2019 Tacoma V6 Transmission Fix

Bought my 2019 in November. I love the truck but the transmission just seems odd in how it shifts. Here's a video of it hanging in 4th gear on the interstate. Got an appointment with the dealer in the morning about it.

https://youtu.be/MTNaxCdY-yc

 

I had this problem in my 2016 until TSB transmission update. Only happened with cruise control on, it would not shift up. Now last night on my 2019, Iowa mostly flat, going from 45 mph to 59 mph in got stuck until I turned off cruise control and turn it back on. If I went in smaller increments, it worked fine. I was hoping it had the latest update from the factory, but now I am not sure.

 

Sounds like a Ford troll

 

lol there is nothing wrong with the transmission.

 

I'll toss my review in. 18 ORDCSB,V6, auto. After 10k miles, the transmission programming is quite annoying. Getting on throttle, after coasting through a turn, it immediately dumps into too high of a gear, requiring 1-2 downshifts to be in the "right" gear. When merging, its a guess as to how much to give. Its never repeatable. Sometimes half throttle won't downshift enough, sometimes quarter throttle knocks it down too much. You never get a feel towards what it will do. Cruise control is beyond frustrating. Drops to 4th to maintain 65mph on grades that you can hardly perceive, and stays in 4th for MINUTES after things have levelled off. After owning 6 other trucks, cars, suvs, this is the only vehicle where I can say I cant get used to its shifting, and it has become a daily annoyance. If they geared it high, and forced it to short shift for fuel mileage, I would understand. When you're getting less peformance, and less economy than a full-size, I'm left to think the neutering/ tuning was a last minute change when the 3.5 didnt meet expectations for gas mileage.

 

Buy the ovtune and you won’t have to type big post like this.

https://www.ovtuned.com/blogs/news/...-tacoma-transmission-and-how-we-are-fixing-it

 

I'm thinking of buying a new Tacoma.
I definitely WONT if you are telling me I have to spend $700?? On some type of non OEM software!

 

Guess I'd have to agree with Yeahbro31. 13,000 miles on my 2018. The most recent TSB has been done. I simply cannot get used to how my Tacoma shifts. It is terribly erratic and seems to have a mind of its own. My wife's 2015 is much more pleasant to drive. My 2018 is our seventh Tacoma and it may be our last.

 

I have test driven a couple of 2019 models and the transmission seems fine to me. I tried ect power on and off and also adaptive cruise control. All felt normal. Currently, driving 13 F150 looking to purchase a Tacoma soon.

 

I wish I could relate.

Wait, I dont.

 

The transmission issue is real, not fake at all. My 2016 had it. Toyota TSP-077 fixed much of the issue (software fix) but some issues persist, even in later year models. Such as not up or downshifting in a timely manner when on hills. It is real!

 

I notice that many comments say that there are no problems with the new truck transmissions. I have a 2019 Tacoma Pro and it DEFINITELY has transmission problems. In cruise control it constantly downshifts - not one gear but two gears lower - builds up to a very high RPM and then sticks in the lower gear. I bought the truck as soon as it came out in late October and only put 1300 miles on it the first 4 months. I live in Georgia and go out to Tucson, Arizona every February for the gem show there and to do some digging in very rough blm roads and at times off-road ( as in, no road at all). That's about 1800 miles out there and 1800 back, and an extra thousand going back and forth across the state to dig sites.
My recent trip was 4,864 miles and I had plenty of time to experience the cruise control/transmission problem. Once I was fast enough to grab my phone and video tape it as the truck was stuck in too low of a gear with high revs and this was going down hill!
I've made a visit to the local dealer and spent 3 hours having it looked at. They said there was no software updates and to come back a couple of days later for a expert to look at it. I made a second trip and another few hours there. The tech was very friendly and very helpful as far as trying, but said he saw nothing wrong and that he would make a report and once enough reports come in that Toyota will make a software update.
I've been a Toyota Tacoma fan for about 11 years (before that I was on a Jeep kick and had new Jeeps every 4 years). I've bought a new 2008 tacoma, a new 2007 FJ Cruiser, a new 2013 Tacoma, have had one used Tacoma to play around in, and bought the 2019 Pro after driving my 2013 for six years. I bought a new Toyota Yaris as a daily driver to keep the miles of my truck. So this negative report is coming from a Toyota fan who has bought five new vehicles from them over the years. I wish it wasn't true but it's true. Having spent fifty thousand dollars I should be happy with the truck, but let me tell you - it was a mistake and I should have kept my 2013. It's embarrassing to admit to making a $50K mistake.
There is definitely something wrong with the 2019 Tacoma transmission. I feel that many people just don't want to admit it with their truck. Not only is there a downshifting "glitch" when in cruise, the truck engine is a big step down from the former 4.0L. My truck gets 15 to 17 mpg on the highway. My 2013 Tacoma routinely got 20 mpg tank after tank. I drive the new truck the same way and all other factors being equal it gets way less gas mileage. Part of this is because it sticks in too low of a gear, but part of it is just that the engine is underpowered torque-wise at highway speeds.
As I mentioned about embarassment, I think a lot of people are noticing how the transmission does and just doesn't want to say anything bad about a Tacoma. Unless people complain Toyota will not update the transmission software. It's a hassle to have a report done. I had to make a return trip so that a tech could look at it and make a report to submit to Toyota. That process is a pain as it is a couple of trips and hours of waiting in a boring lobby. I do hope that anyone that has had a similar problem takes the steps to have a tech report it.
Now I don't know what to do. I go to some really rough areas that actually require a capable 4x4 truck and it looks like there is no new Toyota products that are any good. My truck is for sure not it. Looking at the 2020 models it seems they are sticking with the anemic weakling of a 3.5 liter engine. I suppose that I'll have to look for a low mileage Tacoma that has the 4.0 liter engine and buy one of those. For the last 16 years I've always had a new 4x4 in the yard and I don't want to buy a used vehicle but that looks like the only way forward. Toyota has made a mistake in replacing the 4.0L with the weaker 3.5L that has less power and gets much lower gas mileage. The new engine makes about the same torque as the older engine, but it makes that torque at a very high RPM of nearly six thousand RPM. I felt kind of self-conscious on the highway with my truck at 3,400 rpm to maintain speed while most of the other vehicles are idling at 1800 rpm of so at the same speed. I should mention that the truck came minimally equipped and has the stock factory kevlar tires. In other words, they are not huge tires and not the duratrac or KO2 type of tire.
My truck looks really nice, but it is very unsatisfying to drive on the interstate due to constant downshifting and high rpm's. The 15 to 17 mpg is bad too, since it has no power and isn't fun to drive - it would be different if it had a powerful motor as the trade-off for the bad gas mileage.
If anyone was thinking about getting the new 2019 Tacoma, my advice would be to make another plan.

 

Whats your speed on these trips that that you're speaking of?

 

legal highway speeds. This varies as Western states have higher speed limits that vary from 70, 75, 80 and even 85 in some places.
As I mentioned, my 2013 Tacoma had a reliable 20 mpg on the same trips for 5 years. The 2019 ranged from 15 to 17 mpg with only one tank that was 18.2 mpg.

 

OP just keep your 2015 until 4th gen comes out in 2025 or whatever. At this point in the life cycle of the 3rd gen, if there actually are problems with the transmission or not, I think all of the negative reviews and rants about the transmission shifting has will a permanent scar on the 3rd gen in the future. Stick to the 2nd gen, you have a gem that is going to hold its value better in the future and probably be more reliable.

 

If you are traveling at 75 mph-85 mph, your mpg is exactly what it should be. Anything above 70 mph and your Tacoma will significantly drop in fuel mileage. Regardless of the "legal highway speed" you are going to get poor mileage above 70 and there is no actual problem other than you right foot.

 

I recorded the mileage and details like octane level and brand. I'll try to find that and post it despite my notes looking like chicken scratch. It's worthy to note that I most always filled up with top tier gas like shell, valero, chevron on most stops. The first few tanks I paid the premium for 89 octane. But when I noticed that the mileage was bad I thought I'd try to lower octane to see if it got worse. The octane didn't seem to matter so then I started getting the minimum octane since there is a huge difference in the cost - especially out West.

 

Not true about the problem being my right foot. I mentioned that my 2013 averaged 20 mpg on 5 round-trips out there at the same speeds. The 2019 definitely has much worse gas mileage. The first 800 miles of my trip the speed limit was 70 mph and it got 16 to 17 mpg in the 2019 using cruise control.
Oddly enough, the highest MPG that I recorded was 18.2 in New Mexico where the speed limit is mostly 80 mph in the "safety corridors" and the terrain is very hilly. This probably had something to do with the wind either being in my favor on not as bad as elsewhere.

 

You really have to take two steps back and reconsider how you’ve managed to make it this far if you find that you have to reference a magazine (now online) whose chief demographic is elderly women who are having difficulty deciding which food processor will give them the upper hand over their neighbors food processor.


Figure out how to think for yourself.

 

I've only had mine for a week, went on a 600mi road trip 4 hours after taking delivery and the transmission seemed fine. Radar cruise at highway speeds through hilly terrain seemed flawless to me. Maybe they reprogrammed the tranny?

G