2003 Toyota Tacoma: jerking or lurching

6 of the 360 complaints about the 2003 Toyota Tacoma describe jerking or lurching.

owner complaints: 6
of this car's complaints: 2%
typical mileage: 51,514
recalls: 0

Is there a fix? 6 service bulletins cover this area of the car. See below

Jerking or lurching by model year

2025
2
2024
5
2023
1
2021
1
2020
4
2019
11
2018
5
2017
6
2016
12
2015
2
2013
1
2011
1
2010
12
2009
11
2008
9
2007
18
2006
21
2005
20
2004
4
2003
6
2001
2
1999
2
1998
2
1996
2

What owners say

Filed Sep 23, 2016 · Transmission · 212,000 miles · PA

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 toyota tacoma. While driving approximately 40 MPH over a bump and depressing the brake pedal, the transmission jerked suddenly. The failure occurred every day for the past month. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The VIN was unknown. The approximate failure mileage was 212,000.

Filed Jun 3, 2016 · Acceleration, Engine · 246 miles · CA

I was driving my vehicle 2003 toyota tacoma on highway 156 downhill to hollister, ca I was going approx 65 MPH and it just jerked back and lost power I was only able to go 40mph no higher , the engine light has not turned on and it seems I am getting no kind of diagnostic error of what could be wrong.

Filed Jun 12, 2010 · Transmission · 146,000 miles · MD

On june 11,2010 I was changing the anti freeze in my 2003 toyota tacoma.the vehicle was in park and running to warm engine to open thermostat to get more coolant from the lower block . Well I decide to boost the engine speed by manually moving the throttle .to my surprise my truck lurched back before coming to a stop I check the shifter it was still in park .but a further exam the vehicle stuck in reverse and will not go into any forward gear. I m' going to check to see if the linkage needs adjustment everybody I talk with said it was not suppose to move unless the brake was applied first.

Filed Sep 11, 2007 · Acceleration · 51,514 miles · CA · crash · 1 injury

I was the number 3 vehicle at a red light. First car went through (thinking the light had changed). Second car moved into first place. I started to follow and when I realized he had stopped I applied my brakes. I could feel the truck lurch even though I was still pressing the brakes as hard as possible. I slammed into him and caused damage to both vehicles. My foot was not on the gas pedal at all.

Filed Dec 29, 2006 · Electrical, Engine · 42,500 miles · NC

I purchased my 2003 toyota tacoma 4x4 in may of 2003 in which as of this date of 12.29.06 my truck has 43k miles on it and is in excellant condition. Over the course of the past 6 months I have had to spend thousands of dollars on this truck and still can not drive it. I have had to put a brandnew crankshaft kit in my truck due to the keyway on the crankshaft shearing off resulting in my truck shutting down. After inspecting my truck by a certified mechanic the key was not there after it had sheared off in which parts had moved forward and ground into the metal. After the crankshaft replacement I continued to have more and more problems with the truck. I have replaced the crankshaft, harmonic balancer, new fan, oil pump because the truck will not hold oil pressure, mass air flow sensor, crank sensor, cam sensor's, re-setting of the computer and labor cost. I picked my truck up on a friday after it came back from huntersville, nc at lake norman toyota in which the truck was hooked up and was given a clean bill of health but, the truck left me stranded once again on sunday night at 7:00 pm in which I had to have a roll back pick it up for the fourth time. The oil light came on when the engine would idle less than 1k rpms in which it then finally had to be shut off as soon as I heard this due to the sounds of metal rubbing metal. The truck is now located at leatherman auto located in newton, nc (828.465.5269) in which the owner, scott has not made any repairs to this truck yet. The check engine light has came on in all four instances as well as the oil light and other lights and I then loose control of my truck due to it shutting down. I was on I-40 traveling at 65-70 MPH when my truck started jerking again and then I lost my power steering again and had to fight with the truck to get it off the road. The truck is stalling out in which I am in fear of either myself or one of my family members becoming injured or possibly killed because of this instance.

Filed Jan 23, 2006 · Suspension · CA

2003 toyota tacoma double cab lower ball joint recall work was performed. Vehicle later began to make a grinding & clunking noise from the front end and the vehicle started to lurch forward. *ts *jb ***no answer required***