6 Years in a TRD Pro

Thinking back, my earliest memory of any vehicle is of my mom's '76 Celica GT. From my mom telling me to buckle up any time we were pulled over by the police to the first time going faster than 100mph.

Eventually the Celica was sold and its replacement was an '87 Camry, traded in one year later for more money than the purchase price on an '88 Camry (something to do with the currency exchange at that time). Both of these vehicles were manual transmission which thinking back on it is cool to have in a camry. We traveled quite a bit in the Camry, from Florida up to Virginia, over to Indiana and back. Eventually though, my father attained some sort of misplaced patriotism and traded the Yota in on an Oldsmobile Delta 88. It did teach me about Toyota quality though, as I remember being confused as to why a new car would run bad and have to go into the shop for repair. It happened with the olds and every other non toyota he has put my mom in with the exception of a newer camry which had a weird problem with the air conditioning evaporator (that was all much later on though, and is more about them than me).

As for me, back into the Toyota fold I found myself at the age of 17 when my best friend got a 1981 long bed pickup, I think it was an SR5, but it didn't have any badging. 4wd and 31 inch mud tires that for us seemed unstoppable. I am sure it is an exagerration, but that truck spent at least as much time off the road as on and remains in my memory, unlocked whenever I am lucky enough to spot a straight axle 4x4.

Somehow, I got away from Yotas again and got into the Jeep culture. Long story, not really pertinent to this forum. But to make an already long story shorter, my wife insisted I replace my '09 Silverado when it started to give us trouble at the ten year mark. My top three picks were Toyota Tundra, Nissan Titan, and Ford F150. I was impressed by my friend's crewmax and the space it had for passengers (at the time were up to 3 kids in the household). I saw a couple Nissan Titan Cummins' trucks have weird problems at work, and a friend told me they had no power when towing. As for the Ford, they has leaned heavy into the 3.5 Turbos, and I couldn't abide that.

It was by sheer coincidence we picked out the Tundra that we did. Happened to be the only black truck with black interior on the lot at the time. Having just been alotted to the dealer, it was the only one of two in the state for a short time, the other one having been shipped from California a couple weeks prior. I loved the stance and how it appeared next to the other Tundras. But went on to dislike the ride which turned out to be due to those Michelin so called all terrains. Wasn't worth a damn off road at slower speeds, quicker was fine as the suspension soaks up bumps. But a slower mud road you are trying not to tear up it was game over.

The truck has served us well these last years and the only warranty repair was for the center console coming delaminated. I look forward to being a part of this group and of learning from other peoples experience as well as our share passion for well built vehicles.


Ron

 

Welcome from LA (Lower Alabama)!

 

Welcome from NY.

 

Welcome from OKC, glad you made it!

 

Welcome!

 

Thank you everyone for taking the time to read and for the welcome