2007 Toyota Tundra SR5 from North America - All Comments

21:40 Nice LONNNG comment. Yeah, I owned one of your 'work' trucks once. It didn't work. Because it's a Ford.

I don't care if it has 65 leaf springs. They're useless when the engine and transmission are garbage. A Ford cast iron block is good for anchoring a ship maybe, but not much else when the mileage gets up there. Of course the block won't be damaged, it's a big piece of solid metal. It's all the junk parts that they carelessly put into the block that break.

My Toyota works. And most people have the same experience I've had. The domestics fall apart; the imports don't.

The proof is the current sales numbers. People are buying more and more Toyota's and much less Fords. That's a fact.

I won't waste my time explaining why Toyota's are clearly better put together because you'd simply tell me I'm wrong.

Yes... I read your whole post all the way through. I'm not sure what point you're making about an Explorer overheating other than that Ford's (especially Tauruses) have a nasty habit of clogging up their cooling systems and blowing head gaskets. The initial argument was about quality. A quality car wouldn't overheat to begin with because the metallurgy, radiator, and cooling passages would've been designed to function properly. Simply put- an overheating car is either A: neglected, or B: crappy design. Probably B if we're talking Ford.

In fact.. I happen to have a classic car that I work on weekends. I go to a local junk yard and I swear- the Ford section is the biggest section of the yard. Why? Because I will pass hood after hood of an opened Ford carcass with the tell-tale sign of a blown head gasket: white foamy residue all over the engine bay. That goes for Tauruses, Explorers, and the occasional Mustang.

My Tacoma has 220,000 miles and I finally changed the radiator fluid after 75k. Guess what? the fluid was totally clean and the radiator is nearly perfect. Hmmm. I wonder if that means my truck doesn't overheat? ding ding ding!

I'm not sure if bragging about how well a explorer overheats would have me bursting with pride. I'm glad others are though. Ford must be glad to realize that if they design something badly, people will overlook the shortcomings.

I wish I had problems to brag about what problems my truck has. But unfortunately the durned' thing just keeps right on running perfectly. I'll be darned if it's too well engineered!

09:24 First of all cast iron can take 300 more degrees than any aluminum, no matter the alloy. Which I might add is part of engineering. I suppose the engineer did not consider the heat tolerance of the materials to be used in the engine; no they don't look at that info. Especially since the cooling system is calibrated to that info, or do those Tundra's use Corolla radiators because engineers wouldn't care how much heat to displace and the size of radiator required to do the job.

For your information I have had training in airframe and powerplant, as well as several years working on F-15's. First of all aluminum is mostly used as a skin or maybe for spars in the wing, depending on the performance of the aircraft. The engines such as turbine engines use titanium and steel; both very strong and heat resistant metals. Titanium is important because it is light weight as well as strong. However, it is very expensive and difficult to work on, so only high dollar items can afford to incorporate such materials into their design. As far as your metal, well I have some books that I can check if it is real, and the alloys involved, I will keep the people posted.

13:30 Well, I know I'm impressed. You have a Ford that overheats every day. Good job. You should have bought a Toyota.

Most of what can be said here has already been said... but I'd just like to chime in here and give my experiences as unbiased as possible:

My current truck is a 1993 Chevy full size K1500 Blazer, it's basically like a 2 dr Tahoe or a Yukon (Tahoe model name wasn't used until 1995). The truck currently has 203,000 miles on it and the 350 "TBI" engine runs great, while showing no absolutely no signs of stopping. I'm no mechanic, but I do almost all of my own maintenance on this truck, it's very intelligently thought out and easy to work on. If you need advice, the info is readily available online and you can do most maintenance with basic tools. I do all my own oil changes, and the parts that I ever do need are very reasonably priced. I don't plan on ever selling it, it's been excellent. I get many compliments on it's condition as well, it looks great, not something expected of a vehicle this old in the road salt-laden Boston, MA area.

My previous truck was a 1988 GMC Suburban with a TBI 350. I still have the truck, but unfortunately it was stolen out of my driveway and crashed through someone's house at 4am and suffered cosmetic damage to the nose, along with a smashed steering column. I plan on fixing it based on the fact that it's been downright reliable. At the time it was stolen, it had 199,000 miles on the original engine, and less than a month before the original transmission had just burned out a direct clutch or something inside, which led me to get it completely rebuilt. The entire rebuild at a speed shop was 900 bucks, including them replacing the flywheel and rear main engine seal since the transmission was out. The truck barely had any rust on it, although these models WERE terribly prone to rust (designed in 1973 basically.)

My dad has a 1988 Chevy Silverado with yes, a TBI 350. That truck has over 277,000 miles on the original engine and transmission. The only problems with it are the paint on the hood is starting to flake, and the cab corners have some rust bubbles. It's still in very good shape though.

My little brother has a 1989 Caprice Classic with the 305 fuel injected engine. The car will not die. It has over 200,000 miles also. Original running gear. It still looks kinda nice too!

In contrast, we've had some Pontiac Grand Prix's that had plenty of problems, mostly brakes, struts, and so on. Just terrible cars.

I'm sure there are plenty of good Toyotas and foreign cars, although I haven't owned any. I've driven them plenty of times though. I drove a 2000 Celica a few times a week, and it was the worst car I've ever driven. Blind spots everywhere, radio didn't work, the ergonomics for the driver were all wrong like the steering wheel was too far away, and the hatchback fell on my head. It kept stalling too. This was when the car was only about 4 years old and had 58,000 miles. In addition, about 75 percent of the 1990s Toyota Celicas I see have soot all over the back of them from burning oil. I've had friends with these and while most had high miles, like 180K or whatever, a few had only about 80-100,000 miles. Oil consumption at that mileage isn't acceptable.

What I'm saying is there are good cars and bad cars with each manufacturer. I'm sick of everyone saying simply that since a car is branded a Toyota its the Holy Grail of the automotive world. It's not. Just because you owned some piece of crap GM front wheel drive car with a blown Quad 4 in it back in 1991, doesn't mean you're suddenly the authority on the subject.

To add a LITTLE bias here, I will say they aren't all they're cracked up to be. People (more like "Sheeple") are succumbing to advertising for a large part of this, and the statements about American made and all that still don't apply. The destination of your dollar is still a foreign company and country, and you're creating a trade deficit by buying a new Toyota. I'm not saying we should be obligated to buy from Detroit either, because they've been making some bonehead moves themselves lately, and the unions are turning the car industry into one big HMO plan. But when we are devoid of all our domestic manufacturing base 40-50 years from now, because you sped the process up buying a new Toyota, our country will be ripe for a takeover by China when we can't defend ourselves anymore. This is NOT a far fetched idea. Seriously, think about it.

Lastly, A transmission shouldn't cost over 1800 bucks to rebuild, etc... And if my Blazer's engine were to go out, a new crate engine is like 2 grand. I could probably install it myself too.

Just my .02.

Why are aluminum engines utilizing cast iron sleeves? Why doesn't Toyota make a diesel full size pickup like Ford and GM? If you want high mileage are you indicating a gas aluminum engine is better than a diesel? How come the Tundra does not have the towing capacity of the domestics to pull my boat? Its not even capable on the ratings on mine. You can go to a boat store in a Tundra and then have it delivered by a large domestic truck however. Tundra can pull a boat, but not mine that is heavy yet still trailerable. You beat up on Ford and say Toyota is better. Theres no way the load I place and expect on my domestic can even be done with a Toyota unless you care to disregard mfrs. tow rating specs. I do not believe you can generalize an entire mfrs. line up on only one old model that you may or may not have a basis on. Driving in the woods to have a campfire is one thing... towing boats, concrete mixers, tow behind mixers, large trailers that are used all week are another. I would like to see some comments on how diesel engines are supposed to not be built to last. Compare to full size Ford F250 and above... oops there isn't a comparison that I'm seeing from any of the imports sold in the U.S.A, so domestics have more to offer. Its clearly indicated in sales as well Ford F Series has consistently been the number one selling vehicle in America. You would expect that to be a car but it shows a lot......... so that can only indicate what a great vehicle that Ford has that addresses the many truck niches that people expect.

23:40 Please don't feed us that flag-waving nonsense about how I'm going to cause the demise of the United States because I bought a Toyota instead of a rickety GM vehicle.

Toyota is building plants in this country more often than anyone else and employing US workers, while the Big 3 are selling out overseas. Yeah, I can already hear the domestic car owners chanting.. blah, blah... 'they still employ 'x' number of workers, and Toyota only employs this many'... But the point is that the trend is reversing. If we get blown to bits by China in 50 years, it's because this country started going downhill a LONG time ago, we have an inept, corrupt government, and we're wasting all of our resources and money in other small countries trying to play mother to the world instead of focusing on making THIS country a little better. It has nothing to do with what car or truck any of us drive. I can't quite see how buying a Ford Fusion made in Mexico will improve things instead of a Camry made right here in the US.

You have to get your story straight. First you say no one really hauls thousands of pounds in their trucks, then I contradict your statement with my testimony of having hauled thousands of pounds. Then you come back and imply that you do haul a lot of weight with your truck; make up your mind. I don't care what you've hauled over the years; if you've done it with a Toyota, it was a light load. Wow, lawn-mowers; those are usually 300 pounds apiece.

Had my father or grandfather used a toy to do their farm work, they would have been terribly sorry and over-whelmed with buyer's remorse.

Quit trying to defy Physics; the metal physically is not there. These foreign trucks are thin and light all the way through. You have to have heavy metal to move heavy loads.

I also bet you're so proud to give American's work while you fatten the pockets of Japanese CEO's. Let's all watch slowly as the Japanese sucker American after American in to sending our money to another country's economy, as ours dwindles away. You think it's a big deal when a domestic company sends its labor to a cheaper country? The profits come back home. The labor cost of producing a vehicle is only a fraction of the total profit a company makes from that vehicle. You think that Toyota and Honda are doing us such big favors by having us to build their products, then they send billions of dollars home to their country and out of ours. Before long, the Japanese will own our whole country and we'll all have no choice but to work for them. I am so filled with Patriotic pride when I think about working for the Japanese. When this all happens, I'll have you to thank.

Here's some economics for you. When you buy a Japanese product with American Dollars, you are basically buying Yen in the form of a truck. When you trade your American Dollars in for Japanese Yen, you drive the value of the Yen up and you drive the value of the Dollar down. So, not only are you sending money out of this country, but the money that remains in this country is worth less, due to depreciation, than what it was worth before. It's a double-whammy for us, except we get the pleasure of WORKING for them with them as our bosses. YAY!

Oh yeah, you think a 15 year old truck is impressive, why don't you try doubling that like my C20. It's a '78 model and I just drove it into town this morning. Every part of the drive-train is original and it has had a very very hard life of neglect, abuse, and work. I suppose you've put 3,800 pounds of tobacco in the back of your Tundra, or you've put 12,000 pounds behind either truck? I sure hope not; there would be no stopping the thing when you braked.

Oh yeah, so your doors and tailgate shut nicely? Of course they do. It's easy for a door to shut when it's light or a tailgate to shut nicely when it weighs 30 pounds. The tailgate on my Chevy weighs about 60 or 70 pounds and the doors weigh about 80 and that's with no features like power windows or locks. Gee, I wonder why my doors shut roughly after 30 years when they're nearly 100 pounds apiece?

God Bless America; give the Japanese your money, at least they'll pay you to build the product first, before they send the rest of it to Japan. I think we're screwed.

14:06.

You won't "waste" your time explaining why your Toyota is better because you've already used your reason.

"It's a Toyota."

When you and all the other Toyota-ites march to the beat of marketing-powerhouse drum, you don't get concrete reasons. Instead, you get intangible "because I said so" reasons that are as illogical as your blind faith in the squandered legacy of import vehicles.

Come on, don't tease us with the possibility of an actual explanation. Of course, I'd just say use the "It's a Toyota" excuse too if I didn't have the numbers to back it up. Please feel free to make a post when you've got a more substantial counter-statement to make.

16:41 what is the classic car that you own? Is it a Toyota? Curious also why you would want a classic car... maybe it has been well made, durable and appreciating rapidly? I agree I am tired of disposable cars, and see small imports as a basic appliance... when they fall apart what's the sentimentality?

The Toyota crowd (~/or individual is more likely) are afraid to address how their aluminum engines are superior to Ford and GM diesel trucks (that every contractor and friend that I have drives exclusively). Tundra just cannot do anything that we do daily because of our degree of load-carrying and towing requirements. Well, maybe we could use one to drop off estimates or banking.

It's funny - a houseboat company in my hometown uses Diesel E-350's and semi-trucks to move any huge load they may have. But, they have an older model Tundra and a 4-Runner with the company logos on the side, but I don't even think they have trailer hitches on the back of them. I guess they use the Toyota's for advertising while the Peterbuilts, Internationals, and Fords do the real work behind the scene.

I own a 2007 5.7L Tundra CrewMax that I picked up from the dealer on July 21, 2007. My truck now has just over 1000 miles and there have been absolutely no problems.

In January of 2000, I bought a new Chevy Silverado 5.3L 1500. In less than two months, I had lots of problems and the truck spent several days at the dealership, with me incurring rental car expenses. When that truck had less than 2500 miles, I was persuaded to trade in that 2000 Silverado for another 2000 Silverado (also a 5.3L 1500), at a cost of an additional $3500 + TT&L, in hopes that I would get a better truck the second time around.

The second Silverado had even more problems initially than the first Silverado. When I had owned the second Silverado for less than a month, I took it back to the dealer with 994 miles on it and they kept it for over two weeks trying to correct all of its problems. The dealer was nice enough to provide me a rental car at no charge during that two week period, which I appreciated.

Over the first year that I owned the second Silverado, I had to take it back to the dealer five more times for warranty work. Thankfully, I had a dealer who wanted to make the vehicle right and they finally did. (I just pulled all this information from the notebook that I maintained on the Silverado.)

I drove the 2000 Silverado for a total of seven years and three months (over 100,000 miles), and it turned out to be an excellent vehicle once all of its manufacturing defects were corrected.

I still think the 2000 Chevy Silverado was a great vehicle, especially the design and the engine and despite all the problems that I had, I remain convinced to this day that the 2000 Silverado 5.3L truck was the best truck on the market back in 2000. I considered a 2000 Tundra when I bought the Silverado, but thought then that the 2000 Silverado was quite a bit better than the 2000 Tundra and the 2000 F150.

However, in 2007, I looked hard at a new GMC Sierra, along with the Tundra and an F150. The GMC was very nice and, in many ways, I would have preferred to buy a domestic name, but there were two or three things about the GMC that just turned me off:

1. The pick-up bed on the GMC, in my opinion, is too elevated and way too much fender well is visible.

2. I didn't especially like the cylinder de-activation feature. I noticed it too much when accelerating.

3. I didn't like the fact that there wasn't a driver assist handle.

4. I thought a 2007 truck ought to have at least a five-speed transmission.

5. I wanted a floor shifter which GM didn't offer.

(I didn't consider a new Silverado because I didn't like the looks of its front-end. I did like the looks of the GMC front end.)

After ten weeks of intense studying and test driving, I decided that, in 2007, the Tundra was a little better than the GMC, although I think they are both very nice trucks. These are some of the reasons that I decided to buy the Tundra:

1. Lots of outstanding safety features, all standard equipment.

2. The 5.7 liter engine has unbelivable acceleration and smoothness, better than some sports cars that I have owned. I also liked the EPA mileage estimate of 16/20. All of my driving in the Tundra so far has been heavy city traffic and I am averaging 15.4 mpg. I think I will get at least 18-19 mpg on the highway, which will be comparable to what I got in my 2000 Silverado, despite the Tundra having a much larger engine and a lot more weight.

3. The Tundra ride is almost as good as the new GMC. The Tundra rides as well or better than the GMC on relatively smooth pavement and I think the interior of the Tundra may be a little quieter than the GMC at 70 mph.

4. The fit and the finish on my Tundra are impeccable.

5. Lots of little things on the Tundra are exceedingly well thought out such as the recessed and barely visible windshield cowling. The cowlings are, in my opinion, too visible on the GMC, Ford F150, & Dodge. Also the Tundra has a lot of interior stowage space.

6. Outstanding leg room and extraordinarily comfortable are good words to describe the rear seat area on the CrewMax.

7. Toyota's reputation for building relatively trouble free vehicles. I also liked the fact that the Tundra was designed and built in the USA, with a higher domestic content that many of its competitors.

The 2007 Tundra is the 22nd new vehicle that I have purchased over the last 48 years. It is not a perfect vehicle. There are several things that could be improved on it, but, overall, it is pretty wonderful.

The only other vehicle that I owned that never had to go back to the dealer for warranty work was a 1983 Olds Cutlass (a company car), which was also a wonderful automobile. Two other new cars that I purchased which were especially trouble prone were a 1981 Datsun Maxima and a 1986 Mercedes E300. These two were more trouble than my 2000 model Silverados, so I definitely am not automatically inclined to be pro-import. I try to buy a vehicle that performs well, looks good, and that, in my mind, represents good value for my hard-earned money.

As stated earlier, I now have over 1000 miles on my Tundra and have had it for just over five weeks. At approximately this same point back in 2000, I had lots of issues with both of the 2000 model Silverados that I owned. I am exceedingly pleased that, as of this moment, I have no issues with the Tundra. If I took it to the dealer tomorrow, I would have nothing at all for them to fix, which is good news because I find it highly irritating to have to return to the dealer with problems on a brand new vehicle.

16:41!!

I was using it as an example of how cast iron engine blocks can be over heated and not be damaged or destroyed. The same applies for any cast iron engine block. Thank you for twisting my story around however you seem fit, especially in a way untrue.

10:28 I think we've already covered, about a million times, that NO, a Tundra won't haul as much as an F-250 or larger. What's your point? Try comparing apples to apples. Compare the Tundra to the F-150. Well, there's no comparison there. One's a Ford, so it loses automatically. If you want to know why aluminum is superior to cast iron blocks, there are plenty of books that will explain it to you.