Are Gen 3 Tacomas as unreliable as Tacomaworld makes them seem?

I apparently say “duck” a lot according to my autocorrect. There’s no way we’re going to ever get to Skynet at this rate.

 

TLDR; Fuccoughff

I am blown away.

First TW post.

I just bought my 16 TRD Off Road a month and a half or so ago.

So, I love being in the truck. I love that it is a Toyota. I bought it BECAUSE it is a Toyota. A Tacoma with the rear locker is the ONLY truck I would have bought.

This is not my first Toyota truck. I drove an 89' pickup (22r) for a while back in the day. Purchased new by my (fu@king) pops (nother story) in 88' for less than $9k. No AC, no power anything. That truck was a truck.

Ok, ok. Let's get to it.

I traded in my 2016 Ford Fiesta ST. (The FiST) Man, I loved the way that car drove. The FiST was the most fun (to drive on the street) vehicle I have ever owned... It left me stranded once and had quite a few problems... (don't want to make this too long...) I traded it in on the Taco the day after I found the RUST (RUUUSSSTTTT!!!!!!??!?!?!) around the antenna on top of the car and in nearly every door opening. WTF!?!?!? A 2016 with RUST!!!??? EVERYWHERE?!?!? I guess after all of these years Ford still does not know how to paint a vehicle. smh

I also own a 2004 Jeep Wrangler TJ Rubicon. It has a much less serious rust problem than the FiST. The Rubicon was largely a fantastic vehicle IF (BIG IF) IF you consider what it is. It is a vehicle with a solid front axle. It drives like shi# (on the road). The Ruby is Magic at a slow pace over rough terrain (The Best) The main drawback of the Rubicon is DEATH WOBBLE. Not sure if you Taco guys know what that is... but most videos on the interwebs do NOT do it justice. After thinking I fixed this issue (TWICE) after initially purchasing the TJ 10 years ago. The problem reared its ugly head agian. As of today I have invested over $3k (in parts alone) on the last go round "fixing" this issue. I replaced EVERY part that connects the axle the the Jeep. The jeep drives GREAT now. But I cannot trust it. I cannot feel comfortable in the Rubicon.

So to continue the making of my long story long...

I decided (with the aid of my wonderful wife, and there are other things going on in my life as well that lend this to being the pragmatic decision), all be it hastily, to get rid of my 2 vehicles and go down to one.

Great opportunity to get me a Taco!!!

Or so I was thinking...

All of the above to say the below.

I did not do ANY research before buying this truck. I normally agonize every purchase of this magnitude. I know exactly what i am doing well before i do it. I THOUGHT I was buying a TOYOTA TACOMA! No research necessary. The most reliable truck in the universe!!!!

...

So, I was underneath the truck trying to catch up on some maintenance that I know the (mere mortals) previous owners probably did not properly keep up with.

Drive shaft zerks were dry but (at least) the outside of the motor and transmission were soaked with oil!!

After 3 weeks and multiple trips to the dealer this is what I found.
- My truck had the leaking timing cover.
- This had been previously "fixed" at 50k miles. Truck had 79k at purchase.
- ""The mechanic that previously performed the "repair" cracked the valve cover and cracked the timing cover. He/she apparently tried to repair it with sealant.""

The first time I took it in they replaced both valve cover gaskets and the cracked valve cover. I got it back, had it for 3 days and took it back because it was still leaking.

Last time they pulled the motor and trans to re-seal the timing cover. Pulled the motor and trans from my 2016, $26k, truck... smh

I've about 2 tanks of fuel through this truck since I've OWNED it.

My Ford Fiesta was probably in the shop the same amount of time as this truck over the time I owned it.

It's been about 400 miles since the final repair and I think I'm leak free.

What a nightmare.

On top of all this, I'm a manual guy. Die-hard manual. Were this not an impulse buy, I'd have a manual.

Now I'm finding, reading TW, this is the worst auto ever! WTF!! I'm no good at judging Automatics!!

This truck is Dr. Jeckel and Mr. Hyde. Its slow as piss or it's a racetruck. Not a good racetruck. There is too much time between throttle inputs and results.

I cant help but feel I bought a truck a year too old!!

Having said all of this.

I REALLY LIKE THIS TRUCK!!! (I dont know why, I just feel comfortable in it...) (#Drinking the Koolaid)

I'm just hoping it is good now. Weird quirks and all are fine as long as it just works. As long as it just works I think I'll be ok.

I know it's no Jeep Rubicon in really rough terrain but it is a damn capable off roader.

I bought a Toyota so I could get rid of Ford/Jeep problems. Was not really looking to trade them for Toyota problems!!!

Guess I need to quit reading TW.

Fingers crossed!!!

 

Ive heard of the tranny issues and the engine issues

 

BS, Tacoma trucks are great trucks

 

I speak no BS my good sir.

I too hope I purchased a great truck...

 

Sucks! I hope everything is smooth sailing going forward, dude.
But lol, TDLR? You’re a ducking Victorian novelist with your first post! Channel the inner Hemingway!

 

Yeah unfortunately that really bites about the leak upfront and I get how that can leave a bad taste in your mouth for the tacoma. But its not your trucks fault its everyone who ever wrenched on its fault. A GOOD mechanic is very very very very rare and hard to find these days, thats why I choose to learn and work on my tacoma myself because I just can't trust anyone to do it right. I can't speak for the auto trans in anyway but I can suggest ovtune to fix that problem or atleast alleviate it alittle and make the truck more balanced. I can only speak for how my 2016 M/T Offroad has treated me for the last 155k miles and everything has been fine along as I keep up the maintenance and I can promise you that this tacoma is just as capable in every way as the jeep Rubicon especially in really rough terrain, atleast mine is and the way I operate it. But like you said you really should have held out for a Manual bud, i think you would like it alot more then that auto. Just from the start the manual is geared to 4.30 vs the 3.98 auto so to me it is a huge advantage street wise and offroad. And the manual trans just gives the operator a great and reliable way to access that 270ish hp the V6 puts down. But hey im biased either way, im a manual guy and a die hard toyota owner, but one thing tacomaworld has taught me is the 3rd gen tacoma DEFINITELY isn't for everyone. You will either love it or just plain hate it. But I really hope you don't have anymore issues and that you get to have some fun with that tacoma!! Good luck bud!

 

All talk, OP needs to test drive and feel things out for themselves. All vehicles have problems, ALL, sometime or another.



If OP is still around, TW strikes again.

 

Check out my post on my 2020 Tacoma stalling out. I’m on my third set of fuel pumps (both high and low pressure) in three months. I even posted images of my service tickets from the dealer. I also posted on the NHTSA website as a safety hazard. I like the truck, but why can’t Toyota fix it?

 

Maybe its not the fuel pumps. So far my 2020 has been working well with whatever pump the factory put in it.

 

That seems to be the theory on my truck. It’s not the fuel pumps, but something else acting up.