Hello From Toronto, Canada.

Hi Guys, bought a 2006 4.0 Auto TRD with Towing and few options. I’m not impressed with the dealership experience especially after spending just about $45K . Still waiting for them to locate a truck and dress it, a week later. What’s the scoop with the gas situation? What would happen if I use regular (87 octane) gas only? I drive about 2000 miles or 3200 KM a month plus towing a trailer. It could save some $$$ but what problems will I have? Also planning on installing a Mile Marker HI12000 hydraulic winch that relies on the Tuco’s power steering system to drive it . What are your thoughts and experience. Thanks a lot fellow Tuco enthusiasts.

 

Hi TCBob,
Thanks for asking. This is what I got for now.

iPod Interface
Bed Extender
Cargo Net - Spider
Hood Deflector
Side Window Visors
Skid Plate
Side Step Bars
Hard Tonneau Cover - Primered

Later.
TM

 

I also have a 2006 V6 but with 6spd manual. My Yoda book says 87gas is fine, which I have been using since I bought the truck a month ago. Is there a problem with the octane in beautiful Canada?
I can see that you have done quite a bit on the shopping list for extras, I would like some of the window shields that go on the doors to keep the rain out but don't really know which ones are the best.

On my truck I have a factory tow hitch(3000lbs) but with out TRD suspension and with getting that, I missed out on the larger alternator, oil cooler etc. My boat is quite light at just over 1000lbs so I doubt that I will need those options though they would have been nice to have.

I am not surprised by the dealer, my dealer, here in central Mass., really did not look throughly at other dealers to find me the truck that I wanted, even though I was very specific. Good luck with your truck and I have read where the 5spd auto is very smooth .

 

How many miles/gallon do you get on your 6sp manual? The auto does better. No Octane problems here but I love my engines. My last car was a Subaru WRX that called for premium. I put only 93 octane from Sunoco. Yes, I got as many options as possible including rust protection so the cost is worked into the monthly payments.
The window visors are only CAN $111 for all four. I worry about the wind noise though. Have to wait and see.

I know the TRD package is expensive but I intend on towing about 5000 lbs every now and then. It’s the main reason I bought a truck. I’m purely a performance car enthusiast until now. Yes, the 5 speed auto shifts very smooth, its actually unbelievable. I only had a short test drive so I hope I’m not wrong. The Nissan Frontier is not as smooth but I believe it’s a better deal. They have many more options as standard in the NISMO (their TRD version).

My dealer took his own time to locate my truck. Now they are in a hurry to close the deal since its month end. Guess what, I going to take my own time close the deal. I inserted a special clause on my purchase contract that my truck must have less that 50 kilometers on delivery. It could mean that I won’t get my truck after all.

 

So far I get 19mpg around town, I live in rural central Mass. in a town of 14K but there are many towns nearby that are larger. So far it has really not been on a highway trip but I would expect 22 with my driving habits. Two of my best friends are long time Yoda advocates and they installed the factory TRD superchargers on there 04's, which require premium gas. They both get 20mpg. They also do all there own maint, frequent oil changes(3K), brakes, timing belts etc. Both are on their 4th Yoda and usually put 250+ through out the trucks lifetime. They both have trailer hitches, but do not own trailers, but use there hitches for the occasional trailer or ATV trailer.

The one reason I bought a Yoda, is because of them for the most part and as a long time bodyman(painter) I know of Toyota's long time endurance.
The other reason is that it fits what I need a truck for, towing my boat and various items in the bed when necessary.

I would have loved the extra engine and cooling goodies with the TRD package but I was told by the Toyota dealer that you cannnot get the upgrades with ordering the TRD package. My truck will never see the off-road work that many Tacoma drivers like to do. The most is the occasional unpaved road to a lake.
I love the SR5 package with the fog lamps and bumper treatment and would like to have the audio controls in the steering wheel like on my last car but it was not a part of my option package.
In dealing with my Yoda salesman, I was able to bargain quite a bit to get the price down to what I wanted to spend. Part of this is because it was a 06 with 07 on the lot. The dealer that actually had the truck( I asked my salesman to get the truck for me), had only 06's and that truck had been sitting there for a long time, as it was made in Apr of 06.

I now have 1K on it, originally buying it with 53miles on it and the engine is really beginning to loosen up. My first oil change will be 3K and then will wait till 6K and take it to the dealer for the next change so that I develope a relationship with my local dealer, whom I am told has a competent service dept.
I had some thoughts on going synthetic but have changed my mind, as 3K is a waste of money when the cost of synthetic is so high vs. regular oil.
My two neighbors liked the oil filter up near the engine, as they have to take there skid plate off to get to their filters.

Sorry for the long post, jeff

 

You are averaging just about what Toyota’s claim your truck would do. About 90% of my mileage is highway driving, so I’d be if I got 10 Kilometers per liter as Yoda claims. Wonder why these trucks still use a timing belt vs. the timing chains on Nissan’s. The oil filter location is however wonder if the oil will spill over the side of the engine when removed. I plan on keeping my truck into the 300M+ Hope they still build them like they used to. Changing oil every 3K is not a bad idea on new engines but after about 16,000miles I think it’s a waste of money. The technology that now goes into the good old SAE30 oil has improved leaps and bounds. I would consider a renowned additive like Slick 50 or equivalent before I go the synthetic route because you still have to do your lube changes every 5K miles to keep the warranty in effect. Make sure you remove all the metal filings off the magnetized end of your oil drain nut/plug. I don’t know if the Yoda’s have it.

When (if) I get my truck the week of Oct 30th, I plan on putting some mile on it with a vengeance to make sure all problems (if any) are ironed out during warranty period. The 37,500 miles or 36 months warranty in Canada does not cut it for a manufacturer like Yoda. I got an email about a Japanese news article that states the following; “Sharp increase in recalled cars in five years: 36% of total cars last year by Toyota” I know of 3 people who had to replace the rear bearings in the Corolla’s before the car’s had clocked 25,000 miles. Unfortunately for my friends, their 36 month warranties had just expired. I know, ours are trucks but I’m approaching this with caution. What are the popular trucks in the US? Are the domestics losing ground to the imports like in Canada? The 2008 Toyota Tundra is very nice. Looks a little like the Honda Ridgeline

 

I don't see a problem with the oil filter, spilling over the side of the engine, as the filter has shield around it to contain any dripping. This should work very well.
Thanks for the reminder of the Toyota warranty. I will adhere to it, so I guess I will change at 3000 miles and then have Toyota or my local mechanics do the 5000 checkup .

I don't know about Canada but putting what they call "straight" SAE 30 in would not be a good idea. You may be thinking about 10W-30, however, I do believe in sticking to manufactures oil recommendations, when it comes to the weight of the oil. So I think 5-30 will be my choice. I don't know much about slick 50. I realize its and additive but does it affect the warranty? Does your Yoda dealers add this to oil changes?

One of the reasons I had synthetics in our other cars, was our cars sit outside all winter(unfortunately) and while we are not as cold here in Mass., as you are, I liked the fact that there was the extra lube in the cold . Our Subaru( my girlfriends) has had Mobil 1 since 5K and the engine is very clean inside according to our mechanic(it has 119K on it). The same for my previous GM car it had Mobil 1 since birth.

The synthetic route for my truck was just a thought as some of Yoda owners due use it.
But I have not gotten any answers on the length between oil changes.

Now as far as local trucks, there are lots of Tundras around, Escallades(GM) Honda's, but Ford outsells everyone in the US and has for years. To me, they make a solid truck, plus you can get a V8 with a standard trans, which you cannot do in a full size GM truck. Lots of GM trucks too.
I just am disapointed in Ford and GM and Toyota's reputation, plus my two friends who have had no problems, it just seemed the way to go. The resale value is high (though I have no plans on selling). A number of our dealers were selling used 06's for $21,000. These were asking prices, of course.
The domestics are loosing heavily, overall, to Toyota, Nissan, Hyundai etc.

I am not sure why Yota does not have a timing chain, except its cheaper to produce a rubber belt, than a chain perhaps and its quieter, maybe. Other than that, its a interesting question. One that I will ask when I send in questions to local auto experts.

Hopefully, you will have your truck this week, as I said I only had two minor problems and they were not mechanical, just someone forgot to plug in connections.
Since I am a fisherman and tow a boat, I can tell you that the tow vehicle of choice, for a diehard fisherman, who has a boat valued at $25,000.00, is a GMC Suburban or Tahoe. The wheelbase length, weight and horsepower, do the job. My fishing partner has a 06 Tahoe and with a 19 ft boat you hardly notice the boat. The worst possible towing problem is having the boattrailer have a large affect on the tow vehicle in the rain and under braking conditions.
I saw something the other day about going to a website and getting Toyota's TSB's , to be sure that the dealers don't forget upgrades or changes when servicing.
I sure hope your truck comes in this week and you get to do some long distance driving this weekend, please let us know how things are.

 

Here's and interesting site, if you have not seen it before, yodarepair.com. Click on the "engine oil bible".

 

I thought Tacomas used a timing chain (I could be wrong and often am) heh

About the TRD towing option, the 5000# is rated for what the vehicle will safely stop, it can tow more, plus i wonder what the factor would be if the trailer was equipt with its own brakes.

 

Jeff,
I used to do the same thing with my new engines. Do one change at half point myself and take it to the dealer for the next. The added benefit, you get the minor recalls attended to while there. Minor recalls they don’t notify you about. Yes, I meant 10W-30 and not just 30. We use 5W-30 during winter however for new engines the owner’s manual rules. When my Subaru was new, I wanted to go synthetic but the service manager cautioned me that they will contest warranty issues, if any. So I caved. Slick 50 and STP engine oil additives void engine warranties but their manufactures claim they prolong engine life. So when the warranty expires, whatever turns me on rules the day. No dealer I know of promotes additives. Furthermore, they are not cheap. I call them, “feel good” oil’s. The kind of oils you buy for your “OTHER” girl friend . My cars sit outside like my "OTHER" girl friend. I wish engines had an oil pump that can be started 30-60 seconds before you crank the engine. You should do a cost analysis of running your engine block heater for 3 hours every morning (winter only) vs. the cost of using synthetic oil. If you don’t know how, I’ll put my 2 cents in. Pls. give me your cost per kilowatt, cost of synthetic oil in liters, number of liters required per change and we’ll see what comes up. From what I know, the synthetics double your oil change frequency. So, every 5K becomes 10K. Don’t quote me on it.

The domestics are sure losing ground to the imports in Canada due to reliability, gas consumption and dealers with attitude. The resale value of used Toyota truck’s is unbelievable. I was looking for a used truck and here is what I found. A 1989 with 500,000 KM requires new engine $2K. 1995 with 300,000KM $5K. A 2001 with 200,000 KM listed at $20K. These are asking prices in CAN $. Need I say more? So, it only made sense to buy new since I drive my family up North every weekend. It’s a long drive on seldom travelled roads. I don’t understand the timing belt connection with the V6’s . They may have a good reason.

I got a call from my dealer today claiming that my truck (only available 06 Speedway Blue) has 150 kilometers and if I would waive my 50 kilometer condition. I said no. After a few hours of thinking and chatting with friends I decided to waive it because my finance rate on the 06 is 1.7%. The 07 rate is 5.9%. Though its against my wishes to buy engines others have driven, I hope I have not made a mistake this time . My dealer has offered me the opportunity to drive it from the current location to the dealership (about 22 KM) on November 2. They need 3-4 days to dress it and to PDI. So I should get it sometime the following week. We drive to our vacation home every weekend (250 miles) and I’m dying for the maiden voyage. I agree the Suburban/Tahoe are solid sure footed trucks but they are "oink oink" on gas. I don’t have a boat towing problem since my boats come out just once in the fall. I don’t have a fancy boat like yours yet. I was planning on buying something next year but it’s now out of the question. I’ll have to find a way to float my Yota and fish off its bed. It’ll make a good live well. I checked Toyotarepair.com. I see a lot of noise about Tucoma defects/issues on Tundrasolutions.com. I’m kind of concerned. Time will tell.

Did you know that Toyota is the official truck of the Al Qaeda, the Taliban and many terrorist groups in many parts of the world. When I say “Official” I actually mean most preferred. I think we are on to something here.

 

I didn’t know about the timing belt till the Nissan Frontier sales rep told me the Taco stinks because of the belt and his Frontier smells like roses because of the chain. Made me worry for a while but quickly forgot a problem existed due to my short attention span.

Where did you come up with the 5000#. I don’t know what to do because you claim you are “often wrong”. Kind of like my last boss. The sales brochures state 6500 pounds. Since the trucks have EBD (electronic brake distribution) you may not feel the load pushing you forward as much like vehicles without EBD. If you have a trailer equipped with breaks, you have nothing to worry about. You are cooking with gas dude.

Hey, since you are the golden boy around here how about you device an unbreakable gold rimmed timing belt for our trucks. With all the Yota’s out there, you just might be able to buy that mansion next door to Bill Gates.

I’ll get back to you on the other thing you inquired about.

Quit slacking and keep digging.

 

Banshee,
Thanks for spending the time to clear the air on this matter. Much appreciated and in fact you have made my day. Cheers.

 

Dear members,
This further clarifies that Banshee’s research is 100% accurate. I’m glad that we don’t have to kick this dead horse around anymore.

 

Yes I have to admit, I probably started this part of the thread, in my discussions with Themaster, I really thought that they were belts. I stand corrected and thanks to Banshee and all for the correction.
As a note, my aunt who has a Toyota Corolla, also is a chain and in discussions with her long time mechanic, he said to her that she really did not need to worry about getting it changed on time, he mentioned that the chains don't really stretch and she could easily go to a 100K (her book says 90).

 

I dont know what I was thinking with the 5000# (my bad)it should of been 6500# (duh)

And about the gold plated timing chain! Oh it would look pretty, but the plating would be a lil to soft at any carat. Lets talk Titanium?? lol

 

Themaster, I have a "mea culpa" on the subject of chains and belts, as I really did not check up on it.
What company makes a block heater for Yoda's? I don't believe that we are that cold here, however, a warm engine and good heat right away do make a difference, but no one in our area has block heaters, with the eception of a few older diesels.

I noticed that although lots of Yoda owners use synthetic, Toyota does not recommend it, for some reason. Considering some of the car manufacturers who put it in from the factory.
Most of the bigger, 19-22ft Rangers, Tritons type bass boats that have 250hp engines, all use the Tahoes or 4 door Fords, Dodges and some have diesels as the massive torque comes into effect when climbing lots of New England's hills and mountains. Its true they are hard on gas, my friend gets 13mpg when we tow his Ranger at 65-70mph. Again here, is the comfort zone of not having the boat putting a strain on the tow vehicle and in the summer having the power and all that,especially in the summer and having the AC on after a long day on the water when its 90deg.
However, I think I mentioned that my hitch is a Toyota 3000lb hitch and my boat is just over 1000lbs. So there will be no towing issues.
I had hoped that you might have your truck at the dealer and I think you did the right thing waiving the mileage requirement with dealer, as long as it is not to high and with in reason. Here's hoping that it arrives this week. I wonder why it would take them more than a day to get it ready? What is PDI?, by the way?
I was looking up some of the Yoda, service bulletins, on a site yesterday and will sift thru them to see if anything is relevent.

Let me know how the new truck is, when it arrives. I just put on my second coat of wax, as today it was 67deg in the afternoon. Joyous!

 

Jeff, don’t worry about your “mea culpa”. No big deal. We are here as enthusiasts to shoot the breeze, chew the fat, exchange views and ideas and maybe learn something. Belt or chain, a Toyota is a Toyota. We are in it for the reputation.

Well in Canada, a block heater is a Toyota accessory at CAN $184. Check www.Toyota.ca > Vehicles > Tacoma > Tacoma Navigation > Accessories> (> = then click on). See if you can source it or I can send you one. You can pay whatever I paid for it, after you receive it. No worries.

Since you are big on lube and oil changes, have you considered starting a JEFFYLUBE or LUBEY-JEFF Franchise?

I checked out my new truck today. It was dirty as hell yet beautiful. I ran a red light (by mistake) at a busy intersection and barely escaped a disaster. The sales rep had a heart attack, a stroke and an epileptic seizure, all at the same time. The trucks steering wheel was vibrating on the highway at around 90-100 KM. Sales guy said, we can fix that. If you have visited , a problem like that can be the beginning of a very bad nightmare. After we arrived at the dealership, I noticed the radio housing broken in two and the rubbery material around the 3 dials (heating/cooling knob) gouged with a sharp object. The sales rep was apologetic and quickly offered to replace the silvery plastic surrounding the radio but nothing can be done about the other damage. I didn’t feel good buying something like that. So, I refused to accept it. When you are paying for something new, you want something brand new. Since it is the only available truck in Canada, I had to upgrade to a 2007 at additional cost due to rates. So, I’m now waiting for one to arrive from California. Expected delivery date is late November. I would rather wait for what I really want.

Dealers in Canada collect freight and PDI from the new car buyer. PDI (Pre delivery inspection). Typically freight & PDI is about $1600.00 for the truck. I guess I will have to wax my truck too before it is exposed to a winter of salt, wouldn’t you say. Please let me know what you think. What make of wax did you use? Let me know if you need the block heater.