I have no clue what to do about this

Ok, I could write an essay here but I'll just give you the short version. I bought my truck a year ago with fuel economy in mind. Before I bought it I specifically asked my salesman to find out what axle gears were in the truck. He said they were 3.31's and the door jam sticker code confirmed it. So here I am, a year later just found out my truck has 4.10's which would explain my terrible mileage. I also found out they don't make 3.31's for 4wd so I can't even have the dealer swap in the right ones. My dealer claims that I'm still beating the EPA rating so I can't really bitch, even though I explained to him how much of a joke the EPA ratings are, and I told him if a Toyota 4wd pickup from the 80's can get 25+ mpg with a carb, I should be getting almost 30 with fuel injection, vvt-I and a more aerodynamic truck. So my question is do they make any lower gears for 4wd tacos? Also, what should I even do about this issue? I absolutely love my truck and either way I'm not getting rid of it. I just feel like I was taken advantage of by them giving me false information to pursued me into buying the truck. I was think of maybe calling the attorney general or bbb? That is, if they don't swap lower gears in. I should also add, that if I would've known I couldn't get anything other than 4.10's, I'd probably be driving a Colorado right now. Yes, it was that big of a deal breaker.

 

you want higher gears sir. 4:10 is lower than 3:31

lower than 4:10 would be 4:56, 4:88, 5:29 etc

 

You can rarely trust what dealers tell you. I'm not sure what the best way to go is...

 

NO i don’t think you can get low gears in 4wd. sorry. i have a 4wd trd Double cab short bed and i get around 18 to 20. thats better than some people on here. i’m all stock tho.


also i see you in hamburg. i have tones of family in East eden and boston. i was up in august. may have seen my truck TN tags i had a orange “T" on back glass driver side as well as a tacomaworld.com sticker.

 

Seriously? That's your first mistake right there.

 

You're not complaining that it makes 96 Hp, and has 120ish ft-lbs of torque though, are you? Or that it is WAY bigger than that 1980's hilux? Your comparison isn't very equal.

And for the future, do you know how to tell when a salesman is lying?












His lips are moving!

 

I don't want to sound like a jerk, but to say you "should" be getting 30+mpg with a truck is ludicrous.
I had a manual trans 2006 civic that barely got 36 mpg.

Epa estimates are bunk.

 

I didn't buy a truck expecting to get better mileage than anything else on the road. I bought call 4wd truck because I need one so I bought the one that gets the best mileage. I guarantee that if it had 331s it would get at least 28 miles per gallon. The mileage isn't really as much of a big deal to me as it is the fact my salesman lied to me. Now it's more so down to the principle of the matter even though I still think I should be getting better mileage than I am. And getting 30 miles to the gallon is not ludicrous in a pickup truck I have a 94 Ford Ranger that gets 28mpg all day long. And that thing has blown rings, first-gen fuel injection, and fixed valve timing. It only weighs 500lbs less but it has 3.45 gears and it's only at 1600rpm at 60mph, whereas my taco is at 2200.

 

Keep your foot out of it, you'll get better mileage. Knowledgeable salesmen are few and far between. Buyer beware=know exactly what you're looking at before you buy.

 

i read that for every 50lbs you lose 1 MPG. i don’t get to like 2200RPMS till i’m at like 72MPH. what size engine does the ranger have? also size of tires can play a roll in mpg.

also maybe it need new plugs and a tune up? i think mine needs new plugs.

 

I don't see how your salesman "lied" to you when the factory sticker code corroborated what he said. Salesmen can only relay the information they are given and no salesman is going to pull gears to count teeth or even do a wheel spin test to double-check a factory-applied sticker.

I've owned four different generations of Toyota pickups since 1980 and can tell you that, while the tiny 2.0 L trucks of yesteryear did get great mileage, you also had better not plan on trying to pass someone unless you had about a mile of clear road ahead of you. Even my 1987 2.4 L turbo needed a half-mile, and you weren't going to get anything like 30 mpg while the turbo was engaged. The 2003 I had, with its 2.7 L 4-cyl made it up mountains in gears and with rpms with that the previous two trucks could only dream of but not at 30 mpg. I can recall taking a trip to the west coast in a 1986 non-turbo, non-injected 4-runner where it was all I could do to struggle over mountain passes at 35 mph. My current '06 4.0 L V-6 takes the same mountain passes with ease.

Why did you expect to get significantly greater mileage than the EPA estimates that were clearly affixed to your window when you purchased the truck? If I keep my 4.0 L V-6 Tacoma at '55 I can get 25 mpg , which is about as good of mileage as I got in any previous truck except for the tiny no AC, 2WD, 2.0 L 1980 model. If you are getting higher mileage than EPA estimates you have nothing whatever to complain about.

This post is for a 2009 but it probably also applies to the 2011 models:

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/4-cylinder/24874-anyone-know-their-stock-axle-ratio.html#post727261

 

also winter gas gets worse. and if you can find 100% gas around their it will be a little more but MPG should be better! but i don’t recall seeing any 100% gas when i was up in august.

 

When I first went to my local dealer back in 2009, the sales guy confidently assured me that the EPA estimates on the V6s were garbage, and that people were actually getting 24mpg combined. Bullshit in every way of course. But they'll tell you whatever you need to hear to make the sale. He did not get my business.

I hate dishonest sales people, but the fact is the world is full of them, mostly because they get away with it. Consider that fighting them on this would probably cost you more money in litigation costs that you will ever spend on additional gasoline to make up that difference. Plus you are bound to go to arbitration, and if all you have is a verbal, you're gonna lose. Crap, I know. But that's the way it works. The game is rigged.

For the record, I am surprised that the EPA estimate for the 2012 4wd 4 cylinder manual is only 18/20! That's shit! By comparison, the V6 auto is 16/21. I will agree that Toyota's curent 4 cylinder isn't nearly as fuel efficient as a 4 cylinder should be.

 

Good luck with a Colorado. You would have much more problems with one of those than just gas mileage.

Not trying to come across as an ass but it is completely true that you can't trust what the dealer salesperson tells you. They'll tell you anything that will make you more likely to buy the truck. You just need to do your research before you go to the dealership and prepare to be fed a whole pile of BS

 

How did you find out the truck has 4.10 instead of 3.31? No way I buy a Colorado. I'm sure somebody will work a trade for you though. Take some cash with you it never works the other way.

 

2011 DC short bed, stock K&N airfilter. When I drive I get 21-22MPG's. Worst I ever got towing trailer and using 4WD 18MPG's. When my wife drives she gets 16MPG's so you see driving habits has a big thing to do with it......

As for your gears? I really don't know of any truck that gets great MPG.

Good luck brother.

 

I thought all 4 bangers had the 4.10's in them ? I have an access cab 2007 4 cyls. 5 speed. It has an ARE contractor cap,fully loaded with traps and tools, plus 2 fiberglass ladders on top. It also has 255-75-17 BFG MT's on it,and around town it gets me over 20 mpg, the last trip to PA. it averaged 21.4 mpg on the highway. Not too bad for a loaded work truck. If it had 3.31's in it, I don't think it would need 5th gear.

 

^^^ The 5-luggers are taller-geared. If the OP wants 3.31, 2.7 5-lug is the way to do it.

 

So let me get this straight. You bought a truck expecting a certain mpg based on the gear ratio???? Or am I mis-reading this? Most of us look at the sticker for the MPG rating. Look at the bright side. Toyota is the only 4WD you can get with a 4-banger, so you're definitely ahead of the game. Also, I would put money on it that if you had 3.31's you would get worse mileage cause your engine would struggle to turn the wheels (especially in 4WD).

With that said, before I lifted and put bigger tires on my 2010 Reg Cab 4x4, I was consistently getting 21 mpgs. Keep your foot out of it. Maybe get an ultra-gauge so you can see where you can change your driving habits if it means that much to you.

 

A comparably equipped Colorado stickers $500 more than your Taco, and I don't see any cash incentives available using GM's online configurator. Spend the money on re-gearing if you really care about MPGs. Just keep in mind Toyota chose 4.10 for the heavier/higher 4x4 models for a reason. With 3.31s, highway passing may become too slow to the point of being unsafe.