One year update: 2024 SR5, just under 30k miles

May marked one year since I switched from a 2019 Silverado to my current SR5 Tundra. And after a year, I definitely have a good feel for the truck and its capabilities - Plus, what I like, and don’t like.


Use case: The truck is my daily driver, including occasional longer road trips for work. We live up north, so we face a good 6 months or so of possible snow, this past year being exceptionally snowy. I tow snowmobiles in a trailer relatively often, anywhere between one and five sleds per tow. During the summer I tend to fill truck beds and/or trailers with rocks, mulch, etc, and tow lawn equipment. The truck also gets me into somewhat remote hunting spots down muddy unpaved roads.


Setup: swapped out the stock (awful) tires with Goodyear wranglers for spring/Summer, Nokian Hakka tires for winter (great recommendation from this forum). 6.5ft bed, softex seats, soft cover on the bed, OEM step up, OEM wheel bed toolboxes (left and right). Oil changes every 5k miles, undercoated before winter.


Overall thoughts: I perceive this truck as more streamlined and effortless to operate and use as a truck vs my previous Silverado. The electronics just work vs my previous experience just accepting a mandatory infotainment system would never actually respond to instructions, causing me to require a Bluetooth speaker in that vehicle. The Tundra is super comfortable on the highway, is a crowd pleaser when I have passengers, and it tows pretty effortlessly. The 6.5ft bed has been a superior experience than my previous short bed trucks, I don’t think I can go back to that! This fits plywood, sleds, bikes, ATVs, etc, so much better. Performance on slippery or off-pavement conditions has been good as long as 4WD is engaged. Overall, what’s been most striking is that the vehicle just works and does what I ask of it without headaches.


There are an few annoyances, some of which may be personal preference, but they’re small in comparison to what I’ve experienced in my previous trucks, and in comparison to the things I like. I’ve listed them below, plus, some ways to circumvent them.


Things I like:

• Overall turnkey experience, it just works. This is really the key for why I love this truck - it’s a tool that is working well, and for me, that’s what gives me the greatest enjoyment.
• MPG: a hot topic on forums/fb. But I generally drive within 5-10 miles of the speed limit and I get around 20-21 highway, maybe a few mpg better than my previous 5.3l v8. Towing with a larger trailer is more like 13-14MPG, no better or worse than what I’ve experienced on a v8.
• Radar cruise: ok fine, I like this. I complained about the complexity of this system when I bought the truck but it is nice. You win, Toyota
• Interior: maybe controversial, but I’ve found the build quality on mine to be very very good. The interior looks and feels premium. No rattles, nothing loose. Maybe I got a good one! I see others complaining about this type of thing. First tundra, so maybe it’s just better than alternatives or a particularly good example.
• 4WD: haven’t gotten stuck yet! This thing has gotten me through some absolutely nasty conditions. The Nokian tires certainly helped in winter. But the 4WD is excellent and shifts easily. I recommend swapping out the SR5’s stock tires immediately, they’re unusable on anything other than warm dry pavement.
• Looks: personal preference, but I think that this is the best looking truck on the road. Gotta love the feeling when you’re proud of your vehicle and just like looking back at it when you park. I knew I was going to buy a white and black tundra since I saw that storm trooper-looking thing back in 2022.
• Easy cleaning under truck: I don’t see this talked about much, but it is so incredibly easy to spray salt off the underside of this truck. Everything is within sight, and a combination of undercoating and weekly cleaning has left my truck shockingly rust free after a very salty winter.
• Actual button controls: this is such a nice change of pace vs other modern vehicles. I never need to touch the screen to do anything while driving. Excellent buttons and tactile controls. Props to Toyota for not following the awful trend of replacing everything with an iPad. Which, by the way, makes other vehicles more dangerous to operate
• Storage! I absolutely love the amount of storage built into this car. First off - under and behind the seat. There’s a bit of space behind the rear seats, in addition to the giant storage compartment under the seats. I carry around gear for a ton of purposes - hunting, fishing, property repairs, etc, and I’ve been able to put together a few different kits that are quickly accessed from that under seat storage. I also installed the Toyota branded over-wheel bed swing out tool boxes. Game changer! I now carry around a pretty built-out set of of common tools, plus towing and recovery/hauling essentials (ex: air compressor, recovery hooks, rope, straps, etc). In addition, there’s a ton of space in the center console - great for battery packs, flashlights, a medicine bag, etc). I’m so much less cluttered in this vehicle, everything has a place.
• Lots of charging ports. I’ve also installed two wireless chargers, which are great.
• You can leave the vehicle running for an hour or more AND lock it if you use the physical key hidden in your fob. Very useful if you’re somewhere with a dog and need to keep the AC on for more than 10 minutes.

Things I would change or dislike:

• annoying safety features: there is zero reason why the truck should engage the parking brake when I back up with a door open. Other things like “take a break” notifications are annoying and set off when you’re on un-lined or unpaved roads. Note that some things like the back seat alarms can be deactivated using a scanner tool. I’ve turned off all seat alarms and it’s so much better. Wear your seatbelt obviously, but my use-case is sometimes driving in a field at 5MPH hopping out every few seconds. I wish that “take a break” could be permanently disabled, but it needs to be disabled before every trip I’m worried about it activating. Stupid.
• Start stop: annoying, but I’ve permanently turned this off with a little $10 Amazon adapter. Still working and is preventing auto stop after a year.
• Tie downs - Chevy does a better job with this. A truck needs more tie downs than the measly four Toyota gives us. They work, but it’s not enough. The truck still does the job, but more hooks make my life easier.
• Recovery hooks: there are aftermarket options and I’ve installed some. But they should be standard on a truck.
• Electronic things that would be better as manual things: liftgate buttons and electronics have no place on a truck. Manual parking brakes are superior.
• Dipstick - impossible to read, need to finally get around to sanding or etching it
• Touch handle vehicle unlock feature: here’s where I give Chevy a point. They use a physical button on the door handles to lock/unlock the vehicle. A physical button is always superior
• Key: just give me a physical key. No one does anymore. But I would choose that option any day. I should also add that the Toyota key fob is worse than most other manufacturers.
• Interior lighting, more of it would be nice.
  
• Turbo engine - I debated putting this in the complaint department, but I think it does belong here. My engine has, to its credit, been excellent thus far. But I tend to opt for simplicity and longer term ownership whenever possible. And I’d buy a V8 in a heartbeat if I was given that option. I don’t need a giant v8 to outcompete some random dude’s jacked up f150 - I just need a reasonable 4.7 to 5.7ish reliable engine. If I had one of those in this vehicle, I’d easily keep it as long as humanly possible because it’s been such a phenomenal truck. However, any turbo engine requires more diligence and careful consideration before approaching high mileage.

Hopefully this is helpful for anyone considering this type of vehicle. A year in, I’m glad I made this purchase. I’m also glad that the annoyances are small in importance vs to the much more important upsides, but I wanted to list them out to create a fuller picture of the ownership experience. It’s been such a relief coming from two silverados with major electronic issues, transmission issues, and suspected engine issues (in the case of my 2019). Using a truck that “just works” has been incredible.


Link to Auto Stop bypass:

$24 Auto Idle Stop Start Eliminator/Disabler/Disable/Delete/Canceller, Compatible with Toyota Tundra 2022-2025 and GR Corolla IMT 2023-2024

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CM97RBKF. Super easy to install. Took maybe 5 minutes.

Bed cover: https://a.co/d/2OgGeSc. Probably took 45ish minutes to install. So far so good.

 

Good write up, I am also a year in but at only 8.5K miles. I also get between 20-23 MPG, but always see people say they only get 15-16

 

Thanks! I’ve heard it depends on how fast you drive. Maybe I’m just slow? I also haven’t upgraded tire size or lifted, which apparently really kills mileage.

best of luck with your 2024

 

Great write up! You've definitely put your Tundra through its paces. We have had a 2024 Tundra SR5 TRD Sport now with 8,900 miles after 18 months. We took off those stock tires too. Run Cooper Snows though your Hakkas are the BEST. We ride all the time, mostly from our house, but do occasionally trailer. The truck tows so smooth whether its the smaller single or 22' inline. I do not like the crash sensors with the snow! Ridiculous warning lights in snow storms or slush. The parking brake slamming on too! Enjoy your truck and keeping our fingers crossed for a good Winter!

 

I've had mine for a year this week.

MPG. I get 20-24 depending on where I am going. I live pretty rural and low/no traffic roads. Going into the city drops MPG...but not by a whole lot. I love the big gas tank. I had a 21 Highlander before this and was always stopping for fuel. I have a Honda Odyssey and they get close to the same overall MPG.

Tires. Mine came with Yokohama Geolandars which were complete trash in the snow and ice. I went to Michelin Defender II's which transformed the truck. I didn't have to use 4WD at all last winter after I had them put on.

Engine. I also have a 2nd gen Crewmax 5.7 4WD. I have to pass farm equipment and slow moving vehicles every now and then. The TT engine is vastly superior to the 5.7 in this regard. 5.7 is no slouch, but the TT feels like a greased photon in comparison. I start a pass at 55 MPH and end it soon as room is clear...usually doing 90+ without knowing it.

Comfort. This thing is quiet and easy on long trips. I also have a Honda Odyssey and a 2nd gen Tundra, and this is miles better than either in terms of quiet and easy driving. My GF had a new CR-V and this is also a huge amount more comfortable for us both. Little CR-V was a pleasant little tank, but the seats were too low for us. She's 5 feet tall and didn't like them. I always felt like I was riding on the floor.

I love everything about it except for the unlit HVAC controls. Yes, I get that the icons on the panel above them correspond to the buttons below, but that doesn't work because not all of them are on.

Interior lights are a complete joke. VERY dim single LED units, not at all acceptable for this price. I swapped them out, but I don't know how they deemed these adequate.

This thing needs a new tailgate like GM's multiflex unit. The dinky little side step doesn't really help all that much.

 

glad to see another tundra getting sleds on the trails! Ahhh this is such a good callout - in this warm summer I’ve forgotten about the safety sensors in snow. YES - what a pain, they get caked in snow and every alarm goes off. I learned to turn them all off before driving in heavy snow, but it’s a bit wild that no one thought of snow when designing those things.

 

Really cool to see the comparison to the previous gen engine. This is good perspective to keep in mind - I never owned a v8 tundra and have wondered how much additional “oomph” the twin turbo setup gives. I have experienced the same - while I do prefer a NA engine, I do have to admit that this thing feels effortless. I’ll accelerate to pass with the trailer attached and it gets moving in a hurry.

 

Besides the improved low-RPM torque and smoother transmission, the thing I notice about my Gen3 is there is no discernible performance difference at high elevation, like there was with my previous 2008 and 2015 V8 Tundras.

 

I wish they offered dumbed down work package option, I'd jump into one. My 2010 is 150k on the clock. I mean she runs great, but interior and under the hood starts to look a little tired.

Thank you for comparisons.

 

SR

 

Was surprised to actually find one with realistic price of 42k+change within 100miles.

The other several listings "near me" can't be serious at 46k and 48k. for a 2wd SR.

 

Great write up. I think this month marks one year with mine also.

Which recovery hooks did you go with?

 

Thanks very much!

i went with these, friend also installed them and they seemed solid. Fortunately, haven’t needed them for recovery yet! But I like having an option available.
https://www.extremeterrain.com/afe-tundra-control-front-tow-hooks-red-450-72t001-r.html