Not Impressed.

I know

 

So I'm guessing they must look like your wife then.

 

Of course. Don't all of us marry "up"?

 

That's the general appeal with full size trucks like the F-150, Silverado/Sierra, and Ram 1500 as well. Big enough, luxurious enough and capable enough. I don't think that many Tundra buyers will care or even know that it's based off TNGA-F. We might know it on here but not the general public. Toyota isn't touting the Tundra as the "SUV of trucks" nor advertising that it shares the same frame as the Land Cruiser. Instead they're focusing on MPG, technology, crawl control, panoramic sunroofs and luxury features that make catch up to the F-150.

I doubt many. Personally I haven't seen too many people Tundra owners cross over into Land Cruisers. I'm a Land Cruiser guy at heart and I would never trade my 200 series for a 40 series and I wouldn't trade it for a Gen 3 Tundra either. I think the Land Cruiser serves a particular niche and it appeals to a very specific customer base. Which explained the poor sales and eventual cancellation of it here in the US. Something like the Tundra and Sequoia has a wider and more accepted appeal to the general masses.

 

I would argue the Tundra has a limited appeal as well. If the new gen doesn't continue to excel in reliability it's toast. There's simply no other compelling reason to buy a Tundra, unless they discount the price to the other brands.

 

Agree with this. I only buy tundra for the peace of mind. It literally does nothing else better than the competition. I really want the hybrid f150 but I just don’t wanna deal with any potential headaches .

 

Nissan Titans are overlooked. They make a great truck with great #’s for 1/2 tons. If I didn’t need a 3/4 ton for work I’d take a look at Nissan. I drove a Nissan Frontier for several years at work. We currently have 2 in the fleet. Ones a 2005 and ones a 2011. The 05 just got retired at 250k and the the 11 is just over 200k and still running. I have a respect for Nissan that I didn’t have before.

 

I drove a 07 Nissan Titan and got it up to 200k. Let my dad have it and he’s been driving it and is nearly at 260k and still holding up find with normal
Maintenance.

 

The reduced cargo volume for the 2023 Sequoia leaves me kind of cold. The cargo volume was a big deal when we bought the used '19. I don't need an SRA and locker to emulate a Land Cruiser. I value cargo volume.

Truck bed vs SUV is all about compromises. My old Lab back in 2014 decided to rub herself into a dead skunk. Imagine the stench in an SUV. She was all happy with herself but the stench was eyewatering. I had the '05 Tundra with a topper so she goes into the bed. The topper had a cloth headliner and it took a week and few bottles of Febreeze to reduce the stench.

 

Reliability trumps everything for me. It’s not even close. It’s crazy to me that people avoid the 2nd gen Tundra because of fuel economy to get 2-3 more MPG out of truck that costs more to own over five years. The psychology of the MPG gauge on the dash is fascinating to me. Paying a bit more every month in fuel keeps me from costly repairs and time that my truck is out of service.

I agree that 7.2kW generator would be nice, and I’d use it all the time. Not willing to drive a Ford to get it though.

 

I looked at a Titan recently and didn't get past the fact that it only had ~100 lbs more payload than my Tundra.

 

Thank you for that, finally someone said it.

 

Shouldn't be too hard to tap into into the 280V inverter lines going to the hybrid battery and add your own 7kw inverter for $400 aftermarket mod.

 

I finally saw one up close and personal today, for reference I have a 21 pro.

wnat I saw was a peel white limited crew max. Man it left me scratching my head. The bed looked smaller , maybe more shallow? Also is the hood a lot lower? It just seemed smaller in every way. First thing my wife said is “why is it so long?”. Lol

 

I think stock it is lower than gen 2.5 and yes the hood is really long. You literally have to lift these truck and put bigger tires on them to make them look proportionate. I did however see a lifted gen 3 crew max 6.5ft bed and with the lift and tires it looks just right.

 

Bed is more shallow. Was able to close hard cover with table saw in back before, not now.

 

Man that could be a deal breaker for me then. Wtf happened? I’m so disappointed because I don’t want to get a f150 or another brand, but this thing has so many odd little misses . Fortunately my current tundra will last forever but I’d love to get into something more updated with better fuel economy eventually.

 

That must of been why the 1794 I saw looked so odd to me.

 

A Tacoma

 

Right, the jury is still out in reliability, so nobody can say for sure. This truck could turn out to be just as reliable as the gen 2

But I wasn't comparing the gen 2 reliability to the gen 3, I was saying that the Gen 2 had reliability on Ford, Dodge, and Chevy, while the gen 3 could have reliability and the creature comforts that some will find better

 

I'm not saying reliability compared to the new gen. I am saying reliability compared to Ford, Chevy, and Dodge

But yeah, I like the 2nd gens but I didn't want to spend new truck money on a truck that pretty much came out in 2007. I don't blame anyone who thinks the opposite of me. My two favorite vehicles are 3rd gen 4runners and 1st gen tacomas. If I had to pick one vehicle to keep the rest of my life it would probably be a 2004 Tacoma - super simple and super reliable

 

A lift and bigger tires to "Look right"? I am probably the outlier here, but this stuff looks ridiculous to me. If you need it for serious off roading that's one thing but as a style statement that actually penalizes MPG and on road handling, they are a big fail.

 

We must be brothers from a different mother. My family has the same problem.

 

Agreed. People make decisions for all kinds of reasons. I'm mostly a function over form guy myself. I have seen a lot of "it'll look right with a lift and bigger tires" comments regarding the 3rd gen. I'm simply pointing out in meme form what others have said – better fuel economy than the 2nd gen or lift/tires; pick one.

 

I don’t agree with the”looks ridiculous” part however I agree 100% with your main point.

I have been down that rabbit hole many times and really came to the conclusion that larger/aggressive tires or larger lifts don’t accomplish much if anything when your behind the wheel on the highway taking your family somewhere. Which is where my trucks are used 99.999% of the time with towing thrown in.

Honestly I have used small spacers (less than 1 inch front lift) to raise the front of my last few Toyota trucks. I don’t like the stuffed wheel look hence why I do that. And recently I installed the Coachbuilder shackle (.65 rear lift). However the ride quality improvement alone was worth it.

I am as happy as a clam and in the end have a lot more coins in my pocket…

 

I'll clarify on my "looks right" statement here. The new Tundra is longer, lower and has larger wheel wells than a gen 2.5. So IMO it looks disproportionately off, almost comparable to something like a 2015 Chevy Silverado fleet truck especially the CM longbed. I'm not saying it needs a 3" lift and 35" tires but +1 size tires w/wo a small lift would make it look a little more proportionate.

I don't mod my trucks for looks, everything has had a function. My 2013 LC and 2006 Tundra are both stock and yet it "looks right" and that's because everything is designed proportionately in relation with each other (size of vehicle, ground clearance, wheel wells, tire size). There will be ways to make the 3rd gen Tundra look better without significantly changing the driving dynamics of the truck and without looking like a poser either.

 

Must say I saw a shinny new Red ‘22 today on the road with a spacer lift and 35in tires (that’s what our local stealerdealership does to justify the $15k markup!) and it looked pretty menacing going down the road. That took it from the Honda Ridgeline stance and turned it into a real truck real quick. I’d say that’s exactly what that truck needs to get more folks to like the overall aesthetics and overall appeal as “Not Impressed” is what many may feel when they come stock from the factory…

 

So I finally got a chance to check out and test drive the 22 Tundra. It was an SR5 CM short bed with the 14" infotainment, PVM, AVS and a few other features. As mentioned above, I have a refundable deposit on a 2022 Limited CM long bed TRD-OR. The purpose of my truck is for a camper build. So whatever truck I decided on needed to be capable enough of platform to handle those duties. I'm typically one to buy once, cry once and do it right the first time so if I decided to spend $60k on a truck it needs to be the right platform for it.

My initial impressions are neutral. It's definitely an upgrade over the gen 2.5 (in many facets) and yet didn't blow me away either. Lets start with the pros. Looks are subjective so I won't comment on that too much but I think it's a nice looking truck. The interior is very nice IMO. I thought fit and finish were pretty good and subjective feel is positive. The black interior is very clean looking, everything is laid out well, and it looks modern, especially with the giant 14" LCD which is fantastic. Once you see the 14" in person you won't want to go back to the 8" screen. I know a lot people don't like the 14" screen because it sticks up like an iPad and the 8" is more flush but I'd rather not squint if I don't have to. Lots of nice cubbies, slots to store items like your wallet, phone and nice sized adjustable cup holders for various sized containers. Interior room is large enough for me. I believe it is smaller than the previous gen but TBH it's still quite large inside and plenty for me to feel comfortable. You can absolutely fit 4 full sized adults comfortably in there. Seat comfort and adjustability were good as well. I have no complaints about the interior really and I think Toyota nailed it in this area. PVM is quite advanced and one should have zero issues parking it with all the cameras and sensors. Toyota nailed it on the interior and tech for sure.

Where I think the Tundra fails is the driving experience and this along with truck functionality is where my biggest gripes lie. The hood is really large which is fine but the hood lines have an aggressive inward angle. In the past the way Toyota has designed their trucks is that the hood lines indicate where your tires are pointing and would be located. So if I'm crawling over a rock I know exactly where my tire is and where to place it. The new hood design ignores this principle which was always very helpful in my 4Runner(s) and current Land Cruiser. It was a little difficult for me to get a feel of tire placement and lane centering because of this but I'm sure I just need more drive time in it but the lines threw me off for a second. Plus with all the cameras that should make it easier to see what obstacles are ahead over the looming hood. The powertrain is fine, definitely gets up and goes the way you want it to for a full size truck. I don't have a lead foot and drive pretty conservatively so it's perfectly fine. What I get annoyed with is the drone. It has a drone that is very similar to the Tacoma's 2GR-FKS which I never liked and I always preferred the sound of the 1GR-FE which had a little more of a low end grumble even for a V6. It was an SR5 so there was no augmented noise so I'm sure upper trims "sound" better. Lack of tow hooks has been discussed and my only complaint about it is not that it doesn't come with them but that it does not have accommodations to even add rated recovery points. For instance, I bought ARB rated recovery points for my 200 series LC which is simply added by 2 bolts in stock locations. If they weren't going to include them at least have a way to mount them. The truck bed is fine and I'm sure the composite will hold up. I still don't understand the rear bumper design and from a functionality stand point it makes accessing the bed more difficult. What I mean by that is the the side of the rear bumper sits flush with the rear quarter panel and bedside. The only way to step up is directly from behind via the center section of the bumper. On a more traditional bumper the entire thing acts as a big step. If Toyota is not going to add built-in steps like GMC, ladder & pole like Ford, or do tailgate tricks like the GMC then make the bumper functional. As others have mentioned, the driving experience is kind of numb. You feel a little disconnected from the road which I suppose is helpful to prevent distractions while driving. I haven't driven the F150 yet but I'd imagine it might be similar. The Tundra overall feels like a larger Tacoma, for better or for worse.

So overall my experience is neutral. I wasn't impressed or blown away by the truck but I don't see any deal breakers either. The cons are things that I can live with and are easily adaptable over time. I'm still undecided on my deposit and will think about this a bit more. I'll need to test drive some of the competition before I make my decision but not quite ready to move forward with the Tundra for now.

 

You lost me with the logic on this one.