2019 trans shifts fine...

Just gonna throw my 2 cents in here. Before my Tacoma, I drove a 15 Cherokee Trailhawk with the 3 liter V6 and 9 speed tranny. After driving that vehicle for 3+ years, I gotta say that the transmission in the Tacoma seems tame to me by comparison.

That 9 speed was constantly shifting, always took a moment to decide what gear it was going to take off in from a standstill, and on occasion would shift HARD up or down into another gear for no discernible reason.

That, coupled with the annoying stop/start system (which is also there to help MPG’s), resulted in a driving experience that could in no way be considered calm or smooth in a conventional sense, but is most likely a sign of what may soon become the new norm.

While I owned that Cherokee, I participated in Trailhawk forums, Facebook pages, etc, and instead of just complaining about the tranny seeming to shift funny, quite a few participants complained about having to actually have their transmission replaced once or twice within the first 15 or 20 thousand miles of use. Talks of pursuing lemon law suits, having to have vehicles towed due to the dreaded “service transmission soon” light coming on, purchasing extended warranties because it’s not that uncommon for the trans to go bad after 60,000 miles, etc, were quite common place.

That Jeep was nicer than my current Tacoma in many ways, but the trans sure wasn’t one of them, and neither was the reliability and resale value.

I don’t mean to sound harsh or to imply that Tacoma owners don’t have legitimate complaints, I would just suggest that even tho the Tacoma isn’t perfect, it’s far from being a bad vehicle in any sense of the term.

 

Thanks for the input. I guess I’m learning that this new epa stuff is just a culture shock to some of us. Hell I felt exhausted for the truck when id take the five hour trip to the lake through the Missouri hills. In my tundra I didnt mind the hard shift as long as it found the gear afterward rather than hunting constantly like the tacoma. It’s going to take me awhile to get use to this new “norm” if every vehicle goes that direction.

So with the gear hunting and higher rpms/temps there’s no reason to be concerned with the Tacoma reaching 200k miles plus like previous generations?

 

Are they N-Fab sliders? And how much did you pay for them with the removable steps?

 

Get on the Chevy Colorado forums and read about the Tranny shudder problem people are dealing with. When I was purchasing my Taco last summer, I spoke with a chevy dealer next to the toyota dealership and mentioned I was considering the Collie and he told me the Taco shifts smoother. They all have their advantages and faults.

 

I would assume you would need to be nowhere near concerned. I chose the MT out of preference but this is why Toyota hasn't just slapped it's 8-speed into the Tacoma... they are a slow-moving company that builds vehicles with powertrains that will do 300K on the regular. The big difference between this and prior trucks is that the 6th gear isn't equally spaced, it's a double-overdrive tacked on the end with a .58 ratio. That is a crazy tall gear for a V6 so any additional throttle will pull you out of it.

So when it comes to shifts, think of how your prior truck responded on the freeway and realize that you were basically picking between two gears. Now the truck is deciding between 3 gears and the one you likely start in when you put your foot into it is designed for nothing more than flat-land cruise. That is why it shifts so much - it's all about efficiency.

Again though, the firm shifts are what increase AT longevity. Slow shifts cause a lot of wear and tear on the clutch packs and heat up fluid.

 

The Z71 Chevy hunted just as bad as the Tacoma and was way harsher when it got confused IMO. Main reason I kept away from the AT and picked up the MT. I didn't really like either so I took matters into my own hands.