I have a decision to make...

Hello,I am new to the forum and new to Tundras as well. Our family has owned or does own a 4 Runner and 2 Highlanders so I am not new to Toyota quality of product.

I just purchased (last Thursday) a one owner, excellent condition, 2019 Platinum with the Xp package with 29,000 miles. This truck has everything and is in perfect condition with all service records etc. The two things I value most in a truck are safety and reliability. The Tundra obviously has the reliability part of the equation in spades. I investigated the NHTSA ratings and they were 4 star so I bought the truck. I then learned of the IIHS small offset "poor" rating and I am conflicted about keeping the truck as my wife rides with me quite a bit.

My question is should I

1) Keep the truck and not worry about the IIHS rating on one specific crash type.
2) Trade the truck on a 2022 with improved safety ratings but perhaps not as robust reliability.
3) Sell the truck and wait for a couple of years to assess the new generation reliability.

Thanks for any input!

 

Welcome from OKC! Keep the truck and replace the bumper.

 

I went about it this way.

Drive the truck for 3 years, have a deer jump out in front of you, upgrade to a one piece steel bumper.

But yeah, keep it.

 

Thanks for the responses, is there a preferred brand for the steel bumper?

 

I believe the poor rating was due to some compartment intrusion on the footwells when striking a concrete barrier with the truck during front offset crashes where the barrier lines up roughly with the headlight on one side but only about half as tall as the truck. I would keep the truck and not run into any concrete walls with that approach.

 

BTW your basic aftermarket steel bumper is not safety rated and likely does not have crumple zones for proper stress and damage dispersion so the forces would be directly transferred to your frame without any mitigation. You would want to look for one that is specifically crash test certified (of which there are very few examples, one being the ARB and one being the Ironman that i know for sure) or one that at least has crumple zones built into it. I bought my ironman one specifically for this reason, and it also happened to look amazing and priced very well.

 

Welcome from NY.

 

Beware, one modification usually leads to others. A good 25 grand from now your going to have a really nice well liked truck. Just wait and see!

 

Thanks guys. I will look into the crash rated bumpers for sure.