an engine that has 90k miles on it driven by some idiot that didn’t give a shit about it? It’s not the same and the failure wasn’t caused by me. Why should I not expect them to make me whole at the minimum (fix my shit) and if the can’t then they should make it right, but not less than before.

 

Because Toyota owes you nothing on a truck that is outside of warranty coverage. The extended warranty you bought likely says in your paperwork that they can use new, used or remanufactured parts at their discretion, something you agreed to when buying it.

Hoping you luck out with a free repair covered by someone though.

 

Thank you. To clarify, nothing about this situation is free to me. The cost of towing, borrowing another vehicle, initial cost of the truck and extended warranty, the hours on the phone, the loss of my beloved lil truck etc. if you think this is free to me you’re an idiot. What I’m realizing through this is that, as you say Toyota may not owe me anything, and I mistakingly placed my trust and respect with them as a company, engineers and manufacturers. I’m pretty bummed about it to be honest. Willing to give it a few more days but also thinking about how to move forward to make me feel better which include a whole lot of negative marketing and childishly annoying people in a big way with internet trolling.

 

Is it even possible to find a low mileage donor motor these days? Another good question is who is doing the motor swap? Is it the same guys that just do oil changes and basic maintenance everyday? How many things will they screw up or forget to tighten properly. I would trade that truck in as soon as it was fixed.

 

People crash them every day, even brand new ones.

I did a quick search and found 5 engines under 20,000 miles on the first page.

https://www.car-part.com/

 

I don't think you mistakenly put your trust in them. Toyota is known to build vehicles that last and rarely have major issues and you are part of the unlucky small percentage that ended up with an issue. You just won the shitty lottery unfortunately which is bound to happen to somebody with mass production of anything.

 

I agree. Trying to decide if I should swap it for a newer one just like it or go with something else. I really like the tacoma, and if it was just luck what are the odds I get 2 in a row??? Haha

 

Better question is , what are the chances of something catastrophic happening twice to an otherwise reliable vehicle (another Taco), compared to the chances of buying another vehicle and something happening to that?
I say chances are LESS on getting another Taco. Both scenarios have risks. Nothing guaranteed. But one has less IMo.

I say Taco Tuesday 365 24/7

 

I think you’re right and this time I can order the 5 speed SR