2013 Toyota Tundra SR5 from North America - Comments
23rd Mar 2025, 17:08
This is the original reviewer, posting a one-year update to my review of the 2013 Toyota Tundra Crewmax. Mileage is currently 69,156 so I've put 2,153 miles on the Tundra since last year. That is consistent with the previous year, so it appears that about 2,000 miles per year is the norm. The reason for such low miles is that our other vehicles are just better suited to normal use. I drive my 2017 Ford Explorer to work every day and it gets about 22 mpg in mixed city/highway driving and up to 27 mpg for long highway drives; my 2010 Cadillac DTS gets up to 29 mpg on the highway and is more comfortable for highway cruising. In contrast, the Tundra gets 14 mpg in mixed city/highway driving and isn't really suitable for long distance highway cruising with 18 mpg and not being as comfortable as the Cadillac or Explorer. So as a going to work or highway vehicle, it doesn't make sense. And as I've said before, the 5 1/2 foot bed with the tonneau shell limits its use as a pickup, with the '79 Chevy C-10 with its 8-foot bed just being a more useful vehicle. So, the Tundra mainly gets driven just enough to keep the fluids circulated and the rust from building up on the brake rotors, going grocery shopping on the weekend, running up to the park to go hiking, or the rare occasion when a pickup is needed but we don't want to take the C-10, like it's raining or a longer distance. Hence the low mileage per year. That also means that at least it helps keep a couple thousand miles off my Explorer every year.
I think this would really be great as a camping vehicle, if we still did much of that. The interior of the Crewmax cab is cavernous and the short bed would be perfect for the gear. We may have to take up camping again just to give this vehicle a purpose. It's dependable, runs and drives well, and I'm much more comfortable driving it than I was when we first got it. It's a good vehicle. It's just that we have other vehicles better suited to our current needs. It's basically on standby in case something happens to the Explorer or C-10.
Since the update last year, I had the oil changed, bought a new set of tires, got the A/C and rear defrost switches fixed, and did some repair to the gas shock mounts on the tonneau cover. The tires that came on the truck had developed dry rot cracks in the treads and sidewalls, not deep but the fact that they were there was enough to question driving at highway speed. I had also taken the truck in to look at the windshield wipers when the driver's side was stuck to the window with ice and I was afraid a gear had stripped (it was fine). I asked them to look at the A/C button always being on even with heat and the non-functional rear defrost button. It turned out to be a $28 fix, just something stuck behind the panel. Maybe somebody had spilled a drink on it. And finally, I had to replace the gas shocks that hold up the tonneau shell. The old one had locked and ripped off the mounting bracket when I tried to close it, and was held on only by pop rivets. I ended up having to drill through the tonneau shell and use carriage bolts to mount the brackets, sealing the bolt heads with gasket sealer. That one wasn't the truck's fault, just whoever designed that tonneau.
It's a southern vehicle so there is no rust, never driven in winter and I don't drive it in winter because I want it to stay that way. So I'll just continue maintaining it and giving it light use until such time as it may take on a more prominent role.
23rd Mar 2025, 17:08
This is the original reviewer, posting a one-year update to my review of the 2013 Toyota Tundra Crewmax. Mileage is currently 69,156 so I've put 2,153 miles on the Tundra since last year. That is consistent with the previous year, so it appears that about 2,000 miles per year is the norm. The reason for such low miles is that our other vehicles are just better suited to normal use. I drive my 2017 Ford Explorer to work every day and it gets about 22 mpg in mixed city/highway driving and up to 27 mpg for long highway drives; my 2010 Cadillac DTS gets up to 29 mpg on the highway and is more comfortable for highway cruising. In contrast, the Tundra gets 14 mpg in mixed city/highway driving and isn't really suitable for long distance highway cruising with 18 mpg and not being as comfortable as the Cadillac or Explorer. So as a going to work or highway vehicle, it doesn't make sense. And as I've said before, the 5 1/2 foot bed with the tonneau shell limits its use as a pickup, with the '79 Chevy C-10 with its 8-foot bed just being a more useful vehicle. So, the Tundra mainly gets driven just enough to keep the fluids circulated and the rust from building up on the brake rotors, going grocery shopping on the weekend, running up to the park to go hiking, or the rare occasion when a pickup is needed but we don't want to take the C-10, like it's raining or a longer distance. Hence the low mileage per year. That also means that at least it helps keep a couple thousand miles off my Explorer every year.
I think this would really be great as a camping vehicle, if we still did much of that. The interior of the Crewmax cab is cavernous and the short bed would be perfect for the gear. We may have to take up camping again just to give this vehicle a purpose. It's dependable, runs and drives well, and I'm much more comfortable driving it than I was when we first got it. It's a good vehicle. It's just that we have other vehicles better suited to our current needs. It's basically on standby in case something happens to the Explorer or C-10.
Since the update last year, I had the oil changed, bought a new set of tires, got the A/C and rear defrost switches fixed, and did some repair to the gas shock mounts on the tonneau cover. The tires that came on the truck had developed dry rot cracks in the treads and sidewalls, not deep but the fact that they were there was enough to question driving at highway speed. I had also taken the truck in to look at the windshield wipers when the driver's side was stuck to the window with ice and I was afraid a gear had stripped (it was fine). I asked them to look at the A/C button always being on even with heat and the non-functional rear defrost button. It turned out to be a $28 fix, just something stuck behind the panel. Maybe somebody had spilled a drink on it. And finally, I had to replace the gas shocks that hold up the tonneau shell. The old one had locked and ripped off the mounting bracket when I tried to close it, and was held on only by pop rivets. I ended up having to drill through the tonneau shell and use carriage bolts to mount the brackets, sealing the bolt heads with gasket sealer. That one wasn't the truck's fault, just whoever designed that tonneau.
It's a southern vehicle so there is no rust, never driven in winter and I don't drive it in winter because I want it to stay that way. So I'll just continue maintaining it and giving it light use until such time as it may take on a more prominent role.