Well unfortunately the City of Houston has struck again.

While the wife and I were driving to the park n ride to drop her off at the bus for the ride into downtown we struck a tire...not just a piddly old tire but a damn tractor trailer tire...big damn thing. tore the hell out of our escape's underbelly....exhaust hanging, some of the heat shields jacked up, front bumper, underside cowls, etc etc.

now...I have had to deal with getting rentals/loaners before with my Allstate coverage...and for the piddly sum of about 2 bucks a month extra we bumped our rental coverage up to 40 dollars a day. worth it...because last time I had to use it I got a friggin' dodge neon. NEVER EVER AGAIN.

SO...they give me...a 2014 Tundra ext cab SR5.

This truck rattles...it has less than 20k miles on it...it rattles...the headlights do not project past 10 feet...the cruise control location is rather interesting...the HVAC system is kinda balky...the bluetooth setup makes calls on my phone at weird times...in some of the areas where I have to drive the damn rear end comes unglued from the road with a few bumps. The seats have no lumbar support and the SR5 doesn't even have electric seats (but it has a back up camera and big 8 inch or so display on the center stack?) The engine and steering seem to be nice, and the tranny does shift nicely however. View is great looking forward, however the B pillar blocks my peripheral view when changing lanes on the highway (my 2005 doesn't have this issue? might be just where I have to keep my chair in the Toy).

Now...I have ridden in, and driven a 2013 Nissan Titan Pro4X, Dodge Ram 1500 SLT 4 door and ridden in a 2012 Silverado. All are/were pretty nice and a few miles ahead of this. I can not for the life of me see what Consumer Reports sees in this truck that makes them get all giggly.

ah well...glad my Escape is going to be ready tomorrow.

D

 

consumers reports only sees the money toyyoda pays them to say their craptastic vehicles are the best thing since buttered bread.

 

Toyota is coasting on their earlier reputation now. Their cars are still cheaply built, all hard plastic inside, and the engines are not what they used to be. Most of the newer cars i see smoking are Toyotas, I saw a Prius lay a pretty healthy cloud a few days back.

 

delete....

 

I haven't recently driven a Toyota truck but last summer we rented a Camry for a trip to Maine from Va and back to Va. I wanted a Fusion but by the time we got there the Camry was all that was left.

The engine and trans were spot on and never skipped a beat. However, I couldn't get comfortable at all on the 900 mile trip each way. I didn't like the dash layout, the interior felt cheap and the seats were horrendous. Hopefully the higher end models are better appointed than the rental fleet cars.

 

not sure about the camry but the Toyota Avalon is great looking...at least the one that a co-worker got...interior is spot on with what you would consider for high end. little to no road noise. great people hauler.

and we still haven't gotten our poor Escape out of the body shop yet. they had to append the first estimate because they missed a few things...now I really am worried as to how much damage that damn truck tire did to our car. :|

 

Not a Toyota, Nissan, or Honda fan. I think they are way over priced.

 

I looked over a 2015 Tundra hard. For the life of me I can't understand how Toyota sells them. The 2014 and up have been cheapened quite a bit and in no way compare to what the other manufactures are offering. A Nissan Titan blows a Tundra away when compared back to back.

For 2015 the Tundra Crew Max has several downgrades. The back seat has it's seat back fixed, so there is no longer access to storage. The under seat storage is gone, replaced with a giant foam block that has carpet over it. The leather upholstery is the cheapest feeling in the industry. I saw a used 1794 edition with the orange fake King Ranch color worn off the driver seat and it is a nasty fleshy color under the dye. It only had 60K miles.

The interiors are cheap feeling and poorly laid out. They drive nice, but are as large as a Super Duty. I can't understand how they sell. The fixes are easy, but Toyota just doesn't seem to get it. A brand new Titan will probably take a big bite out of sales.

Anyone looking at one should probably look at trucks from Ford, GM, Nissan and Ram before deciding to let Jan sell them a new TRD (TuRD). I would rate a 90's Dodge higher than a new Tundra.

 

If I look in the rear view mirror and someone is tailing me, most likely a Prius driver. Is it the wind pushing them into me or once they start peddling it is hard to give up momentum? I don't get it, why buy a car that can achieve 80 MPG if you never exceed 35 MPH but will suck fuel like your Grandmothers Buick if you drive like an idiot. What is the point? My Cousin has a Toyota truck, we feel like packed Sardines in that front seat....