I am looking at buying a new-to-me truck. I’m not a buy new off the lot kind of guy, so I will be buying used…I’ve tested the new F-150 [09’ and 10’ models] and just finished testing a Toyota Tacoma Quad Cab and Tundra Quad Cab - all 4X4’s.
The Toyota’s almost always beat out the American fare in hauling and mileage…Coming from someone who used to own a Chevy Avalanche, this is a big thing to say…
Anyone have a Tacoma or Tundra and care to share your experience? I am planning on making this a work vehicle, meaning it will be in 4-wheel a lot, and it will be hauling a lot.
The American trucks just don’t seem to hold a stick in terms of re-sale value, and degradation over time [mechanically]…
Those places in AK look like my house in the Rockies - my neighbor has an old F-150 that he said he’d part with for $500…but I think I want something a little more reliable. I don’t want my head in the engine every time I take it out. I want something that starts every time! Very cool vids!
They’ll all serve your needs well. Buy what you like. I am in the market, too.
TRIPLE CHECK the tow ratings. Jeeze, books could be written on this.
You might by a Tundra and find out that (this is an example #) it’s 9800lb tow rating is with a weight-distributing hitch only. Ah, you go to grab your new truck and she has a Class III hitch rated at 5,000 lbs! SAY WHAT!?
Boy, that’d suck if your new boat/trailer/gear combo was 8500 lbs. Weight-distributing hitches bust balls. That’s my 2 cents.
I’d get one that had the right combo of styling, hauling and tow package niceties possible. I would say that trying to determine reliability over the long haul is hard given the variety of work a truck gets. Are Tundras on worksites in the same proportions as Silverados? Maybe more are just driving trucks.
I want a GMC Sierra, extend/crew in shiny red with shiny wheels, please.
We have a 2002 4x4 Tundra. It is bomb proof. We have used it on occasion to tow other trucks out of ditches during winter storms.
I don’t know much about tow rates, etc., but I have to say that our Tundra is probably the best truck I’ve ever owned. It’s very reliable and with regular maintenance, we’re up to 220,000 km with no engine or transmission issues (or any issues at all, actually).
A very good friend who is now in his 80’s was a Chevy man all of his life. He knows trucks. He was an ag teacher for most of his career. He still farms and ranches. He owns a locker plant. He knows hauling.
His last 2 pickups have been Tundras. He claims that nothing hauls or tows like them. I believe him.
I own a 2008 Tacoma… and have had an 06 and 05 also. I love the truck and I have had zero problems with it… but I wouldn’t exactly choose it if I were going to be towing a lot. The leaf springs in the rear are too flexible and if towing anything with any weight, the rear will bottom out. I think this is a pretty common problem with Tacomas and Toyota has released a TSB to the service shops to aid in fixing this problem on a warrantied truck. I’d personally go with a Tundra if I planned on doing any towing.
I can’t speak for the newer models, but I drove a 1992 Toyota pick-up (company) for five seasons up around the north end of Williston Lake (British Columbia) when I worked as a forest tech. By far, far, far the best bush truck I’ve ever driven. Small, powerful, great suspension that took washboard like it was asphalt and rarely bottomed out when navigating deactivated roads. I drove F-350’s and Chev 2500’s when I did stints with the Ministry of Forests…not as good. Bigger, heavier, longer…just not as good in the bush IMHO. They were decent drives, but the MOF was replacing them every five years or so. My boss retired this Toyota in 2006 after 15 years of tough labour in the bush.
Toyota does make good trucks. But they also have the best rip-off artists working as sales. Never buy anything from a Toyota dealer. Buy it used or from a jobber.
I agree, I am looking at one right now from a private owner, he’s willing to give up a nice trailer just to sell it. [Tundra crew cab 08’ class V hitch with trailer] I think the guy selling it bought it with the intention to never have to buy another [he’s in his late 70’s] but he tells me he just can’t get up into it like he used to. He got a small Ranger 4x4 with a plow on it, says that’s all he needs.
I had an '83 SR5 4x4. I bought it in '86 and drove the guts out of it. In '90 I put 7 inches of lift in it and 35 inch BF Goodrich mud terrains on it and tried to kill it…not a chance. This included burying it in the ocean with only about three inches of the roof showing. We towed it to a fresh water lake and left it in the lake for the day, took it back to the garage rebuilt the starter, replaced the fluids and the fuses and I drove it for two more years before trading it for an Interceptor motorcycle. That truck was as tough as nails. I bought two more after that, the best being the '85. It was the first year for the fuel injection and the last year for the leaf spring front suspension, it was also tough as nails. I can honestly say that of all the trucks I have owned, none could take a beating like a Toyota.
Well, you know, you can blow up an apartment building around one of them… and drive it away.
You guys seen the original Top Gear ‘We Tried To Kill This Toyota Truck’ episode? It’s effing beautiful. Ram it into things! Drive it through a trailer! Light it on fire! Dump it in the Firth of Forth!
Note that Top Gear tested a (1988) Hilux, which is Toyota’s global-market utility truck. The Tacoma occupies the Hilux’ market slot in the US, and is designed to be less utilitarian to meet the needs of American buyers (who buy pickups to use as everyday on-road vehicles, which is unusual).
ETA: and they dumped it in the Bristol Channel, not the Firth of Forth. Wrong country.
