Tips and Tricks on the 3rd Gen Tacoma

Does anybody else's vents blow hot air while the ac and fan are off? I've never had a car do that before.

 

Only if I'm driving and recirculation is off.

 

Well, the answer if you are using Android Auto is yes if you are using Google Maps for navigation. It should be displayed upper right with cellphone signal reception strength, and also phone battery charging status. I have never tried it, but I suppose there could be a clock app which is compatible with AA that you can download and run.

While running Google Maps under AA, I will often ask Google to send a text message to a recipient, or some other command / question like "OK Google, what time is it?" Since the audio of the phone is connected to the head unit via BlueTooth, you don't even have to be running AA to make the request.

I think the same is possible with iPhones and Siri and even Apple CarPlay.

 

What I meant to write, if you have the phone connected to Bluetooth, you have hands free calling... But you also have access to Siri or the Google Assistant, and you can ask for the time... You don't even need a head unit that can do Android Auto or Apple CarPlay. If you can ask your significant other for the time, you can ask the digital assistant in your phone for the time.

If however your digital assistant is your significant other, well no comment.

 

I know the clock is on the infotainment screen. I was wondering if there was a way to display it on the instrument panel

 

Yeah, sorry about that. Seems like it would be a good thing to have but perhaps the clock hardware/software only exists in the head unit. I would be surprised if that were true though as some of these smart boxes must time-tag certain events that the diagnostic tools can pull.

 

Yes. Turn the AC control to the right if you don’t want it blasting heat with it off. Or hit the recirc button to stop it completely. I kinda like having the ventilation, but never leave it on hot because hot air sucks.

 

Stupid question about A/C and heat. Does turning the temp UP/DOWN to a different temperature actually change the temp that the air blows out at, or does it simply cause the fan to blow at a lower speed when the cabin temperature reaches the setting when in "Auto" mode.

 

Don’t know if this is in the 117 pages of this thread yet, but on my ‘16 limited, the rear center headrest affected the auto dimming feature of the rear view mirror. Removing the center rear headrest allows for proper dimming of the rear view.

 

I'll try this. I've always had issues with it's auto dimming

 

Tried really hard to get used to the gigantic auto mirror and how much it blocked the windshield. I have my seat reclined and moved back as far as is practical and with the mirror lifted as high as it would go the thing still blocked a critical part of my field of vision.
I recently replaced it with an 8” generic flip mirror that lifts all the way to the ceiling.
I am SO MUCH happier now despite having to manually flip it. No more ducking to look below the mirror just to clear intersections.

 

love this!

 

Wow… this thread. Wow.

 

On a slight decline, after using the break, it will also downshift, usually into 3rd. I recently noticed this on the hill near my house that I drive on all the time. When you shift into the manual mode the transmission is in 3rd not 4th.

 

My older Subaru does this if I have air set to higher temperature, then turn the fan off since you are still getting air draft from outside regardless.
Now, before I turn the fan off, I make sure to set air temperature to low first.

 

noobie here. so when I go into reverse, is there a reason why the distance marker overlaid on the image doesn't bend with the wheel angle like on my subaru? did toyota just run out of memory and code-space in their fujitsu head-units, or is somehow the static display "better"?

 

I assume much like camera resolution and speaker quality (both of which are much better on Subarus) it’s just cost saving corner cutting. They would have to program 2 different overlays, one for each wheel base, and it would have to adjust for decreased turn radius when in 4 wheel drive.
Dynamic reverse overlay is infinitely better imho

 

This thread is gold!

 

Agreed!

 

good idea