Faults:

Front rotors warped - vibrate badly when braking.

Middle seat trashed - springs protruding.

Oxygen sensors in the front have gone bad.

Transmission failed.

Transfer case defective.

Rear latch breaks often - expensive to fix.

Front driver's door handle broken.

Eats front brakes rapidly.

Drive light on dash burnt out.

General Comments:

The faults listed are very common for the Sequoia.

The transfer case has seldom been used, and is considered a factory defect by many, but Toyota has issued no recalls to my knowledge. Some suggest that it is a sensor problem - local mechanics seem to be incapable of properly diagnosing it.

The handles are cheap plastic and stress break - should have used metal, especially for the rear hatch.

The front brake pads wear badly due to the fact most of the braking action occurs in the front. Rotor turning is expensive, but necessary to eliminate severe vibration.

Faults:

Love this car. I had engine light with VSC and track light off. Dealer said it was the throttle motor at a cost of $1200 bucks. I found a fix on the Internet. One can of carb cleaner and a tooth brush within the month of the air intake manifold.

Throttle motor has a sensor ring within 2 inches of the intake. Clean that and make it shine. Disconnected battery. Issue solved.

Next problem. Brake booster was making a loud air sound during braking. Dealer said the booster cost $900 for just the part. Replaced it for $150. Installed it myself with help from Sequoia repair manual. ABS and VSC light came on. Dealer said I needed to calibrate the VSC system at a cost of $125. Within a few miles of driving, all brake lights when off. I changed O2 sensors. Make sure you buy the sockets for that, and that the car is still hot. It was almost impossible to remove cold.

Brake vibration is the next issue to solve.

General Comments:

Great car. Love the ride.

Faults:

Nothing. You will replace the brakes every 25K miles if you drive in the city, or 40-50K miles for mixed, but what do you expect for a 3 ton car?

If you really get tired of brake jobs, spend the $750 to upgrade the brakes to the 2003 and newer design, and this goes away.

General Comments:

A cavernous interior with good driver visibility, adequate power and tremendous reliability.

I bought my Sequoia used, and have driven 65,000 trouble free miles. People who want to complain about it will tell you that they have the following problems with it:

1. Rear door handle broke - $25 part and 1 hour of your time to replace. (Tundrasolutions.com has the write up) Yes, it is annoying, but not a reason to gripe about the Toyota corporation.

2. Drive indicator light burned out - $3.50 and 25 minutes of your time to replace. (tundrasolutions.com has the write up)

3. Brakes wear out - yes, this gets a little expensive if you only drive in town, but again, this beast weighs more than 6,000 lbs. It is not a Porsche, and can't be driven like one without wearing the brakes quickly.

4. Gets 14-16 MPG city - yes, it is a 4.7L 6000 lb. car. If you want a Prius, go buy one - this isn't it.

I love the car and plan to keep it another 5-7 years. I fully expect it will provide another 150K miles of trouble-free operation.