Was set on Ram Rebel, but just got a Tundra Loaner....

Here's a long winded post for a Monday at work.... So I'm planning on buying at the end of the year. I currently drive a 3gt Tacoma with super white paint (getting a paint job this week courtesy of Toyota because my door frame is chipping away).

Honestly, I'm not a fan of my Tacoma which was driving me away from Toyota. The truck is ultra reliable, but drives terrible, very slow, awful gas mileage., uncomfortable, etc. The paint issue was a little irritating, but Toyota went above and beyond and reached out to me to fix it before I reached out to them and now their fixing it this week.

I was looking at all half tons and came to this conclusion:

• 1500 Silverado ZR2 w/ 6.2 - by far my favorite truck. rented it for a week in Montana and it drove amazing, interior is nice, seats are pretty hard, but better than my Taco. But GM's reliability is trash, but even worse, is that they are months behind on part inventory
• F150 - Loved my old 2005, but hate how they drive now. Steering is too soft, interior ugly, boring truck and more expensive than all others even after discounts, plus same trans issue as GM
• 1500 Ram Rebel - was top choice, hurricane is panning out to be a good motor, but stellantis is a terrible company and their dealers suffer from huge backorders and Stellantis seems to hate its customers - but the Ram interior is amazing

Then it came to the Tundra. I wasn't really considering it because of my dislike of my Tacoma. I just got a loaner today of a SR5 that has the larger screen and love it. Gets great power to the wheels, has pretty great fuel economy, the SR5 trim isn't bad at all (I'd aim for a Limited TRD OR), the back window is sick. Plus the stop and go cruise control was perfect for my commute to work, the screen was quick and responsive.

I think I'm sold, only thing that worries me is the motor failure, but it looks like Toyota is backing their truck and replacing engines quick plus this could be fixed on the 2026.

What am I missing? I feel like everyone on the Facebook groups complain about their Tundra's, but it seems pretty solid to me.

 

The "Hurricane is panning out to be a good motor"??? Based on what? My buddy bought, and returned 2 different 2025 Ram Tungstens in the course of a month over Hurricane H.O. motor failures.

 

I worked until very recently in the auto industry, specifically in parts. We had all the data on dealerships for all OEM's and their parts inventories, orders, supply chain, etc which I would nerd over with various BI reports I built out because I spent hours a day with nothing to do. Plus I talked to parts managers literally all day long.

Stellantis had very few orders for anything related to the motors for their trucks and Wagoneers with the hurricane, SO and HO. They had a very high amount of wiring harnesses and batteries, but the motor itself and parts associated with motor were pretty low based off of how many wagoneers and 1500s were sold for 2025s. The ZF transmission was also never replaced. It was extremely rare and was probably user error on why it failed. The ZF should be in every single vehicle. The issue with Stellantis is their electronics and supply chain shortages that they refused to fix post Covid. GM is the same.

GM had tons of trans replacements and issues, and obviously the 6.2 issues and lifter issues (and CCV for their LZ0 but parts managers all loved that motor).

Ford had pretty low levels of part orders for any motor related parts, but transmissions were pretty high and everything else on a Ford was high, especially headlights and their infotainment screen which sucks because they are both extremely expensive and out of warranty after 36k.

Toyota had the highest level of engine orders percentage wise (GM had more overall but their sales are way higher), but we all know why. Toyota also backs up their customers more. Toyota, iirc, didn't have too many other replacements that were needed.

 

GM always has sharp looking new trucks. It'll fall apart though, piece by piece, they always do. Same ole GM.

 

My buddy with the back to back Ram fails bought a 2025 GM Denali Ultimate with the babymax. He'll learn.

 

Toyota trims can be a little confusing and irritating. Trying to find a trim, cab and color choice can be difficult, but these days is a lilttle easier since Toyota has pretty good inventory. With all the premium packages you can get an opted up SR5 like mine that is almost a Limited except for things like ventilated seats and power seat memory. If those things are important to you, get Limited or higher. When I got mine in Jan 2023 there wasn't much to choose from and I got lucky to find what I did.

 

I was cross shopping (Used) Ram Rebels vs Tundra vs Ford Tremor.
The Ram interior is much nicer in my opinion. Feels less plastic'e. The exterior of the Ram is polarizing for sure. You either love it or hate it. I like it.
The Tremor was very nice. Interior and build quality was great. The exterior was "meh" to me. Looked dated for sure.

Drove probably 8 or so different trucks of all 3 models and just liked the drive of the Tundra better. That and it's a Toyota so hopefully the company stands behind (and has stood behind) any issues.

As for trim . . . Just get the Limited or Platinum TRD OR. As someone who got and still has the Limited TRD offroad, the Platinum is a step up and worth the few extra dollars. Leather is really nice, LED headlights are great, interior has mood lighting, and for me the heads up display is awesome. You can't go wrong with any trim, but for me I bought a 2023 Limited then a 2024 Platinum 6 months later. Still have both!

Blatant pics of the Silver girls to get your juices flowing. Lol

 

Ram tungsten hands down best interior (not even close) and best ride (also not very close) GM Denali was #2 for both, ford dragging ass in the last place for the domestics. And it’s the best selling

 

You’ll get a wide range of opinions. But I love mine, which happens to be an optioned up sr5, no complaints at all. I did buy an extended warranty which can be had online for a very reasonable price. I would have done that even if the engine issues weren’t happening. Too many things to break on a modern vehicle.

 

Last year when I bought my 20 Tundra, I shopped the Ram and Tundra new to new. The Ram was by far a nicer truck in every way, shape or form, but rolling the dice on Stellantis seemed like a bad idea. The Tundra, I was looking at was a Limited TRD. Nice enough truck, but the engine issues at the time easily pushed me into my V8.

 

Don't let the engine stuff bother you. We all know about the recall & since then its been a very very small percentage of problem trucks. Get what you like & drive it. These days you roll the dice no matter what brand you go with.

 

My 2022 Silverado Lt is still running strong with the 5.3 with AFM/dfm not active from the factory, missing the chip

30,000 miles and no issues. Still gets a solid 21 on the highway.

seat trim is still intact also lol


All automakers make some great vehicles and sometimes they turn out some bad ones due to unforeseen defects.

it’s a roll of the dice as to what you will get.

buy what you want and be happy.

my former Toyota sales guy still calls to try to get me to come back. Told him when my lease is up if I don’t buy this one maybe we will talk more lol.

 

I don't agree. The horns everywhere are too much. GMC has the best IMO.
That said, my favorite truck to drive has been my friends 2023 GMC Denali 6.6. I drive it a lot and he maintains it perfectly with no mods. It went bang last night and he lost the transmission.

 

I rebuild automatic transmissions for a living. On a daily basis I drive trucks 4 years old and older. Amazing all the creeks and rattles after only a few years. The 5.3 and the 6.2 from GM both have problems. The 6L80's in the GM 1/2 tons just paid for my new to me Tundra. GM 8 and 10 speeds transmissions have issues. The RFE units in Rams are next, good money makers. Then the Ford 10 speeds and the CDF drum. My 21 Tundra drives solid, no rattles. Doors open and close smoothly. A proven power train. In the 1/2 ton market the obvious choice for me.

 

This is kinda ironic. Today, while driving down the 7 miles of rough dirt road to my house, I was thinking about how many more rattles and other noises my '23 has compared to my previous 2015 Tundra. I hate to think about what it's going to sound like in 5-6 more years.

 

Bought a 25 Tundra October of 2024. Not a single problem. Very happy, little engine is great, truck is smooth and quiet. I'm 5'10" and interior is extremely comfortable. Plenty power and good mileage. To each his own though.

 

You’ll only hear the filtered worst of the worst on Facebook, it’s how the algorithm works. Half of those posters aren’t even tundra owners, just people fishing for self-value in the form of imaginary internet points. It’s my opinion that of the modern options, there are tradeoffs no matter what you choose. I went tundra because it appeared to be the most solid vs GM’s engine, electrical, and transmission issues, Ford’s general disregard for quality control, and Ram being about as reliable as Kia

 

2025 limited trd off road here. The more I drive it the more I like it.
Heading to Home Depot to fix a mirror wind noise issue, but other than it’s been great. Now if my kids and wife could stop scratching the dang thing I’d be happy

 

I feel your pain there

 

My 2020 Tundra creeks and squeaks more than my old 2009 F-150 did. Our 2014 Sequoia doesn’t really do that though. COVID build issues maybe?

Our work truck GMCs sound like they are going to fly to pieces.

 

Not sure of the accuracy of the data but I just watched a YT video where an "inside source" claims that 2026 MY engines will be redesigned to address current issues.

 

My ‘21 is still dead silent inside. No rattling at all. I’ve had the dash apart multiple times de-chroming the interior and door panels off installing new mirrors, and it all just snugs right back up. And my truck is no pavement princess.

My only complaint is how easily the door panels and the back of the console are scuffed.

 

“Will be” implies this will happen in the future. MY 2026 tundras are being built right now.

 

I had to unfollow the Tundra facebook group as it's mostly just hating in general - motor issues, user questions and comments, whatever. If you take in stock in what is said on facebook you would think there is something like a 95% engine failure rate in Tundras which is nonsense. Does the Tundra have some issues? Sure every brand does but I always play the odds when buying a Truck or car

- Resale, Toyota/Lexus always wins for a reason
- Reliability, Toyota is typically better than the other brands and will fix issues with less hassle also in my experience
- Looks (interior/exterior) - Always a individual opinion so the above two always carry more weigh with me.

Side note - I just rented a wagoner on vacation for a week and it had the Hurricane engine in it, can't speak for the reliability but man it was smooth and had great power for that heavy behemoth.

 

It’s worth mentioning that if you’re in the 2024-2026 tundra years, it’s likely the sweet spot for good reliability. IF they change up the engine, as per any vehicle, I would wait 2ish years to see if the changes actually work out. I like to wait until mid to late cycle for a given design and then pull the trigger. Boring, yes, but generally a good reliability call. So far, my 2024 has been boringly reliable . And I love that.

 

If the engine gets “redesigned” to address current issues, correct me if I’m wrong but that would mean an extension of the recall one would think? That’s another huge lawsuit

 

I went from a 3rd Gen Tundra Platinum to a '25 Denali Ultimate with the LZ0. It has been flawless thus far and the LZ0 is an amazing powerplant. Feature-wise it is head and shoulders above anything except the perhaps the Ram Tungsten, which I cross shopped. While the interior in the Tungsten is very nice, the seats are like boards due to the stiff leather and I could never get them in the right position for comfort. Fuel economy is also terrible. Ride is nice, as is power but the engine is rather soulless.

Extremely happy with the GMC thus far. Tundra was a major disappointment, the build quality was awful and the fact that Toyota knowingly sold trucks with engines that were basically ticking time bombs is inexcusable. Yes, GM has their issues with the 6.2 and the valve bodies in the transmissions, but the LZ0 is solid and the valve body was redesigned for '25 so hopefully I'm in the clear.

 

Squeaks and/or rattles means the Led Zeppelin isn't turned up loud enough.

 

Right now, I’m back in love with the Tundra. If it pisses me off again I’m following you with a Denali lzo.

 

Almost bought a F150 but the Tundra ride was so much better.