Tundra related....HOLY HELL

[Northof49]

Oh no, there's no disputing that the Tundra's bed shook more in this video, and I've never stated different. The "off-road suspension" should not be an excuse, rather a critcism. It should be an upgrade to handle rough terrain more compentently, and in that regard, the chevy looked the most out of control.

 

[Thai]

The "off-road suspension" should not be an excuse, rather a critcism. It should be an upgrade to handle rough terrain more compentently, and in that regard, the chevy looked the most out of control.

well, off-road package tends to be stiffer (less compliant). but, you're right...i have no argument either way.

 

[Falls]

I had posted this statement earlier in a different post. I love the Tundra max cab ! Its awesome ! I think the looks of the new Tundra are ok , nothing to really brag about . If I was to go out and buy a new truck ( 1/2 ton ) for our property service business it would be a Ford or Chevy/GMC. I think Toyota put their money in the wrong place's with this new Tundra. I've felt that way since it first came out and started crawling around them. I'm no expert , just my good old gut feeling. The video I was really surprised at what I saw , I don't dont care if Ford is trying to favor themselves in the video or not .....it worked. No matter what is the real truth the general public will see the Tundra flexing horribly all over the place and will deter Tundra buyers. Not saying the Tundra is bad at all , but a contractor , or someone who actually needs and uses a pick up will not like what they see period ! Just my unofficial gut feeling from on who has drivin Ford and Chevy half tons their whole life. Toyota has a Loooooooog way to go with the Tundra IMO.

If I was to buy a mid sized truck it would be a Tacoma DC , or maybe a Chevy Colorado crew cab. Most likely a Tacoma but honestly never drove either.

 

[Northof49]

If I was to buy a mid sized truck it would be a Tacoma DC , or maybe a Chevy Colorado crew cab. Most likely a Tacoma but honestly never drove either.

But you don't know how the Tacoma or Colorado would perform on this test track.....for all we know, they'll look like just like the Tundra. I've driven all the current 1/2 tons, and the Tundra drives/rides everybit as good, if not better, than the others....video in discussion aside. I think Tacomas drive out awesome, and I've driven several dozen of the current model....hauled sleds, towed my boat, went on road trips, the whole deal. Even with that experience at the table, I can't say or even guess what it would look like on that test track. No idea.

 

[scott78945]

I laugh at myself when posters on this thread speak of "American" auto makers/trucks. PEOPLE, ther is NO SUCH THING as an AMERICAN vehicle anymore! Toyotas' Tundra is made in the USA! You don't have to be a genius to figure out that many parts from both domestic/foreign vehicles are made both in this country as well as foreign. A truck is a truck nowadays. It all comes down to the engineering and reliability of the vehicle that makes one popular.

 

[Thai]

I laugh at myself when posters on this thread speak of "American" auto makers/trucks. PEOPLE, ther is NO SUCH THING as an AMERICAN vehicle anymore! Toyotas' Tundra is made in the USA! You don't have to be a genius to figure out that many parts from both domestic/foreign vehicles are made both in this country as well as foreign. A truck is a truck nowadays. It all comes down to the engineering and reliability of the vehicle that makes one popular.

And your point is? When most of us (e.g. me) say American, we mean that it's by Ford, Chevy, or Dodge. Each vehicle has it's own supplier and it's own design. A truck from one company is very different from another one, despite both being made here in USA.

 

[MBaker]

Does anybody else find it odd that there isn't a Dodge Ram or Nissan Titan in this test video?

 

[scott78945]

And your point is? When most of us (e.g. me) say American, we mean that it's by Ford, Chevy, or Dodge. Each vehicle has it's own supplier and it's own design. A truck from one company is very different from another one, despite both being made here in USA.

Ok...I think you are getting a little too fired up on this thread. Calm down...take a breather. Your so defensive.

 

[scott78945]

Does anybody else find it odd that there isn't a Dodge Ram or Nissan Titan in this test video?

Ok, I'll play Devil's Advocate...maybe Ford couldn't make "their truck" look better than either the Dogdge or the Nissan so they left them out..

 

[Thai]

Ok...I think you are getting a little too fired up on this thread. Calm down...take a breather. Your so defensive.

Not at all...but your statements are a bit confusing.

 

[JungleJim]

If I was to buy a mid sized truck it would be a Tacoma DC , or maybe a Chevy Colorado crew cab. Most likely a Tacoma but honestly never drove either. [/B]

In a long term test of the Tacoma, they wrote how it became "looser" as the months went by. They said it became a least favorite to drive among the test fleet.

 

[Bill3508]

I know you guys love your Toyota vehicles , but dismissing the test just because ford put it out is silly. They have done these test for years to check for durability and stability. Its nothing new. Now I love my 4Runner, despite not being really fond of it early on(its still twitchy on the highway), but a very good vehicle.
Had I been looking for a work truck I would not be happy with the movement in that truckbed. I'm sure some of you noticed that the bed actually makes contact with the front cab and causes damage, and it noted by the person on video. Regardless of whether some of you think its biased, movement of that sort is not good. This test measured an empty cab also. Load that bed up and encounter rough terrain and you have a potential problem.

I like the new Tundra look but don't dismiss the shortfalls of any vehicle just because you like the brand. I for one think Ford is horrible in general and would never own one, but you have to weigh the attributes and problems of every design regardless of "brand" loyalty.

Bill3508

 

[Falls]

In a long term test of the Tacoma, they wrote how it became "looser" as the months went by. They said it became a least favorite to drive among the test fleet.

Interesting .....what test was it ?? It gets pretty damn high marks from owners , granted there are problems like with anything. Really interested to know this , a future purchase is very possible.

As for the Ford comment above , I've had many of Ford half tons up until 04 , honestly ....never really had an issue 89 , 93 , 01 , 03 with the last 2 being Supercrews.

The new Tundra is massive inside and out , a lot of new gadgets inside and a spacious cab , the new 5.7 came out to early for that truck IMO without Toyota doing a little more home work. Styling is ok , but I bet you will see some major changes in this truck in the near future. As of today I would take a left over old style Tundra with the 4.7 over the new one no matter what motor it has . I'm sure the new one is fast , but I laugh when people talk about test drives and how they can smoke the tires.........duh !!! 400 hp and no weight in the rear and its a half ton light duty truck with a light frame unboxed in the rear to boot.

I think the Tundra is weak by standards to other domestic labeled trucks on the market. They are not selling as they hoped ( per my inquiry at the dealer last week ) and by weak I mean what the all american truck consumer wants .

One other thing I noticed ( maybe a regional thing ) there was a lot Tundra commercials on tv , don't see many at all anymore.

What do you see as being the Tundra's strong selling points to the American truck consumer ?

 

[Northof49]

Not sure about the Tundra not meeting expectations;

- June Tundra sales up 137% from last year.
- YTD Tundra sales up 42%, to about 84,000 with over 6 months to fill a (Toyota) goal of 200,000 units for the year. Keeping in mind production capacity limited supply for the first few months. Production has still not hit full capacity, and is steadily increasing.
- Sierra and Silvy sales down 29 and 27% respectively for Junda
- Ford, Dodge and Titan 1/2 ton sales all down anywhere from .5 to 21%.

Someone likes the trucks obviously. To be the only gainer in a declining market is no small fear. Particularily when up against seasoned players. Just like Big 3 dedicatees didn't base all of their decisions on the Toyota produced acceleration, braking, hauling, etc propoganda vidoes, nor will prospective Tundra buyers take this as the Final Word.

 

[Northof49]

As for the Ford comment above , I've had many of Ford half tons up until 04 , honestly ....never really had an issue 89 , 93 , 01 , 03 with the last 2 being Supercrews.

How do you call the Tundra weak and then state that some of the weakest framed trucks ever built worked perfectly fine for you? Those trucks couldn't keep the stripes lined up under normal daily driver conditions....look at nearly any example after some use and the box will hang noticeably below the box....

I'm not saying the trucks were junk, just stating that there's some contradiction going on here....

 

[Thai]

Car & Driver did a 30K mile long term test on the Tacoma and found it's frame to be weak. Near the end of 40K miles (note, NOT 100K miles), C&D noticed some flex in the frame over bumps.

Here is the link: http://www.caranddriver.com/longroadtests/12169/toyota-tacoma-double-cab-4x4-v-6-long-bed.html

"All of us noted that the Tacoma

 

[Northof49]

If you want the most ridgid mid-sized truck out there....there's only one that's noticeably above the others, and it's actually the Ridgeline.

I have never, ever experienced a Nissan that stood the test of time as well as a Toyota or Honda. My last Nissan, a meticulous Pathfinder with 85K on the clock, felt like it had one foot in the grave in terms of flex and worn out-componentry. A friend's Tacoma of the same year with 190K on it felt like 10X's the truck.

C&D historically doesn't like Toyota a whole lot, so I will stick with my personal driving experience of new and used units, where the Tacoma is the single more durable, long-lasting and resale value-holding truck on the market IMO....bar none.

The hell I have seen those little trucks go through around the bush here is nothing short or amazing. We hired a salesman from a Ford dealership background, and whenever we appraised Tacoma's for trade-ins he would just laugh his ass off driving some completely had Tacoma with like 200K on the clock, busted springs, 0 maintenence....he could never believe how terrible those things could look and still drive out well. This guy managed Ford stores for 15 years and BLED Ford.

C&D test, the Honda will win everytime....so we should all be driving those

 

[Thai]

So, C&D hates Toyota but likes Honda?? Koz said the same thing when Lexus lost to BMW...he says C&D likes BMW more. So, i guess C&D likes BMW and Honda, but not the other Japanese or German brands?? Does this really makes sense to you?? Do you really believe that?? It's more like C&D likes performance over off-roading or luxury...that's more accurate of a statement. They prefer cars over trucks...another accurate statement. BTW, didn't the Avalon win several comparisons in C&D?? Yes, it did.

Thus, they prefer Ridgeline over Tacoma/Frontier/etc.. As for reliability and such, Consumer Reports rates Frontier just as high as Tacoma. So, we will see in the future...but i can tell you that it's rear diff does NOT explode like the Tacoma (with rear locker) while off-roading!

One more point...Ridgeline is a unibody (no matter what Honda literature you read). Thus, it does not qualify as being a "real" truck IMHO.

 

[Thai]

- June Tundra sales up 137% from last year.

I love it when people quote these figures...you do realize that the previous gen Tundra never did put up good sales figures especially near the end of it's cycle. Thus, such "data" is fairly useless.

Do you have any real sales statistics of what Chevy/GMC, Ford, Dodge, and Toyota are selling?? How many are they selling these past 2 months?? Something like that would be more useful than %. I would bet that it's all a close race.

 

[Falls]

I was going to say the Ridgeline is a uni-body ( at least thats what I thought ) I personally don't consider that a truck. Anything with a uni-body is a car with a different bod. Also has IRS which I would not car for in a truck. We all know why IFS and IRS came out and it was to posh the ride quality.

I don't like Nissan !! it may have a full boxed frame , but just feels cheap and chinsy to me . Boxed frame and all.

Interesting read on the Tacoma . ( thanks for the link Thai ) Although there were some dislikes I felt the review was not bad , maybe they pushed it a little beyond it points at time. It seemed the biggest issue was the ridged part of the frame. Although I do like to read these articles and get some insight , I do think magazine a biased in most cases not matter what the vehicle.

Boy , the pickens are slim for a stout mid sized pick-up. Shows you where thing are heading I guess. I probably would still pick a Tacoma.