2005 Toyota Tundra SR5 review from North America

Nothing has gone wrong.

This pickup is phenomenal. It is comfortable, nicely appointed, great fun to drive, and has features that aren't really even promoted.

I drive in a mountainous area a lot and am in the habit of turning off the overdrive on downhill grades on most cars that I drive. The "intelligent" transmission in the Tundra does that for you. After you have had your foot off the accelerator going down hill, a gentle touch of the brakes once or twice causes the transmission to shift out of overdrive and provide engine braking. If the traffic speed slows more, another touch of the brake at about 45 mph results in it shifting down yet another gear. Wonderful drive-ability.

And, Oh, that 282 horsepower! This truck runs like a sports car, whenever I have the opportunity to "play" with that kind of power.

There is only one complaint. The Cruise Control feature is very badly programmed.

I drive the same roads that I have driven for 46 years and am a great advocate of Cruise Control. So much so that I have installed several after-market units on vehicles which did not have factory installed units. My opinion is qualified.

The Cruise Control on the Tundra works perfectly on level or near-level roads, but hunts-and-seeks over a range of about 3 mph on hills. It causes two-gear down-shifts, racing to catch back up, then overrunning the set speed, causing a shift into the highest gear, backing off to slow back down to the set speed and starting the sequence all over again.

Toyota's official answer to me is "don't use the cruise control on hills". Funny thing, Toyota, every other car I have ever owned, including our 2003 Sienna (my wife's favorite) and the Avalon that I traded on the Tundra after 211,000 excellent miles, all performed just fine on the exact same hills. I am still going through the mediation process. It is a real shame that Toyota ignores this and is unwilling to correct the problem, because it is an awesome ride otherwise.

This is a real issue because the truck is so powerful, quiet, and handles so well that it is very easy to unknowingly exceed speed limits. Just one of the reasons that I use cruise control a lot.