Tunes are a red flag for me

The tune was one of the best aftermarket modifications I did for my truck and it was well worth the money to me. OTT never said anything about referrals etc. and the Tuner was professional and an all-around nice dude trying to make some money.

 

You think it is BS that companies are profiting off of making a vehicle better than it came from the factory?

Also, the transmission issues are well documented. If people are not satisfied with the way it drives, and also not willing to pay for a tune, they should not buy a Tacoma.

 

They have to buy credits from the tune maker, so they dont get to keep all the money.

 

Factory Tacoma tune is meant to give better gas mileage not performance,

 

Why do you not think they should cost what they do? Do you have any idea how many hours, and how much equipment was used to create these tunes? Do you have any idea what the actual cost was?

Aside from that, anyone who buys a tune does it out of their own free will. If it's not worth the money to you, don't buy it.

Yeti coolers shouldn't cost what they do either. But, people will buy them because they perform a little bit better than coolers that cost less. And, mostly, so they can say they have a yeti cooler.


Edit: you are not paying for five or six minutes of work. You are paying for the research that went into the tune. How are you not getting this?

 

Of course it is. So what?

Toyota has to make them as fuel efficient as possible because of cafe standards. What's wrong with somebody giving you an option to improve the performance for a cost? I don't hear anyone who is tuned bitching about the cost, either.

 

I do not know how many hours went in, but I'm pretty willing to bet that a couple dozen tunes paid for recouping that investment. I'm not hating on the product, I think the price point is absurd. Don't think there's getting through to you, as you're clearly extremely biased. Your signature checks out. All good.

 

Oh I'm not complaining I'm tuned and it has been great!

 

Just because you think they are overpriced, does not mean that you are correct. That's what you're not understanding. Nobody I know who has a tune thinks they are overpriced. If you think it's overpriced, save the $$ and drive it as it is.

 

Oh, gotcha. With all of the ridiculous posts in here, I wasn't sure what you meant.

 

No, I don’t think it’s BS that companies are profiting off of Toyota’s lack of quality control, if you’re not able to do the job right the first time, someone else will step up to the plate and clean up your mess, and they’ll charge a pretty penny for it, that’s capitalism, and I’m all for it. What I have a problem with, is the numerous posts made my many people on TW unhappy with the way their brand spanking new Tacoma drives, shifts, vibrates, jerks….., and the fix being, get a tune.
I love my 2013 because it has given me ZERO issues, drives great, shifts great and when I choose to go boosted and pay a company thousands of dollars to do so, it’s NOT because of a lack of quality control, it’s because I have money to spend on a toy and hobby that makes me happy.

*and you’re right, the transmission issues are well documented, which is why I’ll probably never buy a third gen, if I’m going to spend upwards of $35,000.00, transmission issues are something I’m going to actively avoid, but to each their own.

 

It can be both over priced and a good buy, those two things aren't mutually exclusive. I bought burned cds and maybe even a ringtone 20 something years ago too. I couldn't make them myself and people charged what they charged. This is no different. I just don't need to be spoon-fed a load of crap while someone pretends they're doing me a favor by making multiple hundreds of dollars an hour for truly about as minimal amount of work as can exist.

 

I definitely agree that Toyota could have done better. I personally think the fake Atkinson cycle was a mistake, although it did provide better fuel economy than the previous engine.

I loved my '15 Taco, but it didn't suit me like the 4runner. I'm satisfied with my primitive engine and shitty gas mileage.

 

I get what you're saying. But, if people are willing to pay it, I don't personally consider it overpriced. If there were a better, or less expensive alternative, I would totally agree with you. But, as far as I know, there isn't.


Edit: Try not thinking of it as paying for a reflash, but rather paying for the improved driving experience.

When I think about the money I've spent on the accessories and mods, it seems like a lot of money. When I think about how much I enjoy using it, I don't regret a single penny.

 

Correct. A dyno or additional logging is for vehicles with many more variables, such as forced induction etc. Most NA toyotas are very straight forward with very little room for change.

 

It most definitely was not 5 minutes of work. My tune guy spent a good half-hour interviewing me, my use, and even tire size, and what parameters on the throttle map I wanted tweaking. Then he spent another half-hour building the tune, and then it was an hour's worth of flashing (certain TSBs need installing before the tune.) The price I paid was good for the tune plus one free re-flash: I could spend that re-flash on changing a parameter I didn't like, or I could hold on to it for future updates.

...2 years later, I saw him at an event, and he was true to his word. Gave me the free re-flash on an completely new and different tune.

So I would say I got my money's worth out of it. And definitely not because of the time my tune guy spent on it, but because I got that many hours worth of entertainment out of it. 400 bucks? That's about a dollar per fun-hour over the span of ownership.

 

I bought a tuner for my motorcycle when I changed out the pipes & air. It made a significant difference. I also did an OTT tune on my 2020 OR. Also made a significant difference. Like others have said, if you don't want one or believe in them, then don't do it. But don't bash those who do.

 

Go buy the hardware then spend time developing, testing, and documenting your results then marketing your tune to the community, then build a website, technical support pipeline, and train partners to roll out the tune nationwide. Make sure you capture your expenses.

Looking forward to seeing what you come up with. The single highest expense is the expertise to develop a program that works (without grenading 30-40-50k worth of machine).

 

I would also like to give another example. Just to develop tacoma and supercharger tune, the owner OTT purchased a tacoma, bought a supercharger, spent 100s of hours doing research and development. Spent who knows how much buying other parts such as pulleys, downpipe etc to see if we could safely squeeze more performance. Rented a dyno. Completed additional research. Had numerous members of the team personally test and log. Try to put a dollar amount on money spent along with his time.

Same process applies for anything you buy.

While I offer Tuning, I do this for fun. I'm a fellow enthusiast. For me it's just a break from my normal 9-5. I enjoy it. I'm always here if you ever need anything. Heck most people even hang out at my house. If you want a tune, great I'm here. If not no biggie. There are many things I don't agree with or like, I don't go out of my way to a special post about it... I just won't buy it. I'm curious on the true motive of this post.

 

My truck is tuned. It was the best money I’ve spent on any aftermarket purchase for the truck, by far. Not overpriced at all. I’d pay for it again in a heartbeat.