Tacoma Owner Looking To Become A Tundra Owner

Hello! I am new to the Tundra forum but I have been a Tacoma owner and Tacoma World forum lurker for some time. I currently own a 2016 and when I purchased it, my intentions were to keep it until the wheels fall off but as life has it, things change and now I am in need for a larger truck.

I love and prefer the look of the 2.5 gens and I don't want to consider the 3rd gens. I am looking for a 5.7L/V8 4x4 Crew Cab preferably years 2020 or 2021. Unfortunately, it is difficult to find ones with low miles (under 50,000) and not white (at least in the Tacoma's world, white is notorious for issues from the manufacturer, I wasn't sure if this also applied to Tundras). My threshold is under 50,000 miles because I know that once I hit that 60,000 mile mark, I will know that I will need to go through a ton of maintenance such as, replacing radiator fluid, engine oil & transmission, engine air filter, spark plugs, brakes, etc. and I have more comfort knowing I am getting it done.

So I ask you all Tundra enthusiasts, would you recommend that I expand my mileage criteria to the 80,000-100,000 miles? As we all know, 100,000 miles is barely broken in for any Toyota, but as a consumer, it is always a better peace of mind purchasing a low mileage Toyota however they are few and far between. I have found a few Tundras in the sub-100,000 mile range but I cannot be certain whether the proper maintenance intervals have been addressed and performed. What say you?

Picture of the current Tacoma for reference!

 

For real?

Keep your taco, it’s awesome

 

None of these would work?

https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for...rue&searchRadius=200&startYear=2020&zip=75701

 

I personally wouldn't sweat purchasing a truck with over 60k miles. If you can find one with service records that show the proper major maintenance performed, then you're golden. Even still, as long as you do the major items that you listed right when you get the truck, then I think you should be worry free from there on out. Regarding the color, I personally have a white Tundra with zero issues in regards to paint quality, nor have I heard of any. Especially if you're looking at a 20-21, those are extremely nice trucks, I wouldn't worry about the color (unless you just don't like white trucks). Best of luck with the search!

 

Thanks man. I wish I could, but it’s just too small. I need a truck where I can get a goose neck adapter installed and start hauling heavy trailers. The Tacoma can’t really do that plus, there isn’t a 3rd gen million mile Tacoma, but there is a 2nd gen million mile Tundra!

 

No problems with white here. I owned 2 Tacomas before going with Tundra. Last one was a Baja. Hated to sell it. I decided I needed the bigger truck for towing my boat and hauling feed. 6 hour drive to pick up the boat and had to fill up 3 times with Tacoma. Tundra and Tacoma get same mpgs towing 5000 lbs. Larger gas tank was a must. Almost twice the range when towing boat. After getting the Tundra I am really liking the extra room both cab and bed. The only thing I miss about the Tacoma is the off road capabilities. Hunting buddy called it a mountain goatt

 

I came from a 3rd gen Tacoma as well. Tacomas look cool and are great if you need a mid size truck, but they are very small and have a very bumpy ride IMO. I too needed more towing capability as well. It took me a little while of looking, but eventually you will find the right one. You will be happy with it. They ride so much better than the taco and the powertrain is strong and smooth. Especially compared to the terrible automatic transmission in the 3rd gen Tacomas. They also get almost the same gas mileage on the highway unloaded since the 5.7 barely has to work. One thing to note is in 2019 Toyota removed the transmission cooler from the Tundra. So if you are going to be towing heavy you might want to look at a 2016 - 2018 (in 2016 they added the 38 gal gas tank) or install a cooler if you get a 2019+.

 

Welcome from LA (Lower Alabama)!

 

Thanks! I'll see if I can get the dealership to provide the maintenance records and that they were performed as scheduled.

I don't have anything against white trucks. It was just a common problem with Tacomas. [https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/2016-2022-white-paint-peeling-recall.816607/].

 

Yes! I'm relieved to know I'm not the only one who's needs changed and requires something that can haul more and fill up less . With a 38 gallon tank and a 5.7L, that addresses all that and more! My backseat of my Tacoma ends up just being storage, so I can't even fit passengers back there so I essentially have just a single cab Tacoma as far as functionality. It's way too tiny. I would definitely miss the off road capabilities with the Tacoma, but thankfully, has a wife who owns a 4Runner so we can still use that for the tighter trails.

 

Thanks for the tip! I think I will have to get the trans cooler installed after the fact. I completely agree with all the points you brought up about the Tacoma, it is super bumpy and really small. So you wouldn't sweat purchasing a 5.7 Tundra with almost 100,000 miles if not more than that? The Tacoma has about 90,000 right now.

 

I envy the next person that buys your Taco!
That's a very well setup rig for almost everything you need.
If the funds and means matches, please keep both, they can both co-exist, or try to, along with the 4R....lol

 

I wouldn't hesitate to purchase one over 100,000 miles as long as it's in good shape and looks like the previous owner took care of it. I bought my taco with 70k and sold it with 140k. Never did anything aside for normal maintenance. Same with my Tundra, I bought it with 80k and it is at 140k now, most of that towing a 6000lb trailer, and I haven't done anything aside from normal maintenance. Planning on keeping this truck for as long as possible. Before buying Toyota's I had Ford trucks and had the exact opposite experience with them.

 

I found a 2021 locally but with almost 100,000 miles, so they drove around 30K/year; they drove that truck quite a bit.

 

Haha thank you! I’m sure the Stealership will still low ball me on price but we shall see. I wish all 3 could co-exist but I’m capped out at 2 max!

 

Good looking stable

Causally entertaining moving to a 2.5 gen tundra myself. Taco fits my truck needs. More cab space and rear vents in the tundra would simply make travels in the truck with the fam more comfortable.

 

Good luck on your search and hopefully soon you can join a few of us in the Tundra/4runner gang

 

Almost bought a Tacoma until I test drove the Tundra. So much room for my kids and dogs.

 

DAMN that quicksand looks good! Nice to see another Taco/T4R combo! I'd love to score a quicksand in a 2.5 if I can find one! If you do decide to move to the 2.5, what mileage limitations are you setting yourself up for?

 

I found a 2021 SR5 4x4 5.7 with almost 90,000 miles and selling for $38,000.

Seems steep to me. What do you guys think is an appropriate ask? I was thinking $35,000 OTD?

 

Not my experience on highway mpgs. My Tacoma was better on the highway by 3 to 4 mpgs.

 

That red looks clean! Loving those bronze wheels.

That is certainly the goal, to convert from a Taco/4R to a Tundra/4R squad

 

I was recently in you exact position. looking for a 2.5 gen for towing capacity, and didn't want anything to do with the twin turbo V6. I shopped/researched for a couple months and slowly and hesitantly started to consider a 3rd gen. After finding a few nice looking 2.5 gens, I just couldn't justify not knowing the history of a used truck and paying $45-$50k for a vehicle that's 4-5yrs old with 40-80k miles. I'm sure its just my OCD about wanting all details that can't necessarily handed over by the dealership. The wife and I ended up settling on a 3rd gen Crewmax Limited. We absolutely love it! I have about 1,500 miles on it, did my 1,000 mile oil change last week and I'll know all of my regular maintenance is being completed on time by me. I'm also well aware of the white Tacoma paint issues, but couldn't find anything in the Tundra forums regarding white issues. She's a Wind Chill Pearl hybrid and the power upgrade is a nice change, not to mention the Tacoma consistently got 15.6 mpg mixed driving. I'm already clocking 20.9 mpg with the Tundra.
Here's the '24 Tundra, the '17 Tacoma and the wife's 40th T4R.

 

Thanks, I really like the color. Like I said, the taco meets my current truck needs and is hands down the best looking truck on the road (all gens included, and purely my opinion). A tundra would mainly be for the extra cab space.

All that said and the fact that I really like my taco, I’d have to find the perfect storm of tundra (for me): 2018-2021, sub 70k miles, crew max SR5 with upgrade package or TRD Offroad and 4x4….And under $40k all in Army Green, QS or Cement are the main colors I’d go for. If all other wants were met I’d accept MGM, black or possibly silver.

The taco only has a touch over 75k miles currently. I can’t mentally justify going to a higher mileage rig that I didn’t know all the details on.

From a creature comfort perspective there would be some give/take for me. My taco has the premium package so heated seats, push start, BSM, parking sensors, sunroof, dual climate. If I could take my pick of all those it would be push start/keyless entry, could care less about the others if I could gain OEM LED headlights.

To say I haven’t looked at used 2022/23 3rd gen’s would be a lie. If I somehow found one that met my criteria, and packed in a substantial Toyota backed warranty I’d take the gamble. With a little aftermarket love I think the 3rd gen shape out nicely. In stock form they’re pretty ghawdy.

 

Firstly, I REALLY appreciate the input! That was very elaborate. It touched on both sides of the generational fence with the initial lean towards the 2.5 gen and you’re right, it’s a difficult pill to swallow when you spend $40-50K on a used vehicle with almost 100,000 miles and 4+ years old. It sounds outrageous. Honestly, I didn’t consider the 3rd gen at first, for several reasons that most of us on here could agree with, such as the body style isn’t as nice looking ALTHOUGH the more I see them around the more it is somewhat growing on me, and that it’s a very new gen, and that where are a copious amount of issues with them which brings me to my second point.

Secondly, how do you feel about the 3rd gen? What have you experienced? There are the common issues such as the rattling, howling, window issues, seal issues, engine issues, connectivity issues, etc. Are any of these issues you had to face with your 3rd gen?

Thirdly, your whole Toyota arsenal looks incredible. Totally love that you got all 3! If money wasn’t a factor, that would be goals right there.

 

When I bought the '17 Tacoma they were having all kinds of issues also. luckily mine was a manual trans so I never had to deal with the trans hunting gears. I haven't noticed any excess wind noise in the Tundra. I did have the drivers door seals replaced in the Tacoma within the first 6 months of owning it. The Tundra does have some rattling noise from the bed, but I had a Hi-Lift jack mounted in the bed of the Tacoma and its nowhere near that loud. In '18 I had the dealership replace my head unit because of connectivity issues. So far no issues with the Tundra. I don't have ay howling, window or engine issues so far. And if I do, I hope they happen sooner rather than later. I haven't hooked up a trailer to it yet but I'm excited to hitch to Dad's boat this summer just to see how it does.
Unfortunately, I had to trade in the Tacoma for the Tundra
And here's my son's '89 pickup, it's a generational thing I guess. lol

 

100% agree with all of that. The reason I’m needing more than just the cab space is that I definitely need to tow or haul larger things such as, a cattle trailer, tractors, zero turns, fishing boat, and the Tacoma can’t handle all that. I’d look into getting a gooseneck adapter for the bed of the Tundra as well.

As far as what I’ve found in my area, there is a QS SR5 4x4 2020 with 70,000 miles and a Cement SR5 4x4 2021 with 80,000 miles but they are asking for 45K-50K OTD and I can’t justify paying that much for those high miles, which I feel like in that price range, I might as well consider a 3rd gen, right?

I just haven’t been sold enough on them, I just love the 2nd gen too much. The body style is great, it’s the gen that pulled the 290,000 lbs space shuttle, it’s the gen that reached 1,000,000 mile. It’s a gen that’s hard to turn down with so much history and success but the price point is what’s killing me! What to do!?!?

 

The extra space is a HUGE selling point, in both the cabin AND the bed. The second gen’s are bullet proof.

 

I wouldn’t say that’s an unfortunate trade. Going from a Tacoma to a Tundra is an excellent upgrade, I’d say. That is, if you don’t plan on hitting up narrow trails or driving downtown or in the city where parking garages have a 6’3” max height entrance LOL but aside all of that, the Tundra is a great upgrade!

How many miles is on that beautiful ‘89? Looks pristine.