Tundra vs Titan... the one reason I went with the Tundra

Im a long-time Titan owner and was in the market for a good used truck. I know in general Toyota does make a more dependable vehicle than Nissan. However, the 2nd gen Titan has a decent overall reputation for (mechanical) durability and is often a pretty good choice for less cash. However, the #1 eye opener and reason I decided to go with the Tundra was a visit to the Tundra forums here at Tundras.com because I wanted to see what the most common issues were so I could use in my comparisons. I know Tundras are known for longevity, but it's all butterflies and rainbows in here!!!! All anyone talks about are new mods and upgrades and not too many issues!!! Was a breath of fresh air coming from a Titan!! Glad I went with the TUNDRA I have a whole new sense of peace of mind. I would hear things around my titan and think the worse. Now the wheel could fly off and I'll brush it off and say, "It's all good, defiantly wasn't my truck, it's a Tundra"

 

Welcome Aboard from RI

 

Welcome! Post of pics of the trucks

 

Welcome!

 

Welcome from GA! Pics or it didn’t happen.

 

Congrats..enjoy the excellent resale value that the Tundra will hold for many years while the Titan will tank the minute you drive it off the lot.

 

Great choice! Welcome from Western NY.

 

so, you got a 1st or 2nd gen?

 

I think biggest issue is the cam tower leak. Doesn’t affect everybody but if it does just hope it’s still under warranty. If not then just check oil levels and make sure it doesn’t go low, don’t really ‘have’ to fix it.

 

Welcome from IL and great choice!!

 

Welcome from LA (Lower Alabama)! I came from a 14 year old Titan with very few issues (unless you compare it with a Tundra). I had a 2006 LE that was valued at about $7k early last year. I watched a 2006 Tundra near me sell for $12k, and it was not even a high trim level. I started researching and found out about the Tundra reliability. I knew then what I would be replacing the Titan with!

 

AIP failure wasn't too pleasant either but we don't know OP's Tundra year.....

 

Welcome!

 

Titan to Tundra here as well.

 

Welcome. Reliability means you can do more mods.

 

Welcome from New Hampshire!

 

Welcome aboard! I had a 2004 and 2015 Titan.

 

Welcome from VA. I had a similar realization coming from the F-150 forums that were 90% complaints/10% mods and upgrades. Here it’s the other way around...only downside is this forum caused me to spend a lot of $$$ on mods!

 

I was on the F150 forum as well when I had one. Not only is it mostly complaints, but the community is absolutely toxic. This forum group is awesome. Everyone is great.

 

I looked hard at Titan as well. I had a 2013 that started rusting on the tailgate and bedside door. Nissan would not even give me a break on the rust even though it was still in warranty. Then the dealer went and marked the truck wrecked on Carfax since they had the body shop look at it for rust. I went and traded the truck in for the Tundra and never looked back.

 

I looked at the Titan but they wanted too much money for the trim levels I was interested in and dealer support around here is crap compared to toyota. It may be a reliable truck or great truck but I dont see a compelling reason to choose it.

 

no this means you spend more money doing mods and being more broke than fixing stuff.

 

In its class the Tundra can easily be verified as the most reliable full size truck, decades running, from perusing this forum as well as others. It is a legit comparison.

Even though other trucks have 5x the volume, there is a strong correlation between a crappy truck and the number of multi page threads about serious flaws, and the frequency that they pop up.

Common issues on Tundra (3rd gen and some 2nd gens I've learned)

Toyota factory battery sucks
Tundra goes through batteries faster than others, and is super sensitive to battery problems.
on 2nd gens the air injection system was failure prone


Less common
Radiator failures seem consistent around 100K miles
Water pumps...a few of these at random miles.
Cam tower oil leak...although a good number could be valve cover leaks.


Funky and weird
Rear differential oil spots...not a leak but...
Auxiliary transmission cooler removed on 2019+. no transmission failures including a truck that had 300k miles in fairly heavy use.
Interior noises in glove box and dashboard
Fuel pump recall. Only seen one actual pump failure here.

I'm certain there are others for 2nd gens and a few others for 3rd gens but this list is incredibly minor by comparison to the other trucks out there.

 

Yep. I used to be over there (I was "Kung" there as well), and it seemed like 90% of the posts were "This and that broke."
Over here, the biggest complaint I see is either "You guys are making me spend more money on mods!" or "I should buy another truck...it has more features."

I mean....if you want more features, knock yourself out. If you want reliability, you know where it's at.

 

Welcome. I went from a 2006 Tundra to a Titan XD and then back to a Tundra. There were a lot of things I liked better about the Titan. I liked the way it drove. I liked the engine feel. I liked the configuration better with a 6.5' bed and a crew cab. I thought it was more comfortable to sit in. What I didn't like? In 10 months of ownership, I had it for less than half the time. It had a rear end issue that Nissan could never fix. So....they bought it back as a lemon. They gave me every dime I paid for it as well as the couple of extras I put on it. I won't complain about Nissan's handling of the issue. Now, I have a Tundra again. There are some things I like better, but mostly I like having it and being able to drive it every day. I plan to keep it for 10-15 years. Reliability got me back in the Tundra to stay.

 

That's interesting because my brother hates the seats in the Titans his company uses.

 

My Titan at 65k in the Keys waiting on a tow truck. Blew a trans cooler line. Sold it at 135k and went back to Tundra.

 

I liked the Titan seats better as well. I had put 185000 relatively trouble free miles on my Titan, and I drove the piss out of it. I cut ties with Nissan and went Toyota after the service department overcharged my wife for some made up services and then gave me the run around on our warranty. I told them if I left without resolution I was selling both vehicles. A week later I sold the Murano and Tundra and will not buy another Nissan. The CVT transmission in those cars is a ticking time bomb. That Murano trans started skipping at 40k miles

 

My wife didn't like the seats either. She is shorter and complained they were too deep. They fit me great. On one of the many loaners I had from Nissan, the seats were less comfortable. It was a more base model. Perhaps that is a difference also.

 

I think my brother likes the seats in the older (2nd gen?) Titans than the newer ones. That could be the difference. And yeah, his company would be using base models.