Help my friend he wants a Titan

The author did say, and I quote:

"It was 28 years ago that an American auto executive confidently told me, "The Japanese will never figure out how to build a full size, luxury automobile."

Wrong. As mllions of Lexus owners will attest, Japanese engineers and designers can, indeed, conceive and craft cars that soothe the senses and delight the driver."

And followed up with:

"instead of trucks that delight and amaze, Nissan's Titan factory in Canton, Mississippi, and Toyota's Tundra plant in San Antonio continue to crank out trucks that stay at least two steps behind F-150, Silverado and Ram. The great ride, lush interiors and innovative engines and technology found in today's trucks all originated in Detroit. The Japanese seem content to play catch-up with good-not-great pickups."

I'm not sure if anyone has driven in a Ram 1500 with air suspension, but it rides better than a caddy.

Then the author compliments the Tundra:

"Nor am I attempting to lump Titan and Tundra in the same basket. Toyota's pickup is outselling Nissan's four-to-one and has much better reliability ratings and resale values. If you're in the market for a used pickup, it's a smart play."

Numbers don't lie, and I really don't care how you slice that pie. It is what it is. I do believe that the 4th gen Tundra is going to bury the competition, and in my opinion already partially does. I wouldn't purchase any other 1/2 ton truck than the Tundra.

"The cause may not be clear, but the effect is. Through the first six months of 2017, for every Titan or Tundra sold in the U.S., eleven F-150s, Silverados, Sierras, or Rams went home with customers. In the world of pickups, brand loyalty runs deep, but as tens of thousands of people who used to build Cadillacs and Lincolns can attest, American consumers will change their minds when given good reason. Heck, they'll change spouses without one.

A wise man once told me that when one is going up an established company, being as good as the other guy won't do: You gotta be better. The failure of Toyota and Nissan to do that suggests their board rooms are satisfied with a small slice of the large and lucrative American truck pie."

And then the mic drop, and sad reality for the Titan XD:

"Is the XD a good deal? One must read reams of spec pages to figure this out, but a well-equipped, regular cab, diesel-powered, 4WD Nissan runs around $43,070. Add niceties like running boards, spray-on bed liner, 20-inch wheels, rear monitors and parking sensors (which it really needs), a 110-volt outlet and Nissan's nifty track system for tying things down, and you're north of $45,000. A similarly equipped Super Duty F-250, for example, will sticker around $2,000 to $3,000 more, but for that, you get better more payload and a greater towing capacity.

The big Ford also gets better fuel economy. The EPA does not rate these things, but the last time we tooled a half-ton Ford around town we got around 18 mpg. We averaged a little better than 16 with the Titan XD."

 

It actually rates better than the CTD option. Funny that so many people (including myself x 2) went down the rabbit hole thinking the cummins is the best engine in a light duty truck.

 

You wanna know what's funny, I can't ever recall seeing a Tundra on the side of the road broke down. Never. This is one of my "quirks" and pay attention to things like this.

That is all anyone ever needs to know when buying a truck. I seen two dodges (pre 2007), one Ram, a 6.4 diesel Ford on the side of the road in all my moving mileage today. (148 miles of towing)

 

It's rare I see any Toyota on the side of the road. Def see more Chevys and Dodges than any other.

 

Yep. I see a lot of the domestics on the side of the road. Now the ratio is 11-1 chance of that happening, but like we all agree on, rarely a Toyota. That is why I have two in my driveway.