Another Tundra or Jump Ship

Yes, if you go Ford or GM they won’t have any issues.

 

2018 Tundra, lifted, zero tech issues of any kind. TSS works flawlessly.

 

I had the cam tower leak. It was a mild inconvenience. Toyota picked up the tab, and I have not had an issue since.

 

You would spend much more with a Ford or gm just based on the depreciated value when the insurance Co cuts you a check for your totaled truck. Be glad you had the tundra in that crash.

Cam tower seals is blown out of proportion.

Find a certified used 17 or older so you don't have to deal with the new and useless electronic features that are prone to issues.

 

my only complaint is my battery didn't make it to 12000 miles or two years other than that no problems

 

I have a 14 CM...added SC at 7K and other than replacing the belt tensioner at 60K, its been flawless. Ive said many times if anything happened to this one, I’d buy another Tundra. Ive had all the others and yes, the tech is better, but in comparing the reliability and resale equations, Tundra wins by a wide margin.

 

Had 89 tacoma for 16 years and no problems. Went to ford and nothing but problems. I needed reliability do to my work. Went back to Toyota and purchased 2016 tundra trd. at 65k miles no issues at all !!!!

 

I vote jump ship. Nobody here even likes Tundras.

 

I second that! Plus even a shred of doubt will bring bad Karma his way......

 

I’ll tell you this. I just went to insure my new Tundra. It turns out it’s $8 a month cheaper to insure than the equivalent Ford. When I asked Allstate said, the crash test ratings are better than any other truck in its class. I will also say that I just spent months combing over the Ford (which is supposed to be “best in class” in almost every way today. That’s just not what I found. I think you’ll find a lot of compromises come with the Ford and I bet even more with GM. Glad you’re ok!

 

I’ll defend the GM and Ford, he won’t be able to risk totaling his new truck since he will be spending his time at the dealerships.

 

I'm on my third Toyota and second tundra.
Although I was lured to GMC trucks when I bought my 2014, I couldn't think past the reliability Toyota has given me since 1997.
Plus I really like my dealership that does most of my maintenance.
Hope to keep the 2014 for another 5 to 7 years and probably buy another Tundra.
Next time a Platinum or TRD Pro..

 

Get you another Tundra. Coming from a 2016 Ram Laramie that was in shop for numerous check engine issues. Only got $28,000 on trade in which sucks for a $50,000 truck (bought used).

Researched GMC, owners complained about hard shifts in transmission. Researched Ford, owners complained about issues with twin turbo. Researched Tundras, owners complained of MPG.

The way I look at it, at least it is on the road, being reliable and protects you when involved in a wreck. You are living proof that Tundras have our back when safety features matter the most.

Glad you walked away and good luck with your choice. Bought my Tundra with 46,000 miles and have ZERO regrets

 

My 19 is stock height. I just did a 5k mile road trip and TSS was flawless. CC was on for almost 7 hours a day. This was through Texas so it was through heavy rain and bright sun with lots of glare with no errors. Only Brake Now warnings were legitimate as I had CC off in town and was coasting up to cars turning off the highway. I had spent a bunch of time trying to figure out how to disable it permanently cause I was worried, but now I am just going to run with it.

My towers are dry at 7k, but I know that can change. That also worried me, but its not a stranded in a small town on a road trip type issue like I have had on other makes.

 

Glad everyone is OK! These trucks are tanks in accidents, my truck jumped a bit when we got hit but that was all. They may break all the plastics, bend some metal, but when you can walk away from a head on accident at 60 MPH, I wouldn't trust many other vehicles. After the accident in my '07, I decided it was a newer Tundra. I started looking at used ones with great service records. Settled on a '14 @90000 with great service record.

 

actually the tundra has some of the worst crash test ratings in its class. As well as being dead last in tech, comfort, capabilities and design. OP would be nuts to buy a new tundra in 2019-20.

Toyota Tundra Gets Lowest Rating In IIHS Crash Test, Loses Consumer Reports Recommendation
https://www.techtimes.com/articles/...est-loses-consumer-reports-recommendation.htm

 

Ha!

That cracks me up. So basically the dude at my insurance agency has no idea why it’s cheaper...

 

If I did move it would be Raptor or F150 with v8 and then supercharge it down in Florida.


Found it. https://www.vmpperformance.com/

 

I can tell you why. Our Allstate insurance agent is a very close friend first and agent second. Exactly one year ago I got quotes 1 year ago when I was truck shopping. I can tell you insurance for the big 3 is significantly more. I asked why and I believe this answer.

We were just talking Fords at this time, but he basically said out of 10 trucks, a large ratio are totaled because they are so much more to fix at body shops due to aluminum and all the specialty tools to fix. A $70k Ford Ranch really only has a replaceable value for insurance purposes of $35k a year later. With all the aluminum it does not take much to get up into $15k to $20k of damage. At that point you are in the realm of being totaled. Plus, due to the rapid acceleration of depreciation, Allstate is writing much higher checks due to people being upside down a lot more frequently with Ford. With all that being said, he said it is much more expensive to insure a Ford compared to Toyota.

A$50k Toyota has replaceable insurance value of $40k one year later and is much cheaper to repair. Due to overall reliability and the way they hold their value they are much cheaper to ensure.

I thought his explanation makes perfect sense!

 

I am give you an honest review not even taking the Tundra into account. I will let everyone else here tell you to go Toyota again. I work as Fleet Support for the State of Maine. We get ALL the weather that most states don't see, salt on our roads and we have a huge coastline. We have ~2200 vehicles in our fleet and ~700 trucks. We handle ALL state trucks 1-ton and under. We have a few 4500s and above but not many. We have 0 Toyota trucks. 100% of our truck fleet are Ford F150-F350's and GMC 1500-3500. We have 2x4 and 4x4 trucks. These all go out to bid and each agency puts in all the specs they need on a new truck(2x4 vs 4x4, Reg/Ext/Crew cab, hauling capacity, etc). We have trucks that are all highway use and 0 towing, Game Warden/Forest Protection trucks that spend 100% on dirt roads in the woods, and everything in between. Trucks that spend all their time on the coast, and trucks that spend all their time basically in Canada. We have a few Dodge Rams but they are mainly plow trucks that sit the rest of the year so I don't have a ton of experience with them outside of them rotting out.

To preface the below info, GM gives government fleets 5/100,000 Powertrain and Roadside thankfully. Normal GM/Ford is 5/60,000. We change the oil every 6,000 miles on all vehicles and the drivers are told to bring in the vehicles for service ANY time something seems off(weird noises, check engine light, etc). We use all size garages from the small mom & pop shops all the way up to the big dealerships. These are daily driven vehicles and the drivers are not the nicest to them.

If you want NEW, avoid GM at ALL costs. People can sit here and talk up GM all they want. The technology, the ride, MURICA! blah blah blah. You will replace Ball Joints and Wheel Bearings every 35,000 miles on average. We have many GM trucks that around 40k miles is when the first bearing goes. If you go with another OEM bearing it will cost you $450-600 installed at a dealer. We replace them all the time. The radiators leak like stuffed pigs ~$500 fix(these had extended warranties on them but they are a time thing). All 4 Brake Calipers will be replaced within 100k. Electric Power Steering will become your new nightmare. Just the module is $1,000 part only. Steering Rack is $1200. A/C compressors every couple of years at $400 for the part and 7.2 hours in labor(usually around $900 installed). Transmission lines will rot out after ~5 years if not sooner. The vacuum pumps for the brakes WILL die on you after 50k(this JUST got a recall issued last week)

Now to the BIG issue with GM trucks. The transmissions(2015-2019). Holy shit the transmissions. It's like a godsend to get a truck to 100,000 without AT LEAST a new torque converter. Almost every single one of our GM trucks have had transmission work done before 100,000 miles. Some as low as 45k and some at 98k. They all have issues. Usual time frame for a torque converter is 4 years and 65,000 miles. As they get closer to 100k is when the gears start to grenade themselves. We currently have around 15 trucks in the shop right now getting rebuilds on the transmissions. Be prepared to have to buy a new torque converter out of pocket at 70k miles on your nice new truck.

Engines won't grenade themselves per say. We do have issues with them but not a huge amount. Biggest issues I have seen are Valves and Lifters. The GM 5.3 has less than 300 HP and gets ~16-22MPG according to GM. This is a joke. We use WEX to buy all of our fuel and I can guarantee you will never see that kind of fuel economy in the real world. You aren't on a perfectly flat stretch of road 100% of the time. You will see ~13-17 if you are nice to it. It does this by shutting down half them engine when it does need it. This leads to lag when you punch it. The rear ends like to chatter and you will notice it after 75k.

IF you don't buy Toyota, Ford is not nearly as bad. We don't have any Ecoboost Fords so all of my experience is with the 5.0 and bigger. Biggest issue is with Water Pumps. 2 Generations ago it was a guarantee at some point. The engine/transmission will outlast the powertrain warranty without issue. Most of our Fords don't go to auction until around 160k with few issues. They will nickle and dime you with Ball Joints, wheel bearings, brakes, and tires but nothing huge. The Fords MAJOR issue is the Aluminum panels everywhere. You look at them and they get dented. The beds are a mess and crunch the tailgates if you set something on them. Exhaust manifolds will rot away in a few years.

I'm sure it's the same with all dealers but GM will scream bloody murder at 36,001 miles and not do a single thing. If you are lucky enough to get something covered under powertrain at GM, don't expect to get your truck back for 2-4 weeks because customer pay is ALOT more than warranty pay so they all give you every excuse known to man to not work on your truck right away. Luckily our GM rep is very forgiving and gets us reimbursed on a lot of repairs. We are lucky that we have a local Ford dealer that treats us very good on warranties. They are slow but cheap.

A few months ago we started getting our shipments of 2019 GMC 1500/2500's and 2019 Ford F-150/F-250's and Rangers. I have driven all of these trucks. The electric power steering makes it feel like you are driving a compact car. There is no feedback. The interiors aren't special(we order base models). Every truck these days has Bluetooth, SiriusXM, GPS, etc. I don't see what more anyone could want for technology.

Personally I have a 2019 Tundra 5.7 DC with SX package. I did not consider any other truck. The dealership I went to extends the powertrain out to 10/150,000. It has 381HP and if you step on it, you feel it. The technology in the truck is old but it works. Toyota claims 13/17 MPG and I average 15-16(driving on back roads to work). We got a nasty Rain/Freezing Rain/Snow mix last week. I didn't use 4WD and my traction control never activated. OEM parts are cheap(buying online) if you need them.

This is the real world, not a fairyland with blue skies and gumdrops every where. If you want to think about another truck, rent 1 for a couple weeks and then re-think your choice. I have heard good things about the new Rams but I don't trust Chrysler after 60,000 miles with any of their vehicles. Buy a Ford or GM and then come back here after a couple years and tell us how you made a huge mistake.

 

Thanks for taking the time to type out your fleet experiences. Great real world information.

 

What’s your negative response to this real world assessment @B737?

 

Check out this article. Tundra voted most reliable 9 out of 15 years.

https://pickuptrucktalk.com/2019/04/most-dependable-pickups-last-15-years/

 

No problems with my 19
22k oil changes and washes.
I might buy a 20 when deals are good

 

X2^ That is the main reason i went with the Tundra. I really liked the F150 but the tranny shifting was odd and 10 speed was pretty new in 2018. Glad I went with Tundra. No tss issues yet, did have rear differential resealed and passenger cam tower is seeping a bit but overall it feels like a solid truck. Just rolled 20k miles.

 

I think it boils down to "how often do you trade" and "how precious is your money".

To meet mandated EPA fleet averages, the complexity of modern 1/2 tons has become crazy. The higher the complexity, the lower the reliability...that's just math. We are all probably seeing the last grasps of gasoline before electric takes over (10 years from now maybe).

 

Always appreciated the fit and finish while wrenching on my Toyota (especially Tundra)and Lexus vehicles. Lower manufacturing quality difference with both Ford and Dodge.

 

I read up to post #15. Folks can always have their fears regarding reliability. I would characterize those folks as not long long long time Toyota owners.

I have had seven....yes---seven....new from the dealer Toyotas since late 1985. I have never had a "major" problem. Ever. Treat your Toyota right and it will treat you right in return.

One side note. My 1997 T100 has had this much money put into the factory air conditioning system >>> $0.00. 263,000 miles living in the deep South. That just amazes me that it has been rock solid reliable for these 22+ years.

 

Other than little issues and cam tower leaks from a year or two, this is a pretty boring site, issue wise. It's more like facespace or them other things which I have no idea what they are.