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Scared to own my Tundra much longer, opinions?

16K views 65 replies 33 participants last post by  baldguy 
#1 ·
Okay, so here's the deal.... I own and operate a small ( just me ) lawnservice business. Been doing this since 1994. I absolutely have to be able to depend on my truck to be able to tote my trailer ( a big heavy 7x16 enclosed trailer full of mowers and power tools )

In the past I just had my truck. It was my work vehicle and my personal vehicle and daily driver. Back in around 2003- 2004 I got tired of unhitching my truck from the trailer every day just to ride up to the store or go to the movies, so I bought a small car to drive when I didn't need to tow anything such as my boat.

Ive gone through a ton of trucks over the years, but never kept any of them long. Partly because I wanted dependability and partly because I was always changing my mind about what I wanted.... For example, in 1999 I bought a Ram 2500 diesel with 2wd and a stick, then a year later I traded in to get a 2000 2500 Ram diesel but with 4wd and a auto. Then literally a year later I traded in to get a 2001 1500 silverado 2wd with 4.8 v8 because it was all I needed and it saved me like 200$ a month on payments. Then in 2003 I traded in and got a 45 grand full loaded Avalanche, then two years later I sold it for like 2 grand less than payoff and bought a 2005 silverado stripped down work truck because a 300$ a month payment was alot better than the 650$ a month payment on the avalanche!

Anyways in 2008 I was once again in the hunt for a new truck and after looking at the new silverados, I decided to just take a look at the " new " tundras even though I figured they would be too expensive to buy. Ended up loving the truck and got a screaming deal on a new 08 double cab 2wd 5.7 Paid 22,700$ out the door with no trade in no down payment! Payments were a little over 400$ a month and paid on it for about 4 years, then just paid off the balance in a lump sum to be done with it. At that point, 4 years of ownership was a personal record, having never owned a vehicle that long.

Being that I kept the truck in basically " As New " condition ( I am super anal about keeping my truck and cars dent and ding and scratch free and keeping the inside spotless ) And being that at the time the truck maybe only had 60 thousand miles or so, and being that it is a TOYOTA and they are supposed to be super dependable and reliable vehicles, and also because the truck does everything I need it to do, I figured I would hold onto it for a while.

So fast forward to now, and Ive had the truck for 7 years 4 months... and 102,000 miles. Truck still looks like new, inside still looks new, but...... is the truck in my driveway this morning? NO. its at the dealership having the dam ABS system replaced to the tune of 2200$ because something went wrong with it last week and my speedo quit working, abs and brake lights and check engine lights came on.

Now Ive already had to have the starter replaced back around the 65,000 mile mark. Was quoted 1200$ for that! Luckily Toyota did some good will for me since the truck was just out of warranty and the dealer reduced their price some and I got it changed out for 500$ out of pocket. The starter and oil changes, brake rotors, and a back rear wheel bearing on one side was all I've had to deal with till now.

But I also have oil leakage on the engine, its coming from the front cover on the engine. Its not a ton of oil but over time its gotten worse. Dealer quoted 2500$ to fix it. Claims the engine has to be pulled out of the truck to fix this oil leak!

Then there is the concern of hearing of expensive water pump failures, and air injection pump failures, and so on and so forth.

It just seems to me that everything that can go wrong with these trucks costs serious bucks to fix, and I can't afford to be down without a truck for more than a day or two. 1200$ starter swap.... wheel bearing just one side was 4-5 hundred dollars as I recall.... 2200$ abs repair... What the heck is going to be next???

I remember when I was young, a car or truck with 100 thousand miles was more or less wore out. But these days you see so many people with 200, 300, even 4-500 thousand miles on their cars and trucks. Since I only use the truck for work purposes 95 percent of the time, I only put 200-225 miles a week on it. And thats not year around either, maybe 45 weeks a year. Thats only around 10,000 miles a year. Since the truck does everything I need out of a truck, is paid off, and still looks great, I want to keep it for another couple of years. Even 4 more years from now it should still be under 150K... certainly under 200K. But I am afraid of how much this truck is going to cost me to keep repairing it, if things start going downhill.

I know the logical way to look at it is, even if I have to spend 2500$ a year on some kind of repair, say the ABS thing this year, the oil leak next year, a new starter and some other stuff the next, etc.... It would be still much cheaper than 5 years of payments on a new truck and depreciation etc....

But I am still concerned, and have some fear of the truck, that If I keep it much longer I might be taking it hard in the rear so to speak, with expensive repairs. God forbid if the engine blew, that would probably cost more than what the truck is worth.

The flip side is I haven't been pricing new trucks lately but I don't think I could bring myself to spend 40-50 grand on a new truck. I don't need or want leather and all the bells and whistles, but I would want 4 doors, a decent sized back seat, power windows and locks, cloth interior and a engine strong enough to pull my trailer without fuss.

I gave some thought to selling my truck ( I think I might could get 15 grand for it ? ) and buying a Ram with the eco diesel. With the long term fuel savings of the eco diesel helping to offset the purchase ( my tundra gets a rock solid 10-10.5 mpg towing my trailer, I figure the ecodiesel would do more like 15-16mpg, which would be a 772$ savings each year at todays price for gas and diesel ) But the issue I have with the eco diesel, is I believe repairs on it will also be wildly expensive. Same with the Ford ecoboost stuff, I believe they will have many issues as they get to be the age and mileage my tundra has and they too will need expensive repairs.

one thing I do know, is I don't want to get back in a cycle of monthly payments and debt. I am debt free other than my home mortgage. So I don't want to sell my truck, to buy something else and 8 or 10 years from now be on a silverado or ram forum complaining about how my truck is beginning to be a money pit at 100K and I am considering dumping it before all hell breaks lose.

Long post, just wanted to convey my thoughts. Your opinions??? Should I just roll the dice and keep on truckin with the tundra, should I unload it because more expensive crap fails....
 
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#2 ·
Hard to answer that question for you...but no more than you drive and the fact that it's paid for, I would think rolling the dice would be the best option.

One thing I'll add is no matter what truck you buy it's going to be expensive to fix. But if I was gambling I would gamble on a 5.7 over either of the new eco's (and I've owned a Ford eco...best gas motor I've ever owned) for longivity and cost of ownership.

Good luck.
 
#3 ·
Another thing that goes through my mind, is if this truck is at the point where its going to need 2500$ a year in repairs to keep it going, that 2500$ is 200$ a month over the course of the year. For another 100$ a month on top of that, I could sell or trade in my truck and buy a new truck and not have to worry about repairs or break downs or be without a way to get my work down while my truck is broke down at the dealership.
 
#4 ·
If I am reading this right, you have paid roughly 3K in repairs for the 100k miles you have driven it. Sadly, I think this is going to be the case with any make/model you purchase. I think the Eco-diesel, at this time is a huge gamble in long term reliability. The likely-hood of total engine failure in your tundra for the next 100k miles is very low when looking at statistics. If you keep it for another 100k and have to spend 8-10k in odds and ends repair (high estimation, likely looking at another 3-5k) you will still be saving money in the long run. If you need piece of mind; which cannot be put into a dollar value, I would trade my truck in while it is still worth something and purchase a mid-level tundra for around 35k, with your trade in that would hopefully bring the total down to 25K, this would put you around 350$ a month.
 
#6 ·
It is definitely a roll of the dice!! I have essentially the same dilemma with my '07 although I will probably replace it with a new Tundra at some point. The real question is when it makes sense to do that.
The Dodge just isn't on my list at all. My last Dodge pickup was my last Dodge pickup! Too many problems with the Chrysler stuff!!!
 
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#7 ·
I forgot to mention this in my first post......Go ahead and take oil samples of the engine and send them off to blackstone labs and go from there. At your mileage, if there is any serious shit getting ready to go down, it will definitely be found. If the samples come back good, keep the damn thing. New, used, whatever you will always have repairs on a vehicle, especially a truck that tows.
 
#8 ·
Pros and cons on both sides of that fence. A new truck with added extended warranty brings you to 7/100,000 miles of future insurance. If you don't go for bells whistles and fancy electronics then a good deal is out there with a trade. Also check to see what CARMAX will give you for your truck. I have an 07 too and out of the extended warranty. Your truck is your livelihood and dependability over cute gizmos in it is priority I'm sure. I have seen double cabs advertized at good pricing with the 5.7 and some with fancy add ons at 35-38000.
As said see what you can get for truck. See what a new will go for and decide after doing your numbers like you are right now.
Good luck either way!
 
#10 ·
I must be lucky, I have 137k on my 2007 CM and haven't encountered any of those issues (knock on wood). I prefer older "technology" I'm old school like that. Half the stuff on the newer cars, like nannies, etc... I don't even want. The more stuff on the car/truck, the more things to break and have fixed.

All of my Toyota trucks have gone well past 200k with regular maintenance. My 2001 Tundra is at about 218k miles so far, and the only thing I've done besides regular maintenance was a starter. I don't have ABS, VSC, TPMS, or any of those things on that truck, and I love it like that.
 
#11 ·
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the AIP covered by an extended warranty, 10 years 150K miles for '07, '08, '09 and '10?
Also, aren't repairs, mileage, etc. a business expense? Would it be better to lease a new vehicle every three years as the depreciation is greatest and thus more of a right off?

I know you're not in the same position as me, but my personal defense against repairs is going to be to learn to wrench myself.
 
#14 ·
From a small business standpoint, it depends on how the vehicle is owned. If its owned in the business name, its usually best to depreciate it and buy/lease a new one every few years for the tax advantages. If its a personal vehicle used for the business, different story. You are usually better off keeping it long run that case. 2 different ways of doing it, but you probably want an accountant to look at it and figure out which way is best,


My wife has her own small business and has a personal vehicle that gets used for the business. For her purposes, writing off mileage and using the tax depreciation worked better at tax time than owning the vehicle in the business name. So we keep it for as long as its reliable (4-6 years with the mileage she drives).
 
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#12 ·
I would look into the AIP blockoff. I hope to do mine this summer.

A roll of the dice for sure. And you are having worse than average luck. Personally I would start to use a non dealer for some of this work. I hope a starter does not cost a grand to do... althought the abs thing is perhaps best at the dealer. [Although I am curious what died, and why it is so expensive.]

Dumb question: this runabout cheap car you have, any chance it could pull a small trailer for you? Just to get by if and when the truck is in the shop. Not preferable by any means, but if it gets you a backup vehicle then you can keep working and avoid new vehicle payments.
 
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#27 ·
A roll of the dice for sure. And you are having worse than average luck. Personally I would start to use a non dealer for some of this work. I hope a starter does not cost a grand to do... althought the abs thing is perhaps best at the dealer. [Although I am curious what died, and why it is so expensive.]

Dumb question: this runabout cheap car you have, any chance it could pull a small trailer for you? Just to get by if and when the truck is in the shop. Not preferable by any means, but if it gets you a backup vehicle then you can keep working and avoid new vehicle payments.

The non dealer place I took my truck too couldn't figure out what the problem was. Took it there last friday and they wanted me to bring it back on monday and he said it might take a few days to figure out whats wrong, then who knows how many days to fix. Called a local toyota specialist shop and gave him a description of the problem and the codes and he said I would be best served by going to the dealer since the dealer has the most sophisticated computer diagnostic equipment.

When my rear axle wheel bearing went out I took it to the local shop and saved ALOT of money. Trust me I don't want to use the dealer if I can help it. But lets face it, they have good service and know what their doing and fast turn around too.

I took my truck to them on monday morning at 730am. By 830 am the problem was found and they knew exactly what was needed to fix it. The part had to be ordered it from Florida, and so the truck had to sit there till Tuesday. Tuesday morning the part showed up and the truck was repaired and washed and ready for pick up before noon. Just over 24 hours in the shop. No independent shop would have fixed it that fast!

BTW, in case you missed it... It was the computer built into the ABS module that went bad. Why it went bad is anyones guess. But once it goes out, the dash won't work and engine computer has a fit too because it thinks the truck isn't moving while your driving and it throws everything off such as idle speed and so on.
 
#13 ·
I don't use my truck for work, it's just a daily driver. But I need it to be dependable, and I like new stuff.

I decided long ago that I would simply trade in and go with new on a regular schedule. Crunching the numbers on amount paid vs. time of ownership vs. trade in value shows that I make out the best trading in at about 50,000 miles. I therefore keep the vehicle for 3-4 years and trade in about 45-50k.


I could save money by keeping he vehicle longer, and even with a couple of major repairs the cost would be lower than my payments. But, I like new stuff, I can certainly afford it, and the way I have been doing it has kept my payments about the same as I keep buying nicer trucks.


I hate the PITA of anything breaking down more than I hate spending money.




However, you need to make the decisions for yourself. I'm sure your truck can go 200k, but it will need some work along the way. Thats pretty normal. The days of the 300,000 mile little Toyota pickup with zero maintenance are past. Its very rare with the complexity of new vehicles and general declining quality of all vehicles that you can go that long without a significant repair.
 
#15 · (Edited)
GyroRon, totally understand not wanting to be in debt for a new truck.

For what it's worth, I pose these two questions:

1. On a scale of 1 to 10, what's the stress level of being in debt for a new truck (ideally with an 8 year, 120k, OEM extended warranty)?

2. On a scale of 1 to 10, what's the stress level that forced you to make your post in the first place? Or, what is the stress level of gambling on the long-term reliability of your current truck?

Which choice would result in the best, overall, quality of life for you and your family?

Good luck!
 
#29 ·
1. maybe a 6 or 7. My business is totally seasonal, and has ups and downs. I make little to no income for 2 to 3 months a year over the winter and at any moment I could get phone calls or emails from clients stating they want to cancel service. Got two of those cancellations last week....

I used to have payments on everything.... truck, car, house, mowers, credit cards, bike, boat, airplane, etc... etc.... etc.... over the last 7-8 years I have worked extra hard, and down graded on things to get to where I could have everything paid off, no debt. This way my monthly expenses every month would be as low as possible, making it easier to save up during the 9 months I am making money for the 3 months I am not. And to make it less stressful when I get a cancellation notice from a client.

A 300-500$ a month truck payment wouldn't break me, but it would add to my stress, knowing that I have to pay that even in Jan and Feb when I haven't made hardly any money.

Also there is some comfort and satisfaction knowing everything you own, is YOURS. No liens, no debts, its all yours free and clear. I do have a mortgage on the house still, owe about half of what the house is worth so thats not too bad, but everything else is paid for and I like that feeling. Would bother me that I owe payments on a truck for the next 5 years.


2. stress level is probably a 6 or 7. It just stresses me out a bit, not knowing what the next expense will be with this truck. It also scares me because apparently nothing on this truck is cheap to service or repair. Example.... Starter. How much would you have guessed the starter would cost to replace on a tundra? Would you have guessed 1200$ ??? I sure didn't. I would have done it myself if I could have got to it, its buried under the manifold. 5-6 hours of labor to swap it out! What about a water pump, what do you think that would cost? I was quoted 700$ for that. I would have expected maybe 200$. I have a small oil leak on the front cover of the engine. Was told to fix that they have to remove the engine from the truck to do it, and it would be a 2500$ job!!!! Its just a smear of silicone the are replacing, no parts at all, and its a 2500$ job! I just got bent over for a 2000$ ABS module.... Whats next?

In all honesty, I was expecting not to have to do ANYTHING but change oil, tires and maybe brake pads for at least 100,000 miles. And really thought I would be able to do 200,000 miles because anything expensive needed repair. And maybe, knock on wood, nothing else will break or fail for another 4 years and 50 thousand miles.... Or maybe next week the A/C goes out or the alternator quits or my minor oil leak becomes a major oil leak, etc.... Its a gamble thats stressful because I don't know whats next to break and I already know that whatever it is, its going to be very expensive to fix.
 
#16 ·
Trade it in and buy another. You liked it enough to keep it the longest is 1 reason. Not having downtime for your business is another. Get the extended warranty as well, so you are good for the next 120k. Make sure your insurance or something has rental assistance in case of repair needs for downtime. That is what I would do. You constantly worrying about your business and the ability to perform it takes away from putting that effort into the business and growing it more. Good luck. Just my opinion.
 
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#18 ·
Could not have said it better. Seven years on a company truck is great. After the warranty is up, don't take it to the dealer. There are so many independent shops that will give you a better price, better service and all around better experience. The 2200.00 for your ABS system would probably been 1/3 of that cost.
 
#17 · (Edited)
Honestly I think your one of the few who have gotten an unlucky truck (more than normal defects). Though its not a tundra, my wifes 09 Camry just rolled over 136,000 miles with no issues and no signs of any to come. She drives it daily and puts roughly 100-200 miles on it per day. I Did basic maintenance since the purchase of the vehicle and replaced the spark plugs, brakes/rotors and trans fluid at 120k. I honestly think like most said that you should get rid of it and get something else. If its alot of repairs now you best to be sure alot more will come. Thats one thing I learned about vehicles. Its never just one thing that goes wrong.
 
#21 ·
Ill address all these posts when I have more time.... but to address the last few... It wasn't a broken speed sensor. I took it to autozone and advance auto first and got a code for the speed sensor. then took to a good independent shop who has a mega dollar scan tool and his tool wouldn't communicate with the ABS module ECU. I called the areas toyota specialist and he advised me to the dealer, because there was a slim chance it was a issue with the wiring and not the ABS ecu. But as it turned out it WAS the ecu on the ABS module.

Those are just under 2 grand at retail, plus installation.

If I had more time I would have been able to either track down a used module from a junkyard and had it installed and bled, and probably would have had 600$ into the repair, but no certainty that it would be fixed properly right off the bat and who knows how long the used module would last. Or had my module sent out for ECU repair at a cost of around 500$ plus another 300-400$ in labor charges. So I bit the bullet and had the dealer do it, knowing it would be done right and done with new parts and a warranty, and fast turn around.... I had the truck back and was working with it by 2pm. They even dropped me off yesterday at home and picked me up today when it was ready... even washed the truck for me!

Ill address the other posts late tonight or in the morning.
 
#23 ·
I'm kind of at the same point with my 08 Tundra. Recently its started doing a long crank before it fires after driving a short distance and shutting it off like a trip from the house into town to the store, come back out go to start it and it cranks for several seconds before it finally starts. It had done that a couple times a few years ago and then had not had the problem until this past month. Not sure if the heat would have anything to do with it or what's going on but I'm at the point where I don't trust it at all. Guessing from what it sounds like is the fuel pump is on its way out...not cheap of course its doing all this now that its out of warranty of course LOL. The water pump is showing signs of leaking as well...again not cheap. I think its time to start looking for something else far easier to work on and less of a gas hog since all I do now is drive around town most of the time, and I have no need for the truck just have it because its paid for type thing. Seriously looking to get back into an older Jeep Cherokee or Grand Cherokee...truck trade in might be pretty soon.
 
#47 ·
232k on my 96 cherokee and never did much other than oil/filter changes, a radiator at 190k and a starter at 198k. I beat on it all the time it was offroad more than it was on road. Can't say that for this damn Tundra. Its been 99% paved roads, and its had more work done to it than the Jeep ever did.
 
#25 · (Edited)
First off....100,000 miles constantly towing a heavy trailer + equipment is absolutely nothing like 100K miles of driving the kids to soccer practice and long highway trips to the beach every year. It's (more) taxing on a truck to tow heavy constantly and it sounds like yours has held up well to be honest. You should expect some failures from wear and tear with that use in that time period/miles.

Second, since this is a business truck you are writing all of this off tax wise so while it doesn't mean go splurge, it means that it should be considered a fixed cost for you to do business and you should have a reliable truck, which means rotating them every so often and you got great distance with the Tundra imo.

Third, you should be MUCH madder at yourself for all the awful purchasing decisions on previous vehicles. Think about it. You threw away WAY more money in constantly shifting rapidly depreciated vehicles along the way to get to the Tundra. The losses there is not even close to the repair costs incurred with your Tundra.

My opinion: go buy a brand new Tundra (if you really like them) and plan on purchasing an extended warranty and keeping it for the next 4-5 years. That, or look into a leasing situation and do the math on that.
 
#31 ·
Yes, I tow with the truck and I know my 102,000 miles of driving has been harder than someone elses 102,000 miles of non towing all highway miles.... But believe me or not, I am very easy on the truck, no hard acceleration, no hard braking, very gentle grandpaw like driving.

I do start and stop the truck 10-20 times a day, and somewhat justified the starter going out at a little over 60K because of how many times I start the engine per day, especially with a heat soaked starter....

But I bet if you rode with me one day, you would agree, I am not hard on this truck at all, and Ill bet that even with the trailer behind it, I am probably not as hard on it as some people are to theirs without a trailer, driving like every city block is a drag race.

I get 10-10.5 mpg, towing! most people are only getting like 13 or 14 in city driving NOT towing, so that also shows I am not driving it hard.

In all honesty, I doubt I would buy another tundra. At least not one with the 5.7 in it. Just for how F'ing difficult they made a simple oil change be with that engine alone. I wonder if the 4.6 is as much of a pain to work on?
 
#32 ·
You have bounced around on work vehicles to the point that you have no baseline.

My company manages and tracks the cost per hour on equipment and after a certain point it's time to change.

When you start missing shipments or in your case, jobs because of equipment failures , it's past time to get new equipment.
 
#35 ·
Ive gone through a ton of trucks over the years, but never kept any of them long. Partly because I wanted dependability and partly because I was always changing my mind about what I wanted.... For example, in 1999 I bought a Ram 2500 diesel with 2wd and a stick, then a year later I traded in to get a 2000 2500 Ram diesel but with 4wd and a auto. Then literally a year later I traded in to get a 2001 1500 silverado 2wd with 4.8 v8 because it was all I needed and it saved me like 200$ a month on payments. Then in 2003 I traded in and got a 45 grand full loaded Avalanche, then two years later I sold it for like 2 grand less than payoff and bought a 2005 silverado stripped down work truck because a 300$ a month payment was alot better than the 650$ a month payment on the avalanche!
I don't know why you're all worked up. The recent repair costs are a pittance in comparison to the stack of scratch you've pissed away over the years on unnecessary trade-ups.
 
#36 ·
A brief story.... my father is the Agriculture business here in So Cal. His company runs roughly about 15 trucks. 7 Tacoma's, 2 Tundras (2003), 2 F-250 Diesels (6.0 and 6.4) & 4 F-150's, there is also a 5.7 2013 Sequoia that is used for random office stuff. Lets start with the F250 6.0 Diesel. Complete piece of CRAP! Engine has been replaced twice. EGR this EGR that. Just not very good. 6.4 Diesel has been better but what has failed has been very expensive to repair. The Tacoma's are from 2006 and I believe 3 are 2013. The 06 Tacomas have over 200k miles. Very small issues, mostly maintenance, brakes, etc. One did have a tranny replaced but it was the bone head driving it with low oil. The F-150's are all 2009 and newer. They are replaced every 100k to 150k miles. Which is about 2-3 years. They do not hold up to constant towing and hauling. They tow about
4-5k pounds and haul about 500 in the beds daily. Why they keep buying them? Well they get them CHEAP! Plus in CA theres AG discounts, even cheaper. They just got a 2015 F-150 XLT 4x4 with very nice options for around 35k. Which is normally a 42k Truck.Now the Tundras are both from 2003. Both have over 300k miles. They are V6 and 5 spds. They have both gotten regular maintenance, brakes etc. Both have had water pumps replaced, clutches, wheel bearings, and front suspension work. They haul around over 500 pounds of tools and a couple hundred more of various stuff. Sure they have put money into those 2 Tundras. They could have gotten rid of them, but its cheaper to spend a couple thousand on misc things on a truck that has power like day 1. The engines are still great and the transmissions as well. They have gotten 300k miles out of 2 trucks with combined about 5-6k in repairs. Its cheaper than a 30k truck. My father would love to have nothing but Tundras, but they wont give him discounted prices, so he goes to Ford. The Tacoma's are all used for the Supervisors, they dont haul or tow, they just need to go from point a to b. The wife and I have A Highlander and Prius. My mother drives a Sienna, my dads other vehicle is a Camry. Little bro drives a Corolla. We continue to buy Toyotas because they last and are very Reliable. I do not currently own a Tundra. But when the Highlander is paid off in about 2 years, I will. My opinion, keep the Tundra, drive it till you cant anymore, and even then it will be worth far more than any other brand of truck. Good luck with your decision.
 
#37 ·
If you cant change your own oil in < 20 minutes on these trucks, there's something wrong with you.

to call the change procedure a PITA tells me that your very basic mechanical skills are lacking. no offense, just an observation...

You said yourself that the Tundra has been very good to you. A few minor repairs here and there are to be expected with ANY piece of mechanical equipment. This is not unique to your Tundra, or Toyota in general and applies to every single make and model on the planet...

IMO - learn how to do the maintenance yourself, don't be afraid to dive right in. you've got a great resource with this forum if you run into trouble, and save yourself a boat load of cash in labor costs.

Working on the 5.7L is not a chore, its not at all difficult, nor are there really any truly challenging places to get to with basic tools. It's not like you're working on a BMW or Mercedes where you need to remove 40lbs worth of "covers" and fancy pants crap just to get at something. You want a nightmare to work on yourself, pop the hood on a Mercedes GL 550 sometime.
 
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#39 ·
I take a little offense to this post. I am quite handy with the tools.... Ive built 3 aircraft, I have maintained my own aircraft for the last 15 years, I ride and race dirtbikes and have had to rebuild engines and do full tear down and reassembles on the bikes, Ive rebuilt the engine in my jet ski several times, I own my own lawnservice business and maintain my equipment and rarely use the dealer for service work, I change my own oil, I weld, I build, I do it all...

None of that changes the fact that a oil change on a tundra is a pain in the butt compared to a silverado. Having to remove the skid plate, having to deal with the canister oil filter which is always a messy affair is a pain. Am I complaining that I can't do it myself or do it within 20 minutes? No. But its not as quick and easy as driving up on some ramps and taking out the plug and spinning off the filter without making a big mess or moving stuff out of the way first.

Its pretty obvious there are some people who have replied to this thread that have some kind of blind brand loyalty to the tundra...

don't get it twisted, I like the truck. I think Toyota vehicles are good vehicles. I would like to believe the tundra is the best truck on the market and I am sure its quite likely it is.

Yes I have blown away a ton of money in the past buying a new truck, then 2 or 3 years later deciding maybe I would rather have something else, or justifying it as a business need and cost be dammed.

But this truck just worked out for me. I got it for 22,700$ out the door. Stop for a second and think about that.... just under 23 grand for a brand new truck... and it isn't a stripped out truck. It has four doors, cloth, carpet, power windows and locks and mirrors, AC, chrome bumpers, the big engine, tinted windows, bedliner, tow package, etc.... Everytime I thought about maybe I should trade in for a new truck, I kept thinking to myself, I will never find a new truck like this truck for anywhere close to this price! . Then I would think, Hey... its a toyota, they last for 200-300 thousand miles no problem. And i only might have had 30K, then 40K then 60K... so I wasn't worried about problems or expensive repairs... Then next thing you know I was able to pay it off after about 4 years of payments, and then I realized this was the first vehicle I ever bought new and kept long enough to own outright.... So I had a truck I knew I could never replace for what I paid for it, a truck I expected to last a easy 200 + thousand miles without huge expensive repairs, and a truck I own that isn't costing me a payment each month. And it works great for my needs. Its all the room I need inside, it handles any weight I have ever needed to put in the bed, it handles my trailer well and my ONLY complaint is the 10 mpg, but I know Id be in the same MPG boat with anything short of a Ram with the EcoDiesel..... so I have kept the tundra and been quite happy with it.

My concern now is just the fact that I would like to keep the truck another 4 or 5 years, till its at the 150K mark. And I don't want to have to endure a bunch of expensive repairs to get there.

Maybe thats just a fairy tale and I wouldn't make it to 150K with any truck without having to spend 4-6 grand in repairs....

The starter going out at a little over 60K was a concern but I accepted it because of all the starts I do each day. The warped rotors that were turned once then replaced with aftermarket I can also accept cause I tow with the truck and I don't have brakes on my big trailer. The rear wheel bearing that went out, I can also accept that because of the wear and tear of all the towing and the likely 500 pound tongue weight the truck almost always has on it. So all the past repairs were acceptable and didn't really leave me with a sour taste in my mouth. But this ABS module going out, outta no where, and it being a 2000$ repair... THIS does bother me. Makes me think, whats next... I already know the front cover is leaking, thankfully its a minor leak, but what if it begins to leak heavily, thats 2500$. Water pumps are known to fail, thats 700$ ( which truthfully I could stomach that ) But what else, maybe next week the trucks main ECU goes out, or the cluster fails, or some other expensive part.

A few months ago a friend was talking on facebook about how his engine blew in his F150 with about 115K on it. And how the dealer wanted like 6 or 8 grand to replace it with a new ford crate engine. I suggested he look into a salvage engine from a junkyard, finding one with low miles and just pay a mechanic to swap it out. Found him several engines for around 1500$. Then for the hell of it I went to look at what I would have to pay if I was in his shoes with my tundra.... And for junkyard engines most places were wanting 6-8 grand!!!! I was like WTF!!!!

I am going to roll on and keep the tundra, roll the dice as they say and hope like hell nothing else breaks anytime soon. Because I would be a fool to get rid of it and take on a new truck payment if I didn't at least keep the thing till it hits 150K. And even if I do have to drop another couple grand its still cheaper than payments for 5 more years. But I will still be worried about it no matter what!

What I might do, is sometime next year the new chevy colorado is supposed to come out with a diesel version. I think I could downsize on my trailer to a smaller trailer and the colorado would pull it. Might wait 2 or 3 years then pull the trigger on one of those.
 
#38 ·
The utility company I work for changes out the fleet every 6-10 years. This includes all tractor trailers to the 4 cylinder commuter car. Sometimes longer. I have a 2002 Dodge 1500 and a 1999 Chevy Blazer in our parking lot right now. One has 30K miles and the other has 55K. Both have been maintenance whores and total POS.
 
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