Serious use 3rd gen issues

2018 MT Sport AC, 50,000 mile's, wheel the piss out of it, and finally had my first "issue" this morning...

Parking brake froze up. Then again, I probably also have a nautical mile on this thing, so I'm gonna chalk that up to "driver submerged brakes, then parked it In 22 degree weather overnight" lol

 

Shit for all we know. They've had a ton of issues but have good warranties. It'd be good to call anyway. It could be region specific too, like people in the rust belt having suspension issues because of rust

 

No offense, and you do you, but what you’re basically doing is asking only for negative feedback.

Having said that, 30K trouble free miles on mine and it’s by far the best off road capable vehicle I’ve ever had.

 

I’ve had a lot of issues with it from the get go also I do beat it up. Crazy rattling noise coming from transmission area in gears 1-4 in 2-3k rpm range. gets worse every week. Toyota is replacing it all for free.

 

Damn, that sucks. Well at least they are replacing it all for free, usually with manuals its harder to make the dealers fix it. They like to blame it on the driver.

Luckily, my tranny has been butter since day 1. I am a bit rough on it at times and it still shifts super smooth and no funny noises. I installed the 2WD LOW range mod and did the ADM and couldnt be happier.

 

I’m a dummy so it does not help. I like trying to mob it. I just need to take care of my things better. If I had a Ford or dodge it would’ve gernaded by 5000 miles.

 

That's possible, but I'm a friendly fellow and have gotten to know these guys on a personal level. My Gardner put something like 30K on his Taco the first year he had it because he was dealing with some family issues out of state for a while and was bouncing between So.Cal. and Tucson a lot.

Pest guy owns the company and has bought three or four other Taco's for his employees. The only negative he had to say was about the dealer where I bought mine; he had a bad experience there I guess.

Windshield guy likes his Taco but basically only drives it when he has to as he has a Tesla Model 3 he likes better (he's a fan of Autodrive). He says his Taco and his Model 3 will be getting traded-in on the Cybertruck whenever it gets released.

I think it's a pretty solid vehicle. Mine hasn't missed a beat since I've had it, though I'm not quite at 5K miles.

 

Maybe I just romanticize to much about the idea that I could buy a $40k truck and not have to buy another one For a long long time.

Absolutely asking for negative feedback. My 2nd gen’s steering wheel is peeling, and my throw-out bearing is starting to squeal at 70k and I consider these things to be acceptable, and not catastrophic. I understand that with mileage things wear out. I just don’t want to have to do a head gasket @ 70k or something silly because Toyota upped the compression......or whatever.

certain problems happen understandably and in due time, but until we see as many 500k + third gen owners as there are second or first who had no problems big enough to stop them from being able to get to work in the morning I’ll just try to Go off of what we are talking about here. I’m torn between a second gen and a third and that’s why I opened up the conversation.

.

 

I can admit I was one of those people as previous vehicle was a BMW 328 wagon that was very reliable for a German car, lots of creature comforts & good MPG's. My 16 Tacoma was the complete opposite of reliable especially for being a Toyota. Owned it for 2 years & bought it with 30K on it as a CPO. Had 9 dealer visits for minor/major warranty repairs/campaigns in the 2 years/30K I owned it. Just got sick of the lack of power/terrible transmission. I did love the way it looked & the offroad/snow performance but the daily commute was madning with the truck especially the 15-18 mpg. Sold it last March & have not looked back. Still enjoy this forum & the people in it though.

-Blind Spot assist sensor failure, would have been $2,500 without the warranty
-timing chain cover reseal due to oil leak
-front differential & left side cv axle replaced due to grinding noise
-climate control unit replaced
-hood glued back together as the bracing separated
-rust repair in driver side door jam
-2 software updates
-TSB repair for rear differential howl
-p/s pump replacement due to noise
-TSB for HPFP chirping

 

yeah but that doesn't sound as dramatic as "he spun the rear right off the truck!!!!"

 

I mutter this daily looking at some of these folks who own this truck...

 

I came from a 2001 Toyota Celica "truck". After moving with that thing 5 times during college I wanted to see what Toyota's real truck platform could do. The seats would fold down and it turned into a proper "Ute". I just got tired of adding oil every 150 miles, the shocks and tires were both shot, had to change a spark plug every other oil change due to oil consumption, and the car would shudder in traffic if using the AC. 230K miles and I put it down, even though it would have kept going.

The 3rd gen Tacoma is an upgrade for me in every way. I see some of the posts you're referring to and I wonder what even lead them to buy a Tacoma. Seems like a Porsche SUV or King Ranch edition would have been better suited.

 

Dem weak frames!

 

2017 with 98,000 miles. DD slight mods. No issues at at all, maintenance is up to date. I have exactly what I expected. A mid size truck that can do midsize truck stuff.

I do have 2 small nagging issues.

1. Windshield wipers could be faster. (I feel this way about every single vehicle I have ever owned)
2. Seat belt retraction could be more robust. No one likes a floppy seat belt after its been released.

 

I have to actually drive over the curb in front of my driveway every day, grueling..

 

Want to play... got to pay... (picture in post #1)

 

The windshield wiper settings are annoying on both our new-ish Toyotas (2016 Corolla and 2020 Tacoma). It seems like there are two settings (even though I think there's actually 12):
1. Way too slow for normal rain, and
2. Way too fast for normal rain but not nearly fast enough for heavy rain.

I swear my 1998 Camry's wiper settings were much more linear and I could find a setting for pretty much any rain type. The same can be said for my '92 F250.

 

as much as I want to s*** post you about wiper speed settings... I feel like my 85 Hilux had better wipers speed settings than my 18 taco.

 

I had my ‘18 3rd Gen for 30k trouble-free miles. Didn’t do any crazy Baja racing type of off-roading, but it did take me hunting and fishing a bunch (many many mountain dirt roads). Full disclosure, I did trade it for a ‘21 Tundra a little over a week ago. Not because the truck had problems, but because the dealer offered me $500 more than I paid for it on trade.

 

Banter aside, the only known issue that I have seen (which is still very exceptional) is the oil leak through the PCV into cylinders 5/6 causing the them to sieze.

This only occurs at prolonged steep angles.