Last week I got the bad news that my 2006 Tacoma V6 Access cab auto will need a new transmission. It has 80k miles on it and I've had it since Jan 07 as the only owner. Most of the miles are freeway miles, I do pull a 2500 pound travel trailer.
What happened is I first notices a slight vibration from start that would go away as you accelerated above about 15mph and a really bad jerk. Then a slight squeal started along with the vibration. I took it to a dealer who put it on a rack and could not re-create the problem in the shop but did during a test drive. They kept the truck over night to check the fluid which was a bit low. They topped off the fluid but the truck still had the same problem. They told me it was very unusual for a transmission to go out with 80k. it would take them at least 7 days to replace the transmission.
I called Toyota who issued me a code number and said to talk to the relations rep at the dealer. He told me that since the truck was out of warranty (I'm kicking myself for not buying the 100k 7 year warranty from Troy when I bought the truck, he was selling them for about $800. Then again I bought a Toyota for its reliability not for buying extended warranties. Regardless they told me the Fort Worth division for Toyota would split the cost labor and trans with me. So I would only have to pay 50%. The dealer I took it to was in Fort Worth. I was told a Toyota rebuilt and labor would run $4000 so I'd be out $2000. the truck still ran. Drove about 5 miles.Truck made it fine, just kept the rpm's lower and drove at 55mph., the last day the vibrations and jerks seemed to be more constant and during.
I called 3 dealers today and got 3 different prices for rebuilt, Toyota parts and labor with warranty. $2600, $3500 and $4800. I double checked they quoted for the same model, year etc.
So my questions now are is this normal? Are there others how have had automatic transmission failures (vibrations, squealing, jerking etc.) and how did Toyota handle the problem? Did they repair it for a percentage, free of charge?
I've also considered going to an independent shop to have the transmission replaced. My problem is I travel and if a local shop does the work and I'm 5+ miles away and it fails its a huge problem. If a dealer does the work then I can take it to any Toyota dealer to work it out.
Any suggestions, help, advice is greatly appreciated.
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The different dollar amounts though extreme is not unheard of once it’s out of warranty they are free to charge the hours they want and labor rates can vary between dealer. The 50/50 split wasn’t a bad deal. You could try the aftermarket shop route but that could create other problems for example if the tcm has to be programmed in part with the job it’s most likely not something they can not do. Sorry I didn’t shed a ton of insight on the specifics but unfortunately when your out of warranty it’s open game. Bought for reliability or not extended warranties are always worth it just for the peace of mind factor
