Did you recently rush to buy a new vehicle before tariff-related price hikes? A reporter is looking to speak with shoppers who felt pressure to act quickly due to expected cost increases; please reach out to PR@Edmunds.com for more details by 4/24.
Toyota Tacoma: Problems & Solutions
This discussion has been closed.
Comments
In reading the last couple of posts regarding motivating the dealers to fix a problem, try hoping over to the Chevy Silverado Problems message post. In many of the posts they detail how to work with directly with the BBB (Better Business Bur.) and bring abritration if needed.
Many people who think the BBB is a joke should read the Chevy posts. They've got it down to a "T" and most cases seem to get resolved quickly.
One tip I read was don't bother calling the BBB (I know from personal exp. that calling will get you nowhere). Go to their website, fill out the entry form and FAX it to them! Supposedly the response time is good (within 1 - 2 days). Within a month you should have a reasonable resolution to your problem.
John
John
#1 of 5 Toyota Tacoma crusie control by tc93 Apr 18, 2001 (11:30 am)
I have a '99 Tacoma (2.4 ltr 4 cyl.) with cruise. The cruise often takes as long as 4 or 5 seconds to engage, which, by this time, the truck has slowed by nearly 10 mph. If that isn't annoying enough, the cruise surges by as much as 3 or 4 mph, which is quite noticeable, and very, very annoying! Naturally, the local Toy dealership says nothing is wrong with it (I wonder if they'd say the same thing once it goes out of warranty?). I asked them why then does the cruise in the one '00 Tacoma I test drove not do this? Answer - a bunch of double speak. What makes this situation all the more aggravating is the fact the cruise doesn't act up like this all the time, but darn near all the time. Has anyone got any information or advice to offer?
John
Love the truck
my problem is the blinking dash lights come on and stay on for the passenger seat. When the seat is empty, I plug in the seat belt and the warning light still blinks. No matter what, this light blinks. There has to be a loose wire somewhere, I just cannot find it.
sometimes the parking brake lite blinks even when the parking brake is released.
these little blinking lights are a pain.
I have looked for loose wires but so far have missed them.
anyone know any thing about how these things are wired up and can give me some hints to check before I waste a day and couple hundred bucks at the local dealer?
I appreciate any feedback
Dave Reid
As your pads wear down, the pistons in your calipers must extend out farther to apply the brakes. As the pistons extend farther, they draw more fluid into the lines bringing the fluid level down in the Master cylinder. Now it could also be you have a fluid leak. Either way, have your brakes checked.
The passenger seat belt wire is usually on the female buckle and passes under the passenger seat. You may want to check the passenger door jam button as well and make sure it's not stuck (press it a few times with the drive door closed and make sure the interior lights go off, etc).
'99 You say? Isn't it still under warranty?
I would complain a little.
John
2001 Prerunner sr5 v6 automatic transmision
At 1800 miles I make a brief highway trip (20 miles). I make a stop and then continue for about 5 miles. When I slow to an idle to make my turn the engine noisily clunks and dies (much the same as a standard would if I had not downshifted). When I start it up again It runs fine in Park and Neutral but as soon as its placed in gear (any gear including reverse) it clunks and dies as if it is stuck in too high a gear to take off.
After towing it in to the dealer the mechanic witnesses this problem once but it goes away once he gets it into the bay. With no problem left to fix it gets turned back over to me like a ticking time bomb.
Fast forward to 5000 miles. I go on an extended higway trip (150 miles) I stop for gas, get back on the road and have no problems. 60 miles later when I exit and slow to an idle... Bingo! same old problem.
Towed it to a dealer (this time out of state)and they are convinced it is the Torque Converter. After they change it ...No Joy!
Final result is the Transmision has been replaced and so far so good. I'm just curious if this has been seen before. Thanks for the input!
Sounds like the first dealer gave you the shaft. Hopefully they re-imbursed you for your towing charges (if not you might try the regional Toyota service rep - your local dealer can tell you who that is). I would imagine the dealer the 3rd time around did what anyone would do. $5000 to troubleshoot and fix the problem or faulty part....or by a new tranny from Toyota for $3000 and install it. Simple math...
You may want to confirm that the new tranny warranty is warranted for replacement for at least one year and after that covered under your new car warranty. If enough people have this problem, Toyota should issue a TSB (Technical Service Bulletin) but that assumes that enough people have this problem and complain about it. Maybe you do some constructive griping for your fellow Taco owners. : )
John
John
Thanks for the suggestions
Otherwise, I've had to replace seals in the rear end but in general I'm pretty happy with the truck. I use it for highway and logging road travel mostly with some off-roading. It's a 5 speed so the only clunking I've heard is that terrible air-driven four-wheel-drive engagement system. I can be much easier on the drivetrain with my arm than that thing but I haven't heard of anyone breaking a U-joint or gear yet (or have they?). I'm a long time Toyota 4x4 user (great performance and longevity from my early 80's pickups) and sad to hear about declining quality of 2000+s. Dare I suggest it might have something to do with where they are now being made?
The problem with your transmission may be the lock-up portion of the torque converter not dis-engaging. I have seen this many times in early 90's GM cars. Everytime the problem has been a faulty torque converter lock-up solenoid. I suspect that this is a fluke, probably just a bad solenoid. I believe that Toyota replaced the transmission because they felt it was cheaper than spending the time to fully and completely diagnose the problem. I don't expect you to have anymore problems. Hope this helps.
Valky
John
The moral of the story is that while you pay top dollar for Toyota peace of mind and an excellent warranty on paper it turns out that the Tacoma falls far short of the previous generations of quality trucks. The warranty in my experience is not worth the paper it is written on. I watched as the mechanics called the Toyota Tech. Hotline where they were instructed what to do even though they were at the other end of a phone line. What good is a real live mechanic??? Where have all the good mechanics gone??? Customer service throughout this was very poor.I have run into many people that have had poor experiences with Toyota and it is apparently the NEW Toyota / General Motors conflaguration that operates like this. Toyota will never see me on one of their car lots again. They and their vehicles are not what they used to be. I do understand that it is impossible to manufacture every car perfect but it is how you handle the problem that then becomes most important. Hanging your customers out to dry because they can and do on a regular basis is not smart business. Word does get around.
All should be AWARE, UNDERSTAND, and BEWARE of what you spend your hard earned cash on supporting a MEGA-CORPERATION whose product is based on a reputation that I find is no longer valid with reguards to product quality and what amounts to is a complete lack of customer support and service. I have worked on and built cars for 25 yrs. This experience was a complete and utter joke!!!!!!!! I wouldn't let Toyota work on a biycicle after what I've seen!!! Think carefully before you spend your money. It could very easily turn turn out that you may have an experience not unlike the one I have had to endure. Oh, I forgot to mention that I could not use the truck for 1 1/2 years as it sat rotting away in my driveway but I still had to make payments on it and had to buy another car to use and make payments on it also.
Toyota, is no longer a choice I would consider!!!
John
Steve Cohen
Go ahead and let the light come on and you'll see what I mean. My gauge goes down past the last mark. Also I tried letting the light go for a about 40 miles. When I filled up it took 17.5 gallons.
I guess I have one small complaint against the taco. I think have a large reserve is dumb. If a person can't fill up before they hit "E" let them run out of gas.
Toyota used to not have warning lights at all for low gas.
Anyways from what I've seen the chains will last forever. What will wear out though, are the chain guides, and when they do you will notice a rattling coming from the front cover because the chain will be slapping around. I just worked on one where the owner put on 170,000 miles before the guides went out.
It's a very easy repair to do if you are a do-it-yourselfer or if you take it to a repair shop they should not charge you more than $300.
I've never seen one break therefore I don't know if it will damange your pistons but I don't think the 22RE's are an interference fit. ( where the valves will hit the pistons if the chain breaks )
Typically timing chains do not need to be changed over the life of a vehicle and in many cases will out last the vehicle. Only timing belts need to be changed on average every 60K miles (and you can stretch that a bit). By the way, you either have a timing chain or a Timing Belt. Unless you have two engines in your car/truck...
Why don't all modern cars used timing chains you may ask since they, "last forever". Well while it's true my '85 Toyota P/U died with it's timing chain intact (at 220K miles of hard labor) the timing in the engine was lousy. As the chains get older, they begin to stretch ever so slightly as well as round over the sprocket teeth they ride on. As time progresses the engine is generally "looser" in both feel, power, starts, stops, and just about everything but straight freeway driving where you won't notice the difference anyway unless you are consistently passing folks.
Belts hold their timing better (increasing time between tuneups and timing adjusts sometime 100K miles vs. 10K miles on older vehicles with chains and distributors) and they wear the sprockets they ride on very very little if at all.
More info than you wanted probably...
John
1)If they come with a timing chain or a timing belt?
2)If a timing belt, is it an interference or non-interference belt?
3)When should it be changed (I have 96,000 miles on mine and to my knowledge it has never been changed by the previous owner).
Thanks a lot!
1)If they come with a timing chain or a timing belt?
- One anonymous call to the Dealer will clear this up. Or you can try the Maintenance Section of TownHall.
2)If a timing belt, is it an interference or non-interference belt?
- Not sure of these terms; that would be a new one for me. Can you explain the difference?
3)When should it be changed (I have 96,000 miles on mine and to my knowledge it has never been changed by the previous owner).
- Call the Dealer ASAP for question number one. If it's a belt, you are loooong overdue.
Thanks a lot!
Honestly most manufacturers have deferred from using clear coat technology to intermixing the polyurethane into the paint itself providing a long lasting, flexible, yet hard shell. Some quick facts:
Straight Paint - Older (vintage) cars the job will usually remain glossy for 5-6 years then fade
Paint + Clear coat - Early 80's to mid 90's cars, a proven technology keeping coats glossy 9-10 years and protecting against scratches.
Blended Coat - mid 90's to present day maintains glossy coat up to 14 years. Some biodegradable forms of the coat have been known to fail prematurely (I'm sure you've seen plenty of cars with bad flaking of the paint).
IMHO you should visit the dealer to document your problem and begin the negotiation process to get the problem fixed.
Good Luck,
John
Hopefully you are still checking back, but you may want to find a remote spot/parking lot and make sure your ABS system is working (i.e, get up to 20MPH or so and grab hold to the brakes).
Initially you should see that light on startup only unless the system is in use. You could tell the dealer that you are "concerned your ABS safety feature is not working and let them keep it for a week while they give you a loaner. Usually the Service Manager will try to help out special cases like these that are hard to ID and help to draft a TSB for others with the same problem.
I would totally put this on the dealer to fix. I mean, you're not imagining the problem, right? Make the dealer understand that.
Good Luck,
John
You would think they could fit a tiny PCMCIA (laptop) 10Mb hard drive for practically no cost to save like the last 1000 error codes the vehicle spit out and the time and date they occured.
I don't know why dealears are such hose heads about this stuff. I had the plastic trim cover that covered the seat rail behind the driver seat sheared of by a person getting out. When the dealer told me they'd cover it under warranty but they'd have to order it. When I went to pick up the part in our other car, since I felt like driving the car that day, they just about had a sheist fit when I said I'd install it. A stupid snap on, piece of plastic trim that cost all of a a couple of bucks. The parts counter had to get approval from the Service Desk!!! Sheez...
I feel your pain. Keep pushin em, and if the light keeps coming on, tell them you fear for your safety, rip the ABS system out, and stick a new one in. Since that would take some dough, maybe they'll be more receptive to helping you diagnose the problem.
Thanks for your info...
Thanks!
Thanks,
Andy