Sequoia buying tips, good years, avoiding rust, under $10k

Thinking about buying a used Sequoia for a extra vehicle. What should I be looking for? What years are good, bad, rust , well known issues, what questions to ask the owners, etc. I know a lot about Tacoma’s, Tundras, and 4runners, but nothing about Sequoia. Trying to stay as far under 10k as possible. Thanks for the help!

 

My wife has a 2008 with 130,000 miles on it. Picked it up used with 38000 miles on it. It’s been a great SUV.

 

Man, as far as I know, there’s nothing to look out for. My wife just got a new Platinum Sequoia a couple of months ago.
Her previous one was a 2012 Limited Sequoia. She put over 200k miles on it, and not a single thing ever broke or went wrong with it. I mean nothing. Nothing mechanical, no interior issues, electrical, or anything.
In eight years and all those miles, we didn’t have to do anything but maintenance, brakes, tires, battery, and bulbs.
They are truly exceptional vehicles. Nothing I’ve driven has ridden as smooth or been as comfortable. When it came time for my wife to get a new one, she hated everything else she test drove. She went with another Sequoia even with it’s outdated technology.

Here’s a picture of her old one. 8 years old, 200,000 miles on it, and even the paint still looked great. I can’t recommend a Sequoia enough. You’ll love it.

 

I would imagine since they are pretty close to the Tundra as far as parts go that they would have the exact same symptoms as the Tundra?

I do not know hardly anyone that has owned one but they seem like they are about as reliable as any SUV?

My wife is dying for one and wants to trade her 17 4Runner Limited in in one. I told her to wait a couple years and see if they follow the Tundra revamp.

 

Only thing wrong with it was the color; so she upgraded

 

Haha. She got a ticket this morning. 94 in a 65! I’m not saying it’s a sign, but she never got a ticket in the MGM.

 

Almost 30 over the speed limit; that can't be good.

 

Got pulled over right where it dropped from 75 to 65. She says either he’s full of it or her speedometer is off. This is the first ticket she’s ever gotten in her life, and she’s been driving since 1990.

 

How does one not know they are going 94mph?

 

No clue. I’ve known how fast I was going every time I’ve been pulled over. My record is 88, so no clue on this one. Considering she doesn’t drive like that, and has never gotten a ticket, I’m pretty confused.

 

We have a 2015 Sequoia with about 60k on it (bought new). The only issue we have had is a leak on the dipstick tube. Only about $100 fix. Other than that the only expenses have been gas and tires. For some reason my wife can burn through tires - we are on the 3rd set already.

I honestly think the Sequoias have better build quality than the Tundras. Nearly everything in our Sequoia is nicer than my Tundra. I expect ours to last 300k unless the kids totally thrash it.

 

Uh, have you ever heard the story of Elk Hunter?

 

The first Gen Sequoias have the 4.7 liter V-8 that has a timing belt that needs changing every 90,000 miles. It also does not have hydraulic valve lash compensators and the clearances need to be checked at about the same time as the belt change. This is the same engine as the first Gen Tundras. Great engine other than the maintenance issues. I am going to guess that the second Gen Sequoias came out around 2008 or so with the 5.7 liter V-8 (maintenance-free timing chain + hydraulic valve lash compensators).

Dan

 

But were you driving a DeLorean??

 

Damn, y’all must be old. She’s been driving as long as I’ve been alive.


OP: I was doing some research on sequoias 2 years ago right before I bought my tundra. I really couldn’t find anything bad to say. Similar things in terms of “problems” that the tundra has (cam tower seal, vibes with mud tires, etc).
I did notice the resale value is on a whole nother scale compared to the tundra.
I saw similar age and mileage sequoias sometimes $10k less than tundras. I couldn’t figure out why.
They max out towing at somewhere near 7 or 8k pounds.
I actually went to the dealership looking for sequoias the day I bought my tundra.

 

Ahem, I think I speak for the older gentalmen here when I say...”Get off my Lawn!!!!”

 

You sure about this? Never seen this mentioned in the 1st gen section. The timing belt yes, but not this.

 

Yes. The 4.7 liter V-8 in the first gen Sequoia is the same engine I had in my 2006 Tundra. Shims under buckets. In 225,000 miles I never had to change a shim but some of the clearances were approaching minimums.

Dan

 

My wife is holding out for the TRD sequoia or new body style

 

More info (from Engine Specs.net):

Cylinder head
The cylinder heads are made of aluminum alloy, with a cross-flow type intake and exhaust layout and with pentroof type combustion chambers. The 2UZ-FE engine has dual overhead camshafts design (DOHC) with four valves per cylinder (32 valves in total). The intake camshafts are driven by the timing belt, and a gear on the intake camshaft engages with a gear on the exhaust camshaft to drive it. In 2007, the engine began to use the VVTi (Variable Valve Timing-intelligent) system.

The intake valve head diameter is 34.5 mm (1.3583 in) and the exhaust valve diameter is 29.0 mm (1.1417 in). To actuate the valves, this engine used inner-shim type, steel valve lifters that are crowned on the side-sliding portion to reduce friction. For the engine version after 2007, lead-free valve seats are used.

The 2UZ-FE motor was not equipped with hydraulic valve lifters, therefore special shims are used to adjust the valve clearance.

The early version of the 2UZ-FE engine had a cast aluminum intake manifold, a plastic intake manifold was used for the 2UZ-FE engine after 2007.

 

Oh damn... some places in VA that may get you a weekend in jail. That’s reckless driving. Oh snap.

 

Thanks for all the responses. I’m going to looks around for a decent used one, it’s not unusual to see many of them with over 200k around here.

 

We purchased a 1 owner 2008 Sequoia Limited with 190,000 miles for $9,900 cash 2 years ago. They had all the service records printed out from the Toyota Dealer where it was serviced.

Now with 217,000 miles all we’ve done is brakes and oil changes

If you don’t mind something a little older with over 100k Miles you can get screaming deals if you take your time to look around

 

Bought a 2014 sequoia new and it’s been a great vehicle. No issues whatsoever. My wife mainly drives it hauling around the kids so mileage is low. I think around 45,000.

It’s fun to drive too. Quick for its size and handles extremely well.

 

Do these have the same tower issues and tundras?

 

I may be wrong...:but I don’t think there’s a 5.7 that’s exempt

I assume since they have the same engine they could have the same issues