Questionable test drive

Today I test drove a Certified Pre-Owned, 2006, 4x4, AC, 4cyl, 5 spd. manual with 56000 miles. Really nice one owner truck with a clean Carfax and all the maintenance records.

The truck was started and moved to the front of the store for me to drive. The sales agent left it running and I jumped in. I was able to drive the truck by myself (which I liked) and I pulled out down the road. Everything was great until I accelerated from 40 mph in 4th gear (around 1750-2000 rpms) to increase my speed to 55 mph. When I put my foot into the throttle the clutch started to slip. I could tell it was slipping by a quick jump in rpms and by the engine sound. I was able to reproduce this a couple more times by getting on the accelerator at the same rpm levels (different gears).

When I returned, I told the salesman about it who said he was unaware of any problems. He asked the head of the service department to take it out with him to seem if they could reproduce it. Big surprise, when they returned, the salesman said they could not find any problem and asked me if I would like to drive it again with him in the truck so I could show him what I was talking about. This time I couldn't make it do it (maybe I was driving it a little calmer with him in the truck).

The service manager said he thought it may be rust or moisture on the pressure plates since it had sat in the lot for a while. It has been in their possession for 50 days. The salesman said there has been interest in the truck and it had been test driven before.

My question is this (I finally got there): Does that seem like a reasonable explanation or are they trying to give an excuse for a faulty clutch? I've driven standard transmission vehicles since I got my license 15 years ago (all of them high mileage with their original clutches) and I know what a slipping clutch sounds like.

What do you think?

 

If it slipped once it will again......... Stay away........

 

Find another truck unless you want to pay to fix the clutch

 

There's a TSB for the clutch disc going bad on these. It's quite possible that the clutch is bad already.

While you're at it, search "throw out bearing" on here. There is a lot of info that you should be familiar with if you buy one of these early six speeds like I did. I wish now I had done more reading.

If you do go drive it again, rev it to 5K in each gear and try to shift to the next gear quickly. Weak syncros are also common in the 05 and 06 models.

I would not be too scared of it IF they agree to put a clutch in it before you buy it. Make sure it gets all the updated throw out bearing related parts too. Otherwise you will end up fixing it later. Even if it's under warranty, still sucks. And clutch may not be under warranty either. Find out.

 

Thanks. This was a 5 speed not a 6. Does that make a difference regarding the problems you stated? I don't need to buy this truck so much that I want to go through the hassle of putting a new clutch in it before I even buy the damn thing. I'll look at new trucks before I mess around with this one.

 

it won't take you long to learn that these toyota sale people are full of excuses, anything they can do to beat around the bush or get out of doing something they don't want to do, they will do.

 

My bad. The 5 speeds trans are very good, but the clutches are still kind of weak from what I have seen. I have an 09 5 speed 2wd Taco as my company issued vehicle. The clutch is squealing on every hill that I have to start and stop on and sometimes will slip when shifting. It has 57K on it as of today.

I would ask that they change the clutch before you buy it. I have never had an otherwise healthy clutch slip when cold or damp out.

 

bump

 

If there are other options for you to look at ... I'd walk away ... unless they repair the issue ... but that might take away your bargaining ability ... and they already have indicated others are looking at the truck. Dealer up here, unfortunately the only one around, is like that, "if you don't buy it someone will tomorrow." That's the reason I bought used from another agency, they wouldn't budge off of MSRP sticker.

 

This was my thought exactly. Whether it has been sitting, it's cold outside, there's moisture on it, the tide is out, the sun had set, blah blah blah....if the clutch is in good working condition, it should not slip. Period.