Starting to Worry

I've had three Toyota Trucks. An '89 SR5 4x4, a '97 Tacoma 4x4 and now an '08 Tacoma AccessCab TRD, 6sp manual trans not to mention assorted Toyota cars. The '89 had a leaking head gasket at 92,000 miles and Toyota fixed it with the original warranty, no questions asked. When I sold it after 10 years the body was as sound as the day I bought it. The '97 had no problems and was a solid truck the day I sold it at 70,000 miles. Now the 2008!!! It had the right front shock replaced at 1000 miles because of leaking. At 8000 miles the rear springs were replaced because they were weak. I now have 8700 miles and the heater fan is making a loud noise and the Boody rattles something auwful. So ,now I will probably have a transmisson/T-O bearing problem to deal with down the road the way things are going. I pull a 17ft tarvel trailer so I'm starting to get a little shakey. I take care of the truck my self (change oil, rotate the tires, check brakes, lube) and I treat it good. And, I love this truck. What happened to Toyota??? Had to get it off my chest!

 

Dang that sucks!! I havent heard to many complaints on the 2nd generations to much. Hope you didnt just get the one bad one out of a stack of needles.

 

hey donl- check out the TSB report for your year truck. big thread going on with all kinds of stuff. transmition included. go to top of page and under search type in "tsb leaf springs" a couple guys have the direct link to the actual tsb report you can read. lots of stuff on that report. good luck

 

There has been a thread on this in the past, or a couple. Some people have said it only seems like there is more problems with Toyota cars because It's easier for people to share the info with a wider amount of people. And this may seem like there are more problems. Vs people not being able to do so on a large scale in the 80's early 90's.

Maybe It has to do with where they are built? Does it have to do with some of these trucks being assembled in the USA or Mexico, and not 100% assembled in Japan?

Could it be some rare flukes here and there? Maybe.

I personally have had a lot of problems with my truck, but I still consider it to be a very good engineered truck, and good built truck when it was built in northern CA. I can see some things they could do differently to make it better, but who doesn't see those things with every car they own.

Is Toyota getting so big, that they are starting to miss little things here and there? Maybe.

But I sure do think they currently stack up on average better than a lot of the other cars and trucks. Maybe some of the new GM/Ford cars are making a comeback, I guess we wait and see.

 

I look at like Bako, its the best choice and most bang for your buck option out there. Not to mention the best resale...

Go hit the trail and throw some mud, or drop the clutch and spin the tires to get some blood flowing and you'll feel better about your desicion with Toyota I've found that they can take a beating better than the Big 3 any day of the week.

 

Don't worry about your truck, Toyota will take care of you.

I have an 05 with 42K and a 6 spd with none of the above mentioned issues. Like others have said, they are getting bigger and are going to have parts that may fail. As long as they take care of you then you good to go!

 

Thanks guys. I appreciate the back up. I have to say that the dealer is great. I e-mailed them about the rear springs and the TSB and to set up an appointment. I got an e-mail back stating that my truck was included in the TSB and that the springs were ordered and 4 days later my truck was in and repaired. I can't complain....so far. I've also been keeping up with the Trans-T/O bearing episode and hopefully I won't have a problem. But, as I said before, I tow a travel trailer and being retired I do a lot of hunting, fishing and offroading. So I think if it's going to happen it will. Thanks again, Don

 

Get an extended warranty if it will put your mind at ease. There's a pretty good deal here on the forums, something like $860 IIRC.

 

I can totally relate..... I've had toyota's in the past that were bulletproof.

My 07 has been great but I've already had the leaf spring TSB done, radiator cap replaced (leaking) and 3 of my alloy wheels were corroding/replaced. I've gotta check my radiator cap again, smelling fluid again. I'm smelling exhaust up near the engine bay when I first start up the truck and my basic warrantee runs out in march.

As long as they take care of things.....I'm fine with it (but kinda inconvenient). I didn't get an extended warrantee - and I'm hoping someday I'm not gonna regret that.

 

My '95 Tacoma remained flawless from day one until it went to the crusher with a rusted out frame. My '08 had a CV boot band come off at about 9000 miles, only issue that I have had and the dealer fixed it. I see a lot of Ford's sitting along the roads waiting to be towed, you are still better off driving a Toyota than any other brand. I do believe that it is mass production from demand that's driving down some of the quality.

 

Is there a link to this? How does this work?

 

I've never had an extended warranty on any vehicle. We have a 2001 Subaru Forester (because Toyota didn't have what we wanted) with 60K and the only thing is needed, under warranty, was an additive for the coolant (recall). I like Toyota but Subaru is great too. Don

 

LOL you know that they are now one and the same...right?

http://www.motorauthority.com/blog/1027490_toyota-and-subaru-swapping-know-how

 

Toyota is becoming more and more popular. Just as the sales numbers climb so will the numbers of problems. This can happen with any make, too. For example, my wife's 06 Subarau Legacy has had a ball joint replaced (under warranty), is waiting on a rear differential seal (to be repaired under warranty), the steering seems unstable at highway speeds, and I'm starting to hear noises that I suspect are wheel bearings going bad. The car only has 40k miles on it. This is our 1st Subaru and, as much as I want to like the car, I really question what it's future holds. But, I'm hanging in there hoping that once these things are fixed, I'll get to enjoy that subaru reliabillity that I've heard so much about.

I still think you (and I) have some of the best automobiles available.