I won the transmission battle with Toyota.

When I got my Tacoma it ran awesome for the first 2500 miles or so.

Then the trans started acting up , things like hanging up in 4 gear , very hard shifting , surging
Basically all the symptoms of a burnt trans.

On my first service I did the normal complaining about the trans. The dealer called Toyota
And they told them to check the fluid level. Of course it was 3 qts low.

The trans was never the same , sure it was a little better after they filled it but still crap.

Fast foward 7 1/2 months , we have had some really hot days here in CA and my truck doesn't like the heat. What happens is the trans gets hot and doesn't want to shift at all in city driving
Then take it on the freeway and it's like I'm towing a lead boat.

The trans gets so hot you can smell the burnt fluid , heck you can even feel the heat through the center of the truck.

Any way I've been dealing with Toyota about these issues for way to long untill I caught them in a lie and called the out on it. They were telling me they were trying to reach the service manage for 3 week and they couldn't get a hold of him. Last Friday I had enough and called my service manager about hearing from Toyota.

He said he had talked to then on wed about my truck and there was no resolution. I asked him about the last three weeks and he said he hadn't heard from the so I laid it out . 10 min later Toyota calls and tells me they don't know why this isn't approved yet and that the are fast tracking me a trans. 5-10 mins later I got the call from my dealership saying its handled

New trans goes in this week.

 

The real question is why wasn't this fixed yet? Fixing the problem by adding fluid is a lot cheaper than replacing transmissions, but they won't do it

 

This was my 5th Tacoma and I was shocked they wouldn't admitt they have a problem.

 

how many miles on your truck?

 

36k

 

I'd be a little nervous if I owned an auto. If you're getting your transmission replaced at 36k it doesn't look good for other owners

 

3 qt's is a whole different ball game vs .6 qt low. Of course the trans was getting toasted. The damage was already done. Only a matter before it was going to fail. I don't understand why the dealer had to wait for authorization from Toyota if they could duplicate the issues. Unless Toyota old them they won't cover it until it's confirmed by an engineer. I know a lot of techs are quick to just throw parts at a vehicle. Especially since most techs don't know a lot about transmissions. Seems pretty obvious to me however that the thing was damaged being 3 quarts low for some decent mileage

 

I seriously believe there are somethings going on with these transmissions .

 

More like a hole lotta nothing is going on with them. Thanks Toyota - gotta catch you in a lie to get action. Pathetic.

 

TGIGAM

 

So are other new models having these same types of issues or just the new Tacos? It seems that if QC has gone down it has to across the board right?

 

My background is in VAG, the last time they had sealed units the same shit happened. It's a penny pinching move and it's bullshit. Like clockwork they died on command.

 

Could you go into detail? What's a VAG? And a sealed unit ? What's that the computer?

 

Wow! Glad to hear you won your transmission battle! After they discovered mine was 2.5 quarts low, they filled it and then told me to kick rocks... lol. Still clunks and hesitates (nearly 2 seconds)when going from reverse to drive. Very frustrating!! Probably trade it in when the warranty expires...sucks because i absolutely love my Tacoma!

 

Volkswagen, they offered sealed auto transmissions for a period. They seemed to burn up at 100k on command, faster in hotter climates. They touted them as lifetime units.

 

I thought a sealed VAG was a virgin?

 

Huh. I thought it meant plugged airtight. Like Tupperware.

 

Sealed transmissions simply means that there is no dipstick. Many manufacturers have sealed transmissions. But there is always a way to check fluid level.