Have a look at these 2 videos. This guy did it just for views, but it's and indication of how durable the clutches and transmissions are in the older rigs. If Mr. Elmer blew up the clutch that easily in the new Tacoma, there's something fundamentally wrong with that setup.
Truck King broke their Tacoma
- Thread starter testerdahl
- Start date
Make sure you wrap it in camouflage so people don't see it and make fun of you.
I've watched that guy a few times. He has an interesting channel and seems pretty likable.
I'm not sold on "fundamentally" wrong. I do think the clutch blew far too easily. It could have just been a bad part that was destined to break or a odd combination of events. Who knows.
I'm in the wait and see camp. If it is just TK's Tacoma, then nothing to see here. If it keeps happening, then there's something.
Hilux
Active member
Old a** Ranger is tougher than a new Tacoma
#mindblown
Well, we kinda already did the wait and see thing since this happened quite awhile back and Toyota blamed it on the way he shifted. They also didn’t say it was a faulty part. The review wasn’t published right away when it happened, why? It doesn’t pass the sniff test.
Fightnfire
Moderator
The part I don't get about this is all of the people saying the "engine would have blown" or "better the clutch than the transmission." What should have happened is the rear tires should have locked up and scared the shit out of the occupants. That's it. I'm teaching my son to drive a manual right now in a 2000 Ford Ranger, mis-shifts happen down and up.
Fightnfire
Moderator
I agree?
That wasn't what you asked me though and not what I tried to answer. I also don't think I've called it an outright failure, critical absolutely but not a failure. We don't know enough yet to really make any sort of a determination.
You asked me three questions:
1) Why do I think TFL/TKs incidents are a problem (Most of what I watch on YouTube is new or redesigned releases of pickups that are press loans or long term reviews. So far since, 2021ish, the count of vehicles breaking while being filmed is Toyota 2, everyone else 0.)
2) Are there more issues like these happening (Yes and No)
3) Or.. do I just feel that Toyota quality overall is a problem (The majority of my post was spent answering this question specifically and focusing on Toyota's last three truck rollouts.)
I tried to answer all three of those questions.
I don't think the new Tacoma is a failure (yet, time will tell,) hell I even said I expect it to be the highest selling midsize truck in 2025. I just don't think it should be.
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Hilux
Active member
In all seriousness I would like to see tests like that on new trucks, that would be far more interesting than towing tests and other silly stuff people test.
Fightnfire
Moderator
The roof issue was the Silverado/Sierra, not the Colorado/Canyon. The stop sale was to ensure the software fix was working as intended and completed before any more customers took delivery. Pretty stand up by GM if you ask me. Andre's software caused a fervor from what I remember but this forum didn't exist then, (Oct 2023ish) I'm sure we would have discussed it at length.
Also, Andre chose to let his truck try and trickle charge for two days. A new battery would have had him back on the road in 20 minutes without a trip to the dealer other than to get a refund on the battery, the delay was because the battery had gotten so low it wouldn't take a charge initially. I follow GM pretty close and that software update issue has been fixed and addressed by GM. I'm sure there are other software issues but if were counting those then we need to look at Toyota, Ford and Ram too.. lots of issues with their infotainment and subscription services, auto unlock etc. I don't bring that stuff up because I think every manufacturer has software issues with new vehicles but they get worked out pretty quickly usually.
As clarified above, the engine issue Ben pointed at affected 4 Colorado engines in total and no customers affected, (no Canyon motors) it was a preventative measure for something that could cause a problem in the future.
The TFL Taco drove home, well really it was towed off the mountain until it was deemed safe to continue in 2WD. If it had been solo, who knows, they were all very concerned about it sliding down the hill in the conditions.
Personally I would much rather have a software issue with a new vehicle than a drivetrain issue.
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Hilux
Active member
I think Toyota redesigned the Tacoma and Tundra just barely enough to get by and not excel at anything.
Fightnfire
Moderator
It's hard not to draw that conclusion.
But what I think they really did is, for the first time in their history, try to design a modern truck on par with the big 3 in tech, options and interior features and spent too much money in that area which caused the truck(s) to be engineered to close to margins in other key areas. Specifically speaking about the 3rd gen Tacoma and the Tundra.. time will tell on the 4th gen Tacoma but it's not looking great right now.
I'm curious. What kinds of tests?
Hilux
Active member
Dumping firewood in the bed or any sharp pointy stuff to see how the bed holds up, spraying milk or soda on the screen to see if the kid just cost me a bundle of money to replace the screen, jamming the transmission down to first gear to see if it breaks anything, there are probably more but all of things I mentioned would surely violate the contract that the auto manufactures have for press fleet vehicles.
Roman and Nathan just did a podcast about bad dealership experiences. One of the tangents they went on was talking about press vehicle agreements. Roman talked about Tim's deer blood cleanup and his ketchup and fries spill. Apparently, you aren't supposed to have food in the vehicle or pets, but they aren't super strict about it. I have no idea what the press vehicle agreements are like, but I'm sure anything destructive would not be allowed.
I think this statement right here is the best, most concise and accurate one I've seen to summarize things.
Not saying it would happen every time (Fightnfire may be right about an unloaded truck in 2wd just skipping the tires because not all of the inertia is being fed back into the drivetrain) but they don't call them money shifts for no reason. Someone on TW calculated with the gear ratios and speed involved in the video if he had made it all the way into first it would have placed the engine at 12,000+ RPM.
jalopnik.com
An Excruciatingly Detailed Explanation of How a "Money Shift" Destroys Your Engine
Accidentally shifting to a lower gear under full-throttle acceleration is a recipe for disaster.
jalopnik.com
Do you have the timestamp? I’m curious what Roman said. Thanks.
Let me find a press loan agreement and I’ll share it in a bit. Granted I’ll take out the company name for confidentially and give you the gist.
I think it was in the middle somewhere. I am at my other house tonight without my computer. I opened it on my ipad and saw there was a transcript, but I don’t know how to search for it on my ipad. If you search for blood or ketchup that should get you there.