Tundras live: Where Dumb Dad Jokes get you banned, Incorrect Opinions, and Relationship Advice.

Should be pretty sweet. My Tundra is paid off, and going back to payments again will sort of suck, but it's only going to be 35k over 48 months.

 

Yes, no payments is beautiful, but it doesn't smell like a new truck!

 

I've got the same window shopping addiction.
If someone I know is in the market for a vehicle, I will research the shit out of that rig and try to find them the right one.

 

I can't say I'll research the shit out of it, but I will look into them and see what it out there. Get a feel for going prices kind of thing and then report back to them.

 

My buddy has a new Ram 2500. I know, friends don't let friends buy Fiat but he had a Ram 1500 and the transmission went out, $5,000 got it fixed then someone t-boned him and he liked the big computer screen in the new 2500. Mind you he doesn't even have PC skills but that screen is big and looks good.

So far he likes it. I like the truck too and I did have an '89 Ram 1500 with a Magnum v8 and 5 speed manual. Sold that in 2004 for my Titan, bought another Titan in 2015 then the Tundra. Never could get my local Ford or Chevy dealers to come off sticker and drop add-ons so I have no real experience with them other than from the passenger seat.

 

I loved my '03 Ram. The 5.9 Cummins was amazing, but eventually the truck started to have problems. Never did figure it out, but I thought it was the transmission. Had the money to replace it, but listened to a shit dealership and used the money for other repairs because the transmission was "perfectly fine" according to them. After the trans money was gone and the truck still had a damn shimmy and they had reverted to the whole "we can't reproduce it" I was done.

Still loved the layout and comfort in the Mopar stuff, so I traded the truck on a Jeep Renegade Trailhawk at a really good deal thanks to a buddy. Just needed something that could get around town and handle some snow drifts on my road. That dealership irritated me with conduct as well, FUBARed the extended warranty, so I cancelled it and drove it and the WRX down to Utah to get my Tundra. It was my 3rd brand new vehicle in 3 years. I'm done with that pattern, I hope.

 

My grandfather got 30 years out of his 1985 Ram 1500 before it needed too much work to be worth it. I wouldn't buy any Ram newer than that generation, though.

 

I would have kept it but needed the crewcab size truck for the wife and kids to fit comfortably. I really liked the Titans, nothing special about them but they were reliable and not too bad looking. My 2004 got hail damage from the big hailstorms through my area in 2016 and they totaled it then I needed a truck pretty quick. They gave me 12g for it and I put it down on the new Titan and began my search for a new model truck. The 2019 TRD Sport checked all the boxes for me, highway queen for towing a boat but capable of an offroad mission now and again. I did not know I would do the mods I've done...what a blast to mod. I'm trying to wrap them up ASAP because I worry the aftermarket stuff will begin to dry up when the new model comes out. I was going to get the TRD Pro Fox shocks but I don't want to end up with a discontinued product. Going with Falcon tow/haul shocks then my major mods are done. (I think)

Same boat...


My 1st Titan


My Second Titan



My Tundra

 

I really don't understand all this hate on Dodge/Chrysler for merging with Fiat and all the "Don't buy Fiat" stuff. In the Jeep line the Renegade is really just an Americanized Fiat 500XL (I might have the Fiat model wrong) but the hilarious thing is that in 2018 it was the ONLY thing with a Jeep badge that was projected to have good reliability. The guy appointed to the Dodge brand after the merger had the stated goal of getting back to the Mopar Muscle roots and wanted every vehicle to have an option of being exciting to drive. Good things in my book.

Fine, Fiat is a foreign company, but the merger was the only way that Dodge/Chrysler could avoid doing the same BS that GM did after the bail out. Look how great that domestic company treated us. Took the bail out and a month later declared Chapter 11 to avoid paying back something like 6-8 BILLION dollars owed to the tax payers. Chevy, GM, Buick, all of them got all the money from me they ever will when they pulled that.




I'll buy another "Fiat" before GM gets money from me.

 

LOL! Here in Texas I get comments from the Dodge, Ford and Chevy owners that they would never buy a Japanese vehicle. Remember Pearl Harbor...I just shake my head and exit the conversation.

 

Maybe I care less about this because I'm not American. My main priority is reliability and both Chrysler and Fiat were near the bottom of that list before they merged; hard to believe they would improve from there. I still think GM is the least bad of the Big 3 and I've heard too many horror stories about Ford to want to give them any of my money. Which is all a moot point for at least 15 years as the only product I'd buy from any of them would be a full size pickup, anyway.

Someone once commented to me: what if the Japanese government very quietly bailed out Toyota or Nissan back in 2013 and neglected to advertise it? Not saying that did happen or even that it's likely but they could have done that to try to remain competitive with the domestics without showing weakness over here.

 

I always thought the Titan was very unreliable but maybe I'm misremembering.

 

The '04 had brake issues fixed under warranty but other than that it was gas and oil. I put over 200,000 miles on the '04. Highway princess towing a boat...offroad may be a different story. The '16 only had 14,000 miles on it when I traded it in.

 

All the things I had before the Tundra, the most reliable was a 2005 Dodge Stratus. Under warranty the steering rack we replaced because it had metal defects, and then the alternator died around 85K-90K miles. Other than that the car was rock solid. The Cadillac I had before it was the biggest lemon piece of $#!7 I ever had the displeasure of dealing with. Absolute dumpster fire of a vehicle and research taught me that the 4.9 V8 from GM in the early '90s was just a known POS.

To each their own, and I don't fault you for buying GM. Most of their products are pretty solid. It's on principle and personal experience that the bridge was burned for me.


edit: as for the bail out, I'm only pissed they opted to not pay it back. Chrysler took money too, but they found a way to pay it back. Ford didn't take anything, so they win in that comparison. I wouldn't care if Toyota had taken a bailout from Japan's government as long as they paid it back. However, as a one vehicle person I am not so rich as to be able to pass up reliability on such a principle.

 

I know the Cummins in the XD had a lot of problems, or at least Car and Driver had a lot of problems with theirs.

I still laugh about my coworker who had a Pro-4X with fancy 22" rims and rubber band tires. But it's possible he bought one of those because it was the lowest trim with heated seats in Canada at the time and not for its supposed off road capabilities.

 

The gen Titan after mine were not reviewed well at all and I didn't drive or tow enough miles to make a diesel up-front cost worthwhile. They did dress them up like SEMA trucks but I avoided those packages.

 

Yup, that gen of Titan was pretty bad by all accounts. The previous ones were all solid from everyone I know that had/has one.

 

They must have let Renault design that gen.

 

LOL! That's why I got the last model year of the Titan before redesign. It was essentially the same as my 2004. Like the Tundra it stayed the same basic platform for many years.

 

Similar to the XTerra, which I think was from about the same vintage. I wouldn't buy any new Nissan.

 

The only Nissans that interest me are the 370Z or the GTR. One I couldn't possibly justify buying and neither is practical for where I live. Heard some horror stories about the Xterras. Not sure I'd trust them.

 

Interesting read this morning gents....add me to the "like to research cars" category. My friends and family contact me for help when they're needing a new vehicle too.

I'm averaging about 3 years per vehicle...I'm easily distracted by new shiny trucks. Such is life...I'm very curious to see where my mind is in a few years. My past few vehicles were warranty nightmares, so I hope this "no problems with the Tundra" continues.

I was pretty serious about getting a F250 with the new 7.3 and Tremor package until Ford made some other changes to the 2020 MY. I was looking at a XLT so I could skip Sync and also get the manual 4WD engagement. But for 2020 they made Sync basic on the XLT and did away with the manual 4WD lever all together. And the Tremor package was something crazy like $5k. It might have been a good thing anyway, what little time I've spent on the Ford forum it sounds like that motor is having some early teething problems. Not sure if it's a true problem or forum rumors, but another example of why you shouldn't buy anything the first year.

I'm currently looking a getting a Nissan Leaf for a 2nd vehicle...My son will get his license soon and he's not an "explorer" like me, so a cheap electric ride for local driving is all I need.

 

I could honestly buy a new vehicle every 2-3 years and be tickled pink, but I know it's financially unwise and I need to get better in that department. I make good money for my area, but I've been foolish and not saved like I should. Now I am to the point of wanting to build a house and I find I am lacking the resources because of my previous lack of responsibility. I try hard to not look at other cars or toys, because I know I'll be dumb and buy something I shouldn't. Glad to know I'm not the only one who enjoys shopping cars.

 

My wife has just resided herself to the fact that we'll always have a payment. I should lease my vehicles, but I know once I do that I'll find something I want to keep. Plus, I like doing mods on my trucks...but yeah, if I chilled out on my trucks we could have done more remodeling or saved more for retirement. Such is life...there's just never enough money!

 

Ugh, it was such a quiet day. I actually thought that the year might end quietly...

A friend in marital crisis and then a massive outage at work...

Silly me for thinking this year wouldn't suck right up until the end.

 

Yikes! No bueno on both issues.

I just got off work, pretty quiet today. Only us maintenance guys were there, all the salary suits stayed home.

 

Just took my son on a tour of my old college. Trying to get his juices flowing for picking a school...just got the typical shrug after the walk.

Now I have some amazing Chicago style pizza and an old bottle of wine for the evening. Happy New Years everyone. Let's hope 2021 is any form of better than 2020!

 

Hope we can all have a happy new year. I'm not holding my breath, but I'm crossing my fingers.

 

Woke up from a bad dream (ran out of ammo) and I’m just lying in bed listening to the rain. Kinda wish I could just lay here all day. But family calls...

 

Why would your mind pay a sick joke like that on you?

Happy 2021 all!