Question Tranny from Japan?

[ma serate]

Hi All,
Another transmission question. My 02' SQ just recently started stalling when shift into gear. We took it into the local dealer & was told we need to replace the transmission. Being in denial, because it too only has 87,000 miles, we shopped around. My husband had it towed from the dealer to an indepent trans. shop. He has set my husband up to ordering a tranny fom Japan w/40,000 miles on it. He didn't get any specifics on it. Has any one done this before? The tranny is costing about $1,200.00. With the install the total is going to come up to $1,700.00. The dealer, if anyone is in the same predicament is charging $3,700.00.

Thanks,
I love this Place!

[dyogim]

The $3700 should also include a $1000 refund for the damaged tranny. The one you get from the dealership is a refurbed tranny.

So, the difference in cost is about $1000. For the dealer tranny, you are getting one that has all new internals and if the OD planetary gears are the culprit as with many other tundras that share the same tranny as the sequoia then, stronger OD gears as well.

Where as, the one from Japan (supposedly) has 40K that came off the same vehicle. Yours went out at 85K miles (this is around the 75K miles mark that others have gone out), then you are taking a risk that the one from Japan will go out in about 35K miles. Your warranty if any from the private shop will be 6-12mos or 6K-12K miles.

In my opinion: search else where, get the one from the dealership or if you want/can spend the extra $$$ get a better one built from John at IPT Transmissions.

[ma serate]

Thanks dyogim,
I agree, I just wished my husband would have given me more time to research this. The tranny should be here tomorrow.
I'm curious why the private transmission place refered us to the place in Japan. Hmmm.
Thanks!

[kathyricks]

I would go with the (presumably 340E) transmission from Japan. The Tundra / Sequoia was not sold in Japan, but a tough and durable version of the 340E was used in big V8 Lexus vehicles sold in Japan. So if you can get one of those transmission with 40K miles it would be a great deal. Some 340E's have lasted 550,000 miles. I just hope your shop is getting a transmission from Japan and not from a Tundra / Sequioa at a local wrecking yard.

I had a "40,000 mile engine from Japan" in one of my vintage Toyotas and it ran great and had great compression. Out here in California we get alot of engines / transmissions from Japan and owners almost always report good experiences with them.

To preserve the life of your new transmission, lock it out of overdrive when driving uphill in mountainous terrain or when towing anything. Straining at low RPM on upgrades in overdrive or hauling big loads in overdrive is what is hard on the transmission.

[ma serate]

Update on the tranny from Japan......Running just fine. As if nothing ever happened.