Too many miles for towing??

Hi!

I am in the market for a used Tundra that would primarily be used part time for towing a 6k pound camper. I think I may have found a contender, but with some concerns.

Its a 2012 Tundra Crewmax limited 4x4, interior looks to be in excellent condition, the body has some scuffs and scratches but nothing that doesn't look too bad or outside the norm for its age, underneath shows no sign of damage or excessive rust, and it has a clean carfax that shows regular dealer maintenance. I'm hoping to test drive today and see how it is.

My only concern is the milage, at 152k. If I weren't towing I don't think i'd be concerned. But since the primary reason is to tow, are the miles too high? Too much risk? Any reason to think towing with this many miles is a bad idea?

Any thoughts on the subject are appreciated!

 

Tune up, service the trans and driveline, probably new shocks and struts, then send it.

 

^ this, and have a mechanic check the truck BEFORE you buy it.

 

I wouldn't be worried about the miles at all, as long as the maintenance has been done regularly. Even then, its probably fine.

 

Shiiiiiit that's nothing. I bought my 08 with 180k on the clock and all stock, it's now supercharged and has 230k+ on it and tows weekly.

 

My husband has over 300k on his truck and we tow our 5500# camper a few times per year (2200 mile trips usually) without issue and trust it to do so. If theyre maintained properly they’ll go forever.

 

Yeah i wouldn't sweat that mileage at all if its been taken care of.

 

I’m on just about 300k and this my tow truck

 

That's nothing to worry about. Get the truck checked before buying it to make sure it's proper. The keep up on maintenance if you buy it.

 

Would you feel safe pulling a 8000lb travel trailer with a 2013 tundra rock warrior 5.7L

 

(Tongue in Cheek) Thoughts on the subject? Aw, well, shoot yeah. You're asking us to put miles on the bottom "X" axis of "The Famous Bathtub Curve", and that's tricky.

Nobody knows when a Tundra wears out because a Tundra "wearing out" has never been reported. A couple have lasted a million miles, and then Toyota just bought them back so they could mic the bearings and such. If you keep replacing worn out parts, a Tundra could theoretically last forever like cars in Cuba.

The problem is that all the parts of a vehicle don't wear out at the same rate, and the failure of any single part might leave you standing beside the road. There is always risk when towing with any number of miles, and you have to decide just how much risk you can handle re the time lost, repair expense, etc.

Know your vehicle, address every new noise, maintain the highest possible maintenance level as recommended, then you will have done all you can do to guarantee reliability outside of buying a more expensive, lower mileage tow vehicle. Reliability will be easier to achieve with a Tundra, than with any other brand with the same miles.

I have drawn a red "X" on "The Famous Bathtub Curve" (see below) for my estimated position of 152K mile Tundra. I have also included the link to the original article if you want to play with the calculations on your own. (Just kidding you...nobody can tell you when a vehicle will fail, but you've gotten some great 300K-and-still-going-strong reports here). Good luck with your Tundra.


https://ftp.automationdirect.com/pub/Product Reliability and MTBF.pdf