2023 CPO Tacoma Limited Purchase - Need Advice

Hey everyone, it's been a minute since I've been back to post on TW after selling my 2nd Gen Tacoma back in 2019, and TW was always a treasure trove of great advice, good people, and a solid knowledge base. With that said, I recently had my father trade in his 2012 GMC Terrain at the Toyota Dealership just outside of Austin, and replace it with a Certified Pre-Owned Gold Warranty 2023 Toyota Tacoma 3rd Gen Limited. He had been having so many problems and issues over the years with the GMC Terrain that I kept trying to sell him on coming over to Toyota and getting a good pre-owned newer Tacoma. He really wasn't interested in a new 4th Gen with the 4-cylinder turbo. He wanted all the bells and whistles, so I said go with a Limited. We also purchased the 4x2 (Rear Wheel drive) model as he doesn't do any off-roading and just wanted a good street truck and was against getting a 4x4.

With that said, we test drove the vehicle and everything seemed fine on the test drive. The CPO (Certified Pre-Owned) 2023 Toyota Tacoma 3rd Gen Limited had 39,600 miles (higher than normal for the age, I guess) on the odometer. I didn't feel anything that stood out other than a good bit of idle vibration while in gear and sitting at a stop, and some almost stuttering feel in the powertrain or suspension, but no real major red flags that I experienced or noticed. I wanted to get a third party inspection but really we were a little out of our element and I didn't know any good shops near by that we could take it to. The Toyota Dealership supposedly did "all" the preliminary inspections, maintenance and TSB checks. The dealership was about 145 miles from our house. The vehicle looked to be in excellent shape, 1-owner, no damage, and good maintenance records according to Carfax and the Dealership. The truck had been serviced routinely by the owner at that very Toyota Dealership location continuously through its previous ownership. My dad loved the color, Wind Chill Pearl, and the Nightshade Package as well, so I said lets get it.

We negotiated and purchased the truck at a good price from my research and the market demand for 3rd Gen Tacoma's in that package ($36K). I was so tired of calling dealerships and getting the run around with pricing and availability of the online listed vehicles. We drove the truck home that night and my father noticed a good bit of road and wind noise or "whistling" at higher speeds. I had to agree because I don't remember any of that on my 2009 Tacoma TRD Sport. I also noticed some "howling" coming from the rear of the vehicle. I couldn't place if it was from the driveshaft, carrier bearing, or rear diff. Another issue I saw was the leather seats weren't solid black in color but had actually started turning "blue" in hue which is strange as my 2016 Toyota 4Runner TRD Pro softex seats still look great and "black" in hue. Do the 3rd Gen Tacoma leather seats in black just not keep color that well and are cheap? I did notice that this truck didn't have any tint on the windows other than the factory glass, but I couldn't imagine the sun and heat could turn them that bluish in such a short time.

I plan on getting the truck thoroughly checked out at our local Toyota/Lexus Independent shop and maybe even getting the transmission and rear diff fluids changed and flushed as well.

With all that said, my questions are:

1. Which TSB's should I be aware of?

• I know there have been people also complaining about rear diff noise and failure and some have had their rear diff replaced with no change in noise.
• There was a TSB apparently for the "whistling" noise, apparently some updated door seal or trim to be installed. Or, should I just buy the D-shaped rubber seal and stick it on myself?
• Louder than normal road noise which I believe has some fix by the dealership for sound deadener or padding, and rubber bushing or isolators on the seats for vibration.
• Is there any TSB for the Leather Seats or Leather/Dash door trim fading badly in such a short time?

2. What is a good price for the Toyota Factory Platinum Warranty?

• We were quoted $3600.00 for the factory warranty by Toyota. My father also called Endurance Warranty and they actually quoted around the same price, which was crazy. I remember paying like $1800.00 for my factory Toyota Platinum Warranty on my $42,000 4runner TRD Pro back in 2016.
• We have until Monday to make the decision and were curious how much wiggle room or negotiation there is with that Toyota Factory Warranty price? Just seemed a bit high for a $36,000 pre-owned truck. Our truck came with a 12 month/12K miles CPO warranty through Toyota as a Gold Certified Toyota purchase.

3. Did any of the later 3rd Gen Tacoma's come with the AC "pusher fan" for North America locations, with hotter temperatures?

• We live in Houston, and the summers can be quite brutal here with temps easily in the triple digits. I know my dad is a big fan, pun intended, of cold AC. lol
• Should I just hit the dealership up this summer if it's an issue with blowing hotter than normal air at idle while sitting still?

4. Any other gremlins I should look out for?

I would appreciate any and all advice. I'll include some pictures of the truck. Thanks everyone!

 

I wouldn't blow $3,600 on a factory warranty for a truck with a complete list of dealer service records. Sounds like you are married to it already. Just get it and be happy. These trucks hold an insane resale value. It truly is crazy.

Congrats on the truck!

 

Thank You. Yeah, I could almost see the defeat in my father's face on the ride home like, "Oh crap, did I buy a lemon?! What did you make me buy?!" He loves that nice quieter ride of higher end cars. We had just traded in his other vehicle which had a ton of warranty and repair work done over the years of owning the vehicle. I assured him everything would be good and better than dealing with all the GMC gremlins over the years.

 

Wow long 1st post.
I wouldn't be sticking my neck out that far on a family purchase.
You contradict yourself it seems.
You said "He had been having so many problems and issues over the years with the GMC Terrain "
and later said, "we had just traded in his other vehicle which was a good vehicle for the most part. "
You should stop comparing the new purchase to your previous "my 2009 Tacoma TRD Sport" and current, "my 2016 Toyota 4Runner TRD Pro"
He's already finding negative things about the new purchase in the first day. Hope it works out.

 

None of these issues were obvious on the test drive?
This Tacoma sounds like every other used Tacoma.

 

FWIW ... Had several Toyota Platinum Warranty's in the past ... 125,000 mile, 10 year, $00.00 deductible ... on 4x 2 Tacoma's and RAV4's and price was about $1675.00 several years ago ... maybe $2,000.00 today is my guess on a 4x4 with inflation, many a tad more.

I found a dealer in the midwest that has a guy who sell these at a good price all day long.

Good contacts here for good deals on the Toyota Warranty.

 

Just wanted to get him in a good long-term vehicle that wouldn't break the bank with some better reliability than GMC.

He had a nice comfortable leather interior, Nav, nice factory Pioneer stereo, etc. and everything was working. Most of the big AC and mechanical problems were addressed by GMC over the years and nothing major was going on with the vehicle (up to the day of trade) but it wasn't perfect and was showing that it may fail later. He looked like he didn't want to deal with GMC reliability anymore for such a low mile vehicle on his original car. I think he had around 58K miles when we traded it in.

Wasn't trying to do intense comparisons, and I didn't emphasize the color differences much to him. I kept it to myself for the most part. But, I did notice it and thought that it was odd to see such a big color change for just a few years on the leather seats. I mentioned it to our Sales Rep and he said it was apparently "normal" for the 3rd Gen Tacoma trucks with Black leather like the Limited. Also, I didn't expect to still see folks still having many rear diff problems on later 3rd gen year Tacoma pickups so close to the 4th Gen. That really surprised me.

 

We test drove it with our Sales Rep and didn't really get up to the higher speeds (60-80 mph.) The roads were just smaller 2 lane highways in a smaller rural setting and it was a bit congested in the area (outer area outside Austin). The only thing I really pointed out to the Sales Rep was the alignment and maybe an out of balance tire on the rear end that it felt like. I also made a comment on a rough idle while sitting at the light. They took care of the alignment and the wheel balance before sale. It wasn't until later when I got up to the faster highway speeds on the drive home that the "whistling" and almost some "howling" sounds were coming from the rear of the truck. Seemed strange.

 

Thank you for the Information. I may reach out to you. I'm suppose to talk to the Toyota Dealership Finance Dept. tomorrow as they gave us until tomorrow to decide if we wanted to add in the Toyota Extra Car Warranty. I will see if I can maybe negotiate a lower price or not, if that is the route my father wants to go.

 

I'm pretty sure the toyota vsa platinum warranty must be purchased before the 3/36 warranty expires. That dealer is probably selling you a 3rd party warranty

 

I only looked at the pictures. TL;DR

 

How did you not notice the faded seats when test driving? I don’t think I would have bought a truck that has rough idle in gear and sitting at stop with some stuttering. You say everything seemed fine on test drive obviously not. But no real red flags you say and some you noticed on test drive and some on the way home. You mention road and wind noise and rear howling and that should have been noticed on the test drive. Good luck with the truck but it sounds like a truck someone unloaded to me.

 

The Toyota CPO pushes the drivetrain warranty to 7yr/100k, so if it’s rear differential noise it would be covered

 

ya
seems like "test drive" was 5 minutes on smooth paved with radio blaring and sales babbling
not pointing fingers but maybe no real help to purchaser

 

Nice looking truck! Was this the first 3rd Gen that you both drove? The 3rd Gen powertrain just isn't as refined as the 1GR and 5-Speed auto in your 2nd Gen. Plenty of odd noises and vibrations but they're perfectly normal. I would suggest driving another 3rd Gen closer to home to compare to your Father's. If they feel different, then you know you may have some issues to sort through. If they feel the same, at that point he will have to decide if he's happy with the truck and its quirks. Good luck!

 

OP ... if the truck is over 36 months old or 36 k miles they canNOT sell a REAL TOYOTA Warranty

IMO .. if not a REAL TOYOTA CORP WARRANTY ... I would NEVER, NEVER BUY IT ..

Read the fine print ... ask for the warranty to be sent to you a few days in advance to read it .. if dealers says no or stalls ...

W A R N I N G ... D A N G ER ... lol

Plus their price is outrageously too high even for real Toyota Warranty

 

When I test drive, I go where I want to go and the salesman is a passenger.
The Rear Differential Whine has a TSB, not sure about the rest of that stuff.
Good Luck.

 

Yes it seems that The Dealership said "GS Administrators" was the company, but the information I gathered from my Toyota/Lexus Independent Shop guy is that GS Administrators supplies the Toyota vehicles and parts as well to the dealerships in the Gulf Coast region area.

I noticed the off color on the seats as they weren't solid black, it was also on just the door portion leather/softex as well. It's faint but noticeable when right by all the other black plastic portions of the truck. As for the powertrain, It just seemed slightly rougher than normal, but according to Toyota over the years of owning a 2nd Gen Tacoma, everything to them is "Normal" so I just lived with the small stuff and drove the truck. I thought to myself that maybe the person (older divorced woman) that drove the truck before just didn't take it in and push for the harder TSB work that others had dealt with over the life of their trucks. I'm taking it in tomorrow and will see what my Toyota Independent Shop says.

Thank you Sir. I told my father that we were covered either way with the powertrain warranty. I don't believe he has ever purchased a pre-owned car in his life and I'm trying to lead all this, which is tough. lol

Radio wasn't blaring but my father can be "overly friendly" of a person and likes to talk to new people, he also gets side tracked easily as I have to center him on the task at hand. He did a small test drive but didn't voice his opinion "loudly" enough to me about his concerns with the truck, so I just continued on and just tried to get him in the truck. I'm the type that likes to do my research, ask a lot of questions about any mechanical sounds or defects, and crunch numbers. I know though that the 3rd Gen Tacoma's are getting bought up fast at all the dealerships I called, so we moved quick on this one.

Thank you. He loves the truck. I think he just wanted these quieter rides of the luxury vehicles (on a cheaper budget), but this is a midsize Toyota truck and I don't think he is use to that. He also wanted many of the bells and whistles (leather, Nav, safety features, the 360 camera, JBL stereo) that would be harder to find on a TRD Sport 4x2. We did test drive another 2023 3rd Gen Tacoma with around 26K miles from a Nissan dealership, but it was used prior as a "Rental vehicle" according to Carmax. The vehicle seemed to drive good that we noticed and was quiet. However, The exterior paint was very deeply scratched scuffed A LOT, and the bed of the truck looked to be used heavily. The vehicle that we test drove though was the TRD Sport with cloth seats and he liked the ride and performance of it.

I guess what threw us off was that the Dealership describes it as a Toyota Car Care Platinum Extended Warranty but told me yesterday that was through "GS Administrators", which according to my Toyota Independent shop Rep says that GS has a separate Warranty division. GS Administrators supplies the Toyota Vehicles and parts to the Southern Gulf Coast region states. I was able to call the dealership yesterday and get it down to $2600.00 with a $0.00 Deductible. The original price was $3600.00 and a $50.00 Deductible. I learned so much about extended warranties today. lol. We did decide to go with it but called back and cancelled it as GS Administrators didn't get many good ratings online and the BBB. Also, I was told by my Toyota/Lexus Shop friend is they can be troublesome to pay for many extended warranty repairs, as their shop has dealt with them over the years. He did say that they have been in business for well around 25-30 years and are well known through Toyota. We will just hold off on purchasing the extended warranty right now as we're coved with the Toyota Gold CPO
12 month/12K Miles Comprehensive Warranty until then.

True that. In the end it may have helped us get a little more off the price of the car (doubtful) OR we could have walked away from the sale and just started all over again looking. I felt it was stuff we could just work through with the warranty as long as there was no metal grinding, oil leaks, etc. I had a transmission problem in my 2nd Gen Tacoma shortly after buying it new from Toyota, and all it was was a transmission reprogram TSB through Toyota that needed to fix it. I was just more concerned with the "Howling" coming from the rear on the drive home, as I didn't hear anything like that while test driving the truck and apparently other 3rd Gen owners have had to really try and get it fixed by Toyota. I probably should have really put it through its paces. The other stuff like interior or car idle, we can live with easily. I just wanted to comment here and see if this was "Normal".

 

GS = Gulf States (local distributor warranties) are like the SET = SouthEast Toyota (local distributor warranties) warranties ... they tried to copy Toyota Corp warranties with a few more deductions IMO.

The dealers here would only sell the SET Warranties so I jumped ship on them. I don't know if it was more profit or more pressure from SET, but they would NOT sell me a Toyota Corp Warranty. Then I found the Toyota Midwest Superstore in KS.

I have bought many, many Toyota's too and they lost my business.

I would STAY AWAY from "regional warranties" IF you can get a REAL TOYOTA CORP PLATINUM WARRANTY.

This is the guy that I get the very best prices on REAL TOYOTA PLATINUM WARRANTIES ...

I am in GA, but this is my go to guy for the best prices and the best service ... I think this is all this guy does too.

Jerry Johnson at Midwest Toyota ... he is the WARRANTY MANAGER there ... as I last remembered.
He is a straight shooter with no BS on pricing and is an all around good guy to do business with and I get nothing form him to do this.

Toyota Midwest Superstore, Hutchinson, Kansas

Somebody gave me his contact years ago and I have bought several Toyota Corp Platinum Warrantys ... 125K miles 10 year with $0.00 Deductible IIRC..

Oh, when I cancelled some of the warranties later when I traded ... Toyota Corp gave me back most of my money too ... other warranties don't do that IIRC


Stay with Toyota Corp Warranties if at all possible in the first 36/36 miles and months

IIRC ... warranty's are like insurance and need to be backed up my a surety bond and I trust Toyota Corp to be around the most in that situation.

 

I agree with you 100 percent. It's better to get that Toyota Corp Platinum Warranty! We were already past the factory 3 year/36K mile warranty as the vehicle had 39,600 miles, if that makes any difference in getting that Toyota Corp Platinum Warranty. That is definitely a good long warranty. I appreciate the information and will definitely give him a call. I remember seeing others mention him on the Toyota Forums as well. Thank you so much!