A year in review

One year and a few months in the books with my 22 Platinum LB 4x4. I figured I could contribute my experience with the truck as I get so much from this site.

I have just over 16k miles on the truck, not trouble free miles by any means and it’s been a bit of an emotional roller coaster. I say that because I’ve been in love with the truck and also ready to drop it like a hot potato all in this first year, but full circle, I’d say we have a healthy relationship as this point.

I put money down 6 months before the truck even showed its face to the world. I am a Toyota fan and have owned several Toyota trucks over the year: 95 pickup, 99 Tacoma, 2004 Tacoma, 2006 Tacoma, 2005 tundra, 2012 tundra, 2014 tundra, and a 2016 tundra. I got just what I wanted with this rig, a 6.5’ bed and a crewmax. Fell in love!

The cab felt a bit smaller than the old crew max. But the luxury was there- clean lines in the cab, seat with bolster extension is awesome. Ambient lighting is a nice touch.


Initially I leveled the truck with Westcott- really didn’t like the ride. Felt harsh to me. A few miles down the road I replaced with the TRD lift and it drives amazing. Better than stock. Sure footed and smooth. This truck is a family hauler and a commuter. Does both well.

I’ve towed 10-13k pounds for a couple of dump runs and it did very well. Truck pulls very strong. Stopped fine. Felt sure footed.

At 800 miles the turbo went. Dealer reset the code and I continued to drive it for the three weeks until parts arrived. They fixed it In three days and back on the road.

Recently I had the dealer replace some window trim and remove the factory spray liner and replace with line-x all under warranty. Bit of a headache but not bad.

Cab is pretty quiet, tiny bit of wind noise but I’d say it’s pretty good. It’s not a Mercedes but as good as any truck I’ve ridden in- a friends newer F-250 has me beaten, no wind noise at all. But I’d say it’s ok.

Turning radius sucks. Way worse than my 16. I average 14mpg.

Overall I like the truck a whole lot. It looks amazing. Drives awesome. Assuming there are no more major warranty-mechanical issues I intend to keep the truck a long time. That being said- if I end up with one of these motor issues some have had, I plan to trade it in as fast as possible and get back into an older crewmax. Or a new Sienna…

That’s my 2 cents. My only Toyota to have warranty issues beyond small recalls. Fingers crossed it’s good to go from here on out.

 

Odd how much people invest in hating something they have no experience with

 

2.5 Gen owner here. I don't hate on the 3rd Gens.

 

Got a big thumbs up from a Gen 2.5 driver on the way to work the other morning on the highway.
He even rolled down his window and stuck his arm out to make sure I saw it!
So not everyone is a hater.

 

Who cares if people hate anyways? Enjoy your trucks, if it was about pleasing other people no one would buy a Honda Ridgeline lol

 

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Turning radius sucks. Way worse than my 16. I average 14mpg.
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That's the thing that gets me.. I'm just not convinced the complexity of the TTV6 was worth 14-16mpg (what, 2mpg better?) that many of us get. They could have put some effort into modernizing into the V8, make it a hybrid for more efficiency.... This wouldn't have fit the narrative of what Toyota is doing across the board with their engines (all stepping down + Turbo).

 

Agree. I love my 2.5 Gen, and I have seen some great looking 3rd Gens.

I've been happily driving Toyota trucks for 30 years now. The Tundra was overdue a refresh, and I have no doubt that Toyota will iron out any kinks and make this a successful line of trucks.

 

I love all Tundras because I’ve had them all and they are all bad ass. The new gen is awesome in so many ways. Every little bug I’ve had was sorted out. I don’t get all the hate. There are plenty of issues on this forum with the gen 2.5 popping up and most people will have to pay out of pocket to fix those. At some point they will have to upgrade and the third gen is the ticket. There are so many third gen happy owners out there and all it takes is a very little time with this truck to appreciate the upgrades

 

Well, I try to not say much about the issues reported on here. I can definitely see why piling on to the negativity would not be welcome from a non-owners. I have tried, unsuccessfully, twice, to purchase a new Tundra. But, the continuing market issues in WA state make the truck too expensive.
I don't need a new truck, but my current truck is old enough to drive itself, I'd like a new Toyota for sure.

For me, it's disappointing to see a Toyota, at $60k+ have the issues these have. The OPs experience is honest, and seems consistent with what I've learned from the forums.

Hopefully, if the market normalizes, it'll probably coincide with the Tundra being fully sorted.

We bought a 2020 Toyota right before the pandemic, and it's been perfect.
But, I'd be pissed if my brand new $60k+ truck had even a few issues, when my 16 y/o Nissan has been perfect since day 1. So, I appreciate the negative comments, it saves me money, but I know some day I will need to buy a new truck, and it'll most likely be a Gen3 Tundra.

 

I am in the same boat as @OnThaLake.

The truck has bugs that need to be worked out, and with any luck it will coincide with the market coming down to reality (bonus if there’s a recession to drive incentives).

A 2024 with most of the issues sorted out is what I will be looking at when the time comes.

 

Locally the 2.5 gen drivers seem to like to hit the gas to make them think it is a close race with the gen 3.

 

Agree on turn radius, had a test drive and was like wtf ? Also would of been great if Toyota carried over the 5.7 motor to 3rd gen just like they carried over the 4.7 motor to 2nd gen.

 

Even though it's a mixed report, I really appreciate you posting the summary. I'm in the middle of my own personal Hell with a 2022 F150 I bought. I'm trying to figure out what to do next and I'm starting to form the opinion that all the 2022 products are blems. The Ford dealer has plenty of zombies waiting for parts and techs to work on them. Same for the GMC dealer. Toyota took a huge bite of the apple releasing a new gen truck at an awful time. To their credit, I think they are making good efforts at supporting and remediating the issues. Ford has slipped and is only ahead of Land Rover now from a defect standpoint. Their warranty claim rate is 2x what GM's is. Some companies, Mercedes and Ford at the top of the list, are really bad about decontenting their vehicles. S Class Mercedes have massage seats sometimes absent in what was always standard with the premium package. My F150 is $77K to replace but if you look closely at the sticker you don't get a heated steering wheel, any of the bed step stuff, which I like and the extended tank isn't on most of them. I kind of chuckle when people bitch about missing a key which they'll get sometime. By comparison, Toyota is doing a good job. The only thing that would annoy me about the tundra is the push advertising on the Nav screen but I guess that can go away for $15/month.

I think in the coming months the premiums fall off Tundras and you can buy them with nominal discounts and short waits. Quality only improves. I'll decide in a couple of weeks if I give up on the Ford but right now I see no better answer than the Tundra.

Edit- I thought of one other thing I think the Tundra does right that nobody seems to mention. Relative ease of ordering. The trim levels are by and large all inclusive with short option list. Want the big screen and a sunroof, get a platinum or 1784. The other players in the market are like a Rubik's cube putting together the list you want.