why does Toyota keep using a driveline that causes vibration?

I have a new 2013 Tacoma with 3k miles and I feel slight vibration when decelerating my truck. I have come to find out there is a service bulletin for the fix. My concern is, why would they continue to assemble their trucks with hardware that would become a burden on the owner's of these trucks?

Another question I've wondered is, what would happen if one chose to ignore the vibration, does it get worse as time continues? Is it possible for a more expensive damages sooner than later?

I asked this because my truck is already going into the shop for whistling noise found, they had to special order seals for my truck, ill be getting the service done next Saturday). It does become an annoyance after you just bought a 29k truck, 3 months prior.

 

If you search the forum there are several threads about the driveline vibration. It seems to effect some and not others. Strangly enough it seems to be more common among the 2012s and newer.

 

I would be upset too.

I just bought a 2013 couple of months ago, but I don't have any issues like you mentioned except for the leaf springs(?) thumping on stop from time to time.

 

They make a fix for it. Take it in and they will repair it. Lots of folks have never had any issues, so why throw out parts that work, when they can just replace the ones that have issues.

If that is a burden on you - Then ANY car maker would fall short of your expectations.

 

Because statistics and confirmation bias.

They've sold nearly a million of these (2nd gen) trucks. If there was a flaw that affected .10% of that population, thats still ~1000 people.

It can be (and often is) far cheaper to continue using a part that has a flaw and fix them than it is to change in the middle of a model run and have a bifurcation in part numbers and so on.

Even at that, does Tacomaworld and other sites have a million individual users between them ? Not even a little. And of the users that come to these sites, they are not at all a random sample - but entirely self selected - usually in response to a problem. That badly skews anything you might think you know from a reading of the forums because few people post up to say "my truck is perfect and running awesome".

So, if you read these forums, you'll find say 150 people who had drive line vibrations at purchase or shortly thereafter. But you aren't hearing from the 900,000+ who don't.

 

ask why, toyota spent over $ 4,000 just on my truck i think they are asleep.

 

When a TSB is out, there are still old parts in the production pipeline.

The difference between Toyota and other companies is that Toyota at least fixes the problems after a number of years, even if it sometimes takes several tries.

Toyota is about the only company whose first-year powertrains can be trustworthy.

@VirginiaBound: Everything has to be kept in perspective. Mid-size trucks from other companies are even more stale (Frontier) or have been discontinued (everybody else). You can't quite judge the mid-size segment by the pace of full-size trucks. Ford can afford to bring out new powertrains and new interiors every 2-3 years because they sell 600k F-series every year.

 

It is just frustrating having to go back to the dealership on a 3 month truck. Especially when I am 150 miles away! First the whistling noise, now this? I like my truck, but it sure is making it hard to fully enjoy it with these cumbersome issues.

 

These trucks have a driveline vibration problem? Havent heard about iy.

 

It's understandable to be frustrated about this. I delt with this when I bought mine new in 2011. I didn't have the same problems, but problems none the less. I love my truck, so don't get me wrong.

I think the issue that Toyota is having is a bit of a transitional period they are going through. Toyota has made the statement that they got off track with building a great product and became motivated with being the biggest auto manufacturer. They've said that they are trying to get back to their original ideals of just building a great product.

I've owned 2 prior Toyota trucks. Had a, I think 86 and a 93. The quality of these trucks were quite simply outstanding. Rock solid vehicles. No little issues here or there, everything just worked great.

Toyota builds a great product, they just need to get back on that 100% quality control they used to be all about.

 

Neither. Ford knows the redesigned mid-size Ranger has enough capacity for the majority of its F150 customers. Ford made the business decision to not introduce a less profitable Ranger to steal customers away from its more profitable F150.

Well, let's break that down: More horsepower, yes. Better highway fuel economy, yes, achieved through a tall overdrive gear. In city- and rush-hour highway driving (most of what I do), the F150 with the 3.7L V6 still gets worse milage than a V6 Taco.

I drove a 2012 F150 in LA last year for a week. Ride quality was worse than my Taco. Braking performance was worse. Handling was significantly worse. Parking was a pain in the ass. I bought a mid-size truck because a full-size truck would be impractically large for my life. Remember, people don't buy mid-size vehicles just because they are cheaper than full-size.

And all this without considering the Taco's better statistical reliability and much better off-road performance.

 

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. . . Sub'd
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No driveline or windshield issues on my 2010 Tacoma...or my 2012 Tacoma...

I guess all my vibrations are good ones.


http://youtu.be/LVKCRpOewco

 

I have never had "vibrations" with my truck, even (slightly) lifted as it is. People buy Toyota's for a reason and it's not because they suck.

Anecdotal opinions are fine, though they don't mean a damn thing. I used to be a Ford fan but every time I went to buy a new vehicle I was raped on trade in value since they're worth nothing after you drive them off the lot. My truck is still worth a good deal, even after 5+ years and 78K miles. Good luck getting that kind of value out of a Ford.

But again, who cares. If the OP has an issue, he should definitely address it with Toyota. The huge majority of folks don't have such issues. People come to forums for one of two reasons: They're genuine enthusiasts (like many of us) or they have a problem. Most folks don't come here to say how wonderful their vehicle is. They simply don't care as long as it works as intended.

 

Congratulations, i wish i was in your boat.

 

What are some of the traditional benefits of a mid-sized truck over a full-size? Easy to park, better handling, better ride quality when empty and better fuel economy. The F150 has closed the gap on one of the benefits.

I'm saying, if given a choice, many current F150 buyers would in fact pick the redesigned Ranger over an F150. Hell, the Tacoma's sales jump in 2012-2013 has been partially attributed to the demise of competitors. Perspective buyers of Rangers, Colorados and Dakotas are now buying Tacos rather than full-size.

The EPA numbers are all in the open. 2013 Taco V6 4x4 gets 16/21 mpg city/highway. 2013 F150 Ecoboost 4x4 gets 15/21 mpg. If your driving pattern is closer to the EPA city cycle, then the Taco gets 7% better fuel economy.

Is your comparison based on experience in a 1st gen or 2nd gen Taco? I don't get the "Hurricane Sandy" wind noise when cruising down the highway. (The whistle caused by the 2012 grille seal has a TSB already.) And I actually get the rated 21 mpg on the highway the few times when traffic was light.

As for reliability, the statistics still favor Toyota.
Dependability ratings for F150 are all 3 stars.
http://autos.jdpower.com/research/Ford/F-150/2010/Truck/ratings.htm
Dependability ratings for Tundra are 3, 4, 5 stars.
http://autos.jdpower.com/research/Toyota/Tundra/2010/Truck/ratings.htm

Note ratings are for 2010 year trucks, because data is collected over 3 years from a few thousand surveyed owners. It's interesting to see the F150 having better "initial" quality than the Tundra, but becoming worse after 3 years.

Average dependability for the Toyota brand is also better than Ford:
https://pictures.dealer.com/j/jdpower/1048/d113c91c0a0d02b701d3ac6eb051e9f9.jpg

 

Coming from a huge Ford family that owns F150, 250, and 350's ranging in years from 2001 to 2013 I can tell you that not a single one of them gets even close the mileage I get on my Toyota and they are considerably large vehicles to drive which is very evident when trying to drive in large cities like Seattle with narrow overcrowded streets.

The Ford representatives I have spoken to state they stopped producing the Ranger in North America due to low sells but it still sells quite nicely outside of NA which it is still being produced.

My family thought I was absolutely nuts to buy a Toyota yet I laugh at them every time we head to Seattle and they try to park those over grown behemoths, which at times are asked to pay for two spots as they are too large to fit in a single stall correctly.

Sure you can purchase a Ford with more horse power but I have yet had the need to pull anything that my Toyota is not capable pulling and just as well as the Fords I used to own (This is my first Toyota, not my first truck. Owned many Fords) so, IMO, you are just wasting that extra power and gas used to drive those horses. Ride quality is dependent on the Ford you get, the 2WD version has a smoother ride but the 4wd is on par with my Toyota.

My most recent comparisons come from my uncles 2013 Ford F150 4x4 STX with the 5.0 V8 that gets a whopping 10.5MPG in city. I have extensively driving this truck prior to my purchase of the 2013 Toyota.

I like the Toyota, I like the look and design. I like the size, weight, height, and ride quality. Plenty of leg room and Ford cannot touch the reliability reputation Toyota has built and earned.

That is just my 2 cents.

 

Good post!

Bang - Headshot!

 

Owned a Ford 2002 Crew Cab 4X4 long bed diesel for 11 years and over 101,000 miles. One minor repair and the truck got better mileage than my Tacoma V6 4X4. Parking was a bitch.

 

I think the bigger picture is with all manufacturers, that it all starts out well , meaning they all have good engineers that do sound designs, its when the bean counters get ahold of the prospective design & start slashing away at the good things to save $$$ in production cost is where it all goes to shit with the habitual TSB's that follow one production year after another, just my $.02....