15th Mar 2021, 02:44
I don't have any driving problems. It's very quick and shifts smoothly.
At stop lights, it tends to feel like it's "bogging down". It drops a few rpms and vibrates a bit. Putting it in neutral seems to fix this, so I'd say it's the transmission. It also will happen intermittently at a stop... that is... do it then stop, then do it again or not.
15th Mar 2021, 02:54
Yes... sometimes... my rule of thumb is to NEVER buy an American market only car. World cars built in world factories seem to be better... especially Toyotas. I used to work at a dealership and sell Toyotas. I've seen thousands. There was a huge difference in the quality between those few imported cars (like the FJ) and the American (continent) cars like the Tacoma. You would think one was a Chinese knock off based on the quality of the finish and welding etc. This van is the ONLY choice for a minivan in the US. There are others, but they're all substandard to a completely unacceptable level. Frankly the 4x8 plywood thing is a deal breaker for me. But the rest of the market has at LEAST exploding transmissions. The Toyota powertrain is generally pretty solid. You can find bad examples... they're made in the US and there are tens of millions of them out there. But they have low failure RATE even if the numbers are large.
Also... there are many examples of vehicles out there with good engines and bad everything else or vice versa... Dodge trucks from the late 90s (or any with the Cummins) come to mind. The interiors fell apart The paint literally peeled off sometimes while still in warranty, but they can't be killed. Kind of the opposite of some Mercedes and BMWs. The plastic engine parts last about 36 months, then it's practically scrap due to the diagnostic and repair cost. The rest of the car is pretty solid. Land Rovers of the pre-80s. VW Beetles. Can't be killed... never are quite right.
I think Toyota America is a mediocre company in bad company. They don't have to be better than mediocre. Tariffs keep competition out... and who's going to compete? PSA?
15th Mar 2021, 02:42
Engine tick... It's not uncommon on the 3.5. It seems to tick at almost anything but dead cold now. I think it's probably the VVT. Haven't taken it in yet. No other symptoms of trouble. It was in once before I bought it (turns out) with "no fix at this time". Others with this engine that complain about a similar tick end up having it for 200k miles or get an engine replacement due to a hammered crank or something.
I can tell you it seems to be passenger bottom. But being on the bottom it's hard to find. It reverberates. I can hear it through everything.