Toyota Repair: Transmission Maintenance for Tacoma?, metal shavings, situation sound

Question
Hello,
I have a '99 PreRunner V6 2WD (65k miles).  I recently had my transmission fluid changed for the first time (it had about 63K miles). Somehow this was missed during previous maintenance.  The technician said the fluid was black at the time and recommeding changing it, so we did.  He did not mention anything else out of the ordinary - eg. metal shavings or parts, etc in the pan when changing the fluid.

After he did the change, it did occur to me that over the past year or two, only when cold in the morning, and only on the very first shift of the day, I can feel it taking a little longer (a few seconds) to go from 2nd to 3rd gear (it feels like 2nd - 3rd anyway).  It has the feeling like when you are going uphill and the transmission holds the lower gear a bit longer.  After that very first shift through the gears, even if I stop right away and then take off again , this situation never will repeat itself.  

I am not sure this is something I should worry about?  Does my situation sound like there is trouble in the transmission?  I believe I read one time that these transmissions can't be fixed and need to be completely replaced when they go bad.

Is there anything I can have a mechanic look at in my situation?  A friend suggested there might be a computer code to look at, but I don't know about that for my year.  Also, there has never been a engine or transmission check light that has come on, so whatever that checks for seems to be ok.

Thanks very much for any advice!!

-Brad

Answer
Yes this is a sign that the transmission may be starting to develop a problem, when the fluid was changed and they said it looked black it is a sign of trouble, the fluid should have been replaced at 30,000 miles the first time, waiting until 60k on the tacoma transmission is asking for trouble. The reason for this delay in upshift is due to a loss of internal line pressure, the pressure is what applies the clutches in the transmission to shift from one gear to the next, it's normally worse when cold because after the transmission heats up and the components heat up and expand it's less of a problem. There are no computer codes stored unless a check engine light turns on. You are correct, these transmissions are normally replaced with either a factory remanufactured unit from toyota(expensive) or from an independent source(less expensive) but may not be as reliable and have limited warranty, or you may want to opt for a used transmission from a salvage yard, preferably from one that only sells toyota parts. Finally, it may make more sense to just trade it in or sell it while it's still functioning near normal.