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First Time Tundra buyer review.

1K views 9 replies 8 participants last post by  Burningcoals 
#1 ·
I have driven ford pickups and Avalanches for many years. The Chevy transmissions and 4wd finally made me look for another option. I test drove a Tundra and a Ford pickup at a local dealer and like the Tundra better. I let the dealer drive my Avalanche trade in and the salesman said he would get back with me the next day with a trade price. Three days later I sent the salesman a text asking for a price. No reply. He finally replied several days later and said he had a family emergency. No price. I was out of town on business the next week and stopped at a Toyota dealer 45 minutes away and talked to a salesman about a trade and what i wanted. They did not have what I wanted but said they could get one in a few days. They found one and I made an offer and then we made a deal. The vehicle showed up a few days later and the dealer had to order the brushed steps for the side. After several screw ups by the dealer, I finally went back to the dealership and signed papers for the new truck to be delivered to my house 45 miles away. To make a long story short it arrived with 300 miles more than should have been on the truck. They said the mileage on the odometer statement was the trip mileage and not the actual mileage. I saw 225 miles when I sat in the truck after it arrived and that is what the odometer statement when I signed the paperwork. A week later it had 544 miles when it arrived at my house. 45 miles of which was from the dealership to my house. I think they used it to go get another vehicle but they assured me they did not. They offered a free tank of gas but I have not accepted anything yet.
It was one of those deal where nothing seem to be quite what they made it out to be. As soon as I get my plates and title I will decide what to do.

That was long winded but it was a long drawn out process.
Pros of tundra
1. build quality seems very good.
2. Great sound and plenty of power.
3 Drives great, shifts great with smooth transitions
4. Lots of gadgets and tech.
5. 4WD is smoother that Chevy.


Cons
1 stiff ride but expected it to be that way. The avalanche was much smoother but was a quasi pickup.
2 Back seat could have some adjustments.
3. Navigation is junk just like Mercedes and Chevy. Maps are outdated. A $150 Garmin is much better and more accurate.
4. Voice recognition for me is 25% at best. Not near as good as google maps or google search.
4.Messaging is cool when it works, misses some texts.
5, Why is there a big gap at the top of the tail gate where the surfaces do not meet.
6. Seats had more padding on Avalanche but the tundra's seats are OK.

I am overall quite satisfied with the Tundra but it does have some issues. I dont want the avalanche back. I am an experience vehicle buyer who could have driven a new 1961 Corvette off the showroom floor if I had the money which I didn't.
 
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#2 ·
That sucks that they were not honest with you. Most the time Toyota trades trucks with other dealers, then have retired folks drive them out, this adds a ton of miles.

My salesman told me my truck was being dropped off at another dealer, which was up the road. They offered that I could pick it up from that dealer and drive it to the dealer I was working with. For which I accepted. They traded my truck for another truck with that dealer which they were upfront about.

My truck had 3 miles on it and I was the first to drive it off the lot.

I would have expected them to not play games with you, it just makes the experience much worse. But I can say that most of what you say makes no sense.

Trucks have 3-5 miles when they are unloaded off the transport truck, not 225, and there is no way a dealer would put an extra 200 miles on a bran new truck for no reason, you said that the truck arrived at the dealer with 225 miles? But then ended up at your house with 544? Seriously? Did someone take a roadtrip with your Truck?

Sounds to me like your truck might have been involved in a multiple dealer trade where it had to be driven a long distance to be delivered.

Oh and BTW: What model is your truck? Pics?
 
#9 ·
Most the time Toyota trades trucks with other dealers, then have retired folks drive them out, this adds a ton of miles.
I bought my 2014 SR5 DC 5.7L 4x4 with SR5 upgrade package from a very large and reputable Toyota dealer. The owner owns 10 more different brand dealerships in our area. They all are called 'Classic' in Mentor/Cleveland Ohio area.

I had very tight budget to make this purchase and thought it was not possible. The dealer ended up giving me full KBB value for my trade in which was amazing.

The dealer didn't have truck I wanted (ext/int colors) on his lot. He told me that he located truck I wanted at another Toyota dealer. I picked it up a few days later and it had 390 miles. We never discussed mileage before and the dealer told me that they sent a retired guy to get it. Not sure if somebody else drove my truck - probably yes.

I inspected hitch receiver to make sure my truck was not used for towing and it looked fine.

But here is the catch. The reason I didn't complain is because I compared prices extensively and my truck with upgrade package cost $37,000. The dealer sold it to me for $35,200 to meet my budget. I felt it is fair to meet him half way. I got the deal I wanted and great truck with just 390 mi on it.

By the way full tank of gas comes standard with all cars from Classic.
 
#3 ·
When i went to sign the papers, I opened the door to inspect the truck and it said 225 on the odomenter which was about the mileage from where they got the truck. The old dealer sticker was on the truck. When i was delivered the truck about 4 days latter it had 544 miles on it when it arrived at my house.
The odometer statement had 225 miles on it when i signed the paperwork.
I might have seen trip mileage on the truck not being familar with the truck but the person who got the mileage off the truck for the odometer statment should have known what the mileage was. Regardless of whether it was correct or not a new truck should not have 544 miles on it.
 
#4 ·
4. Voice recognition for me is 25% at best. Not near as good as google maps or google search.
4.Messaging is cool when it works, misses some texts.
For the voice recognition, did you use the little voice training feature? I've heard this system has it. Sometimes that helps. Also, are you using the right commands seen on the screen? They're rigid, so if it's not the Bing search it's probably all processed by the system instead of on a server farm somewhere. That's why Google is so good is comparison.

For the messaging, it could be the phone not notifying the system. Is it totally random when it misses?
 
#5 ·
To make a long story short it arrived with 300 miles more than should have been on the truck. They said the mileage on the odometer statement was the trip mileage and not the actual mileage. I saw 225 miles when I sat in the truck after it arrived and that is what the odometer statement when I signed the paperwork. A week later it had 544 miles when it arrived at my house. 45 miles of which was from the dealership to my house. I think they used it to go get another vehicle but they assured me they did not. They offered a free tank of gas but I have not accepted anything yet.
I hate it when they pull crap like that and try to make it go away with a free tank of gas. I bought a Silverado 9 years ago, and could not come to an agreement to trade in my Frontier. I worked it out so I would drive the new Silverado 160 miles back home and they would deliver the Frontier back to my house. When the Frontier showed up, it was filthy and had pea gravel stuck in every crevice inside the wheel wells. The little puke salesman had taken it 4 wheeling! A nasty letter to the sales manager got me only a free tank of gas. When I was in the area again, I stopped by for my free tank of gas and asked for the same salesman. He had been demoted to the used car lot, hopefully due to my letter! I made him pump my gas and tried not to say anything too rude. Revenge!
 
#6 ·
When I got my tundra it had 7 miles on it. I waited 5 weeks for the specific truck I wanted. That's total bs that it had hundreds of miles on it.
 
#7 ·
OP, your experience is inexcusable. On the other hand, I have heard it again and again... but not typically from a "good" Toyota Dealership. My local guys know me since later '80s, and I get great service... but there is always the exception.

I had a used Avalanche I got about half-price and drove less than a year and traded toward my '11 Tundra. Otherwise I've always been a Toyota guy. (a couple Hondas over the years...) I truly believe the Toyota is the better vehicle, and hope you have a very positive experience hereafter. ;)

-crisp


Sent from AutoGuide.com App
 
#8 ·
I wonder if they used it for test drives before you got it and/or sales guys driving it around.

That would piss me off if I was supposed to get a new truck.

When I got my 2010 limited it had barely any miles on it.

over 500 miles is a lot, that's what your supposed to wait before you tow, so a lot of breaking in was done which should have been done by you, not some a-hole driving your rig around beating on it.
 
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