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Anyone regret buying a Toyota Sequoia?
Wife and I are looking at new cars and after doing lots of research the Sequoia has risen to the top of the list. Currently have an Acura MDX but as the family grows we are finding the 3rd row seats are just not usable.
We love everything about the Sequoia but we wonder if it's simply "too much truck". We won't do any off-roading and won't be towing anything which seem to be the benefits over some of the large cross cross overs (GMC Acadia, Mazda CX-9). Although we prefer an SUV vs. something built on a car platform.
My wife's sister has a 2006 model and even though they love it (been trouble free) she has commented that the gas milage is terrible and it's becoming a bit tedious to run her normal soccer mom errands and they are potentially looking for something smaller.
We are a little concered that after buying the Sequoia (with my wife as the primary driver) that after a few months that she may become "tired" of driving around such a large vehicle and whether a larger crossover may be a better option. We've test drove it and it doesn't feel that big but that's not the same as driving it day in and day out for an extended period of time.
So my questions to the board:
1) Anyone here buy a Sequoia and then months (or years) later wish they had bought something not quite as large?
2) Anyone have their wife as the primary driver using it to run errands (grocery store, shopping) or shuttling kids around? Does she have any complaints? If she had to do it over would she have selected something different?
Thx!
We love everything about the Sequoia but we wonder if it's simply "too much truck". We won't do any off-roading and won't be towing anything which seem to be the benefits over some of the large cross cross overs (GMC Acadia, Mazda CX-9). Although we prefer an SUV vs. something built on a car platform.
My wife's sister has a 2006 model and even though they love it (been trouble free) she has commented that the gas milage is terrible and it's becoming a bit tedious to run her normal soccer mom errands and they are potentially looking for something smaller.
We are a little concered that after buying the Sequoia (with my wife as the primary driver) that after a few months that she may become "tired" of driving around such a large vehicle and whether a larger crossover may be a better option. We've test drove it and it doesn't feel that big but that's not the same as driving it day in and day out for an extended period of time.
So my questions to the board:
1) Anyone here buy a Sequoia and then months (or years) later wish they had bought something not quite as large?
2) Anyone have their wife as the primary driver using it to run errands (grocery store, shopping) or shuttling kids around? Does she have any complaints? If she had to do it over would she have selected something different?
Thx!
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We bought a Sequoia for the same reason: space.
We currently have 3 kids and wanted them securely on the second row seats, which works great in the Sequoia.
We needed the 3rd row seat because we'll probably get another kid.
We don't do any off-road or towing.
Now that I drove the Sequoia for a while, I'm pretty sure I would have prefer the Highlander for it's suspension. The dealer lend us a 2007 limited Highlander (old model) while the Sequoia was on order.
That car was really soft... probably that the latest model is even better, the Sequoia is really a truck and feels like it.
We didn't went with an Highlander mainly because the 3rd row seats does not split 60/40 (it's a one piece bench) + accessing it is more difficult.
Anyway to answer your questions:
1) I do not regret it for the size, but would definitely not have bought that if I lived in a big city.
2) My wife drives it all the time w/o problem.. there's a backup camera and sensors so it helps a lot. Again we're living in a small city so no problem finding parking and parking spots are wide enough to fit the Sequoia.
Sequoia is fantastic for hauling stuff (skiing, longer trips etc.) Especially for hauling friends and for soccer outings, the Sequoia can't be beat. We've been spoiled by having both but if I had to only have one vehicle, I would choose the Sequoia. The MDX feels crowded after riding in the Sequoia.
Got $17,500 for the '06 with 53,000 miles. Just picked up the Sequoia one week ago and have put almost 1,000 miles on it since then. We love it so far. It is not as convenient as the minivan with loading/unloading but we were expecting that. We knew the tradeoffs and are very happy with the purchase.
Love the power and space, gas mileage about 14 in the city, 18-20 on the highway.
No problems getting around the parking lot, front and rear sonar helps a lot.
Looking to buy a backup camera in the future.
No regrets here.
Send to: karen@edmunds.com
The vehicle drove fantastic and was a pleasure to drive. This is my second Sequoia and replaced my 2001 model that had 98,000 trouble free miles on it when I sold it to a private party. The new vehicle is larger than previous model, is easier to drive, has a bigger engine and gets a little better gas mileage 18.7mpg on a new engine. The 2001 model was the best vehicle I have ever owned and this one looks like it will be better than the previous one.
I am now approaching 3000 miles and the vehicle has just been great.
I've always bought GM cars and trucks for both my home use and for my business but I refuse to buy "Government Motors". So far over the last year I've bought my first Ford Van and my first Toyota and I like them both. Good Bye GM
Good luck with your ford van the one I bought new was a night mare.
I agree with you, I would not buy a government motors car just out of principle. Gm and the government sure took care of the secured bond holders by stealing thier money. How can you trust a company that is involved in this kind of theft ??
we also have a 2002 sequoia sr5 with all the limited options except leather, 4x4. bought from the dealer with 65 miles on it. it is the undisputed heavy weight champion of the family. it has 130K on the clock and except for eating brakes while my wifes daily driver and needing tires a little more frequently than anything ive ever owned it is awesome. I can pull my neighbors house down with it, haul more crap on vacation than just about anything, run in the snow and through any storms, take it on the beach etc etc. its not my favorite veh ive ever owned but its the most competent all around veh ive ever had and it does tons of stuff really well. we are even getting ready to start dragging it behind a motor home. Dealer tries to buy it from me every time i take it in and tells me if i keep treating it this way my 7 year old will be driving it to college with no problem. buy it.
1. Can you fit three car seats across the second row of the Sequoia?
2. If a car seat goes in the third row, what's the most convenient placement for it, either outboard or in the middle?
If anyone has any other advice on a situation such as this, please share. Thanks!
Matt
This is the one feature my wife and I HAD to have and what won us over on our Sequoia. My kids are now 9, 7 and 3, but when we purchased our Sequoia few years ago we had 2 in booster seats and 1 in an infant carrier. They all fit in the second row comfortably. There are 3 latch positions in the second row. That alone tells you that there is enough room.
Our Sequoia is a 2007 Limited with out the captain's chairs in the second row. I can only assume that the 2008 and newer have the same room you need.
Everytime my wife fills the 24 gallon tank she still does it with a smile and says "I love the Sequoia"
The ride and comfort is worth the increased cost in gas.The vehicle has plenty of room and is pleasure to drive on long trips. The turning radius as mentioned in the above post is amazing.
It has 148,000 great safe miles. She is 98lbs 4ft 11" and loves her truck.
We bought a Used 2005 limited for our youngest daughter (our first two kids preferred 4runners).
The 2005 has had the same back latch issues but apart from that nothing but the usual servicing, brake pads, and tires. We own our own shop so we do all the usual servicing ourselves.
The 2005 now has 90,000 miles but on a recent trip of 1800 miles it didn't burn
any oil & ran well even though we were stuck in heavy slow New York city traffic
for hours.
You can't kill these trucks & we have sworn off the Big 3.
We constantly have trucks from other manufacturers in for expensive repairs, as we do the smaller vehicles our friends buy their kids to save on gas. Some of
these gas efficient cars are in constantly!!!!!! However, Iam impressed with a Lexus GS350 we service with 249,000 miles on it!!!
The only issue we ever had with the vehicle was with the front brakes and rotors, our mechanic thought they were undersized for the weight of the truck. Other than that, it's been a great rig. We live in Alaska and it does great getting up and down the mountain we live on in some nasty winter weather.
Looking forward to hitting 300K on the odometer.
I will say if you are at all concerned about gas mileage, then this is not the vehicle for you. We get anywhere from 14 - 18 MPG depending on how fast we are driving. I actually expected the mileage to be worse so I'm happy with what I'm seeing.
So basically, thats it. They said i can swap out the system if i want but at my own cost. After spending $3K more for the Entune system upgrade, i am not going to spend another 3K on a new system!
So here i am with a navigation that i can't use 80% of the time in the daylight.
And don't pay too much - you can appraise a used car here by going to the Used Car tab above and drilling down to the Sequoia. It's unlikely that the condition is any better than "clean" when you appraise it.
100k miles for a "ten year old" car is a bit below average. I guess that's good. :shades: