New 2018 one week assessment

I had my 2018 Limited CM (TRD and Premium package) for a little over a week now (prior truck was a 2016 F-150 Platinum EB) and here is my assessment compared to the Ford.

Tundra Pros:

Better LED head lights, I like the outside looks better, it is quieter inside, love the whole rear window going down, the anticipated reliability, heated seats work quicker, fixed running boards, like the single moon roof better.

Tundra Cons:

No electric tail gate lock, the Premium JBL stereo sounds like crap (what did I pay for here??).

I knew going in that the Ford gets better MPGs so I can't complain about that. I am actually pleasantly surprised as I averaged a little over 17 MPGs in mixed driving (about 3 less then the F-150). Truck has around 700 miles now. I didn't want cooled seats because they are a PIA to keep clean (all the tiny holes). Is the Ford more advanced? Yes, but it also did cost about 13K more. With the 2018 model the Tundra gained adaptive cruise and LED lighting, those things matter to me. I am now looking forward to driving it and not worry about warranty work or constant TSBs.

 

sounds good to me

 

Get a Pop & Lock tailgate lock. Easy install but a little noisy.

 

I have read about it and it is on my bucket list. Since having the Tundra I already spent enough money on it to make it "mine". Mx4 bed cover, vent visors, new Take-off painted Platinum grille and tail gate liner/protector so far. Still need remote start, pop & lock and fix my "premium" JBL stereo.

I do have some leeway though with the boss because I just shelled out 12K to get two bathrooms remodeled; wasn't really one of my priorities but it keeps her happy. The only time she complains when UPS or FedEx drops off something heavy or bulky and she has to drag it into the garage.

 

Easy. Buy her a dolly. Win/win!

 

I have the adaptive cruise control on my Highlander ( 2017 ) It is nothing but a pain in the ass. You set it and if someone crosses into your lane too close, the brakes will self apply and about put you through the windshield. It does have three distance settings, but all are only useful on long open roads. I always turn the cruise on now and bypass the adaptive setting. Too much trouble otherwise. Just my two cents worth!!

 

I really like the adaptive cruise control. Distractions happen to the best drivers. Even a momentary eye departure to the side mirror or radio can be problematic if the person in front of you decides it's time to drop down to 40 on a 55 because reasons.

Not that am now 100% reliant on it, of course. But I mentioned in another thread how I glanced down at the radio console on a highway for a split second and in that exact moment I felt my truck slow down. Turns out the guy in front of me started dramatically slowing down for no apparent reason.

Sure, I would have noticed in time and hit my brakes harder without the adaptive cruise control. But with it, it sort of 'alerted' me without causing me to go into hyper alert mode, if that makes sense.

 

Somewhat similar situation happened to me, with different results:

Guy in front of me was going way too slow, so my truck was slowing down quite a bit. I moved over to the left, right behind someone that had just passed me going way fast. The car I moved behind to was, at the time I moved, much closer than the original car that made me slow down. I expected the tundra to slow down further because the new car was much closer. I was getting ready to press the gas when I noticed the truck accelerate.

It seemed to not react simply to the distance of the vehicle in front of me, but to the relative speed of it (assuming it calculated the distance was growing quickly).

Was a surprising move.

 

Well, this is the third vehicle I have with adaptive cruise control and I will not buy another vehicle without. Same goes for the blind spot monitors, collision prevention and lane warning (or assist). I know you can't solely rely on those systems but they do make driving a lot safer. The same goes for the LED headlights.

 

I had a 2015 Silverado, which was a pile of s**t prior to my 2017 Tundra. Even with all the cylinder deactivation tricks, the Chevy averaged 14.3 mpg compared to 15.6 for the Tundra doing the exact same type of driving - and I don't use cruise control. Plus I get Toyota reliability.

 

Bought the Pop & Lock and had a local place install it for $ 100 about 1 month ago.

 

My 14' doesn't have those features, but my wife's vehicle does, after one trip driving hers, my next Tundra will have them all.
I love the adaptive cruise, all of it.

I'm glad you like the new truck. Good luck with it! Hopefully the pop n lock and a new sound system will make you love all of it!

 

One thing I wish the 2018 has is a lock for the gas cover.. anyone know of a good aftermarket one?

 

Stant makes one for a 2017 which will probably work but a lot of sites or catalogs haven't been updated yet to reflect 2018 models. You could probably look up the Toyota part number for 2017 and 2018 and see if they use the same cap and then buy a 2017 locking cap.

 

I ended up ordering the AMI / All Sales locking fuel door from Amazon yesterday. Was reading that there was issues with aftermarket gas caps causing vapor leakage which would trigger a check engine light for many folks.

 

Thanks for the assessment. I am about to buy one myself so it is reasurring to hear it.

 

You will like it especially if you can get exactly what you want and then make the changes you feel are necessary.

If I can give you one piece of advise.......don't pay the extra money for the Premium JBL stereo!

 

The problem is the limited premium package gets you the color keyed bumper, blind spot monitors and parking sensors along with the crappy radio.

The pop n lock is an easy install. I had no problem installing it and I’m not Someone that does a lot of work on my vehicles.

 

The main reason I wanted the premium package on my Limited was to get the blind spot monitors and park sensor. I guess the JBL stereo comes a s a necessary evil, I doubt anybody would pay for it as a stand alone option since most buyers do internet research before their purchase.

 

Get Fortin Evo one for your remote start. You will thank me for it. Do some research.

 

I did the research and contacted the eBay seller earlier mentioned here. He told me that for some the H-Key will not remotely open the doors after the truck is started remotely and is running. He suggested to use the optional 2-way remotes. I am on the fence with that because I really didn't want the extra fob.

 

That’s weird because my H-key Camry has a Fortin Evo one and it works fine on oem fob.

 

Also I have the RF remote on my tundra and I don’t need the original. I only carry one remote.

 

The remote control is part of the key on the 2018 models. One of the reasons I really don't want another fob on my key ring.

 

Thanks for your assessment. Dammit, I drive 55 miles one way daily for work. Why is the Tundra still 13/17 MPG? Just about every other V8 pickup does 15/20 or better, even the Titan and I've owned 2 of those in the past. If I pull the trigger this will suck. eeeshhh!!!! lol

 

I briefly looked at the Titan when the new model came out. Nissan makes good vehicles but the new Titan just looks plain ugly to me, but they did improve the MPGs. I am sure Toyota will follow suit with the next iteration Tundra, in the meantime I enjoy mine and don't worry about it.

 

Yeah I'm not too sold on the look of the new Titan either. My wife thinks it's butt ugly but hey it isn't for her so....., but the main reason they couldn't get my business is the lack of sunroof. Not available on the new ones, at least not the 2017. Going back today to drool on the Tundra then we'll see what happens from here. In the meantime I'll just be a lurker and learn things about the truck from others here.

 

Just to ease your concerns a little bit.

When I picked up my truck it had 391 miles on the odometer (transfer from another dealer and test drives?) so when the dealer filled it up for me it was basically on the second fill up. Today I filled it up after driving 489 miles (fuel light wasn't on yet and I had 87 miles remaining according to the computer) and put almost 30 gallons in and that was really filled up, not like the dealer does it for you. So hand calculated it was 16.3 mpg and the computer showed 16.6 mpg average, pretty close. The 489 miles I put on was 30% interstate (65-70 with cruise), the rest was light city traffic and going back and forth to work 10 miles one way. Speed was never over 50 mph, most of it slower because you do not speed on an Army post.

Today after filling up we went shopping, 170 miles interstate and about 15 miles city with slow traffic. Traffic on the interstate was heavy so the adaptive cruise kept me mostly between 62 and 67; when I got home my tank average was 20.2 mpg since fill up. As you can see the Tundra is capable of getting decent mileage if you drive sensible and I am pleasantly surprised. To put things in perspective I would have gotten about 3 mpg better in the last F-150 (3.5 EB) under the same conditions. I have absolutely no regrets.

 

I've only got just over 1000 miles on my truck so its hardly broken it, but I've found that I drive it differently than my other vehicles because of the tremendous low rpm torque. it only requires a light foot. Mileage is not bad at all.

 

I've owned 2 Titans 04 and 12 and am used to crappy gas mileage, but then again I didn't drive 112 miles per day for work when I owned them. I only got ride of my 12 Titan in Jun 16. With my daily commute for work, not sure I'll get use to those mileage. Oh I believed the Tundra I just looked at has a 38 GL tank, holy crap that's a lot of fuel lol.