2008 Toyota Tundra Limited 5.7L V8 from North America

Summary:

Very happy

Faults:

Headlight burnt out and one small rattle that was corrected under warranty. Other than that, nothing.

General Comments:

I drive for a living. About 75% of the time I'm hauling a 6900 pound construction trailer with me. My last truck was a 2003 Silverado that I put nearly 450,000 km on, but it took three transmissions to get there so I thought I'd try something different.

This Tundra has been fantastic so far. I admit that I am hard on vehicles (frequent heavy towing and lots of dirty, rough construction sites) but I need them to be capable of what I can dish out - my living depends on it. I bought the Tundra in January of 2008 and I've put nearly 180,000 km on it so far. I did the brakes (front only) for the first time at 130,000 km and have changed the tires around the same time. Just regular maintenance other than that. I think that's great considering the towing I do.

Mileage is about 16.5 L/100km when towing and about 14 L/100km when not - about on par what I got with my Silverado but the Tundra has way more power and and tows with a lot more confidence.

It's extremely comfortable on long trips (10 hours +) and the Navigation on my Limited is cool.

I would say that the radio is a bit of a reach (thank God mine has steering wheel controls - I don't think base models do) and they could improve the "warmth" of the interior - it's a little bland.

I recommend this vehicle to everyone I talk to. My friends all drive trucks and were a bit surprised that I bought a Toyota. They are equally impressed as I am at the durability and two have since also traded up to Tundras.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 25th June, 2009

18th Sep 2009, 20:21

Just wait til you start getting the brake, front suspension and transmission recall notices.

19th Sep 2009, 17:39

"Just wait til you start getting the brake, front suspension and transmission recall notices."

Oh boy, here we go. Another domestic fan getting angry because somebody bought a Toyota and likes it. You know if your Chevy or Ford or Dodge or whatever kind of domestic crap it is you're driving is better than this guys Tundra, then why would you even bother posting a comment like that on this thread? If your domestic really was so good, then you shouldn't even care that this guy bought a Tundra.

2008 Toyota Tundra 4.0 V6 from North America

Summary:

The Tundra V6 is excellent. I recommend it

Faults:

In the first few months, the engine light flashed. I did not know what was wrong, and took the truck back to the dealer. However, it was just because I had the gas cap not tight. When I got to the dealer, the front service and fine looking person told me to check the gas cap. My fault, it was an embarrassment. However, I do not like this option.

I picked the option to have the side step rail installed by the local dealer. In the first couple of weeks, I felt the creaking. Curiously, I got down under the truck to inspect the sidebar's bolting areas to look for the cause. I discovered and assumed that the dealer mechanic missed a thread in a bolt. It is a minor, so I did not bother to take the truck back to the dealer. Thus, I ended up fixing it myself. By the way, this is not a manufacturer mistake.

General Comments:

At the time I bought the truck, I test drove both truck engine sizes - V6 and V8. The V8 is very powerful. The V6 is just adequate. In addition, I do not have a need to own the powerful V8 engine truck. Therefore, I settled for the V6 at 4.0 liters.

Tundra V6 engine truck has some advantages due to its mature and thus stability, use of timing chain, initial cost less than the V8, and ultimately uses less gas. The disadvantage of the V6 engine is that it is not as powerful as the V8.

In driving, I took the truck for a few long trips around the mid-south area. One of the longest trips was around 1500 miles. The truck is good looking and driving is very smooth. The V6 engine has proven to have enough power to accelerate and pass others on the highway if needed. The little con that I think of is the fuel economy, which leaves a little to desire; on average my truck got about 17 mpg.

Overall, I am very happy with the purchase. Possibly, I will keep this Tundra for about 10 years before buying another vehicle.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 27th March, 2009

8th Jul 2009, 18:46

I have owned a 5.7 Tundra Sr5 crewmax model with no performance mods, and I am pulling around 16.4 around town. The truck has about 10,800 miles on it, and about 500 miles since I last reset the fuel mileage.