Sad story with a happy ending.

Faced with replacing the FIFTH transmission that has been in my 06 Prerunner, I opted to cut losses and trade in for a brand new '19 TRD OR in cement grey! I wasn't expecting to buy a truck yesterday but I'm happy I did.

Backstory on the 06 Prerunner transmission:

• Developed torque convertor shudder at 30k miles, dealer blamed on clogged solenoids and replaced transmission under warranty
• Shudder returned after 1500 miles, dealer admitted they re-used the original torque convertor. Replaced transmission AND torque convertor.
• Shudder returned at 59k miles. Toyota brought in a specialist to look. Replaced transmission, convertor, and radiator/cooler and lines under warranty.
• Pink milkshake of death at 140k miles. Dual core radiator failed, mixed trans fluid with coolant, destroying clutch disks. Trans, and radiator replaced on my dime, engine flushed four times to remove emulsified coolant/ATF from the journals in the black. Total cost to me nearing $4k.
• Yesterday at 169k miles, my lower radiator hose let go. There was pink milkshake all over the engine and piled on the skid plate. It was thick in the radiator. Trans works OK.

The dilemma:

I figured my 13 year old 170k mile PreRunner with bald tires, bad axle bearings, fading paint, and mild body/paint damage could at best bring $8-9k in private sale, assuming the drivetrain was fine; however, I know from experience that coolant in the ATF results in failed transmissions soon thereafter, period. In short, Transmission #5 is not long for this earth. My options as I saw them were this:

1. Sell privately without disclosing the likely demise of the transmission (theres no way I would ever do this) for $8k or so.
2. Sell privately with full disclosure (more like me). I'm not sure what I could get for the truck in this option, or how long it would take to find a willing buyer. My assumption is it would fetch $8k minus $4k for repairs minus some money for the pure aggravation of it.
3. Trade in.

I chose option three because the burden would now be on the same dealership that sold the truck and did all of the warranty work.

I feel like I got a fair deal. The new truck with tech package, rubber floor mats, etc came to $35k, stickered for almost $39k. I took $5k for the trade considering the condition.

I love the new truck.

 

Congrats! Nice choice.
But didn’t you hear?
3rd gen Tacomas are heaping piles of shit.

 

Good move!

I know that sickening feeling of a vehicle with problems only money and time can fix. I traded my '94 Chevy K2500 Suburban 6.5 turbo diesel with 193k on it for $1500 towards my Tacoma. I replaced the original long block with a "certified military take out" from Alabama that was junk, and I knew the dealer would auction it and I would never see it again.

 

Much nicer than an '06 Prerunner!

 

Out with the old, in with the new

 

You should have gotten the exciting, new Ford Ranger.

 

congrats on the purchase.

 

Beautiful! Pics of the old tho! Broke Taco is still Taco.

 

Nice and congrats! Get a chrome exhaust tip asap!

 

I petition the mods to mandate an appendix to all TW user's profile: "My heaping pile of shit".

 

OBTW, congrats and nice color.

 

Congrats!

And stop pouring strawberry milkshake in your transmissions, will yah.

 

Yes, and fify

And congrats OP, you done good!

 

Congrats man! Nice score, just got same truck (bare bones TRD OR 4WD DCSB) for $33.2k I’ve had a few including loaded tech and prem, loving the simple life. I also ate a little bit ($3k) moving to current truck, thank goodness for high resale, few years from now will be like your trade hit never happened. Sorry to hear about the 06 but should be many happy years to come with your new cement.

 

Nice new truck, Congrats!
We moved from our 2nd Gen Tacoma when the headgasket went and cracked the block.. we were in the same spot - and traded it in for a new 2017. It sucked at the time but it so much better a year and a bit in.

 

Everyone talks about the great resale value of Tacomas, but no one really knows what a broken Taco is worth!

On the positive, the 06 only cost me $22.5k.

The net cost of ownership was $21.5k (purchase price + major repair - sale) over 13 years. $1654/year. $138/month. Not bad.

It's worth noting that that annual cost of ownership increased in the 11th year after the major repair. I would have fared much better to private sale in the 11th year

 

Nice! Congrats

 

Don’t post this in the 2nd Gen forum you’ll start a riot

 

That’s cause usually they don’t catastrophically fail like yours did, just some bad luck. But even if you financed the full $35k new truck at the 2.9 / 60months you’ll be right side up (owe less than it’s worth) in 2-3 years or so because of said resale, can’t say that for a lot of brands and models.