2006 Toyota Tundra SR5 from North America - Comments

"I know not a single person who has had a "crappy" Honda."

Now you do. Ours was the WORST car we ever owned. I can't imagine a 1980 YUGO having more problems. You obviously don't know many people who own Hondas.

Again, I don't have one clue what you're talking about. My boss owns a 2007 Acura TSX. He drives A LOT. So far, no problems. In fact, 2 other guys in the office own Honda products. No issues. The HR manager owns a 92 Honda Accord. 240,000 miles and the thing even looks mint inside and out.

If you go to any repair shop - whether it be Honda, Toyota, Ford, or Chevrolet, it's a pretty sure bet that those people are there to get their cars repaired. Of course the car has an issue. All car makers make mechanical things that will eventually wear out. All car makers will have cars that are new that have problems. The question is which ones have LESS problems.

For example, I have a buddy who works at a local Chevy dealer. He actually drives a Toyota Tacoma because even though he works for GM, to him their products are junk. They regularly get Chevy Aveos in all the time with timing belts that snap at 40,000 miles or less. Luckily GM is replacing this car with something else. But the fact that they brought out this poor excuse of a car (it's actually a Daewoo) just shows you that their priorities are not where they should be. Honda and Toyota would NEVER do something like that. They have just a few solid core brands that they focus on. Do you think Honda would ever bring in- say a Indian car, like a Tata and re-badge it as a Honda Civic? No way.

BUT... I have been paying close attention to GM's restructuring. For once I'll say they have made some good decisions. They're axing Hummer, Saab, Saturn, and Pontiac. Good. Now they are focused on only Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick, and GMC. That way they won't be doing lots of badge engineering nor be spread so thin that their lineup is sloppy.

Secondly they got rid of their legacy costs. That's good as well. Now they can spend more per car versus less since they used to have to pay for retirement plans for former employees.

Lastly they are aggressively pursuing alternative powertrains. The Chevy Volt comes out next year. The car will probably bomb since it's too expensive. But good for them - they are now coming close to where Toyota was 10 years ago.

I'm a car guy. I love cars. But for me they need to be quality. What Detroit has produced for 30+ years is junk and unacceptable. I can in some ways see some of the Japanese brands drifting a bit towards the old GM trap - going after quantity. But don't misunderstand me: they still for the most part make exceptional cars and trucks.

Its going to be an uphill battle for the big 3. Ford gets it to some extent. GM might get it. Chrysler is probably done for and will become a generic conglomerate, with a Hodge-podge portfolio including Fiats (sad sad sad).

Drifting off topic again on a full size truck review.

Haven't you noticed that this site is being overrun with the import vs. domestic debate?

Instead of vehicle reviews, we are forced to read through comments written by people trying to impose their political & corporate agendas on us.

Let's let people drive what they want & get back to vehicle reviews.

ALL Toyota Tundra reviews drift off topic. Why? Because EVERY single review is followed up by a post that goes along like this:

"Domestics are better than imports... I had a 1984 Chevette than lasted 525,000 miles without a single problem. We also had a 1999 Honda Accord that ran for 50 miles then the engine blew up, caught fire, and came out of the car. I hate Foreign cars. But the "Award-winning" Ford Fusion (which incidentally is entirely made in Mexico) is so much better than the Toyota Camry (which is made in Kentucky) I support my fellow American workers. The latest reports show that first week initial quality of the Chevy Aveo is a lot better than the Camry. I'll drive a huge megalithic monster-sized truck forever, and will do my best to make sure everyone else will too because why would you want to drive a small "puny" car?"

That pretty much sums it up. Then of course these inexplicably nonsensical posts are generally followed up by facts, which of course are refuted with more "stories" of uncles with Ford Escorts, Pintos, and Chevy Vegas that made it to the Guinness book of world records for mileage followed by stories of how "everyone they know" who drives a Honda has had problems after 20 miles and so forth.

"Drifting off topic again on a full size truck review."

That is to be expected. Import backers can't defend the rather pathetic Tundra. They have to keep changing the topic.

I used to work in a lumber yard where trucks are used more as tools rather than grocery-getter's. I can tell you from personal observation that contractors absolutely loved the Tundra, and yes- they were holding up just fine hauling the same stuff their previous F-150's did. My Dad still has a 2002 Tundra. He works in maintenance and uses it as a truck, like a truck should be used. He has zero complaints. It now has around 230,000 miles on it.

The whole problem here is that the same people who make claims that the Tundra isn't a legitimate choice are just like those who back in the 70's and 80's disregarded cars like the Corolla, Camry, and Accord because in their minds they believed that only American companies knew how to build cars and Japanese cars were jokes. Then those same cars they laughed at became national best-sellers.

It's obvious that these companies did something right. From history it also shows that Toyota continually goes after new markets until they succeed. Look at Lexus. It was Toyota's attempt to go after the Luxury car market. When they first came out they were little more than Camrys with different badges. Now they're fully competitive - if not better - than any of the upper end German sedans.

Now Toyota is going after the full size truck market. The latest generation of Tundra is now every bit as good - and in many people's opinions better - than anything the big 3 produces.

As mentioned, history is a good teacher and the next Tundra will be even better, and so on until what they provide will be ultimately more highly desired than the trucks from the Big 3 - just like today's car market where the overwhelming passenger car of choice is the Camry.

So the lesson to observe here is that giving the public what they want is the means to gain market share. When Toyota started in the US, they had a tiny market share. Now they are the largest automaker. So perhaps instead of making false claims that they build bad products (which is an argument you cannot win) then maybe it would be more productive to see what they are doing and apply it to solutions for the Big 3 to use in order to stop Toyota's gain in market share.

The Tundra doesn't need a defense. It holds its own just fine, and the fact that I see hordes of brand-new Tundras on the drive to work every day tells me that they're doing it right and Ford, GM, and Chrysler would be wise to do something to make their products more desirable.

I have an idea if you own a full size tundra titan silverado f series ram write a detailed specific review. No cars and why you bought a full size. I. bought a new silverado better ride room warranty and tow a boat. I am comparing to a tundra. Honda has zero relevance as cars as they are certainly not a full size truck and none are even made!

I would like to see more detailed experiences on actual full size truck ownerships on late models. Compare Tundra or Titan to performance, ride, towing experiences, bed carrying, actual dealership warranty experiences with your specific full size truck owned. Maybe even mileage maintenance issues what happened at 20,000 miles,30,000 miles etc on up.

If you test drive both or a few new full size trucks, compare and enlighten us. If you had issues with the short import warranty vs. the domestic 100,000 mile warranty for example.

I am certainly not going to buy a small import hybrid or a little domestic car being reviewed on any large truck review. If you think your import full size truck is better specific to what new specific full size pick up. And exactly why.

I buy new full sizes am very interested... I can drift way off topic or more easily go over to the Prius, Accord, Chevette, Aveo etc reviews. I honestly believe there are only a handful of new full size truck owners commenting; it seems a political agenda, someone lost their job, missed a raise or had problems with their first small car (likely from lack of maintenance).

I maintain my new Silverado extremely well, use Mobil 1 synthetic, keep it garaged, fortunately I have high door clearance at home.

Most of my changes are upgrades not maintenance issues. Please consider some of us would really like to compare new full size trucks on a new full size truck review.

OK, here are some "facts"

1) The Fusion IS the highest rated car in CR's projected reliability listings. It beats Camry, Accord and Altima... PERIOD. No "opinion" there, just FACT.

2) A Buick and a Ford tied for best LONG-TERM reliability (NOT initial quality, which doesn't make a HOOT of difference over the long run) in J.D. Powers reliability survey of long-term required repairs. Again, just fact.

3) The longest lasting truck featured in CR's article on long-lasting vehicles was a FORD. It had gone 488,000 trouble-free miles. Again, A fact.

4) The Ford F-150 is in its 30th year as the best selling full-sized truck. Tundra is struggling just to hang on.

5) Both Honda and Toyota have had NUMEROUS problems in recent years. CR pulled its "recommended" rating of the Camry in 2008 because of poor reliability. The Camry is STILL rated only "average". The Fusion is 2 full ratings HIGHER. Again, no speculation, just FACT.

6) No Toyota or Honda has EVER made it to the "million mile club". That means vehicles that are still running the same engine and transmission after 1,000,000 miles. Both Ford and Cadillac have made this milestone.

7) Personal experience matters when the numbers give sufficient data (consult any qualified statistician). Out of over 30 domestics owned by our family, NONE, not ONE, required a repair to the engine or transmission before 100,000 miles. ALL THREE of our imports had MASSIVE engine problems before 100,000 miles. The mathematical odds of that are out of the realm of pure coincidence. Getting 30 "unusual" good domestics and 3 "bad" imports is stretching the limits of reality. Conclusion: The domestics were better... PERIOD.

Even if I weren't a loyal American, I'd still buy domestics just for the much lower cost to purchase and better reliability and lower maintenance costs. As it is, I get the best of both worlds: Great reliability AND lower costs. In addition, I'm helping the 91% of U.S. citizens who work in auto-related jobs as opposed to helping the tiny 9% who work for foreign companies. That matters to me. You may not care about your friends and neighbors. I DO.

I saw one regular at our building supply with a Tundra; a small plasterer. Most everyone drove diesel full sizes, obviously new loaded domestics. I worked there 2004 to 2008, saw many lined up at 630 every day. One Tundra, that's it.

"I'm a car guy. I love cars. But for me they need to be quality. What Detroit has produced for 30+ years is junk and unacceptable."

A 55-year-old GM that is still 100% original with 258,000 miles on it is "unacceptable"? We have one of those. It was my father's car. It's worth many times its original price. Not a speck of rust, original interior even. The engine is smooth and powerful. The GM 4-speed hydramatic has never been touched.

325,000 virtually trouble free miles is "unacceptable? That's how far we drove our 1975 Ford (over 17 years).

Or how about 277,000 TOTALLY trouble-free miles from our 1977 Buick LeSabre (sold in 2008)? I guess that is "unacceptable" as well?

Or maybe our 1990 Dodge that was sold in perfect running condition at 240,000 miles. It never even had freon added to the air conditioner. Yeah, it MUST have been garbage. Golly. It never even made a quarter of a million miles!

Then there are our 4 present vehicles. 2 GM and 2 Ford. The oldest is 9 years old. It has had one light bulb replaced. The others are 7, 4 and 3 years old and (as I'd expect with a domestic) have never had ANY problems.

I'm a "car guy" AND a mechanic. Not even the American cars of the 70's and 80's were as bad as our three imports, NONE of which made it to 100,000 miles without MAJOR problems. That includes one of those supposedly "perfect" Hondas that was built in Japan. It was the least reliable car I ever was cursed with.

I'd hardly regard cars that served me flawlessly for over 200,000 miles as "unacceptable". That's why our cars are all now Ford and GM. They are in Warranty longer than our imports even LASTED. We no longer trade because our cars are wearing out. We trade only if we want something newer. Most modern domestics will literally last as long as you want to drive them.

10:25 back in the excessive 80's I owned new luxury imports including 2 Mercedes, a Datsun Z car and Acuras 89 up.. and some nice domestics as well. Quite frankly them I could care less in a strong economy and it was a time pretty centered around yourself.

Lately I have seen some real hardship with family and friends, with some very talented individuals losing their jobs. And business owners trying to hold onto business and even to get paid by others.

I am driving new domestics now, quite frankly they have exceeded our expectations and I am letting others know. There is a really good feeling to #1 have a job and drive new domestics. I am not being hurt whatsoever, the quality is great, I am feeling I am putting 100% of my purchase not going to Japan but here.

I think quite a few people are taking a extreme negative on the lack of objectivity of current domestics. Whether someone owned used domestics 20 years ago and is driving new imports, try the reverse. I am comparing my import experience from a former positive to domestics being excellent. I am not an expert on all makes and models, but I know what is in my driveway is certainly less trouble prone than we had with our latest imports.

Again, I use to care less, it was my money and all about our family. The sudden severe gas hike last year and the continual banking-mortgage mess is more of a factor today, otherwise in a great economy imports would have held the #1 spot.

Not everyone wants to buy a SUV, or a $60,000 pickup maybe more Prius, Corollas instead. I do not want to drive these. I can live with 25 MPG on a trip in a V8 with a family. Just because a vehicle is larger, does not mean the MPG and likely maintenance can be low. I know I will not buy a new vehicle without a 100,000 mile warranty... all cars should offer that today. They are not cheap to buy if they are built right as they go by all the advertising simply do it.

I do take pride driving a Made In America (2 new vehicles) I feel I helped someone out there in a small way... vs. car manufacturers that are offering much low wages and limited benefits, lowering our standard of living. How many people do you know accepting lower pay, furloughs and how many new businesses or auto manufacturing plants are giving great paychecks. I would rather not see my town and state tax and home devalue further so that I can drive an import today. It seems like poor economy to me.......... drive a cheap car and lose and pay out more to those out of work. It took a long while to get away from the "all about me" perspective. And by the way the new Silverado is great...

"I do take pride driving a Made In America (2 new vehicles) I feel I helped someone out there in a small way..."

Actually, you're helping in a BIG way. 91% of auto related jobs in the U.S. are for U.S. auto companies. German and Japanese companies in the U.S. employ literally a handful of people (NINE PERCENT OF TOTAL AUTO RELATED JOBS). I buy American. I'll KEEP buying American.

Here's the problem with the domestic versus import argument. Its likely split between two very different groups of people. It's a split that Detroit hopefully understands and is working on to rectify. On one side you have the loyal Chevy and Ford buyers. They are likely older, conservative, and suburban. As in 50+ years old and from an era where "Made in USA" actually meant that the product they bought with an American name was made in USA.

On the other hand you have another generation of car buyers who came from parents who got burned from buying sloppily produced American cars from the late 70's-early 80's, which was the era where US car producers were desperately trying to compete with Japanese cars, which at that point were light years ahead in terms of quality and reliability. These parents bought Japanese cars and the contrast between these cars and the junkers they bought before was drastic and they never went back.

I am one of those younger 30-something year old Americans who grew up with Toyotas that NEVER had problems, did their job well for sometimes decades on end, drove Toyotas all through high school and college, and again - never had any problems with them. So for people like me who have owned cars that have performed flawlessly, we have absolutely no reason to consider a product from a company like Ford or GM when we know that it wasn't long ago that the product they produced was basically a cheaply produced, inferior product.

Sure - I will freely admit that the stuff coming out of the big 3 today is better than what they used to make. But the problem is that it isn't in my opinion startling or interesting enough to make me want to take the chance on another brand. That's the problem. JD power for years has been stating for years that such-and-such Ford or GM product is supposedly better than some famously reliable Japanese brand. But when I see these "award-winning" cars falling apart when they're 2-3 years old, that tells a different story.

It also doesn't help that all 3 US automakers have either gone bankrupt or close to it. Why should I - a young professional - want to buy a product from a company that went belly-up? That in my mind doesn't show leadership or quality.

The problem in the end is that GM, Ford, and Chrysler are not going to become successful again by catering to those who buy only because its made in the USA. They will need to get people in my generation to look up and get interested. So far they have failed miserably. Until that occurs, expect their fortunes to remain the same.