I've never heard of a Toyota losing its tranny with so few miles, but my neighbor had it happen last week.

His Tacoma is a 2002, 4x4, 4-door.

He said he's been religious about maintenance at proper intervals; in fact the week before he had drained/filled the coolant, drained/filled the tranny, oil change, and air filter/PCV change, but the tranny failed on a road trip after Christmas. Left him stuck with a rebuilt unit and (almost) second mortgage.

The questions I had for him:
did you power flush the tranny?
Yes. (might be a problem...the cruiser forums suggest only drain/fill)
did you add any transmission additives?
No.
are you certain the fluid level was correct?
Yes.

To my knowledge, this is an anomoly--a very rare thing. What do you guys think? Have you heard of any others such as this?