My 4th gen Taco experience

My journey began with the sale of my 2006 Ford Ranger that had 187k miles. My Ranger was a tank, never any major issues, but I was ready to see what all the fuss was about with the long lasting, best mid size truck. So I purchased my 2024 tacoma off road 4wd in April and the first couple thousand miles were great. Until around 3000 miles I started experiencing a few issues:

1. When I put the truck into drive from park, and even reverse, the truck would jerk. (I have videos)
2. When accelerating around 13-14mph, I could feel the transmission "gear searching" with rough shifting.
3. When decelerating around 15-17mph, the transmission would down shift too early, producing the feeling of engine breaking, and again rough shifting.
4. When I needed to really go, I experienced "transmission lag" where the engine would be working, reving up, the feeling of engaging the clutch (coasting feeling), then after a moment the gear would catch and the truck would finally take off.

I took the truck to a dealership to have it checked out, but the technicians said they couldn't reproduce this issue and the "advanced" computers weren't giving out any codes.

I didn't like that result, so I called corporate and they sent me to another dealership. This dealership said the same thing, BUT went the next step and pulled some transmission fluid and found metal shavings. They had the truck for almost 3 weeks and replaced the transmission and torque converter.

When I went to pick up the truck I put the truck into drive and felt the jerk I experienced before. I put it into reverse then drive, and again the whole truck jerks.

I asked to speak to a manager and he said he can have the foreman look at it the next day. I made him get in the truck with me and showed him the truck jerking when placed into drive. He didn't admit that was a problem, but said it could be how it was designed, which is bs in my opinion.

Next day, foreman said there was nothing wrong and performed the same as a new truck on the lot. I spoke to a higher manager and he recommended I bring the truck in when the regional Field Technician is in town.

The day had come and the Field Technician reviewed the vehicle and determined there was nothing wrong and it was performing the same as 3 new trucks on the lot.

I'm still experiencing all 4 of the above issues and very dissatisfied. Not sure what the next step will be, potentially a lemon suit if there's a case.

 

Sounds like there’s nothing wrong with the truck

 

Probably don’t want to hear this … if you are not happy with it sell it get something else . One good thing these trucks hold value well.

 

Do you know if they did this ?
Automatic transmission tsb update, hybrids now included.

 

I would love to agree, but I keep thinking it would be in Toyota's best interest to not admit there was a bigger problem.

 

Yes, TC2406 R&R Automatic Transmission Assembly and Torque Converter

 

Did you test drive any others to see if they were doing the same thing?

 

I did before the Field Technician and I didn't feel any "engagement" when putting the truck into Drive, and the truck was very responsive when putting the "pedal to the metal". It felt similar to the day I bought the taco.

 

Only time I feel any surges or jerking is when I have it in cruise and it’s adjusting itself to maintain the set speed .

 

Lemon laws vary by state but you typically need a defect that has significant impact on utility, value or safety. This defect also has only been repaired once, and presumably was not in the shop for 30 days or more? Those are the other typical triggers where lemon law comes into play. Unfortunately it appears that the conditions that remain after the repair have somewhat of a subjective quality to them which makes this difficult to frame from a lemon law perspective.

Edit: your best move would be to monitor the transmission fluid and check for more metal. If you find it, that could drive additional repairs and time in the shop which could eventually meet lemon law requirements.

 

I appreciate the wisdom. It was in the shop for 16 days.

 

It sounds like typical turbo lag coupled with an 8 speed transmission. I don't think there is anything wrong with your truck, it's just different than what you're used to.

I have a 2020 Explorer with a similar engine and a 10 speed transmission. The turbo's take some getting used to and when you have 8 gears spaced close together it's going to shift often to use them all.

 

Assuming you’re in NV, it’s four repair attempts or total 30 days repair time within one year of when you took delivery. So if you needed another tranny replacement, that could do it.

 

Does the hard drive engagement happen if you press the brake harder than you normally do? I notice that if I lightly press I can have a harder feeling engage.

 

Disengage the automatic parking brake? It causes jerks when shifting out of park. Just hold the button down for 4-5 seconds.

 

Sounds like you might have another bad transmission. I guess if it were me I would request the dealer let me drive other Tacomas on the lot to see if its "normal" behavior or not. Very frustrating I am sure.

 

That totally blows - no one should experience that level of frustration and dissatisfaction with ANY new vehicle, especially a Toyota truck. Unfortunately, your issue is not overt enough for the dealership and Toyota to come completely clean and provide an honest asessment.

Consider getting an attorney (I'm not a lawyer), who may have technical experts, and can write a letter or two to the dealer and to Toyota. Compared to the cost of the truck, it's worth the expense, which you may be able to recoup. At least that will get their attention. Otherwise, I fear they'll continue to jerk you around. Understand that the dealer doesn't really care; they already made their money.

 

The OP is not out the entire value of the truck. He is out, at most, the difference between the trade in value and what he paid new.

An attorney with “technical experts” will go through that dollar amount with a retainer alone.

 

Probably another bad transmission with debris…. Oh Toyota congrats on really screwing up lately

 

I have not been paying attention. The parking brake is automatic? Does the brake engage when you shift the truck in park? Or will the parking brake engage on its own whith out any input from the switch?