I just have to say it… 3rd Gens suck to work on.

Its just a small truck. I have much more fun working on this thing from time to time when compared to what I get to deal with daily...

 

That guy never learned the difference between a fact and an opinion

 

At any point during any install/repair everything can become an enormous pain in the ass.

2 things my wrenching/garage time has taught me --

1. A good craftsman never complains about his tools. Let that sink in, because what that really means is a good craftsman always has the right tool for the job at hand. No excuses, get the right tools. They will limit your pain, anxiety, and loneliness. Works for house projects too.

2. Go into any job with a positive mental attitude, I promise you it works to make everything go smoother.

By far the easiest engine to work on in my life has been the Jeep 4.0 straight six. Every single aspect of the engine is simple and cheap.

 

NEWS FLASH: All new vehicles are hard to work on.

 

Sounds like how I prefer my women….straight, simple, cheap

 

I had to remove the front bumper just to change the headlight bulb on my 2010 Malibu

 

Motrix makes a screw in tool with a valve that drains "after" you put it in. It has a long hose that it drains into. I have never spilled a drop when changing oil and filter on my 2108 Tacoma V6.

 

Before you get all teary-eyed over the fabulous engineering job BMW and Rover did with servicing ergonomics step back a bit and think about it...

Would you rather have a vehicle that offers easy access for repair because it needs repair often or a vehicle that needs infrequent repair.

 

Also would like to add easy, hot, and sweet.

 

I knew a guy who's car fell off a bumper jack. He grabbed the jack and smashed it into the hood?? I asked him why he did that and he said I taught it a lesson? If I can't deal with it I walk away for a little bit. Never helps to get angry just makes it harder to fix. This is why I bought new and have a warrantee now for 7 years. I will get me another new truck when it gets close to that time. There just getting to complicated and me to old anymore to do it now.

 

Good news for the 13th gen owners of the future.

 

This second post I would have added as number 3
Can't count the times I've run into a challenge, get frustrated, then walk away from it. Come back to it and whatever it was challenging me easily resolved itself.

 

So true. Sometimes nothing works for 20 minutes, walk away for 5, come back do the exact same thing and it works. Kind of like when you try to push in a usb charger the first time and it does not go in, so you flip it over still nothing, flip it back and right in.

 

And never ever start a job on Sunday unless you like walking on Monday

 

Man, Ive been there. Was about 7-8 years ago, i decided to replace my plugs on a sunday. Of course it was the lust plug, and like a moron i used a socket to get the new plug started...It was the easiest one too, I left it for the end.

Well, i cross threaded of course. Had to get a ride to work from my dad on monday morning. Thankfully I have a buddy who owns a machine shop and is very good with his hands. I bought some heli coils and he came down and did it in my driveway, god bless him. All i had to do was give him a 24 pack.

I learned a good lesson that day.

 

I take it changing plugs isn't a 20 minute job as was on my gen1 tundra 4.7....and to top it off i had 2 more in that truck.

 

I am late to this bitchfest thread, sorry

If you really feel the Tacoma is a hard vehicle to work on, then I could really use your help with my RV. It is a 1989 E-350 cab and chassis with a 7.5L V8 bigblock shoved into the space of a milk crate. Any work on it is completely by feel. You can't see anything. Luckily just like my Tacoma, that thing is pretty reliable so the need to work on it is rare.