buddy got a tundra today, reviews of some trucks

he was in the market for a truck. wanted to look at the chevys, fords and titans. he didnt even think about the tundras till i mentioned them.

we went looking today, open mind across the board.

toyota first- salesman was great. second good salesman we've experienced at the dealership, better than the other two toyota dealerships ive been to.
tundra

+power
+braking
+interior features
+extended cab rear seat room was best in class
+assembled in US even though its a jap truck

-bit expensive
-interior was functional and nice looking, but not as nice as the avalanche
-seats kinda suck on the sr5 model
-front-end needs some cosmetic work

We went to the chevy dealership and looked at the silverado and avalanche. the dealership was empty and the salesman was very poor. did not know much about the trucks and didn't sell us a car

silverado1500 assembled in usa

+price was pretty good
+power was nice, not as good as toyota
+exhaust tone was nice

-rattled like crazy
-rear seat room sucked
-interior was very cheap looking
-gm depreciation

avalanche assembled in mexico
+looked very nice inside
+unique and original features
+very solid compared to the silverado
+outside was pretty sweet looking when in z71 package

-price was extremely high when decked out
-gm depreciation
-couldn't get z71 and base truck for under 32K with all incentives
-not real usable over a crew cab, short bed imo.
-only excuse for buying over an import was the "support american" phrase. I said this truck is made in mexico, tundras are made in texas. he didnt have much to say then.

no chance to look at fords and checked out the titans. first salesman didn't know much about the trucks so he got his buddy which knew quite a bit- or atleast he thought he did. cool kid, i think i met him at some car meets from before.

titan
+power was nice
+brakes werent bad
+nice looking truck and sound

-price was surprisingly high, higher than the tundra
-no aux trans cooler with tow package
-interior seemed very cheap and lame
-seemed to rattle which was surprising
-depreciation as bad as an american car
-no back leg room on extended cab

so after testing out 4 similar vehicles we came to the conclusion that the toyota was the best. it had the most power, and most functionality. my buddys doesn't have the bed strap system like the tacomas have stock, but the toyota ones are by far the best looking and functioning design out of nissan and chevy. the latter 2 look extremely cheap and poorly thought out.

the toyota had the best leg room in the rear for an extended cab. i was amazed. the simple storage solutions in the tundra really stuck out as well- theres a buisness card holder even. the center filing cabinet is a great idea (i have some folders sitting on my tacoma seat right now!), double glove box....just to name a few. toyota had the best use of space by far.

i know we didnt test drive the fords, but we looked at them last month when i was looking for a truck. the decked out trucks had really nice interiors and the cheaper ones were...just that, cheap.

if i hadnt owned 2 prior high mileage toyotas he would never had considered toyota he said. what was suprising was the fact that toyota was the cheapest out of the bunch. i thought it woulda been the most. you have the ability to have multiple configurations and arent locked into buying a bunch of options you don't want.

toyota dealer was crowded as usual, something i rarely see from an american company anymore. hmm. i was a little jealous of how much truck you could get for the money....but then i got in my tacoma and it's nice not hauling around 5500lbs all the time.

 

was it a crewmax?

 

It was a doublecab. I sat in back with the front seats almost all the way back and still had room. My knees were up against the front seats on the chevy and nissan unless the seats were all the way forward. The crewmax is like a limo inside. Unless you have a family and NEED tons of room for kids and whatnot, the crewmax is overkill imo. Sitting in the back of my double cab tacoma, there was a little more room in the doublecab tundra. Very cool imo because people can sit comfortably in the back and you still get a 6'+ bed without ending up with a semi-
truck.

 

I'd like to get a new Tacoma but a buddy of mine has an 08 Tundra extended cab with 11K miles on it, TRD exhaust and a leveling kit. I can get it for 24 grand but I would have to pay 6.5% apr because its used and get 14mpg IF i'm lucky. So, i'm not sure about it yet.

Also, you said about the track system in the Nissan being cheap??? That's the only thing I don't like in the Tacoma. It seems very cheap. I love the track system in the Nissan.

 

is it a TRD tundra?

i think my buddy ended up getting his for under invoice+1500 in rebates+0% financing. I want to say that it came out to roughly 29500 for the truck that stickered at 35K.

 

Yes, a TRD Tundra. He had the dealer put the exhaust and leveling kit on. I think he paid 38K otd with everything. He got a brand new diesel for a company truck so no need for a gas truck sitting around.

 

24K x 6.5%=1560/yr in interest x 5=$7800=$31,800 for a used truck. You can get a new one for 30K and buy the mods for less im sure. Why would you buy a used one when you can have a new one for less money in the end?

 

Your math is wrong. $4175 would be the total interest on 24K in 5 years. I would try and get him down to 22K and would finance 16K with a payment of 313.06 for 5 years and pay $2783 in interest, which is more than I want to.

 

i was sick that day in school

 

Just to clarify on the titan there is always a cooler on the tow package and around here it is cheaper by a few to many thousand dollars than the tundra all day, believe me I know I had one 04-08. Thanks

 

It is not listed on the tow option as having an aux cooler. every vehicle has a standard cooler, but usually require a tow package for an additional one. if they added it, wouldn't they glamorize it in the options?

as for pricing
King Cab Pro 4x (comparable to the TRD package) MSRP 34,460 WITH destination
you can't get heated outside mirrors unless you get a 2600 dollar package.

Tow package (and tie downs included) is $1250= $35,710.

You can't get the $900 dollar side airbags unless you get every option which puts it over $41,000....but they are standard on the Tundra.

Tundra MSRP- $32,005 W/Destination
TRD OFFroad pckage- $2,580
Tow hitch- $485
Bedliner with deck rails- $345
$35,415-Tunrda
$35,710-Titan

And you get heated mirrors, way more back seat room, and side air bags at no additional charge.

I fail to see how the Titan is cheaper?

 

My dad owns a Crewmax 4.7L V8 SR5

that truck kicks ass!