Third gen still bulletproof?

Yeah but you don't notice it at first. Mine has developed a lot of weird squeaks/rattles and its obvious there is a lack of sound-deadening material. If I keep it I'll tear the doors apart and put those sound mats in see if that helps.

 

Having owned all three gens, I'd say fit and finish is similar. I prefer the 1st gen trucks personally, mainly for their size. I'd predict the 4th gen will also be similar in fit/finish quality.

 

Since when are dealer personnel totally honest? Few and far between

 

Buddy cracks the cylinder wall of one engine and calls them all unreliable

 

2nd gen guys love saying how good their truck is. Problem is, it doesn't matter all that much. Every product has the things that go well and the things that don't.

The 2nd gen had plenty of it's own problems as a truck, and a lot of good just like the current generation.

For instance, ask a 2nd gen guy how their frame is doing or how it probably got replaced, I had to deal with that. Thank God toyota decided to spend 14000+ on a truck from 2005 back in 2017 or else I would have had to deal with it.

Also the blue paint on my old truck failed completely on the roof and hood so that was an entire paint job to prevent rust. The truck was kept in the south east as well, so it's not like it had the Arizona sun had anything to do with it or the salt in the north.

 

as the 3.5 V6 are getting up in miles and age, it's a bit worrisome how many are crapping out.

I drive the 2.7L i4 so I'll never have to worry lol

 

So how many are "crapping out"?

 

I think he's taking about the occasional 1 engine breaking down. out of the millions Toyota and Lexus sells, the 3.5 is pretty reliable

 

Pretty reliable. That’s a little underwhelming for a Toyota, especially when the failures in question are in the “this should never happen unless it’s been abused” category. The fact that it happens at all, much less in the first 100k miles, is of concern.


And certainly not “bulletproof.”

 

That’s my opinion of them all based on my experience. I thought I was replying a clear question from the OP’s original post.

 

There’s multiple threads dedicated to your question.

 

Yes, I posted based on my experience of my truck shitting the bed at 65k miles and Toyota telling me to pound sand.

I’m certain that there are people with more miles that have not had there head gasket fail and hydro lock a cylinder and only a few of us that have had my same issue. No one knows how many people have actually had this issue

 

For me it’s up there with a wheel falling off. Shouldn’t happen in the first 200k. I’m curious what others think is an acceptable rate of failure.

 

.

 

I'm just saying it's a reliable engine. Sure you may have not had a good past on this engine but a lot of other people have. My engine has withstood a lot more than I thought it would. I've redlined it for way longer than it should and it's been underwater. I'm happy with the reliability so far

 

Since I'm bored and had too much coffee - lets play with some numbers.

Lets generously assume that half of all 330,000 members of TW have a 3.5l V6 (sorry 1st and 2nd genners) - 165,000

I've counted at least 24 P11EC and P11EE failures on this site.

24/165000 = 0.0000145454545...

1/0.0000145454545.... = 6,875

1 in 6,875

37 of the 252,490 tacos sold in 2021 will have this problem if they haven't corrected it, assuming they're all a V6 (which they aren't)


So, not great, but also not a catastrophic amount. I'm really curious what the real number is, and if it affects other models.

 

thanks for digging through it. Great question!

 

I wish they still made a "little" pickup truck with that motor in it. Like those first gen crew cab trucks except with all the new safety/navigation stuff etc.

 

I think they’re pretty disappointing all things considered.
I’ve had 5 Tacomas, my ‘21 is the first “3rd gen”. Yes the motor/trans is peculiar but it doesn’t stop there. I describe it as owning a Camry with 4 wheel drive.
My ‘06 GX with + 350K km’s on it is ten times the vehicle this 3rd gen will ever be.
My only comfort in this is that technically this vehicle belongs to my wife, she chose it.

 

That's hardly an answer, but the question wasn't directed at you.