I currently have a 2018 3.5L V6 Tacoma. I plan to keep this truck until it dies. Many guys on the Taco forums claim that the 3rd generation Tacoma isn’t as reliable as the prior generations, but from what I can tell this 3.5L V6 and the 6 speed Trans are in dozens of Toyota/Lexus products going 8-10 years back. For example, my Aunt has a 2011 Avalon with a 3.5 V6 and 180k miles that has never had an issue. Also, the Lexus RX350 consistently reaches 250-300k miles with no issues.
So is the current V6 Tacoma the same powertrain as 3.5L of the past? If so, would it not be just as reliable?
I have seen no problems with the reliability in them the main problem that people have is sometimes the newer transmissions are a little bit off as they age with shifting occasionally being somewhat off but it's certainly not a deal breaker. Realize all modern cars are endless pile of high-tech that yes will not perform quite as well as the older simpler ones which have less power and got worse gas mileage
Can’t speak to whether or not they use all the same parts but these are the issues I’ve had;
I bought a 2016 V6 Tacoma made in San Antonio brand new from a Stealership up here in Canada. Truck only has 60,000kms on it and my most recent issue is that it is leaking coolant. I've looked through a couple Tacoma forums where multiple people are having issues with a plastic moulded part called the "rear water by-pass joint". The part develops a small crack and leaks the pink coolant, so when it dries it is very easy to spot. I was able to find, quite easily where the leak has been dripping down because of all the dried pink crusties. It looks as though Toyota really dropped the ball with this part on the V6's but the 4 cylinders have a metal bypass joint. The service people say they can get to the by-pass joint in a few hours by removing the intake manifold to diagnose, however to do the whole job and replace the part takes approx 13 hours labour. The part is on back-order from Toyota, I'm assuming because there have been so many failures of this part. Best part is, Toyota doesn't cover this under the Power Train warranty because it's not a part of the engine etc. They would only cover the water pump. I asked them what would happen if this part failed and an unknown to the driver the engine overheated and cracked the block or something. The service rep said being that I know there is a coolant leak and so does Toyota now, if something did happen to the engine it definitely won't be covered. So basically, I have a truck that I can't drive because of a part shortage and if something fails, I basically am up Schitts Creek without a paddle. As I said, this is my most recent issue with this Toyota. Others include,
1) Transmission fluid came low from the factory. Many other 3rd gen owners with the V6's have reported having low fluid and the dealerships/corporate Toyota not doing anything about it. I had to pay out of pocket for a diag and a fluid change $200 or so. However my truck had approx 50,000kms on it at the time, so who knows how much damage was done. Truck wasn't shifting smooth since day one and of course Toyota service people say it was behaving as designed. They didn't give me an extended warrant on my transmission even though people in the United States were getting extended warranties. I spent the better part of 3 months building a case and going through an arbitration plan called CAMVAP (Canadian Motor Vehicle Arbitration Plan) and I won. It was a free service to me and I got my $200 back but nothing else. Not a sorry, not a tissue, not anything extra.
2) Air Conditioning stopped working after a few years. Brought it in to see what the system pressure was and they told me that there was no refrigerant left in the system. They diagnosed it to be a faulty seal but I was just out of my vehicle warranty period. $850 to replace seal and add a "new" propane based refrigerant.
3) Truck bed bolts came loose and toyota wanted to charge me a diagnostic fee to see what it was. I told them what it was and finally after about a 10min conversation they decided they would just tighten the bolts free of charge. Thanks Toyota. They did me a real solid on a 4 year old vehicle.
4) Rear blind-spot monitoring system had a known faulty wiring harness and I wanted it changed under their TSB. Service person said they wont change one that is currently working. So I just got through our next Canadian winter and the system failed. Both sensors shorted out and the harness was all corroded at the connection pins. $1300 not covered under Toytota warranty.
5) All other issues I had were TSB related. Every time I would bring the truck in for an issue they would say the vehicle is operating as intended. I would go home and look up TSB's related to the vehicle and most times I would be able to find the exact TSB with the exact same issues as described to the service people at Toyota. Would have to go back to the Stealership with paper in hand and force them to fix the issues. So lame.
6) Toyota also hasn't fixed their rusty frames issue. I've been sent a (WAP) warrant enhancement program letter stating that they must apply a corrosion resistant compound to prone areas of the frame. I went in and had this special goop applied and now I have a 12 year extended warranty. Thanks again Toyota. Would think they would have learned from all the issues they had before with all the frames rotting out.
