The dreaded 3rd gen auto trans quirks

Haha ! Nope, not another thread bashing the Tacoma trans .
I might be one of the first to praise it. Lol . Or maybe Toyota finally got the software figured out on the 23’s .
Mine is only a couple weeks old, but so far I have zero complaints . I actually really like the way it shifts and drives. Both around town and on the highway. Yes it does downshift often to maintain speed while cruise is set when there’s hills. But being a small v6, I think that’s just a necessity for that engine to stay in its power band.
I traded in a 2019 F250 with the 6.2 gas v8 and the 6 speed trans for this Tacoma, and I can honestly say I prefer the transmission and drive ability on the Tacoma over the ford.
The big v8 could maintain speed and lug the hills on the highway with less shifting for sure .. but around town it seemed to hunt for gears and always be in too high of a gear more so then this Tacoma ever is .
Overall I’m happy with the Tacoma transmission. Is it perfect ? No, but I really can’t complain overall.
Hopefully I’m still happy with it after I try towing my 4000 pound enclosed trailer .

 

Welcome aboard!

 

Glad you’re enjoying the truck! Welcome to the club!

 

Four years in and still no problems with my 2018.
The bitch with the transmission is overblown, imho.

 

if it's not too tall, being towed too far or too often,,, it'll be fine.

 

Welcome! I've got no problem with the trans having to downshift when you have to climb a hill. What annoys me is that at low speeds its in a big hurry to get to the next gear, then it gets there, realizes it can't pull it, and downshifts again. I know it's programmed that way to help meet EPA standards but it probably doesn't help much since it keeps shifting up then down then up again.

 

Friday always delivers

 

love this original content

 

What’s the reason behind the downsizing?

 

No longer have a big trailer to tow, and with the price of gas, driving that big thirsty v8 was painful. I spend more time off-road in my truck than anything, so to have a smoother riding smaller truck that’s way better on fuel just made sense.
I am a toyota guy from way back.
My first truck ever was an 84 4x4 toyota, then had a 86, then a 85 4Runner .. then a 85 diesel 4x4 pickup . Then an another gasser 86 pickup. then a 92 4Runner. So I’m no stranger to Toyotas. Lol.
And it’s good to be back

 

Put the cruise control on and report back.

 

Ive used cruise plenty already . No issues.
Yeah it downshifts a fair bit when it gets into hills.
But not enough to bother me. Like I said in my initial post, I think this engine makes its power high in rpm range, so as soon as it encounters a hill, it needs to downshift a lot to keep speed up. It likes to rev, so let it rev I say.
My last truck was a v8 and could chug along in 6th without much shifting on the highway…. But it also chugged at the gas pump too. Lol.
I’ll happily take some extra downshifting for the fuel savings and the overall better driving experience of the Tacoma.

 

See that, not all tacoma auto trans are turds. The op's truck will actually get better as it's used more.

 

What was the fuel mileage of your old Ford V8?

The AT on my ‘23 Taco shifts just fine, as well. But no big hills here in FL

 

Mine is a '21 TRD OR AC 6sp auto with 23K on the odo. Initially I found the trans' hunting a bit annoying but over time we adjusted to each other. I'm actually content with mine. No doubt that there's a big difference between the 4.0V6 manual in my '06, but the '21 has respectable fuel mileage compared to the '06. One has to recognize the power band difference between the 2 engines.

 

I’m in BC Canada, so we do litres per 100km and I was getting 18-19 in the ford . That’s my average of mixed driving in town and highway.
I’ll do the math for you. That around 12mpg
So far I’m getting around 12/L/100km in the Tacoma.. also mixed in town and highway. And that works out to 19.6 mpg.
I’m very happy with that. And I can assume it may improve slightly as it breaks in and the weather warms up.

 

Agreed only noticeable when towing for me but corrected using S mode.

 

I think there's been way to much bitching about the tranny. I've found it to be perfectly acceptable. The only time mine was doing any kind of gear hunting was one time when I had the CC set for 55... And started going up a fairly steep hill. And it started constantly flipping between 4th & 5th gear.
I fixed it though.... Dropped the CC to 52 and the truck picked a gear and stayed there. And I'm guessing if I had bumped it up to 57-58 it would have done the same thing. So, apparently I hit that one tiny spot, going a certain speed and just enough up-hill, the tranny couldn't make up it's mind.
Other than that? It's been fine.

 

Biggest problem is it is a 4 speed with two OD gears. If 5th was 1:1 like most 6 speeds it would behave completely different.

 

You should break in at least 1,000 miles before using cruise.