Anyone buy a Tundra as a family vehicle?

I started out with an 08 Tundra CM and my wife had an 08 Sequioa. We loved both vehicles. The truck always came in handy considering we could hall all our needs. The back seat as you know is huge. My kids are 6 and 8 now and there car seats are now booster seats. Im on my second tundra and wife got a gx460 since we always took the truck every where. Bed does get wet not sure if its the same with a cap so a dry stroller is something you need to think about. But overall can and will be a great family vehicle.

 

Tundra is a great family vehicle. I have a crewmax with a 5 and 2 year old. Also have a Lexus LX570 as well. With my Lexus (or if you had a sequoia) have to be more delicate with the interior with all the leather and stuff, but with the truck, I can throw things in the back like plywood, restaurant equipment, anything heavy without worrying about banging stuff around. Plus great for longer trips if you want to haul more things. Kids love the crewmax being so large. Just a comfortable vehicle to drive. Kids may need some help getting in when they are younger, but after a few years they get in without any issues.

 

For now an access cab is okay, But my kids are in their teens now so I have to move up a notch.

 

I had the first gen Sequoia when my kids [2] were little. Great family SUV. Able to carry a small village with the 3rd row and still had space for luggage. Kids got older. I opted for the Tundra. For me, the Sequoia worked great when kids were younger and we had to bring more of their stuff. Older kids dont need as much junk so the truck worked better to haul their bikes, ski stuff, caming gear, move them to and from college, etc. Now with no kids, Crewmax to tow my boat and carry all of my stuff!

 

CM is an excellent family vehicle! My kids are 7 and 4. My wife drives a '15 Highlander and my boys would rather take my truck any day of the week because of the huge amount of space. Add a bedcover or camper shell for more storage if necessary

 

I am a family of 3. I have a 3 year old and although I would like to have another kid, my wife doesn't. Our Tundra is our family car and does everything we need it to do. A minivan could probably do the job but I wouldn't be caught dead driving one. We love to go camping and take long roadtrips so my Tundra TRD Pro is a comfortable vehicle to fit that need. I live in NYC so the stock Fox suspension setup pretty much eats up all the bumps and potholes we have on our roads here. The 5.5' bed suits our needs for all the camping gear and luggage that we haul along. In the future I may buy a small camper trailer, a boat/wave runner, and a 1 car trailer, so the Tundra should be able to tow it with ease.

 

Can't talk from experience but i have two golden labs. An wanted something that would last me for ever an be able to carry a wife an kids. I do sometimes wish i bough a Sequoia for the trunk space for bigger subs lolbut it comes down to do you want inside storage or out side storage. Both are suited well.

Currently with a passenger and two labs in the back seat i still have floor room for all luggage for traveling so i have nothing in the bed. Dont want to have to worry about stuff their or weather an securing it. Lots of room in the cab an thats with the rear seats a little bit for ward for my 2 subwoofers

 

That’s what I have. I have a little Tacoma for a work truck and the Tundra for the Nice weekend family vehicle.

 

Have a tundra and a pilot. We just checked out options for dumping the pilot. We went out checked the sequoia but it just feel short for us the tundra felt way bigger inside. But we use the tundra for the mountains and the family land that we have trips things like that but I think we’re going for the Ford Expedition. Just more options better gas a lot more room

 

One thing to consider as well is that The Sequoia is easier to drive- much better turning radius, we own a 12 Sequoia and a 17 crew max. My wife does not like parking the truck in a crowded lot. We always drive the Sequoia if it’s the whole family going

 

Tundra, V8, CrewMax and a shell for all the kids crap + bike rack on hitch..lol..ready to roll for trips...

 

Honestly, for a family with 3 small kids you can’t beat a minivan. I’d be looking at the Sienna. Sliding doors make all the difference with little ones. Also, by removing some of the seats, you can have a huge amount of interior space for stuff. We have an Odyssey.

We were behind a newish Tahoe the other day in the grocery pickup lane. I was floored by how little cargo space there was. It was a three row with half of the third row folded forward. I would think a Sequoia would be similar.

 

We can still fit an average size ice chest or a large case of waters from Costco behind our third row on our Sequoia

 

We use the Tundra as a family vehicle. We have done several 3,000 mile road trips in it, and everyone likes it. My kids are 21 and 16 (6'-4" and 5'-9") and loves the room in the back seat of the crewmax. There is more than enough room in the bed (although it is always full because when there is room they seem to find more stuff to take with them.)
But yes, it makes a great family vehicle.


It also makes a great vehicle to go tail-gating at the drive-in movies.

 

The lack of height is part of what surprised me. The floor height is above the hatch opening. Whereas in a unibody van or SUV, the cargo area can be much lower. Looking at pictures on the web, I think I could fit a double jogging stroller and not much more in a Sequoia with the seats up. I doubt that’s much different from OP’s Pilot.

Now if we talking about serious off-roading or towing, this is a different discussion.

That said, I love my Tundra. We just don’t use it for most trips unless we need the capabilities it has that the van doesn’t. For a long highway road trip, it’s the minivan every trip.

 

I drove a brand new Sequoia for a Client 1500 miles to drop it off at their mountain cabin at Christmas and I was really stunned by the lack of usable space inside?
I went to do some work there too and so I had tools and materials for that as well as furniture and crap for the house and I pulled a small U-Haul trailer too.

The Sequoia back seats are terrible as seats I am told and when lowered they do not vanish to anywhere either so they are really still in the cargo space big time and eat up the height back there even folded down?

The middle row slides only but can not come out of the truck and while they can give a whole lot pf legroom they are always in the way too and can not fold even flat like the back row and unless at either extreme of travel they don't lock in place and can just slam back and forth constantly which is pretty annoying to me.

Anyway I don't know which size of Tundra is the same as a Sequoia but I was not at all eager to get my own after that trip and instead looked at the Sienna and Tundra instead.

The Tundra seems to be cavernous for hauling in any size compared to the Sequoia,the Sequoia is clearly more plush and comfy as an SUV maybe but not setup for carrying things in the same way at all.

I rented a Caravan to drive home with my stuff and was again amazed at how much more capable a hauler the Mini Van is than the full sized SUV though I make the same trip at least twice a year and always come away realizing the same thing too?

The AWD Sienna are insane in snow too it turns out!

 

I wouldn’t be caught dead driving a mimi van haha

 

Ha! I have three young daughters. I do things every day that I’d would have said I wouldn’t be caught dead doing.

For families with more than 2 kids that don’t need the capabilities of a truck, a van can be a great vehicle.

Try getting three kids four and younger into a vehicle, in a downpour, with cars parked close on each side, all kids in 5 point harnesses. With the sliding doors my wife can open the door as they’re running to the van, her and the girls pile in, and her close the door, buckling them all up in their car seats with the doors closed. Also, the sliding doors prevent countless door dings.

 

Once you get over the compensation issues and realize it doesn't matter, go get a minivan and you will be surprised how versatile and awesome it is as a family vehicle. We had 4 minivans over the last 20 years and I had no issues driving it. They are comfortable and with the seating setup and the many ways you can configure it, it is by far the most practical vehicle on the market.

 

Iin my opinion you will love the sequioa for your family needs.

I had a 2016 Tundra crewmax and while the space was great , comfortable and roomy , it didn't work out best for our situation.

Rainy days suck in a truck especially if your hauling baby cargo... in my case it was soccer gear and martial arts gear. It wasn't fun when the kids fell asleep in the truck and had to lean on each other or along the back seat.

After 2 years with it it was just time to switch it up so the wife got a 2018 Sequioa.

That thing has so much room to haul all our things and kids things around. We even moved out of our house with it when we sold early last year. Having the kids able to walk around inside the Sequioa and gear up for thier activities without having to get all wet in the truck bed is great and now the kids can recline the rear seats to sleep when we take long trips.

My kids are 7 and 11 now. (5 and 9 when we got it.)

Everyone's situation is different but for us it was the right decision to get the sequioa.

 

I'm sure you will be fine with a crewmax. I know the Sequoia and the Tundra platform are identical, but the 2020 Sequoia looks straight outta '07(minus the led headlamps)...

 

Yeah I’ll admit it I’m very vain. I’m what you would probably call a young whippersnapper. I’m sure you looked very cute in your practical mimi van too.

 

We have two kids and a dog and the Tundra is our only vehicle. I think CC short boxes are perfect for family duty, especially when the toys get bigger. Only drawback is no extra seats for their friends... but phuk those other bugger-eaters.

I’d have seriously considered a Sequoia if it had the larger fuel tank. Don’t think you can go wrong with either option.

 

OP seems most worried about cargo volume. It’s easy to look up specs for comparison. Sequoia cargo volume isn’t that much different from the pilot OP has now. Around 18 cubic foot behind third row. Odyssey is about 2x the cargo volume behind the third row. Plus body on frame vehicle will be worse when you start considering folding/storing seats.

Another funny thing is the cargo capacity in lbs of my Odyssey is greater than my Tundra.

Yeah, you can fit a lot in a Tundra bed and the backseat is huge, but it’s not ideal for baby support gear. I wouldn’t recommend as a primary family vehicle for families with small kids unless you *need* a truck for the below reasons:

Sliding doors
Crash ratings
Keeping stuff dry in bed
Can’t reach kids from front seat to hand them stuff in Crewmax
Cost to buy and operate
Did I say sliding doors?

 

I went from Tacoma to Tundra; wife has a volvo XC60 and the Tundra has become the family vehicle for our fam of 3 not including 2 dogs that make long trips with us. Truck is awesome and I must remind her regularly that it is mine. I am considering a Tundra for her next vehicle.

 

Everyone of my friends that has kids ended up using vans as the family truckster, mainly because they stopped making full size station wagons. Toyota makes the best family vans in the world... I just wish they would produce an AWD work van.

 

I use an AWD Previa for years as a work truck and it was terrific but I got laughed off of a lot of jobsites with them!

On the other hand I never had to be towed off of them unlike a lot of domestic trucks either!

 

We are 4 kids deep. I never have all four with me without her since they are 3, 18 mos, and the twins are a few months old. We ride dirty in the Sienna when we bring the 6 pack, for trips to grandma's and Lowe's when its me and the older two monsters we load up "daddy's tuck" and get after it.