Describe your transmission behavior.

[TacoFreak]

I will say this truck makes more whirling, clicking, whining, tapping, thunking noises then any other vehicle I have owned. But nothing that I felt was an issue. It's certainly not a Lexus.

It is not like most Lexus vehicles, but my wife's BEV Lexus makes more strange sounds than even my truck.

What bothers me is that the transmission is put into question

I think that a lot of the noises people mention are completely normal and just a complex machine doing its job. Now some of the shifts are not, and that worries me some too. But I decided to just ignore all of that for now.

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[kllentini]

I have a 24 iForce Max TRD Off-Road, build date was 8/24 in Guanajuato. I traded in a 2012 TRD Off-Road Tacoma with 190k, and this truck was great. I have no buyers remorse as I waited for this model and I love the look and the bells and whistles. BUT, it has 5k and the transmission has seemed off for the last 1500 miles or so, and this is the reason I popped on and now joined the forum. I drive pretty much in normal mode but I’ve noticed some of the issues I’ll describe in ECO mode too.

I’m no car geek (that’s not an insult) by any means, but I would use a lot of the words I’ve read here to describe some of my transmission concerns - clunky, laggy and not always smooth. I’m in New England and I’ve noticed much of this as it’s gotten colder, some of the first shifts in the cold morning can be the clunkiest and jerkiest. But I almost always start it and let it warmup before I set off in the morning. I definitely have noticed some clunkiness stopping quickly from 2nd, as others have mentioned.

I knew prior to my purchase that the recent Tundras had some issues, but my 2012 was awesome and my wife has had a Camry then a Matrix each with over 200k and now we’re on to a Highlander that has been great, too.

I scheduled my 5k service for next week and I told the dealer’s service department I have concerns about the transmission. I told them I knew there was a technical service bulletin (my VIN is not included in that) and I want to sort of be better informed with knowledge when I go in next week. So again I really love the truck and am hoping I can get some answers next week as it seems that something isn’t right.

 

[TrustButVerify]

Mine was a little uncomfortably clunky early on. Delayed and awkward shifts in and out of 3rd gear. That has decreased significantly as I approach 5,000 miles on the truck. I had planned on doing a transmission fluid drain and fill to both check the level and get some clean fluid in there just in case there was "manufacturing debris" that was to blame or perhaps sloppy underfill at the factory. Since it seems to be working better, I'm in no hurry to do this, though I have the 6 quarts of oil for the tranny sitting here.

 

[inlandsmog]

I am curious if anyone who has had the trans replaced under warranty could chime in and let us know how the replacement trans is doing.

 

[Gfenza89]

There’s something very strange going on if people are having issues outside the tsb. Strange too that some people report zero transmission issues inside the tsb, none of this makes any sense

 

[hotgarbage]

Mine was replaced on warranty. Had 12,100KM on the truck when I took it in. Didn't have many issues until it randomly got stuck in 6th gear around the 11,900 KM mark. Shut the truck down and it shifted just fine after a restart. I went about my trip to the mountains without thinking much. Snowboarded all day, then when I was stopped at a light a few blocks from home, I heard a loud clunk in the transmission and low and behold, stuck in 6th-8th gear. Limped home and parked. Contacted the dealer they told me to bring it in. Drove completely fine the next morning going to the dealer so was worried they were going to be like there is nothing wrong. It popped 3 of the codes in the TSB. My trucks VIN falls within the TSB. Transmission was then replaced. My dealer flew in a transmission to the island in Canada I live on and was fixed just over 2 weeks. Was impressed with the turn around to be honest. Red some borrow stories.

Driving the truck now, it feels like the transmission takes a second to engage sometimes (steep hills from a stop). Overall it feels much better to drive but am obviously hyper aware of what my transmission is doing now.

Had a 2019 TRD sport that I traded in for my 2024 TRD sport premium. Night and day the 2024 is a better truck so am glad they fixed it so quickly. Probably won't be the last issue but hopefully nothing this major.

I knew something would go wrong buying the first year model, but was hoping wouldn't be a huge thing like a transmission. Still love the truck and glad it's back home.

 

[Burgi]

Mine was replaced on warranty. Had 12,100KM on the truck when I took it in. Didn't have many issues until it randomly got stuck in 6th gear around the 11,900 KM mark. Shut the truck down and it shifted just fine after a restart. I went about my trip to the mountains without thinking much. Snowboarded all day, then when I was stopped at a light a few blocks from home, I heard a loud clunk in the transmission and low and behold, stuck in 6th-8th gear. Limped home and parked. Contacted the dealer they told me to bring it in. Drove completely fine the next morning going to the dealer so was worried they were going to be like there is nothing wrong. It popped 3 of the codes in the TSB. My trucks VIN falls within the TSB. Transmission was then replaced. My dealer flew in a transmission to the island in Canada I live on and was fixed just over 2 weeks. Was impressed with the turn around to be honest. Red some borrow stories.

Driving the truck now, it feels like the transmission takes a second to engage sometimes (steep hills from a stop). Overall it feels much better to drive but am obviously hyper aware of what my transmission is doing now.

Had a 2019 TRD sport that I traded in for my 2024 TRD sport premium. Night and day the 2024 is a better truck so am glad they fixed it so quickly. Probably won't be the last issue but hopefully nothing this major.

I knew something would go wrong buying the first year model, but was hoping wouldn't be a huge thing like a transmission. Still love the truck and glad it's back home.

did you have check engine lights on your dash or they only saw them with the scanner?

 

[Gfenza89]

Mine was replaced on warranty. Had 12,100KM on the truck when I took it in. Didn't have many issues until it randomly got stuck in 6th gear around the 11,900 KM mark. Shut the truck down and it shifted just fine after a restart. I went about my trip to the mountains without thinking much. Snowboarded all day, then when I was stopped at a light a few blocks from home, I heard a loud clunk in the transmission and low and behold, stuck in 6th-8th gear. Limped home and parked. Contacted the dealer they told me to bring it in. Drove completely fine the next morning going to the dealer so was worried they were going to be like there is nothing wrong. It popped 3 of the codes in the TSB. My trucks VIN falls within the TSB. Transmission was then replaced. My dealer flew in a transmission to the island in Canada I live on and was fixed just over 2 weeks. Was impressed with the turn around to be honest. Red some borrow stories.

Driving the truck now, it feels like the transmission takes a second to engage sometimes (steep hills from a stop). Overall it feels much better to drive but am obviously hyper aware of what my transmission is doing now.

Had a 2019 TRD sport that I traded in for my 2024 TRD sport premium. Night and day the 2024 is a better truck so am glad they fixed it so quickly. Probably won't be the last issue but hopefully nothing this major.

I knew something would go wrong buying the first year model, but was hoping wouldn't be a huge thing like a transmission. Still love the truck and glad it's back home.

that’s the crazy thing yours failed out of nowhere and there’s people like me who have all sorts of gremlins and my transmission keeps on chugging along

 

[Gfenza89]

did you have check engine lights on your dash or they only saw them with the scanner?

Great question!!

 

[hotgarbage]

did you have check engine lights on your dash or they only saw them with the scanner?

nothing on the dash, only with the scanner

 

[Gfenza89]

nothing on the dash, only with the scanner

Wow now this is a game changer

 

[TacoFreak]

nothing on the dash, only with the scanner

Some people have reported the same, and some people get a check engine and others get a hybrid systems malfunction warning. It is strange that this is not consistent.

 

[TacoFreak]

Wow now this is a game changer

That is why I scan my truck for codes from time to time. More than one person with a failed transmission didn't get any warnings that something was wrong, their trucks just stopped being able to shift to all the gears. Strange stuff.

 

[tacorancher]

That is why I scan my truck for codes from time to time. More than one person with a failed transmission didn't get any warnings that something was wrong, their trucks just stopped being able to shift to all the gears. Strange stuff.

I’ve got a Carista and do that as well

 

[TacoFreak]

I’ve got a Carista and do that as well

Yeah - I bought the Carista for customizing my truck, but I'm glad I have it so I can check codes myself. That is something I never expected to need with a Toyota, but times have changed.

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