Tundra Might Go BuhBye

So the wife and I are near early retirement age and thinking of getting a Class A Diesel Coach to travel the country. Sounds great. So many places we haven't seen.

She knows I've been on the hunt for a 2nd Gen Sequoia for a couple of months. I started researching vehicles that we could flat tow. Toyota doesn't have but a few vehicles that can be flat towed. Tundra and Sequoia are not on that list. Can't happen from what I have read.

Now I am really bummed out because it appears that Jeep (yuck) is OK to flat tow. Checking on the new Bronco (not a huge fan) and they seem fine to flat tow as well.

I've been a Toyota guy nearly my entire driving life. I don't look forward to having to make that decision on which of those choices I am left with.

 

No Taco or 4R option?

 

If it's just the two of you and you don't need a tow vehicle for a specific purpose I'd suggest a RAV4. Stays in the Toyota family and is an overall pretty great vehicle for the price

 

^^

 

Do it

 

No Sir.

 

We could go with a Highlander but the wife got one when her 11 year old Avalon was getting repainted ... Thanks Toyota! After driving it for half a day it wasn't that comfortable of a ride. We had the LE edition that was loaded and we weren't impressed.

I am afraid the Rav 4 is a little too small. We have a 75lb Weimaraner. Stella likes her room too.

You have to think if ever your RV has to be in the shop or is down for weeks if not months, your tow vehicle is what is going to get you back home. You'll want the room because most of your clothes are in the RV plus guns and whatever else you don't want to leave behind. Hence this is why the Sequoia was going to be the vehicle.

 

Why not get a trailer that can serve as the “tow rig” and then you can tow any rig on it? I’ve seen more than a few RV’s doing that. Just yesterday I saw one pulling a sweet little trailer with bike racks on each side and a Tacoma on the deck. I personally don’t think I’d want to be flat towing my rig and putting the extra miles/wear on it if I didn’t have to.

 

I'd get a trailer to tow the Tundra or Sequoia on. Flat towing still puts all the wear and tear miles on everything but the engine.

 

Nothing wrong with a jeep wrangler except the price. They are good vehicles. Also can't the 4Runner trail edition be flat towed? It has a manual transfer case lever like the jeeps

 

The new Highlander Platinum sure is nice, I drove one for few weeks and really enjoyed it. Lexus level luxury.

 

Congratulations on the upcoming early retirement. We were in a similar situation looking but went the opposite route. The Class A route was the original plan but we rethought our needs ane we bought a new Tundra and a travel trailer to haul around instead. Since our car was a 10 yr old Element buying a new Tundra achieved two things. Replaced an aging car and could pull a suitable trailer.
Seeing as the Honda was flat towable we intended to drag that behind the Class A. Our intentions were to spend $100,000 on our home away from home. I just couldn't find anything that we thought would work for that price. Going the Tundra/travel trailer route worded out well for us with the side benefit of having two new vehicles with a warranty and the severe depreciation on only the trailer. That and between the lower than intended purchase, the sale of the Element and the 11 MPG we get towing it all worked out well for use.
We bought the Tundra late Sept last year and already have about 5,500 miles on the trailer.

 

I somewhat get the appeal of hitting the road in a RV and "glamping" around the country, but the practical side of me thinks that it would be much more efficient and cost effective to have a really comfortable road trip vehicle (2nd Gen Sequoia is one of the best), and stay at nice B&Bs/Hotels/Resorts/VRBOs. You wouldn't have the hassle and extra liability of towing/driving an extra large vehicle, plus the fuel savings and not having to purchase the rapidly depreciating asset of a RV would pay for a lot of really nice accommodations in all the places you would want to visit. Just my 2c. Otherwise, I agree with towing on/in a trailer as opposed to flat towing.

 

Use a trailer and skip the flat tow. A nice aluminum trailer is very light and easy to tow.

edit: guess that’s been covered. Haha

 

You do have a very valid point. If it wasn't for our dog we would have strapped our motorcycle to a trailer and pulled it out west behind the Element for an extended vacation. Stay in motels and eat out. This would give my wife a vacation from cooking and cleaning. Still have the dog and sold the motorcycle so the next best thing is to take the 124. It's a 4 wheeled motorcycle in my eyes.

 

Problem with a trailer large enough to put a vehicle on is where do you put it at the campground? Not all rv parks have a lot for storimg extra trailers/vehicles. It just gets in the way and becomes a hassle, and is one more thing to maintain.

I'm also surprized the 4R Trail (now "Off Road" as of 2016 or so) would not be flat-towable.

 

That is exactly what I thought when the wife said just get a trailer.

The size Class A were were looking for is anywhere between 40-43 feet. I can't imagine finding many campgrounds that can handle that length. Sure there are some that have pull throughs but the roads getting into the campground aren't always wide.

 

Congrats on your trailer. Looks good.

Yep, $100,000 doesn't get you much in a Class A. Even $200k is normal for a used one and those aren't the better line ups. You're really closer to $275k starting out for a 3-5 year old.

We aren't going new because I'd rather someone else worked out most the kinks on their dime. Build quality these days is lacking from everything I have read and seen.