It's a goodbye to my 8-year-old Taco Manual

This is the exit report for my 2016 Quicksand Tacoma TRD Off-Road SB Manual Trans I owned for 8 years and 4 months, and 80,680 miles since February 2016.

Got my Taco in February 2016 from Wisconsin at $1,200 discount from $33,659 sticker, dealer wanted my trade-in 2012 FJ Cruiser at the price I bought ($29k) for so it was a done deal. There was a paint blemish and dealer kerfuffle so Toyota HQ threw in an 8-year/125k-mile extended warranty (which was a godsend as will be detailed below -- TLDR, it was $17,000 warranty payout courtesy of Toyota)



Problem 1: Moved down to Chicago in 2017 and downtown Chicago Toyota dealer (Grossinger - when they were still there before the Canadian Leader group bought them out) burned the clutch within 10 minutes when my truck was being moved to service bay. The clutch smell was so bad it was in the truck for three days, and slipped pretty bad. Toyota HQ got involved and management replaced the clutch. Dealer paid $1,400

Problem 2: Clutch pedal squeak in late-2019 -- got the clutch pedal and master replaced per T-SB-0112-19 by another downtown Chicago Toyota dealer (Northside). Paid for by extended warranty, booked on receipt $900. Lower control arm also went out - another $800 paid by Toyota Extended Warranty, plus miscellaneous items like PCV. Service advisor thought it would be 3-4 hour job, but it turned into a three-day with a loaner since they don't really see a manual truck there. Ever since then the truck never drove the same, clutch pedal felt very mushy and rattling transmission. Clutch pedal also have almost 3/4" free-travel before it has spring-loaded. Total warranty paid: $2,000-ish

Hit-and-run: Got a condo neighbor who hit-and-run -- police went after the guy to have them pay up or they got booked for hit-and-run -- $1,400 body shop later it was fixed.


Problem 3: Extended warranty major save I:
Took my truck in for a service with a technician friend in Suburb Chicago before Thanksgiving 2023 and have him do a once-over before the extended warranty went out. He found the infamous front timing cover leak, and then he suspected transmission failure because it did not shift right according to him and other tech. He drained the fluid and TAS case said to replace transmission. The synchro was likely somewhere in the whole fluid. We were also suspecting that another dealer might have used wrong fluid for MT flush back in 2019. Then he found valve cover leak, and clutch accumulator leak, got all taken care of. Truck had to stayed at the dealer for four weeks in total. Clutch was replaced for parts price only.

Tech friend also said the manual transmission was updated in 2022-23, and I must concur -- it shifted better, positive engagement and much less notchy in between gears compared to 2016 unit.

Here is the transmission fluid as drained


The bill: $13,500 courtesy of Toyota Extended Warranty


Extended warranty major save II:
Steering rack was leaking - 12 days before the 8yr/125k extended warranty went out. Parts were a week out, then waited for the bay. Truck stayed at the dealer until the warranty expired, plus a few TPMS that went out under warranty. Total bill to Toyota was probably $1,500.

When the extended warranty ran out, the total extended warranty payout was $17,000 -- more than half of the purchase price of the truck new



Two weeks ago:
Front differential were making noise when switch from 2H to 4H, the front hood can be seen shaking when it engaged, and when giving some throttle the front end was shaking and making clunking noise. No noise in 2H -- my guess (and tech friend) is the front diff itself. A bracket would have been shaking more often than just under load. I would not have the warranty anymore and probably looking at $3,000 bill. I might as well get out while I can and let it be someone else's problem. With that much of $17,000 warranty claim, I think more will be coming.

Exit:
After some research on the new Colorado, I have been eyeing to replace my Taco since it got major repair in late-2023. A deal came that is good enough to not pass, and with my hunch of the front diff - so Taco is gone. I got myself a 2024 Chevy Colorado WT 4x4 with G80 locker, convenience and tow packages, MSRP $37,250, got it at $34,250 (supplier invoice price less $1,250 from two incentives for educator and GM loyalty). Traded-in my Taco for $24,000 (could have been $25,000 if it was not that Carfax minor accident report) -- though I should be happy since Carfax VIN-based value, Black Book and other websites gave it a $22,100 trade-in, Carmax gave me $23,000 cash, Cargurus was $21,200, and other Chevy dealers had low-balled me to $20,000 before.





So far: Colorado drives way better than my old Taco - more refined, feels more stable, no rattles or squeaks, takes pothole or road imperfection better, way more powerful even when it's still breaking-in. Drawbacks of Colorado are: side mirrors are too small compared to Taco, felt way bigger to drive almost like a full-size (but it has the same footprint as Taco) // But again, I only wish there is a manual option.

As to why I didn't go for another Taco: 4th-gen Tacoma base SR Manual was in my choice set, but I can't really justify the higher purchase price (MSRP almost $40k) for less power/torque motor (310/430 vs Taco's 270/310), less payload (1700 lbs vs Taco's 1380 lbs), and less towing capability (7700 lbs vs Taco's 6400 lbs). The compromise is: I would have to live without a manual transmission for a while. I may return to Toyota world in the next 5-8 years when I have to eventually replace the Colorado. But for now -- it is a goodbye to Toyota after 13 years of Toyota products (FJ and Taco), and I've joined the "full Chevy household."

Gonna miss the shenanigans with Quicksand the Manual Taco: hauling construction material for my high-rise home, towing track cars, doing truck things

 

rip taco , nice i would have gone with gm as well even after the bricking fiasco .

 

JK- have fun with the new ride!

 

Oh yeah, the whole repair jobs that had been going on since that $13,500 warranty payout made me think of getting a new truck. It got me scared of how "durability" (and not reliability) is going to be the issue. Toyota parts are also ridiculous -- front diff for $2,000 discounted price, steering rack was a week backorder, front timing cover job was crazy. Too bad that the 4th-gen pricing was really way out of line else I would have looked at one. I have also been impressed by the C8 (first domestic brand purchase) and how it changed my perception of GM products and the GM tech I'm working with right now is nationwide Top 10 technician, might as well give the Colorado a try.

Thanks, hahah!

 

The new Colorados look really nice, I was eyeing one at a stoplight today. Not sure if I can do GM again though, but I have time,,,, hopefully.
GL w the new truck, they are do look appealing and the price makes em more attractive.

 

I like how you're admitting you'll have to replace the Chevy in 5-8 years

 

All things considered 24k isn't too bad for an 8 year old truck with 80k. I'm not the biggest chevy fan (owned several and most were junk), but new is nice. Hopefully the Colorado works out well for you.

 

Sounds like the Quicksand was a can of worms! Thanks for the write up, fun read.

 

Sounds like you really got a lemon, that’s a bummer. I’ve had all brands of trucks since 1986, my two Tacomas have been flawless for the most part. I’m at 202,000 miles on my 2019, runs like the day I brought it home. Good luck with the GM, based on my experience you’re gonna need it…

 

thanks for sharing your experience. i have not owned a vehicle that required that extensive of repairs in 8 years/80K miles. if memory serves the most i recall paying was for a radiator that developed a leak shortly after the warranty. all others made it to about 100K miles before requiring any out-of-pocket repairs beyond normal maintenance.

thank goodness for the warranty. i am hoping my tacoma makes it another 2-3 years without any major issues.

if GM offered a 6-foot bed for the colorado i'd give it a look. enjoy your truck.

 

The new Colorados look really cool. I hope you enjoy your new ride.

question: how did the Tacoma do hauling the track car? That looks like a full size truck job to me, but you were able to do it with the Taco.

 

Good for you OP, but I’ll keep my taco

 

I've had nothing but good luck from Toyota's but there are some lemons out there. I don't blame you for jumping ship after all that.

 

Sucks to hear all the issues you have had.
Best of luck with your new Chevy

 

I have a 16 TRD Sport with 85K miles, and I have been eyeing the 24 ZR2 for a few months now. You can build one very well equipped for 52K. That includes sunroof, headed cooled seats, heated steering wheel and underbody cameras. Plus the front and rear lockers as standard.

 

If I got out last year, the trade-in value was closer to 26k. In my deal -- the sales manager wrote me up for 25k sight-unseen, but when general manager was approving the deal they flagged it for 24k due to prior damage and Carfax. I'm just glad to be out for the potentially big bill comes.

It towed my track car fine -- had been towing for the last three years and 9000 miles of total towing. The manual trans really helped in towing and it was "adequate" in power. Coolant temp was never above 195 even in Texas summer, and I changed oil immediately after towing trip. Averaged about 15-16 mpg towing at 55-60 mph, so it was not much of a difference to 18.4 mpg lifetime average. Another person I met at NCM track also towed with his Tacoma but it was an auto, he averaged 14 mpg.

I would have gone for a full-size, but my garage space and downtown living situation made it difficult to have a full-size.

I went with base model WT, TurboMax 310hp, G80 locker, convenience and towing package -- all that for $34k after incentives, what more would I need. Even a run-on-the-mill crossover SUV now runs for that money, so $34k for that is a lot of truck. I don't do offroad, except for occasional snow driving (gonna need better tires) and in my use case of towing 3000 miles per year, it's probably better to get maximum payload and tow rating.

 

Hope you bought the extended warranty with the Colorado.

 

I will be buying it after the bumper-to-bumper warranty after the 3/36 runs out. I did that to my C8 -- $1,800 for 4yr/40k miles extension after 3 years. If anything after the Taco $17k warranty payout I had to go through, I'm hesitant to have a vehicle without extended warranty.

 

How fast were you engaging 4H and in what road conditions?