3rd gen issues compared to 1st and 2nd gen

Were the problems this prolific on the other generation vehicles? I do not recall the message boards ever being so full of issues and complaints. I went over to colorado fans board to see how many problems people are having and I think I saw one or two threads at most on the 1st page of their forum for clear cut issues. This really does not look good right now for Toyota. Imagine how many potential sales they've lost just due to the issues being vented in this forum.

 

Not a lot of forum use when the 1st gens were around. Never going to get a useful comparison.

 

I was on TTORA back in the day. I think the only issue I had with my first gen was the rattle in the dash (a piece of foam fixed it via TSB) and a creaky/squeaky clutch pedal (Manual Trans). It took several visits before they replaced the entire pedal assembly. Other than that, the truck was nails for 8 years and damn near mint when I sold it for 2k over blue book.

 

http://coloradofans.com/forums/#/forumsite/20670/topics/306714?page=1

 

A lot of issues which are pending becoming reported will be common to the 2nd gen issues. (Leaf packs sagging is the main one which comes to mind) a lot of new issues I am hearing of. Wiring issues, lows trans fluid, and exploding glass around the cab are becoming the norm for the 3rd gens which are issues presenting themselves during the manufacturing process. I am sure a lot of people are doing their research on the 3rd gens and this is the first site they visit.

With the bombardment of complaints this truck is receiving, it is definitely turning people away from buying one. Good for us, bad for Toyota. I hope this makes them take a long and hard look in the mirror and realize they must stop building junk and pass it off as new and good and get back to building the quality they were once known for.

 

It is a hard thing for me to make a conclusion on. The 1st Gen was a really really good truck, completely over designed for what it needed to do. It is what truly built the tacoma stigma.

I want to say that as each year goes on, EPA and safety standards get tougher and tougher and cars/trucks get more and more complicated to meet those standards. But we are on a consumer cycle here. The release schedule stays the same. More work crammed into the same amount of time.

But what gets me is the Tacoma has kept simple, dated, but proven (which I prefer) technology for a lot of the truck. Leaf springs, drum brakes, manual transmission, minimalist interior (compared to competitors), new (but not new to Toyota and other vehicles on their lineup) engine, etc. But we are seeing UNACCEPTABLE issues with them. Transmission issues, driveline angle issues, leaf spring issues, window seal issues, differential howling issues. It isn't revolutionary brand new technology they are using, it has all been around for ages in the auto industry. So I can only draw the conclusion that their quality control is slipping, either for themselves or their control over their supplier's quality.

Pristine quality control and building a rock solid vehicle is the toyota name. If they lose that, it's over. They will not get by on a minimalist vehicle with quality issues.

My stance is this. I will give toyota until the end of my powertrain warranty to make things right. If they don't fix the issues by then, I'm out. I will pick up a newer commuter car and an older truck, to use for fun, hauling and on the trails (all for probably what I paid for the tacoma). Or I will look at the Ranger depending on what ford does with it.

The 2016 tacoma is a good truck, but I want what was advertised. If the few major issues were fixed on it, it would be the perfect truck.

 

Oh man, that 1st Gen dash rattle was terrible though. Never did get mine fully resolved. Lots of squeaks under the steering wheel near the parking brake lever too.

If the internet had been invented by 2001 I'm sure it would've been riddled with gripes.

 

I had been trolling the internet since 1996 or 1997 though. Since the early AOL days. It was around before that gen taco came out but it just wasn't what it has become today.

Today we live in the age of information. You can find ANYTHING out there with just a few clicks.

 

Does this shit ever end

 

There is only one way to bring back Tacoma quality-built in Japan!

 

Both my 1st and 2nd gens had their issues.

The first gen ate a manual transmission, the rear diff, and my center console clips broke/rattled all the time.

My second gen ate numerous throw-out bearings, a front diff, squeeked from what seemed like every moving part to no fix, then rusted real quickly.

That being said I loved both more than I probably should have.

 

Back when we had the attention span to watch a webpage load top to bottom for 30 seconds. Hey, my dial up ran out - do you have a spare AOL Free Trial CD for me?

Seriously though my Juno email address from those days was almost impossible to cancel. Finally succeeded a couple years ago.

 

Oh shit. I used Juno myself for some time. Lol. Damn it's crazy how the internet progressed.

 

Haters gonna hate. One thread dies so start another just so they can bitch some more about the same things they've bitched about in 20 other threads. Seriously, why do you still own it if you dispise it so much?

I love my 3rd gen! It's the nicest, by far, of the four Tacoma's i've had and i'm extremely happy with my purchase. Yeah the transmission can be a little dodgy but Toyota IS working on it and there IS a TSB out for it. All the other stuff, squeaky body mounts, whistling control arms, trans fluid, u-joints, u-bolts etc.. are the type of minor issues (all of which have fixes btw) that any and every automaker has when releasing/redisigning any vehicle.

 

Let's be honest, take out all the auto trans posts and thats like 95% of "i hate my tacoma" posts right there. The auto trans is definitely a problem but everyone does not need to make a unique post about it. Check your fluid level and thats all you can do about it until toyota addresses it some how. Seeing the clutch issue today was interesting. It's one of the few non-auto trans posts. With pretty much all of the sales being automatic 6 spd pretty much all tacomas are plagued at this point.

 

Are those common out of curiosity? I get on here 15-20mins most days before i go to bed. I guess I must have missed those threads. Though admittedly the 3rd gen section is boring enough that I tend to check the other sections more frequently. I do get the mirror whistling(or maybe it's the control arms?) once in a while but it seems like it will only happen if there is cross wind at a certain angle. Today I heard it for maybe 5 seconds before it stopped.

 

Guess I'll be hitting toyota sometime this week.

 

I feel so disconnected with the 3rd gen community right now. lol. Is there an ETA?

 

I have some connects at a toyota dealership since I work for a big dealership chain. I will see if they can get me an ETA.