Tacoma is not so reliable as folks think

[IdahoRanger]

I hear people say the Ranger interior is dated, boring, etc..., but WTF is this???

Is that my grandmothers Buick?

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[TBR17]

When did the Taco get a rake?

 

[tigerpawn]

Good lord lol! That is embarrassing and creepy.

You almost have to assume most Tacoma special operators have little to no knowledge about mechanical things.

The Ranger is superior in every single category. Better gas mileage, more power, better towing, better riding. It’s proof that a huge segment of the Tacoma base just buy off past reputation.

I would literally buy a Honda Ridgeline before a Tacoma just based on the horrible ride of the Tacoma.

 

[VAMike]

When did the Taco get a rake?

There are worse things

 

[TremorOwner]

I'll tell you one thing... the dealer service experience at Toyota for me has been 10x better than any Ford dealer I've been to (except one, which I drive >1 hour to because they actually listen, do warranty work without fights, and do work carefully). At the Ford dealers I've engaged, even the service writers will flat out say they are unable to help customers like they want because of how Ford handles (aka, denies as much as they can) warranties. This trickles down, at least in my experience, to a really piss poor service experience at Ford dealers. I have a friend who used to be a Service Writer at a Ford dealer and he told me how terrible Ford is about warranty and the hoops dealers have to jump through to get paid and so they try to deflect warranty work. He later went to a Toyota dealer and literally he was a happier, less depressed person... swear to God.

 

[Jrel209]

I'll tell you one thing... the dealer service experience at Toyota for me has been 10x better than any Ford dealer I've been to (except one, which I drive >1 hour to because they actually listen, do warranty work without fights, and do work carefully). At the Ford dealers I've engaged, even the service writers will flat out say they are unable to help customers like they want because of how Ford handles (aka, denies as much as they can) warranties. This trickles down, at least in my experience, to a really piss poor service experience at Ford dealers. I have a friend who used to be a Service Writer at a Ford dealer and he told me how terrible Ford is about warranty and the hoops dealers have to jump through to get paid and so they try to deflect warranty work. He later went to a Toyota dealer and literally he was a happier, less depressed person... swear to God.

To be fair thats one occurence. What is a matter of fact is manufacturers like insurance companies will do what they can to not cost them money. Im almost certain every manufacturer will try to avoid warranty claims at all cost unless its an obvious outright manufacturer defect. Im also certain depending on the cost thatll play a big part how much they want to fight it.

For example, my ppf on the lower side of my bed is already pealing off. It took a five min conversation and he got the replacement approved. Unfortunately, its on back order and so it’ll probably be a while till i get it replaced.

 

[SymChris]

I'll tell you one thing... the dealer service experience at Toyota for me has been 10x better than any Ford dealer I've been to (except one, which I drive >1 hour to because they actually listen, do warranty work without fights, and do work carefully). At the Ford dealers I've engaged, even the service writers will flat out say they are unable to help customers like they want because of how Ford handles (aka, denies as much as they can) warranties. This trickles down, at least in my experience, to a really piss poor service experience at Ford dealers. I have a friend who used to be a Service Writer at a Ford dealer and he told me how terrible Ford is about warranty and the hoops dealers have to jump through to get paid and so they try to deflect warranty work. He later went to a Toyota dealer and literally he was a happier, less depressed person... swear to God.

I give huge kudos to my local dealer, Meadowvale Ford in Mississauga. Solid all around. I know they’ve “filtered” out where necessary, but my main contacts in Service are all still there after 10+ years and going. I have never had an issue with their maintenance and other minor items over the past 4 vehicles, over 14 years, with them.

P.S. I see a lot of people criticize their dealers. Why not indicate the dealer here? If it’s just an honest opinion and not slander then there’s no reason to not call it out. Otherwise to me it just comes off as either fibbing a little or trolling…

 

[VAMike]

P.S. I see a lot of people criticize their dealers. Why not indicate the dealer here? If it’s just an honest opinion and not slander then there’s no reason to not call it out. Otherwise to me it just comes off as either fibbing a little or trolling…

I've been critical of my dealer in the past (the ordering process was a bit annoying, had trouble with sales guys not knowing anything about the ranger, there were some service department hiccups early on concerning things like replacing the faulty keypad, etc.) but I think I was one of their first if not their very first 5th gen ranger so it didn't seem fair to name and shame them permanently on the internet. The last couple of times I've gone in things have been very smooth, no pushback & quick work on the transmission TSB, the wiggly seat TSB, and some other minor stuff, so I've been satisfied. Sometimes you just want to vent, but it also makes sense to keep the reactions proportional--negative comments stick around forever, and even if you add an update on page 32 that'll never show up in searches the way the original post will.

 

[SymChris]

I've been critical of my dealer in the past (the ordering process was a bit annoying, had trouble with sales guys not knowing anything about the ranger, there were some service department hiccups early on concerning things like replacing the faulty keypad, etc.) but I think I was one of their first if not their very first 5th gen ranger so it didn't seem fair to name and shame them permanently on the internet. The last couple of times I've gone in things have been very smooth, no pushback & quick work on the transmission TSB, the wiggly seat TSB, and some other minor stuff, so I've been satisfied. Sometimes you just want to vent, but it also makes sense to keep the reactions proportional--negative comments stick around forever, and even if you add an update on page 32 that'll never show up in searches the way the original post will.

Fair, but your reasoning is much more “calmer” then some rants that seem to go overboard (and of course this is in my opinion).

And yeah, a little off-topic. Sorry ?

 

[TremorOwner]

I give huge kudos to my local dealer, Meadowvale Ford in Mississauga. Solid all around. I know they’ve “filtered” out where necessary, but my main contacts in Service are all still there after 10+ years and going. I have never had an issue with their maintenance and other minor items over the past 4 vehicles, over 14 years, with them.

P.S. I see a lot of people criticize their dealers. Why not indicate the dealer here? If it’s just an honest opinion and not slander then there’s no reason to not call it out. Otherwise to me it just comes off as either fibbing a little or trolling…

Happy to.

Good Ford dealer:
- Hardy Family Ford, Dallas, GA - only dealer I trusted to touch my Mustang, resolved many issues other dealers said were "normal" or whatever crap bs they came up with to tell me to move on

The dealer I'll never step foot on again:
- Allan Vigil Ford, Morrow, GA

The dealer that fixed what Allan Vigil did to my past Fiesta and went to bat with Ford to get the transmission replaced like it should have been because the input shaft was messed up, not just "rebuilt for a third time", and told me how ridiculous it was to do so:
- Legacy Ford, McDonough, GA

 

[SymChris]

Happy to.

Good Ford dealer:
- Hardy Family Ford, Dallas, GA - only dealer I trusted to touch my Mustang, resolved many issues other dealers said were "normal" or whatever crap bs they came up with to tell me to move on

The dealer I'll never step foot on again:
- Allan Vigil Ford, Morrow, GA

The dealer that fixed what Allan Vigil did to my past Fiesta and went to bat with Ford to get the transmission replaced like it should have been because the input shaft was messed up, not just "rebuilt for a third time", and told me how ridiculous it was to do so:
- Legacy Ford, McDonough, GA

Yes! Thank you!

Kudos and criticisms where due!

 

[JimG_AZ]

I'll tell you one thing... the dealer service experience at Toyota for me has been 10x better than any Ford dealer I've been to (except one, which I drive >1 hour to because they actually listen, do warranty work without fights, and do work carefully). At the Ford dealers I've engaged, even the service writers will flat out say they are unable to help customers like they want because of how Ford handles (aka, denies as much as they can) warranties. This trickles down, at least in my experience, to a really piss poor service experience at Ford dealers. I have a friend who used to be a Service Writer at a Ford dealer and he told me how terrible Ford is about warranty and the hoops dealers have to jump through to get paid and so they try to deflect warranty work. He later went to a Toyota dealer and literally he was a happier, less depressed person... swear to God.

Not to pile on, but as someone who mainly owns Ford’s and Toyota’s, I would have to say Toyota service has been significantly better for me too. My last two Ford warranty/recall claims were not handled well at all. My 2017 Mustang had body panels that didn’t line up correctly. I never even thought to check the body panels when I purchased the car new. Ford did eventually fix this, but it took some work, and a number of trips to the dealer. Now where Ford of North Scottsdale and Ford Corporate customer service got an F was on the air-bag recall on my 2006 Mustang. As I recall, this charade went of for @ 16 months. The only thing that stopped this was that the main bearing failed on the motor and I sold the car. Seriously, I’ll bet I had 8 to 10 notices to bring the car in for the air-bag recall. Ford of North Scottsdale ordered at least 3, maybe 4 air-bags for it over that 16 months. Oh, one time I got a call that the air-bag came in, brought the car in a few days later, and then was told they didn’t have the airbag in stock and would have to order one. Oh, Chapman Ford in Scottsdale AZ also ordered an air-bag for that Mustang, and I don’t think that one came in either. After @ month 14, I got pissed and placed a call to Ford customer service. I guess I was delusional in thinking that after Ford of North Scottsdale had the air-bag come in for my car, and obviously put it on a different car, that Ford customer service would resolve the issue. What they told me was there was nothing they could do about it and I had to work the recall through my dealer. I even requested an appointment with a regional service advisor, and they would not do that either. Very disappointing experience.

On the Tacoma reliability, I have a 10 year old one sitting in my garage. It has been pretty good.

 

[evoaire]

Hi Terry,

Okay...the Pinto was a couple years before I got to Ford. When I arrived in 1973, the infield of our test track was littered with crashed Pintos. Here is what we found....The rear gas tank was located behind the Rear Axle. The rear of the Pinto folded up like a piece of tinfoil in a rear crash...The rear axle rear diff cover was installed with a bolt on the top right in a rearward direction and was too long for some reason. In a rear crash, this bolt acted like a can opener, harpooning the steel gas tank. So Ford revised the process but for the field released a shield to protect the fuel tank from being punctured by the bolt. Why they did not want to turn the bolt around is a IDK for me. I raced a Pinto in SCCA Road Racing for a few years but had a ATL fuel Cell in the car and an 8" rear gear with 4:56 rear gear removable pig...a rare animal... 4:56 was never offered to the public...I got it from Sterling Axle as my Pinto was very fast... Under the table OEM racing.... In fact I was told the Pinto was a Pig...so I made it an awfully fast pig....

BTW. The mirror SCRAP on the hood stood for Small Car Racing and Performance... My side business as I developed quite a few Pinto racing pieces to make the car handle...

Best,
Phi Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

Now seeing this pic brings back memories. I grew up in central VA, my best friend’s Father in high school was an engineer, and he would race Pinto’s. They brought me along on a few races. Good times.

 

[Hounddog409]

Very true. The design of the backseat storage in our trucks is woeful compared to almost any other truck.

At least we dont have drum breaks.

 

[IcemanSTX]

Though it may sound like it, i'm not bashing the Tacoma. I like it besides the horrible transmission/transmission tuning and some aspects of its design are better than the Ranger. But I'm so tired of the Tacoma being touted as the most reliable thing on the planet.

I stumbled across this thread while looking for other information and it's not 'new' but it summarizes some interesting points regarding the Tacoma and specifically the engine.

2gr-fks engine catastrophic failures. | Tacoma World

The thread is closed. Also, please don't spam their forum. Just read and inform yourself and hopefully others that the Tacoma isn't god's gift to reliability that folks think.

Funny I used to own a 17 Tacoma and just got the attached email today.

I had a 2017 for a year (new) and glad I sold it after a year. Worst transmission I've had in a long time and I've been through a new car every year for the last 10 years. So glad I left it behind. The price was a joke too and the dealerships just tell you to walk away if you try to negotiate. My favorite silly design flaw is the AC drip line/drain outlets right into the frame which has caused premature rust issues for a number of owners. Simple fix, but so dumb.

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