Welcome Toyota Tundra - VI

modvptnl

You might be right on that one. How could Chrysler justify racing AND needing a government bail out? Regardless, they were in Nascar long after the demise of the Hemi. The main reason I lost respect for Chrysler was when Iacoca(sp?) would bash Japanese products when most of the K cars had Japanese engines from Mitsubishi in them.

arkie6

Hell, even the K cars had a better sounding horn than on the Tundra. That was the first mod that I made to the truck, was to replace those beep-beep horns with some that are louder and deeper sounding (cost < $20). The only problem that I have now is the damn dirt dobbers want to fill up the horns with mud. Guess that I'll have to put a screen over the opening or use them more often.

barlitz

You are one crazy dude,where do you get your info the national enquirer.Check out www.pickuptruck.com.The Tundra and Tacoma combined sales can't even beat the yearly sales of the S-10 pickup to date.I also think the Tundra won't even reach there yearly goal of 100,000 trucks,they are on pace for 80,000.Ford and Chevy combined sell that many trucks in 2 weeks.If you want a Tundra you are better off waiting til the end of year they will be discounted to make yearly projections.I'm sorry but if you really think about it Toyota created this problem by overpricing there truck and they can't discount them to much or they'll dip into the meak Tacoma sales.And the domestic trucks are a lot better than you Toyota people think.

modvptnl

and that's it. Like Cadillac has a version of the Tahoe called the Escalade, like Lincoln has its version of the Expidition called the Navigator Lexus has a version of the Land Cruiser called the LX 470. It was shown on an earlier post that Toyota is a very profitable company and those profits INCLUDE Lexus sales not vice versa. Lexus buying out Toyota would be like Buick buying GM.

All razzing aside, while the Tundra motor has its roots in passenger cars it has done duty in the Land Cruiser and LX 470 for years. Just remember when "razzing" the Toy motor both Ford and GM truck motors are based on their auto engines. The 5.3 is a smaller version of the LS1 5.7 in the Camarobirds and Vettes. The 5.4 Ford is a stroked version of the 4.6 motor that the old Zbad said was the worst POS available.

While I'm biased towards Ford products I can't deny the Toyota motor is a jewel and bashing it for its roots is really like bashing your own Ford, GM motors.

My only comment about the Tundra, and it's not a bash I hope, is that my crew cab, 4x4 V10, 5speed, XLT F-350 Super Duty was at $500 over invoice around $29,000. The Tundras are in the same price range. I understand other people's love of the Toy but there was no way I could justify the price. For that matter I couldn't justify the price difference between the domestic 1/2 tons either.

modvptnl

Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary defines motor.

mo*tor 1: one that imparts motion specifically: prime mover

2: Any of various power units that develop energy or impart motion: as a: a small compact engine
b: internal combustion engine; ESPECIALLY A GASOLINE ENGINE
c: a rotating machine that transforms electrical energy into mechanical energy.

Arkie, you may apologize to Rube now. LOL!!!!

arkie6

Thanks for pointing out my error with regards to the definition of a motor. I had never looked it up in the dictionary. With my background in electrical design and maintenance, the word "motor" always equated to AC or DC, not gasoline or diesel.

jambo

Have you ever seen a gas or telephone truck pull up in your driveway that was a toyota? I would say that after you take out these sales and get to the real truck buyer numbers you would see a diffrent story. Big companies have an image problem they think if they dont pull up in a so called american truck it does not look good, has nothing to due with the quality or operation costs unless its between big three. Counting all personal trucks on the road (look around) ford is number one?

jec2

What was the motor in the Indy 500 winners car?

modvptnl

Oldsmobile won Indy. The only other motor in Indy Racing is the Infiniti and it finally won its first race ever on 6-18 with Eddie Cheever driving.

quadrunner500

Somebody needs to tell Rwellbaum2 that Sears Point is a road course, not a paved circle. I wonder if he thinks Ivan Stewart's truck is the same Tundra you buy on the show room?

BTW, Dodge is returning to Nascar in 2001 with Ray Evernham as crew chief for Bill Elliot.

In CART, Toyota sucked for years. They still suck if not for 3 factors, the best sponsor, the best team owner, the best driver.
Target Chip Ganassi with IRL500 winner Juan Montoya. Things have returned to normal recently, with Penske winning 3 of the last 4.

rwellbaum2

Have you ever worked there? The track can be configured into something totally different, in a matter of hours. No, I don't follow NASCAR, so the all the excitement about actually turning in both directions seemed pretty silly. No, Ivan doesn't drive the exact Tundra I do, just like "stock" cars....aren't!
In your last comment you begrudgingly give Toyota their due...looks like your shedding some of your bias...keep up the good work!

modvptnl

Ivan Stewart hasn't raced in a while, Thinking of retiring. Was sort of miffed that perennial Ford driver Rob McCachrean(sp?) took Ivan's truck and was faster. Ivan was and still is one of the best. The Fords pretty much win the most classes including the mini truck stuff with Ragland's Chevy winning Baja 4 out of the last 5 runs (2 a year) The Herbsts' Fords win the trophy truck overall a lot and their Ford powered buggy wins a lot too. Haven't seen the Tundra/Toyotas winning that much in SCORE or SNORE lately but if anyone has some results post 'em.

Chevy trivia; Larry Ragland is the top desert Chevy racer, what engine does his truck have in it????

jec2

I thought Montoya won the Indy 500 driving a Toyota powered car

modvptnl

Right driver. There's only two engines sanctioned for Indy; Olds and Infiniti. You must be thinking of CART racing.

loesch

As a current 99 Silverado owner, I feel I am more than qualified to detail my experiences. Since my purchase last May, I have had the following problems or the dealer has performed the following: engine service light came on 5 times, repaired ECM connection, repaired seat belt guide bracket, reprogrammed ECM, body to bed safety cables loose, purge canister replaced, reprogrammed PCM, replaced purge solenoid, replaced gas tank, replaced lower and intermidiate steering shafts, replaced rear spring insulators, body to bed cables again loose, driveshaft slip joint dry of lubricant from factory. The ABS system is extremely sensitive to a single wheel even which causes the pedal to go to the floor and the vehicle to slowly come to a stop. Has caused almost 4 accidents. Need I say more?

Granted, at the NTHSA website there are posts on the Tundra, but look at the number you see for the Silverado. I would not recommend this vehicle and wish that I had chosen my 2nd choice, the Tundra.

rushfan2112

I'm considering adding a fiberglass tonneau cover to my Tundra. So far I like the SnugLid the best, but wondered if anyone had any arguments for (or against) this and/or other competing brands.

Thanks for your advice

present4u

If you can settle for a bit less interior room and a slightly shallower cargo bed, trade in your Silverado -- take the financial hit -- and get a Tundra.

Justify the loss of resale value on your Chevy on the fact that you'll make it up with ten years of absolutely trouble-free performance from a Toyota product. It's also as quiet as an empty church, and you can't hear outside noises such as parts failing on a Silverado the next lane over from you.

... And what a shine they have.

Good luck to you sir on this one, presently.

swobig

right present4u? Your comments are so biased I wouln't be surprised if you had a Toyota throne in your home. I agree loesch has had a lot of problems and I would trade that truck also. But I don't have to look far at all to see many Silverado owners that are very happy. Mine hasn't had a single problem. Maybe loesch got a lemon, but you probably will take a hit for trading it - dealers are in it for money too. Always best to try and sell it yourself - maybe the dealer you bought it from would be willing to make you a good deal towards the purchase of a different one? There not all bad...

barlitz

You failed to mention the paint chipping,the rear doors opening themselves,front rotors warping from towing,armrestwear after 250 miles,and the declining sales of the Tundra,almost forgot the vibration issues.With declining sales comes lower prices to move inventory which means truck worth less.trucksrme quotes it quite well-less truck for more buck.

present4u

I laugh loud and long every time I see a Chevy commercial on Sunday afternoon TV where a Silverado is climbing a muddy, rock-strewn mountain pass in slow-motion with Bob Seger's gravelly voice warbling on:

'OooOOOhh.. Like a ROCK! Standin' arrow-straight... Like a ROCK!'

It ought to be embarassing to GM to have to resort to images of 'baseball, hot dogs, apple pie, and Chevrolet' to foist a unreliable 1/2 ton truck on patriotic Americans in an attemt to shame them from examining the option of buying a Japanese product.

How does GM make it's money? Selling trucks cheaply and then making up the balance on 'consumables'?

Consumables like... Gas tanks, tie-rods, transmissions, engines, CD-players, etc. etc. etc.

Dumb luck for Chevy that Loesch's parts failed before the planned obsolesence goal of 1000 miles past the extended warranty period, eh fellas?

Now they have to charge you Chevy guys more to make up for the shortfall.

Good luck on this one now, suckers.

barlitz

Not for nothing but I have yet to meet an electrical engineer who knew what was going on,and another thing you cam blame them engineers for the the big cost overruns on the Big Dig.My 5 year old neice with a pail and a shovel is a better engineer than any I've ever met.

rwellbaum2

Sorry to hear about your problems. I also appreciate your bravery in telling us about it given this hostile crowd. Have you driven a Tundra? If not, try it, you may or may not like it. The best place to look for info on the Tundra (both good and bad) is www.tundrasolutions.com
You'll find some interesting posts concerning vibrations, brakes and other "problems" by the same couple of individuals. There are hundreds of posts by the same few people. Either 4-5 people got horribly built trucks or some Tundra "posers" are having a ball stirring the pot.

gporter

I've had an A.R.E Tonneau cover for about 6 months now and am very satisfied with it. It is molded to match the lines in the hood so it looks like part of the truck. You can generally get a 2 week delivery on one vs six weeks on snug top. I paid $699, all of the lids I look at cost about the same, except for the leer which was 599. The warranty was better, lifetime on paint, the lifting hardware seemed better, and it also gave me up to 2 inches more on the Tundra's shallow 16.7 box depth. The dealer that I bought it from sells both A.R.E & Snug Lids and he prefers A.R.E.
www.4are.com Hope this helps.

superjim2000

GM and Chevy never mention toyota in the ads, guess they don't consider em competition.

arkie6

I'll have to disagree with your previous statement. I have in front of me a 1/2 page newspaper ad for the GMC Sierra. It states in part "The GMC Sierra Extended Cab's 270 hp Vortec V8 is not only the most powerful standard V8 engine in its class, it's also the most fuel-efficient. Better than Ford F150, Toyota Tundra or Dodge Ram." Sounds like GM considers the Tundra to be competition to me.

When I was looking to buy a new truck, I checked out and drove the Ford F150, the Chevy Silverado, and the Tundra. The Toyota won that competition for my $, with the F150 a close runner-up.

superjim2000

I'll take your word for it. I didn't see that ad. With the MPG advantage you'd think GM would milk that in ad campaigns, along with 4 wheel disc etc etc.

bonnie_rick

for lack of relevant content...

Bonnie Rick
Conferences Manager, Town Hall
Edmunds.com