2017 Manual Transmission

let's not go looking for fights now... with MT owners about 3rd gen tacoma transmission choices. hmmm.

but i really have a serious question for you, i'm honestly curious. how often does your truck shift in general highway driving, up hills, passing, headwinds, etc.? because i'm hearing that normal behavior equates to a lot of auto shifting.

 

It wasn't hard for me. I emailed the dealership exactly what I wanted first so they had a heads up. Turned out there were no manuals to be allocated at the time so the sales guy told me to come in and they would order the exact truck I was asking for. The hardest part was waiting 8 weeks for it to come in and that's about it.

 

They gave me a brand new Auto 17 to take on an extended test drive for a few days, the transmission was constantly up and downshifting, it was especially bad going up longer grades. it was a great driving experience other than that awful transmission, I think I will enjoy the Manual I ordered.

 

In general highway driving it shifts to 6th gear and holds it like it should. Up hill if it is a slight incline shifts to 5th then back to 6th after cresting hill, on step incline shifts to 4th then back to 6th after cresting hill, in heavy headwinds mostly stays in 6th might occasionally drop to 5th but not often. Mine does not do shifting all over the place and constantly like a lot of people seem to say. Yes in manual you can hold 5th and 6th on a hill but that doesn't mean your truck didn't prefer 4th. The dropping to 4th and 5th climbing a hill is when I am in CC and it is maintaining my speed. I have never driven an automatic in CC than didn't drop gear or 2 to maintain your set speed while cresting hills. You asked the question and that is my honest answer. I have owned manual myself and like them also but my wife could never quite get the hang of shifting gears and on rare occasions we have to swap vehicles so I switched to an auto. If it wasn't for her I probably would still drive a manual but sometimes you have to do what you need to do.

 

LOL I knew I was right.

 

I was lucky, my dealer had two on the lot. The silver, I wanted and another white. Both Sports DCSB. I am VERY pleased I went with a '17 with a 6spd over the '16 wiht a AT where people on this forum consonantly bitch and report driveline issues....

 

I guess I was also lucky, although I'd been checking local dealers' websites for a while. My local (Utah) dealer had my Off Road MGM DCSB with manual transmission sitting on the lot. I wrote a downpayment check on the spot so someone else wouldn't nab it. Really happy with the looks. I drove an FJ Cruiser for a long time that was NOT the color I wanted, just so I could get the manual transmission in that. I have been having an issue lately with 6th gear lately, after a long trip it's very hard to shift out of 6th, but the dealer has a service bulletin for that and parts are on order. I'll update when installed to see if the problem is solved for good.

 

Hmm, how long of a trip? This is the first I have heard of this and have yet to experience this.

 

there's a TSB and an easy fix for that. not hard to find info about it.

 

Long trips, at least 2-3 hours. And it mostly seems to happen after coasting for a while, like coming down a canyon, long grade or sometimes even just decelerating down an off-ramp. This never happens around town. First time it happened, I thought maybe I was just getting lazy on the clutch pedal and so I watched to make sure I was putting it to the floor. It certainly feels like the clutch isn't all the way disengaged and that the transmission is still under a load.

I was expecting the dealership to say "we can't reproduce it" but they did find the bulletin on it. The Service Writer said there's a ball and spring in the trans that will get replaced. That's about as "technical" as they get here, but we'll see what happens.

 

That was an issue on the 2016s, I thought they started putting the new pin and spring or whatever the TSB parts were into the new ones, at least the issue is easily solved.

 

They had to trade with a dealer in Denver to get mine. Real happy with the M/T in the Tacoma, coming from a WRX.

 

in the process of selling my subie as we speak. not that i wanna...

 

Even with my little 6th gear issue, I completely prefer the M/T in pretty much everything I drive. (My other car is a 2008 BMW M3 also with a M/T) It just feels more engaging to drive for me when I have to pay attention to the engine, the speed, all that stuff that is part of going down the road. Just for comparison, my last ride was a Range Rover Evoque. If you'll humor me for a little story...

I stopped to take some time lapse pictures up in Montana once with the Evoque. I had the drivers door open when I set my tripod up, and as I started shooting I realized the tripod was just a little bit in the way so the door wouldn't close. No problem, I'll just pull the Evoque forward a few inches with the door open so I can close it. Well - no I won't! Turns out the Evoque would NOT release the electronic parking brake when I put it in drive with the door open. I could not get that damn thing to move because it decided I was trying to do something unsafe and so all the electronically controlled goodies (transmission and parking brake) overruled me.

SO much happier with a vehicle with mostly manual controls!

 

this kind of thing is so hard to old timers and old schoolers. at least we can still get MT's somewhere, even with a locked ECU, rev hang, and nannies galore. i'll be happy if i can at least row my own.

 

I had to order my Double Cab Offroad manual with premium and tech. There were like 5 in the country when I ordered mine. Its rare but worth it. Plus I only wanted Silver Sky so that limited it further.

 

for getting MANual

Dealer had to do a swap with another dealer from upstate NY

 

autotrader.com, that's how i found my trd pro in 6mt across the country.

 

I literally seen it on the Internet and walked in and bought exactly what I wanted.