Blackedout011TC

iTrader: (2)

A few of you prob. remember me, I am curious about the the newer 13 and 14 model Tc's... Have they improved the tranny synchros or does the car still hate cold weather for 1st and 2nd gear? I loved my Tc, the tranny was the reason I traded her in. I was sick and tired of fighting the transmission while it took 45 minutes to warm up?

biglilsteve

iTrader: (2)

It's you!!

Just curious, what did you move on to man?

Blackedout011TC

iTrader: (2)

Hey bud, I remember you very well. How ya' been? Your Tc is still looking great, how's all those performance mods doing?! Anyways I moved on to a Dodge Ram 1500 with the 390 hp Hemi for about a year... Of course I could not keep my foot out of it to save my life.. lol, man those trucks will fly. Got tired of spending 250-300 bucks a month on gas for 13.5mpg's. So last month I traded the Dodge on a 2013 Charcoal Grey Mazda 3i 4 door sedan, brand new. Love the car, but miss the hp. I have yet to make the first payment and some butt munch that was at my neighbors' house did this for me.


Of course they ran and left me with the bill. So now I have to drive wifey's Jeep Liberty.. And yes I am on a mission to catch the person. I have a good idea who, but they have been hiding from me. I have done huge favors for these people, I am just disgusted they could not be honest with me. Sadly this is the only pic I have of the car. Mazda forums blow btw, I miss this place!

biglilsteve

iTrader: (2)

Whoa that is definitely a move in a different direction! But yeah, I can imagine that going from a tC to a truck with a big V8 would definitely make you drive a certain way haha. Dude, I'm so sorry to hear about your Mazda though. I hope you are able to get to the bottom of that.

What made you go with the 3i? Aren't the Speed 3's pretty cheap? And is your 3i a manual?...and if so, is it way better than the tC2's?

My ride is going alright...done putting any significant money in it. Just maintaining it now. I've got about 57k miles on it and I'm just about to put new tires on it and get it aligned. I never got it aligned when I installed my springs and it apparently destroyed my tires...even with regular rotations...lesson learned lol. Luckily I was able to get all new OE Toyo Proxes A20s from eBay for $135 a piece.

Blackedout011TC

iTrader: (2)

Man that's a good price on the tires. Bite the bullet and get some lightweight rims, they make a big performance improvement.
The Mazda Speeds are pretty expensive in my book, 30kish new. My Dodge Ram was 19K new and the 3i was 21k new.. I think I paid 22k for my Tc back in 2010, it had a lot of options on it. Honestly the Ram and the Mazda are far better built cars than my Tc imo. I have had zero problems from either and the 3's manual tranny is smooth as silk. It does not neeed a short shifter or bushings imo. That's why I am asking about the Tc's tranny these days. I really love the new 2.5 styling, I'd love to have one... but my past experience with Scion left a bad taste in my mouth. Just curious, maybe I should go test drive one.. hehe.. I told myself I am sticking with the Mazda.. It's the 3rd new car I have had in 4 years time. lol

Occam

Jesus H Christ that's a lot of depreciation on cars! I would think fuel costs would be just a drop in the bucket next to new car depreciation x3! I'm willing to bet that buying a Mazdaspeed3 in 2011 would have been cheaper than the Mazda3i now.

sp0t

I have a 2014 tc and the gearbox shifts as smooth as butter. No grinds, no crunching. It used to get stuck out of 1st gear before but that was for the first 300 miles or so.. After that, everything was broken it and functional. 3000 miles later and still shifting smoothly. I'm aware of the tranny problems in the early 2g's. But it wasn't as horrible as the first gets gearbox.

Blackedout011TC

iTrader: (2)

But I wanted the Tc in 2011, loved the car until winters rolled around and the gearbox refused to co opereate. I really intended to keep the Tc when I purchased it. I sunk about 4 grand into her as well. Yeah, I lost my butt trading that car in. Should have put her back to stock and sold it outright.
@ spOt.... LMK how that tc shifts in Jan. weather.... Mine was two different cars in the winter vs. the rest of the year.

russiankid

I had a new trans put in around 18k miles do to other issues aside from the cold shifting. The new trans does the same thing with the cold shifting, sadly.

Occam

What issues did you have with your transmission?

russiankid

Had a whining input shaft bearing occur around 4k miles. Got progressively worse and then finally the dealer replaced the bearing. After that, the issue got worse and got grinding noises on idle in neutral. Meanwhile, 2nd was hard to get into and 4th would grind no matter what. When I brought it in for the field rep to look at it they found a very high content of metal in the oil and 4th gear wouldn't engage at all.

fatty_gen2

Have you done any trans flush since you bought the car?

russiankid

When I noticed the issue and brought it to the attention of the dealer, they refused to change the fluid and or check the oil for metal contamination. I drained the fluid around 10k miles and there were no metal shavings present. I refilled with Amsoil and the issue still existed.

Blackedout011TC

iTrader: (2)

Toyota/Scion service manager... " That is within factory linits for metal shavings in the transmission."

russiankid

I basically drove the car until the issue got worse, and instead of going to the dealer I filed a claim directly with Scion. I had set up an appointment for a field rep to look over the car, I also demanded a rental car because I've been dealing with this crap for too long on a brand new car. Got a rental car and they installed a new trans.

Jbarker1983

iTrader: (1)

I bought my 2011 used and compared to my 2010 TC and my 08 si this tranny isn't smooth occasionally grinds and doesn't drop right in I have the super tek shift kit in as well it did it before i installed it.

Blackedout011TC

iTrader: (2)

^^ Yep, the second gen Tc trans is horrid compared to just about any other cars out there. My Mazda 3 will go in any gear, ( except reverse of course) at any speed with no hesitation, grinding or fuss. If Scion would put better synchros in their trans, I might would buy another Tc. I gave mine 18k miles to break in, it never did.

jregamey

I got the 14'
no huge issues, tranny whines in second and 1st the most from since I got it.
I hate the sloppy factory shifter is all.

9000km

russiankid

My 2nd trans isn't too bad. I haven't noticed any real issues with it other than slightly hard to get into gear when cold but I am used to it doing that.

legoose_

I own a RS 8.0 and first and second gear aren't really that rough in cold weather. Mind you i have never driven the first gen MT tc's in cold weather so i can't really compare them. However, my tc's tranny doesn't present a big enough issue in the cold for me to trade it in. Sure on a nice warm souther cali afternoon it shifts up in a smoother fashion, when it rains it really isn't bad at all.