2007 Toyota Tundra SR5 from North America - Comments

I am writing this review just to start up a discussion on the new 2007 Toyota Tundra. I am thinking of buying one so had an extended test ride from the dealership. Here is what I found:

The truck is very quick from stop. Lot of power and you can feel it. It never feels that you are out of the power band. One problem that ford trucks have and which is did not find in the Tundra was the smoothness of power delivery. Power is there whenever you need it, no lag at all. However, I was not very impressed by the six speed transmission. At times, the shifts were pretty harsh particularly from second to third during acceleration. Overall the ride quality was good, but not exceptional. The TRD version had a notably stiffer ride, and I felt a little bouncing at highway speeds. The SR5 seemed smooth and balanced at highway speeds. The cabin is as quiet as it can be. No road (evidently) or wind noise. My F150 has some wind noise at highway speeds otherwise it's reasonably quiet.

Excellent visibility all around. Good quality parts inside. But coming from a 2005 Ford F150 Lariat, I prefer the ford style interior which in-fact is very competitive. I felt that the seats on the Tundra were more supportive than my Ford F150's. I am talking about the cloth seats and not leather. Ford's leather seats are better that Toyota's, however, my current truck has cloth seats. Tundra has a lot of intuitive storage compartments here and there which is really nice. I really liked the compartment where I can store my laptop. The Ford also has storage bin, but I liked the ones in Tundra better

I did not have the opportunity to test the towing capabilities, but am taking the Toyotas word on that. Also, after checking out the acceleration of the truck I don't have doubt about its towing capability. It would tow at least as much as the F150 and that's all I need in towing. One more thing, the brakes were excellent. There was appropriate pedal travel and was braking was linear, much better than my F150. Overall, they added a lot of confidence on the road.

I will update this review as and when I take more test rides or in case I buy it. Everybody is welcome to put in their comments. but please refrain from adding senseless comments and starting a review war. Please add a comment only if you own the truck or have driven it. Unnecessary "Toyota sucks, Ford rules" or vice versa are not appreciated. I am not a dealer nor affiliated to any. I am simply trying to make up my mind on whether to buy this Tundra or not. So if you all can help me out with this, I would really appreciate it.

If I were you I'd hold off on the tundra and keep the F150 for a couple of years, mainly so that they have a chance to work out any problems or glitches that usually occur on a new or redesigned vehicle, than after that give er a shot, these trucks aren't slouches that's for sure.

It sounds sorta dumb, but nowadays you really ought to go to Edmonds and check out the maintenance REQUIRED to keep your warranty in effect and the cost. They have a great breakdown all the way to 100K. Sometimes you will buy the vehicle twice just in maintenance due to the cost of the parts... Good luck on your search, I too am trying to decide which way to go.

4 stars crash test, the worst truck in the market.

What exactly is the extent of this supposed engine failure?

Here is the "supposed" engine issue. Don't assume a comment is false before knowing:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/AUTOS/05/29/bc.toyota.tundra.reut/index.html

You will not go wrong with the Tundra, or any other Toyota. There is a reason that they're now the #1 sales leader in the world. Pay attention to broken down vehicles on the highway; how many of them are Toyota's? Almost none. How many of them are Ford's? A lot, or most of them. The Tundra will do everything an F-150 can do, and then some. The beauty of Toyota's is that after 180,000 miles, they run just about the same as when they're new; all you have to do is regular maintenance. A Ford truck won't do this, unless it's a diesel, and even then maybe not. But an F-150? Forget it. It might still be running, but not very well, not to mention the fact that it'll be worth about half as much on trade in as a comparably priced Toyota would be. Considering the serious trouble that Ford is in, (due to building low quality vehicles), I would never consider buying one. There's a good chance they won't even be around in a few years. Most people know better than to buy them, and if they continue to lose money the way that they are today, they definitely won't be in existence very long before they go under or sell out. Another issue is gas mileage. Toyota's historically get better than EPA estimates after they finally break in, which takes awhile. Every Ford owner I know gets less, and I know because I do a lot of research in this area, and I ask them. My v-6 Tacoma for instance, is rated to get 17/19 city highway, and after turning 70,000 miles just today, I am getting 22 everywhere unless I run the hell out of it, and I've never even given it a tune up. Ford's don't do this. You'll usually get less than EPA estimates. As far as the recalls go, new Ford trucks have had a lot more of them than new Toyota trucks; a google search and a little bit of research will prove this.

Anyway, good luck making your decision, if you decide to buy the Ford, I'm certain that you can get it pretty cheap; they can't seem to unload them. Just remember, you get what you pay for.

Wow one review you read about bad transmissions on top of line Acuras and now Toyotas with bad engines. I think domestics are the wiser choice.

The guy with the v6 Tacoma is a typical Toyota lover. He worships his truck and tells himself all the rest suck after making some Google searches on articles that were probably written by people like him. Well I say there is a reason the F-150 sells close to 1 million a year, because they are best, at least according to Toyota lover logic. This is about full size trucks, not Tacomas, and the reason Toyota is the best selling make right now is because the media says it's the best, people's minds are controlled by the media. There is no better proof of this than Toyota. The vast majority of people don't have extensive car knowledge so they blindly go out and buy a Toyota because someone told them they are the best. How else could so many people be buying crummy, inferior Camry's. I don't need to go into stats and stories to proove Camry's are not preferable, people on this site have heard them all by now already anyways.

One source you can check out is "consumeraffairs.com". They have articles on both the 4 star crash test results and the engine problem.

Yeah and the beloved Ford Fusion of the domestic crowd got 4 stars also... doing worse than the Honda Civic even in crash tests!! So what is your point?

HI, I am the original reviewer of this thread. I really appreciate all the responses that I got to this review. I must say that the engine failures have scared me a little. For one reason, what if I buy the truck with the weaker engine camshaft and it breaks after my warranty expires!! And the other, we don't know how many Tundra's on the lot have this defect, even though Toyota says the problem is rectified.

Another aspect of my purchase that I encountered was the horrible Dealerships of Toyota. All over Atlanta I haven't found even one toyota dealer who may be true to his word. They are just simply marking up their cars using cheap tricks. At Atlanta Toyota, I see online that they have 6 Tundras with the exact configuration that I want and are available immediately. I take their VIN numbers and head off to the dealership where the salesman says that they do not have any stock, but can get me one for $500 above the MSRP and after 3 days and only if I pay a deposit that day itself. No rebates/discounts since it is in high demand. So I say no and go about the lot to look at any other option. I see 6 Tundra's with the exact same config that I want. But the surprise does not end here. Four of them have the same VIN numbers as shown online in the inventory. None of them have Manufacturer stickers on them and are at the end of the entire lot. I ask about these Tundra's and nobody available is able to explain why they don't have stickers on them and whether or not they are for sale. I suspect that if I pay for a deposit as they asked for, I would get one of these trucks only, which are already in the inventory. Also, I would not even get the $2500 discount on new Toyotas.

So I am still kind of confused whether to buy this or not. Or go for a new F150 lariat which will definitely be cheaper than the Tundra and isn't at all a bad truck, but lacks the 381hp punch that Tundra has.

More reviews will be appreciated.

Thanks.

00:58 Nice try, wrong, though. So by your logic, people's mind's are controlled by the media? And that's why Toyota is number one? So that must mean that for the last 70 some years, when GM was top seller every year, that it was only because people were brainwashed by the media into thinking that GM's are good, when they really suck? Good point. I agree with you there. Or maybe your 'highest sales theory' about media hype only applies to Toyota, or other companies that you don't like? The truth is, BEFORE Toyota, and even Honda were around, people didn't have the choice to buy something better than a Ford or GM, because nothing else existed yet! Then, when Toyota and Honda arrived on the scene, people started buying them; and now that they've clearly proven themselves as the best in the last 20 or 30 years, people trust them, have a choice between a crappy Ford or a good Toyota, and (big surprise, look at the sales numbers), they are leaving the Ford's sit at the dealerships, and they're buying Toyota's. Toyota LONG since blew past Ford in the car and SUV market, and now that they make full size trucks, the same thing will happen in time. People will see that they're a lot better than an F-150, the Tundra will continue to prove itself, and people will buy a lot more of them, and a lot less F-150's; just like the car market. I'm sure you 'won't bother' to site the statistics about the Camry, because you've read them, and just like the sales numbers, they show that the Camry is a better car, and way ahead in sales. To the person that wrote the 'review'; the comment that I am replying to is one of many written by jealous/upset Ford owners who can't stand to see their F-150's embarrassed by a better automaker, that just happened to originate in Japan. Pay no attention to them, do your own research, talk to Toyota owners and Ford owners ANYWHERE, but on this site, and you'll hear the truth. Toyota's break down less, run smoother and longer, hold their value way better, and are just all around better cars and trucks than Fords; Toyota owners will surely know this, and the funny part will be that most disgruntled Ford owners will tell you the same thing. Don't trust me, ask around before you buy.

I do not like trucks at all, but I came across this article about the engine failure. If I know my friend Bud who lives in the country, and he does! He will try and do anything to say the Toyota is going ot fail because of a few defects with the first Tundras on the road... here is an article I came upon on the engine failures... hope this puts the foot in the Ford mans mouth for a while.

"Toyota fixing Tundra truck engine failures

SAN ANTONIO, May 30 (UPI) -- Some new Toyota Tundra pickup trucks have a defect that has caused at least 20 engines to fail, the Japanese automaker says.

Toyota Motor Corp. said a camshaft flaw in some 5.7-liter V-8 Tundra engines caused the engine component to crack and fail.

The flaw was due to a manufacturing defect by a subcontractor, Toyota said. Toyota would not identify the subcontractor, but said it has fixed the defect.

All affected engines are being replaced at no charge.

Toyota spokesman Bill Kwong told USA Today he did not know how many engines were made and installed before the flaw was detected. But he said the problem was found early and Toyota did not issue a recall."

So more of a problem with the first Tundras than all of them. Take what Tim Buck II says about bashing Toyotas with a grain of salt.

To the writer who is debating over a Toyota or a Ford F150.

My question to you would be, why only those two? If you don't like the engine in the Ford, Chevy just redesigned it's Silverado pickup which was voted 'truck of the year' by 49 UNBIASED automotive journalists at the Detroit Auto show. It has 367 horsepower, which isn't far from the Tundra. Also, Chevy has a lot more experience than Toyota in making heavy duty pickups. Also you can get a new Dodge Ram with the Hemi that is supposed to be really good. Also, while I'm not a fan of imports, the Nissan Titan has a pretty powerful engine and good towing ratings, although I think they have been having some reliability problems. If I were you I would consider some other brands, the new Silverado has been getting some really good press and I think its better than the Toyota and maybe even better than the Ford.

Good luck with your decision!

Ford F Series full size trucks alone the largest selling vehicle in America last year at number 1 spot, If you see a few Fords along the road there should be as Tundra does not have anywhere near the quantity on the road. Ford F Series also surpassed Camry sales. Still the same I test drove quite a few including the Tundra. If you test drive all and then examine construction, load and towing capacities, warranty, performance, handling it makes sense. They also cost less to own over 5 years on Edmunds vs. Tundra. Shopping for a truck is not like going out for a car. To me buying a light mid size or compact truck is compromising and I can accomplish the same results with a hatchback car with a piece of rope to tie the lid down and a pair of roof racks on any given weekend.