2012 Tacoma Maintenance

Hey Ya'll,

I have a 2012 Tacoma TRD Sport and the maintenance is way more often than any of my other cars and trucks. My dad who rebuilds muscle cars has the idea of just drive it till something breaks however, I'd like to stay on top of my truck but without having to do all this work every year and half. I do my oil and filters and tire rotation at 5-6k every time and at around 45k I did spark plugs transfer oil and front and rear diffs. Now I'm coming up on 75k and was wondering what you guys think about letting these things go till 100k. Has anyone had problems? Also, I haven't ever changed my transmission fluid and I know the old way of doing it is either change when they say change it every time or just let it go until the transmission goes out. What do you think?

 

I personally stick with the manual when it comes to preventative maintenance. Replacing a few gallons of fluid every two or three years is alot cheaper than a transmission rebuild.

 

I follow the manual too.

 

Frequent maintenance should not hurt. Don't stop now. Spark plug replacement should be every 30K if the copper plugs are used. I say yes do the tranny flush now (you didn't mention auto or manual). Besides many years of trouble free driving When you sell the truck any maintenance informed buyer should be pleased.

 

I agree that maintenance is much cheaper and easier than repair. If you really really want to go longer, and you are using high-end synthetic lubricants and not wheeling all the time, then you might be OK letting stuff go longer. It's the same approach as the "severe service" schedule for engine oil, which says you can go longer service intervals if your vehicle is not subject to any of the severe service operating conditions. If you do choose to go beyond the recommended service intervals, I would definitely start checking the fluid levels and condition more often than normal. Proceed at your own risk.
And I agree, service documentation would be helpful toward any future sale scenario.

 

It's pretty straight forward. If you maintenance the vehicle at the recommended intervals, it will have fewer issues than if you dont.

 

Just curious, I also have a Auto 2012, OR with 66K miles, Ive done all you mentioned to your truck too. But what maintenance does your truck require more than any of your cars and trucks you have? You just mentioned you like to stay on top of things, so why ask if you can prolong maintenance of your truck? You either maintain it well, or not. If you want your truck running good like Toyota's reputation of reliability, than maintain it well. Follow the manual.

 

I agree in maintaining my vehicle and no that it should last longer. However, my last car was 2001 Hyundai Elantra GT manual transmission. My truck is auto. On that car I never did anything besides oil and filter, spark plugs every 60k and a clutch when it went bad. I drove that little car to almost 170k with no problems. Gabezz I've never had a car or truck that required any maintenance before 40k or more likely 60k via the manual. A lot of auto manufacturers are doing 100k mile spark plugs now. I love my truck so much but the maintenance is a beotch. Its the one thing that Toyota did wrong in my opinion.