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Going from a car to a tundra

3K views 23 replies 13 participants last post by  STRICK 
#1 ·
I tried looking through and couldn't find any topics on this. Here is the quick situation. I currently drive a kia forte base model 6 speed manual. Incredible gas mileage and a great little car. However, I'm in the military in NC and heading back to TN this summer. My wife had a bone marrow transplant a couple years ago and is finally to the point she can start doing outdoor stuff. We really want to get back into the outdoor lifestyle, camping, hunting, fishing, paddleboarding, some offroading and neither of our cars are conducive to,this, plus we lack storage space for travel with the 4 year old and 2 dogs. My daughter loves to hunt and fish.

I'm looking at crew cab and crewmax. My question is, did anyone here upgrade to the truck from a car; and if you did, do you regret it? I really appreciate your input.
 
#2 ·
i purchased my first truck ever and it was a tundra. Previously had 2 mercedes eclass 4 door sedans. Moved from townhouse to single family house and needed a vehicle to do landscaping, buying furniture, exercise equipment and other misc stuff. Havent looked back and glad i got my tundra. Only thing i still need to get used to is parking in tight parking garages. Cant get my turning radius down and feel like im gonna hit the car next to me pulling into a parking spot. Two sons really like the truck, esp jumping in the bed and just playing in there and hiding under the cover w tailgate down
 
#3 ·
This is my first truck and I do not foresee myself going back to a car. Sure, I no longer try to find the closest parking spot, etc., but the sheer utility of a truck is worth it for me.
 
#4 ·
My previous vehicles were 1992 Honda Accord, 1996 Ford Mustang Saleen, 2001 Ford Expedition, 2007 Toyota Tundra DC 4X2, and now my 2013 Toyota Tundra Crewmax Platinum 4X4. This is by far the best vehicle I have ever owned and I will never go back to driving anything other than a truck! Plus if you get a supercharger this thing is like a sports car!
 
#5 · (Edited)
I'm somewhat like this STRICK. I had aars all of my life and had never owned a 4x4. Keep in mind that I do not own a Tundra (yet) but I am working on it. I have had a sh1t ton of cars ie Honda's (4 of them), Chevelle, Firebird, another Chevelle, Buick, Cadillac, BMW 740il, Dodge, Pontiac Grand Am, Nissan, etc and the list goes on but I finally ended up with a Lincoln Navigator AWD and have decided on a Tundra. Now it's just a waiting game until I get the money together. What I can add is that once you go to a full sized 4x4 type vehicle you'll never go back. The gas mileage just isn't worth the trouble once you have all of this space, towing capabilities, power and 4x4 drive to get yourself out of spots your sedans would have been buried up to the their necks in.

The trade off's of having to learn to park a larger vehicle come easy after a few weeks of driving and the gas mileage is easy to conquer. You'll learn to drive less and more responsibly if and when the price of gas gets crazy. When gas was hitting around $5 a gallon my Nav was hitting my wallet hard. It gets far less gas mileage than the Tundra 5.7 iForce where I get 11.3mpg average consistently. Mostly bc this SUV weighs around a 1000 pounds more than the Tundra and I do 70% of my driving in town. Starts and stops are a killer and I like to hit the pedal so I pay.

But what;s interesting is that I've learned to plan my routes far better than I ever have which had led me to rack up almost HALF the miles I used to, spend less time behind the wheel, and more importantly put less wear and tear on the vehicle. Now that gas $$$ are less than half of what they were I really don't care about it.

I love the size, sitting up way way higher over traffic, strapping on the push bars to keep other drivers away, the power (nearly 1hp per cubic inch and 355ft of tq), towing just about anything under 10k pounds, the rack on top for hauling as well as the removable third row I use like a pick up, hauling my two big dogs and MIL (lol). When I lived up north I use it to pull all sorts of people out when in snowed or when there was ice including other trucks and vans. I made some easy cash that way!!! Most importantly the space since I am tall at 6'4".

It was easy to pick the Toyota for its reliability after looking at the big three and Nissan. I read through their most popular forums and was surprised by all of the postings of troubles. My bet friend of 25 years has had a longer list than mine of pickup trucks and he loved his Tacoma the most. He put on 330,000 miles before he traded it in, got a crazy price for it and it was running perfectly with no service record other than consumables. As a bonus the Tundra is by far the best looking of them all since it doesn't look all plastic and Transformer childs toy looking. It looks like a muscular man's truck.

I've test driven a few of them andcan't wait to join the club.
 
#6 ·
I had a ton of Subarus, a VW, a 1976 Dodge Charger, and an Audi before I bought my first truck in 2007; a 2008 Ram 2500. I wound up selling that and going back to cars when I moved to the northeast. I always missed having a truck, so I fixed that this year and picked up a Tundra. Great to be back in the saddle!
 
#7 ·
I really appreciate the feedback. So I'm down to two. A trd off road limited 2011 with 72000 miles, and a 2013 rock warrior with 38000. Both are crew max and same price, but the RW is cloth. I'm really liking the RW partly due to trim and especially the lower miles, wife likes the limited. Any thoughts on which is "better"
 
#9 ·
Katskin has leather interiors for the Tundra so you can change that to whatever you want whenever you want. I would go with the newer and lower mileage truck.
 
#8 ·
Same situation here, and won't ever be going back to a car as my reliable transportation ( i have a couple old cars that I would like to toss into the mix tho).

I had a 2012 Honda Civic SI Sedan before my truck. Amazing little car, best transmission too. Peppy K series, factory LSD, etc etc. Decided to start looking for a truck when I was opening my used car dealer, and haven't looked back because it was the best decision I ever made. I traded my civic in for a 08 Crewmax, and love it to death.

The RW and limited are really going to depend on what you're looking for. Limiteds going to be a little more on the luxury side of course, but the RW is going to look really cool and comes with BFG's iirc (but you can add those to your limited of course also.)

If you care about bells and whistles, get the limited.
 
#10 ·
I came from a Lexus and several cars before that. I've had most types of vehicles over the years but staying somewhat recent it was cars. I used my own vehicle for work for many many years so cars were the only option for me. If you had a truck you were deemed a service vehicle hauling stuff for others.
A trailer hitch and I had a "truck" for most things. Renting for the big stuff.
I would think a minivan would be the best option for the OP. Unless they are getting a mansion type TT.
The van can be had in AWD. You get good mileage, they are cheap to get. It will do the job.
A lot of need a truck, I know I could have used one, a lot more just want a truck and are willing to live with the expense and bulkiness.
If you find yourself needing a bigger vehicle many times a year than a pickup or SUV may be in your future
 
#11 ·
Same situation with me. I drove a Sedan all my life. I have three rent house and we flip a house or two each year. In addition to that I was needing to get alot of yard work done around my house (Laying Sod, Adding Dirt, etc). I finally convinced myself I needed to switch to a truck. I originally look used because I thought I would keep both a car and a truck, but after finding the insane resale value of a truck, i decided I might as well ditch the car and drive a truck full time. I got a 2016 SR5 Tundra Crew Max TSS Edition, I love everything except the gas mileage. I do not forsee myself every going back to a car.
 
#17 ·
I actually owned a 2004 Pontiac vibe prior to the Kia. Got it for absolutely nothing. I loved that thing, it did great on gas when we were in Houston for her treatment; but it was in its death throws. My wife hated it...the dixie and ahooga horns I added really didn't help. She said she's excited I'm moving on from clown cars. Probably going to have to bring back the Dixie though.
 
#18 ·
Mini to Maxi

I went from a Mini Cooper to my Tundra back in April. Driving took some getting used to! Parking is more of a challenge!?
We wanted a truck for kayaking. We were putting the yaks on our Mazda 5 which was a pain in the butt. Now we throw all 3 yaks in the back and it takes literally about 10 minutes to secure them. I love it and dont miss driving a car! That's not to say a Porsche isn't in my future some day!?
 
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