Going to buy a 3rd gen Platinum!

Alright so, back in early April an elderly woman ran a stop sign and crashed into my tundra. I’ve been hashing it out w/ insurance for the past 3 months and we’re finally coming to a conclusion. So naturally now comes the time to buy a new tundra. I had a 2nd gen SR5, and now I’ve decided I want a 2.5 gen platinum. The only issue is whether I should buy a pre or post 2018… I know that they have quite a few more safety features that can be quite irritating. Can you turn them off? Are the pre 2018 2.5 gens really that outdated on the interior? I had a 2013 so I’m already used to it. I do quite like the updated gauge cluster and dash. Is the amount of new features going to hurt reliability with more things to go wrong? I’d love to hear all of your thoughts!!!

Also, I attached is a pic of the damage, and yes… some-fucking-how insurance totaled this

 

My 2017 SR and 2021 SR5 seats I think were identical. The big difference to me was the big screen/carplay/android auto (but relative to other new cars this screen isn’t big anyways). The actual electronics and interior to the driver look the same, slightly different gauge cluster. The extra Toyota safety sense stuff is super annoying in my 2021 vs the 2017. There are alot more low mileage 2020/2021s out there than older years though and usually the same price relative to mileage (no discount for age).

 

I reduced TSS sensitivity to medium or low and it does not bother me anymore. Adaptive cruise is very clunky in Toyotas, I don't use it (can turn it off for normal cruise).

 

I"m partial to the '18, but don't think the platinum interior changed from at least 2014-2021. I still find it luxurious, real leather and real comfortable seats unlike the new ones. The '18 is the only year with trans cooler, but also all the safety features. I never turn on lane departure, but appreciate the rear cross traffic alert and blind spot monitoring.

My biggest drawback to the '18 is that most seem to be flex fuel in upper level trims. This sucks with winter gas that seems to mess with ECU and confuse alcohol percentage in the fuel causing long starts in winter months. 2020 and 2021 upper level trims are almost all non flex fuel.

Also, '18s and 19s have no Carplay or pushbutton start, or keyless entry. 2020 and 2021s do have Carplay, push button start and keyless entry. New head unit or trans cooler is something you can add, non flex fuel not so easy. So while I love my '18, I would probably go 2020 0r 2021 if shopping today.

 

the safety features on the 2019+ are not intrusive at all.

 

Love my 2019 Platinum. No complaints about the safety features other than adaptive cruise, which I don’t use anyways.

 

I went from an '07 SR5 with cloth seats that were super comfortable (probably because they were broken in) to a '16 Limited I bought used with 40k on it and the seats were still like milk crates. I now have the 2019 Platinum and while not perfect are far better than the seats in the '16, my only wish is/ was Apple CarPlay and keyless fob. Long story on a last minute deal when I bought the '19 so I didn't know they weren't available until 2020, but I have no problems or regrets with my 2019.

 

My .02 - Get a post 2018, add a transmission cooler if you tow. I suggest buying a 2021 trd pro or sr5 sport. No chrome to remove. Pro has most of the limited and platinum interior upgrades.

Good luck.

 

I have a 19 SR5, wife drives a 22 Sequoia TRD PRO (last year of V8), which is based on Limited, I think? I like cloth interior lot more. TRD PRO is not as luxurious as my other past cars were or the remaining Swedish car still is. Also it's not a real leather in Toyota, I think. While shopping, I was not impressed by Platinum at all and took it off my "must have" list.

I also had to add the cooler to my Tundra, even that I don't tow. Seeing pan temps close to 230 cruising 50 MPH in 50ish degree weather is not good. For some reason, cooler-less Sequoia does not overheat. It is half ton heavier than stock Tundra was, but temps are OK. Maybe that little electric fan helps with the cooling.

 

I have a 2016 and a 2021. They are both SR5, so I can't comment on trim differences at the Platinum level.

I thought I was gonna hate the TSS features on the 2021, but to my surprise they don't bother me at all. You can turn all of them off except pre-collision, and you'll never know the pre-collision is there, under normal conditions.

As a proud Luddite who despises all nanny features (and anything that beeps/dings/chimes at me), I can say the 2021 has never once annoyed me. I wish it had a tranny cooler, but for now I still do all my towing with my old 2016 workhorse (which currently boasts 256K on the clock).

 

I have turned off all the dings and noises from the safety systems in my 2021. Now she has the old school feel of no warnings telling you what to do and the smooth as butter operation of a 2021 vehicle

Whichever way you go, I think you'll be just fine. I know the Gen 3's are getting slaughtered right now, but they will get that under control and are already taking steps to. I will not hesitate to buy a gen 3 when my 21 gets passed to my boy

 

My personal preference and 2 cents is that 16’ and 17’ are the best years. You can get the SR5 with the upgrade package at a minimum to get the 38 gallon tank. They have a trans cooler, and no TSS which I personally prefer. I also prefer a real key not a keyless fob. My wife’s Rav4 has the keyless fob and it drives both of us mad, but maybe we are weird.

With these years you can also get a remote start like StartX for very cheap and it will actually stay running when you open then door unlike later years. You can also add a CarPlay headunit rather affordably and easily, as well as OEM LED headlights. I guess it all depends how much you like the TSS features vs the old school truck experience. I’m not one to use or enjoy the radar cruise or Lane assist type of features, I’ve used them on our RAV4 and they’re mostly annoying and sometimes feel hazardous in their own way.

 

I vote 20-21. I really enjoy keyless entry and push button start.

How many miles did your 13 have? The damage doesn’t look horrible from what I can tell

 

The 2014-2021 trucks are pretty much the same inside. The biggest differences are the later years with Toyota Safety Sense. I really like my 2021 SR5. It's still pretty basic compared to modern trucks, but the tech it has is perfect. TSS is pretty much in the background; I've never had the emergency braking come on and I leave lane monitoring shut off. Adaptive cruise is awesome and works wonderfully (even with a trailer, which Toyota says you're not supposed to do). I like the push button start and keyless entry. It's nice to just walk up to the truck, touch the handle, and it unlocks. Same goes for locking; just tap the front of either front door handle and it locks. I never get the fob out unless I need to unlock the tail gate. The radio works much better than the older Entune units (I've had a 2014 Tacoma TRD Sport and 2017 4Runner SR5 Premium).

The transmission cooler is a non-issue if you're not towing. If you are towing you can add one with the combination of aftermarket cooler and the OEM parts (See Genuine Cooling Systems kit for details) and it'll be better than the mediocre fin and tube cooler that comes in the older trucks. I added the Genuine Cooling Systems kit to my truck, ordered it back when they had the Improved Racing MHX as an option. The main reason is my truck is a recreational vehicle and spends half the time with a 5k trailer on the hitch and a bed full of stuff.

Overall I've been very pleased with my 2021. It's never had any warranty work done and it's been perfect. Easily the best vehicle I've ever owned.

 

For clarification I will say TSS in 2021 is annoying in some specific situations: 1) Cruise control is automatically radar cruise and you have to manually override to do constant speed mode 2) Snow/ice/heavy rain in my area (and use case) will cause the front sensor to malfunction and light up the dash with warnings it isn’t working and repeat the warnings. This happens snow wheeling/in the mountains and remains on for hours 3) Bull bars and winches need to be installed/designed to avoid blocking the sensors line of sight otherwise will permanently light up the dash with errors.

For most use cases if you dial down the TSS sensitivity and don’t use stuff like lane assist/don’t heavily modify the truck you won’t notice any issues with TSS.

I’ll never sell my 2021 and plan on getting another 5.7 Tundra of some flavor haha.