Sold my 3rd gen today….

Congrats! This thing is phenomenal! Took it for our family trips in (semi-)wilderness, it's been a huge success. The most comfortable family hauler ever! Power, space, reliability, CONFIDENCE.

 

It looks good stock as well. The one with the LED lights.

 

I saw that first picture and I was like Marty McFly called and wants his truck back.

All kidding aside, think you should have waited for a mid 50s Land Cruiser. I am so trying to talk the wife into one of those.

 

Warranty does not help if it is needed hundreds of miles away from a nearest dealer, the help will come the next day best, and it ruined your the only big vacation you hoped for in a whole year. So you drive there in an old outdated truck with bad MPG, just because it can make there and back, and again, and again, without a hiccup.

Hitch platform and gas cans.

Space is not the same. Sequoia's tank is as big as would physically fit.

In fact, chassis is not the same. Sequoia's frame is shorter, fully boxed, plus more complex independent rear suspension.

 

Minor issue in a wilderness trip. If you can get back home safely, it's minor. Spun main bearings, or failed fuel pump (in late gen2), or electronics shutting down and not coming back is not minor.

Out of curiosity, did you trace the leak? What exactly is leaking?

 

For a lot of people, Toyota owners in particular, old tech is a feature, not a bug. And the hybrid fuel economy is only marginally better if you drive in town a lot. A low mileage 2nd gen Sequoia can be had for ~$40k. I'd buy a higher mileage one for cheaper if it has been well maintained. You can buy a LOT of gas before you approach the purchase price of the 3rd gen. And then you still have to deal with the bizarre cargo area.

You might reach out to Tandem Offroad. I read somewhere they are designing a rear bumper with swing out so you can put an aux tank where the spare tire normally goes. The 2nd gen Sequoias they've built are pretty fantastic.

I think the shorter wheelbase prevents it. Our LX has the same size tank as the 2nd gen Sequoia. Not terrible, but man if I were towing with it...

 

This is what I would really love to see in our Sequoia. Gen2.5 dash and center console is hands down better organized than Gen2. But for the price of conversion I could live with the Gen2 dash =)

 

As for the mileage. Fully loaded, with roof basket and 2x 10 cu.ft boxes on the heavy hitch system (Yakima EXO, if anyone is curious) we were getting 15 MPG on average traversing Newfoundland mountain range. Not bad at all. On the way up north to ferry in Nova Scotia we even got 21.38 MPG once. I could not believe my own eyes and triple checked everything. During summer wife gets 19 MPG average on highway regularly. This is not bad at all, for such a behemoth.

Of course lift and large heavy tires would chop a third of it, but that applies equally to all vehicles.

 

Does the 2G Sequoia have 4.30 axles as well? Thought I read that it did. Imagine what we all could do if we kept stock size SL load tires on our trucks. Haha.

That's pretty great economy. Our LX loaded down gets 17 on highway trips. I average 77-80mph, just keeping up with the faster interstate traffic.

 

I think it does. RPM/MPH is the same like in my Tundra.

That is not bad, either. At high speeds wind resistance is prevalent, there's no trick to overcome it without reducing vehicle's profile and drag coefficient. A properly geared V8 will yield about same fuel economy, like a properly geared smaller turbo engine. Gotta burn fuel to delivery power to wheels.

 

@DexterL I hope the little one is feeling better. 104 fever is no fun.

 

I was actually going to message you… are the interior door skins the same for all year tundras/ Seqouias of that gen? Would love to swap the 2 front interior door skins with those from a 14+ platinum for the extra soft touch (and center console) all assuming I could find a totaled one

As of 3am he wants, but I’m one plane flight in so far- wife told me to go!

 

Hell ya! I love that gen sequoias. I’m trying to convince my wife to trade her 4runner for one haha.

 

What a coincidence in reading this thread. I'm assuming you did a private sale?

For the last year or so, pretty much ever since I've considered my Tundra build "complete", I've had the bug to buy an older Seqouia and do a basic build (small lift, tires, & wheels only probably). As I get older, I'm starting to realize my days of off-grid, overlanding-type trips are becoming numbered. For our last two trips, my wife and I just decided to rent a cabin and do some scenic hiking via established National Park trails.

I've been looking at 1st Gens (4.7L) vs 2nd Gens (5.7L), trying to decide on which direction to go. I wouldn't mind getting the 5.7L, but I really like the size & styling of the late 1st Gens. I run across a fair amount of 1st Gens with seemingly good bones at around 125k miles for ~$11k to $14k. Or, I can snag a higher milage (180k - 210k) for about $8k. The milage wouldn't scare me too much on a 5.7L, but I'm slightly less familiar with the smaller 4.7L. I might jump over to the Seqouia side of the forum to get some thoughts from the 1st Gen folks.

 

A complete lie. I had both Tundra and Sequoia loaded up with enough beer for my trip. Same capacity.

 

You mean, you don't like the fake V8 sound programmed into the Gen 3 ECU ?!?

 

But, but, but…now people are going to think you are poor! Only poor plebeians drive 5.7s, because they can’t afford the bourgeoise 3.4TT.

At least that’s what I have learned in this forum over the last two years.

All kidding aside, great call, as you prioritize reliability. Enjoy the Sequoia!

 

Of course he is poor now! Have you seen these gas prices? He needs to start saving for fuel a few months before any longer trip.

 

Mid grade top tier average here in Denver is $2.50 give or take a few cents.

 

Same thing happened when the Gen 2 Raptor came out, all the v8 guys were not I am never driving a v6. Then 4 years pass and all the Gen 1 v8 owners moved on to the v6 Gen 2. Just takes time.

 

at some point you have no choice.

I wanted a new truck, the big three were lacking for various reasons and toyota only makes a TT v6 now, so since I like the rest of the truck much better, I said I give it a try.

it doesn't disappoint at all, better in every situation except sound.

all that said, OP will be just fine with an older sequoia

 

You never know. When I had no choice I ended up buying a Tundra - first Toyota ever. Sure, I lost most of everything you gen3 owners are so excited about, but I don't care that much as it turned out.

Who knows, maybe a few years forward RAM <...cough... ...cough...> will still have a V8 and better <...cough... ...cough...> quality than Toyota?

 

nope, they already stated no more hemi and going to TT Hurricane 6

 

Even better, inline engines are best from maintenance point of view. I had my inline-5 fully rebuilt with the block still sitting in the engine bay

 

getr done then man, no worries.

 

Oof, a lot of expense in that trade to go to a used truck. Life is short though, if you can afford the expense, what the heck.
I hope you didn't over react to the reliability concerns. Probably 2/3rds of the Gen 3 reliability comments are from Gen2 and Ford non owners so it's pretty easy to over hype an issue.
I'm 6 months and 6K with no issues.

 

I'm 50 months and 45K with no issues. Last time I expected issues was a week ago in Maine wilderness by the Canadian border, after bathing in a mash of 2" thick broken ice chunks. But this Gen2 thing rejects to break. No torn rubber boots, no nothing, only bent aftermarket 10 GA steel skid plates. I was always so mean to it while offroading, but it does not care. So mean that myself once had a ketoacidosis caught me at 4am while shoveling the 45 degrees tilted truck out of frozen ice ditch all night long. No winch back then, stupid me. Had to press S.O.S. button on Garmin InReach and call for help. Game warden's Ford F-350 with full size snow mobile in bed pulled it out frozen with force the next morning, it didn't care. Day in, day out. Like clockwork. Made of perhaps coffin nails.

Wife, witnessed no time spent on fixing an abused Gen2 compared to her pavement princess, that technology and luxury-wise would constitute for a Gen 3, sold it and bought a Gen2 Sequoia.

I still keep one of those little non-Gen2 things with undersized engine displacement and forced induction, just to keep me in a mechanical shape. Otherwise I would forget how to turn wrenches.

 

The only problem I had with my gen 2.5 2016 was the fuel pump took a shit and they also needed to replace that and the ECU I think, sucked I was out of a rig for over a week and they gave me a rental TACO

now, that thing was SHIT, whomever programed that trans should be shot, beyond gutless and I felt like I was sitting on the floor. my older TACOs were much better.

eitherway, I trust toyota the most to fix shit when it breaks, and yes the older ones have problems too.

 

The Tacoma is a mystery to me. So many people love them. I drove one roundtrip from Ft Lauderdale to Gainesville. Flat roads with 500lbs in the bed. Just zero power and the transmission hunted relentlessly. Awful driving underpowered truck. Cheap ass interior.

I've read your posts and agree that all the trucks have tradeoffs. I also think Toyota stands the best chance of sorting a problem.

 

I put 250k on a 2005 Taco 6-Speed Manual. Loved it. I agree the auto trans kind of sucks in the 2nd Gen Tacos, especially at higher elevations. Manual transmission all the way for that engine. The driving experience difference between the auto and the manual is night & day.