It's a goodbye to my 8-year-old Taco Manual (2024)

This is the exit report for my 2016 Quicksand Tacoma TRD Off-Road SB Manual Trans I owned for 8 years and 4 months, and 80,680 miles since February 2016.

Got my Taco in February 2016 from Wisconsin at $1,200 discount from $33,659 sticker, dealer wanted my trade-in 2012 FJ Cruiser at the price I bought ($29k) for so it was a done deal. There was a paint blemish and dealer kerfuffle so Toyota HQ threw in an 8-year/125k-mile extended warranty (which was a godsend as will be detailed below -- TLDR, it was $17,000 warranty payout courtesy of Toyota)

Problem 1: Moved down to Chicago in 2017 and downtown Chicago Toyota dealer (Grossinger - when they were still there before the Canadian Leader group bought them out) burned the clutch within 10 minutes when my truck was being moved to service bay. The clutch smell was so bad it was in the truck for three days, and slipped pretty bad. Toyota HQ got involved and management replaced the clutch. Dealer paid $1,400

Problem 2: Clutch pedal squeak in late-2019 -- got the clutch pedal and master replaced per T-SB-0112-19 by another downtown Chicago Toyota dealer (Northside). Paid for by extended warranty, booked on receipt $900. Lower control arm also went out - another $800 paid by Toyota Extended Warranty, plus miscellaneous items like PCV. Service advisor thought it would be 3-4 hour job, but it turned into a three-day with a loaner since they don't really see a manual truck there. Ever since then the truck never drove the same, clutch pedal felt very mushy and rattling transmission. Clutch pedal also have almost 3/4" free-travel before it has spring-loaded. Total warranty paid: $2,000-ish

Hit-and-run: Got a condo neighbor who hit-and-run -- police went after the guy to have them pay up or they got booked for hit-and-run -- $1,400 body shop later it was fixed.

Problem 3: Extended warranty major save I:
Took my truck in for a service with a technician friend in Suburb Chicago before Thanksgiving 2023 and have him do a once-over before the extended warranty went out. He found the infamous front timing cover leak, and then he suspected transmission failure because it did not shift right according to him and other tech. He drained the fluid and TAS case said to replace transmission. The synchro was likely somewhere in the whole fluid. We were also suspecting that another dealer might have used wrong fluid for MT flush back in 2019. Then he found valve cover leak, and clutch accumulator leak, got all taken care of. Truck had to stayed at the dealer for four weeks in total. Clutch was replaced for parts price only.

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Tech friend also said the manual transmission was updated in 2022-23, and I must concur -- it shifted better, positive engagement and much less notchy in between gears compared to 2016 unit.

Here is the transmission fluid as drained

The bill: $13,500 courtesy of Toyota Extended Warranty

Extended warranty major save II:
Steering rack was leaking - 12 days before the 8yr/125k extended warranty went out. Parts were a week out, then waited for the bay. Truck stayed at the dealer until the warranty expired, plus a few TPMS that went out under warranty. Total bill to Toyota was probably $1,500.

When the extended warranty ran out, the total extended warranty payout was $17,000 -- more than half of the purchase price of the truck new

Two weeks ago:
Front differential were making noise when switch from 2H to 4H, the front hood can be seen shaking when it engaged, and when giving some throttle the front end was shaking and making clunking noise. No noise in 2H -- my guess (and tech friend) is the front diff itself. A bracket would have been shaking more often than just under load. I would not have the warranty anymore and probably looking at $3,000 bill. I might as well get out while I can and let it be someone else's problem. With that much of $17,000 warranty claim, I think more will be coming.

Exit:
After some research on the new Colorado, I have been eyeing to replace my Taco since it got major repair in late-2023. A deal came that is good enough to not pass, and with my hunch of the front diff - so Taco is gone. I got myself a 2024 Chevy Colorado WT 4x4 with G80 locker, convenience and tow packages, MSRP $37,250, got it at $34,250 (supplier invoice price less $1,250 from two incentives for educator and GM loyalty). Traded-in my Taco for $24,000 (could have been $25,000 if it was not that Carfax minor accident report) -- though I should be happy since Carfax VIN-based value, Black Book and other websites gave it a $22,100 trade-in, Carmax gave me $23,000 cash, Cargurus was $21,200, and other Chevy dealers had low-balled me to $20,000 before.

So far: Colorado drives way better than my old Taco - more refined, feels more stable, no rattles or squeaks, takes pothole or road imperfection better, way more powerful even when it's still breaking-in. Drawbacks of Colorado are: side mirrors are too small compared to Taco, felt way bigger to drive almost like a full-size (but it has the same footprint as Taco) // But again, I only wish there is a manual option.

As to why I didn't go for another Taco: 4th-gen Tacoma base SR Manual was in my choice set, but I can't really justify the higher purchase price (MSRP almost $40k) for less power/torque motor (310/430 vs Taco's 270/310), less payload (1700 lbs vs Taco's 1380 lbs), and less towing capability (7700 lbs vs Taco's 6400 lbs). The compromise is: I would have to live without a manual transmission for a while. I may return to Toyota world in the next 5-8 years when I have to eventually replace the Colorado. But for now -- it is a goodbye to Toyota after 13 years of Toyota products (FJ and Taco), and I've joined the "full Chevy household."

Gonna miss the shenanigans with Quicksand the Manual Taco: hauling construction material for my high-rise home, towing track cars, doing truck things