Need a new truck, what’s good?

[Broomd]

FWIW: I have a brand new 2024 Tundra 1794 with factory 3” TRD lift. I thought that by 2024, they’d have the kinks worked out. WRONG! It’s a super nice POS! I sold a perfect running 2006 Dodge 2500 Cummins and a flawless 2017 4Runner TRD pro to buy this truck and I regret it every day!

..

Shame, shame, shame on Toyota!

For anyone shopping for a Tundra, I strongly suggest waiting until the mid cycle refresh in 2026 when hopefully many of the necessary design changes will be addressed. Sorry to be a downer. This just isn’t the Toyota we’ve all come to know and love.

Thank you for the honesty. Many would not share that out of pride or fanboi status. 100,000 trucks recalled for new engines!! I totally agree about waiting for the '26. personally might bite at that time, but not until then. Will enjoy my '20 SR5.

 

[RyanT26]

Worked for a Ford Dealer for a long time.
Was there when the 3.5EB came out. Its a nice truck I owned one but they have their issues also and the new ones have a lot of the same problem. Turbos, Cam Phasers. which are a pricy fix.
I had a 2012 and loved the truck, Honestly wish I still had it over my 19 Ram, But at 200k miles there had been tons of work done to it. Both turbos replaced, Cam phasers 2x etc.
Buddy of mine still works at the same dealer and is the shop Forman. His suggestion when people ask him which to buy is the 5.0L F150. Ton of power and pretty solid powertrain.
I like my Ram but there are a few things I HATE about it.
It isnt a "normal" truck as its lifted 6" and has 35s on it. Towing it does well with our 5000lb camper but with the small gas tank size and terrible mileage towing I have to stop about every 150-170 miles for a fill up. Which is annoying as hell.
Most everything about the truck I like other than that.

I wouldnt go with the new Turbo Yota for a bit untill they get some of the bugs worked out. Just my opinion on that though as lots have had great luck with them but a lot have not.

The 1/2 ton Chevy with the 3.0L diesel has got some great reviews and I have a bunch of friends that have them and they love them and they have been pretty bulletproof.
The only thing I did not like on them was the stupid belt driven oil pump that needs inspected/replaced at 150k. And to do that the trans has to come out. Kind of a dumb design in my opinion. But have not heard a ton of them failing.

Not to Sidetrack the thread, but what the hell is with Ford and Cam phasers?
I thought that was more specific to the 5.4.
Does the 5.0 not have cam phaser issues?

 

[TheWhitetailNut]

I would be in the minority in that I prefer newer trucks for their increased safety testing and tech such as rear cross traffic alerts and automatic braking. That's why I decided to part with my '98 4Runner.

I have 35,000 miles on my 2022 Tundra and it does have more squeaks and rattles and wind noise than I would like. I chose Toyota based off the statistical likelihood of significant issues being lower. The turning radius sucks but the ride is comfortable and works well for our family of 5. While there were some issues with the engine debris, it appears to be less than 1% affected for 2022-2023 based off data and leads to catastrophic failure early in life (typically less than 10,000 mi). I am confident Toyota will take care of these issues and would not swear off a brand based off a sample size of 1.

I analyze quality data for a living and I think it has become popular to make decisions based on emotions and outrage. While I do agree they "don't make them like they used to" I also am grateful that technology exists to increase my comfort and improve the safety for the well being of my family.

Dang right, they are way better than they used to be.

 

[Thinkingman]

Not to Sidetrack the thread, but what the hell is with Ford and Cam phasers?
I thought that was more specific to the 5.4.
Does the 5.0 not have cam phaser issues?

My 2015 3.5 Eco F150 now has 166k miles.
Only major repair was new exhaust manifolds when the bolts broke...Not uncommon but certainly didn't leave me stranded-Just sounded funny on cold start.
My 2006 Tacoma on the other hand....Endless issues relating to cheap, crappy engineering and lowest-cost parts.
Fanbois will defend Toyota but the reality is, they've been mailing it in for years.

 

[nobody]

Not to Sidetrack the thread, but what the hell is with Ford and Cam phasers?
I thought that was more specific to the 5.4.
Does the 5.0 not have cam phaser issues?

It’s a ford thing. The 3.5 has almost been more notorious for it than the 5.4 was, and in talking to some mechanics and dealerships it seems the 5.0 has the same issue. Plus the new 5.0 has a pretty serious oil consumption habit as of about 2022-ish.

Honestly, I think they’re all about the same anymore. Just pick what you like, and save for the eventual repairs. For ford, it’s gonna be cam phasers/timing chains. For GM, it’s gonna be lifters and cam/cam lobe issues. Ram will also have the lifter issues, along with the fact that the rest of the truck will rattle apart out from underneath the drive train. For Toyota, it seems the new tundras like to eat machining debris for breakfast and main bearings for lunch and long blocks for dinner.

To the OP, Just buy what you like and budget for the repairs down the road. The beauty of lots of them is they have been well documented enough it’s easy to research prior to purchase and know what to eventually plan for. I just picked up an 09 F150 king ranch with the 5.4 in early April. 95k miles, one owner, garage kept pavement princess church truck with religious 3k miles oil changes at the dealership every 6 months like clockwork, coolant flushes on time, trans fluid changes on time, differential fluid changes on time, basically textbook used vehicle shopping 101. It smelled like grandma’s perfume, and the receiver hitch had no scratches or marks and the factory ford bedliner had never been touched. Darn thing looks and tracks down the road like it’s new. But I knew the cam phasers and timing chains were a likely eventuality, so I bought a powertrain warranty for 5 years/24k miles (I don’t drive much and work 3 miles from home). 3 weeks ago I heard the chain chatter on cold start, so I started recording my starts and got it 2 more times over the next week. I called the dealer, told them what was going on, got the videos to them for proof, and my wife took it into them later that day (Friday). Got an update 4 hours later that they were doing a full timing set job (phasers, chains, tensioners, guides, etc) under warranty. Picked it up on Wednesday (5 days later), and now it has a Ford backed warranty in tact again for the repair. Bottom line, if you plan for it and are aware of what will happen eventually, it doesn’t have to be a burden. It’s not a matter of IF you’ll have a problem with a vehicle, it’s when. And what matters is how you prepare for it financially and mentally.

 

[180ls1]

I'm just here to make sure the EPA and CAFE gets some blame too... their standards are at the root of diminished reliability and increased service cost across all manufacturers.

 

[revoked]

I had a 2021 GMC AT4 with the 3.0 diesel, really liked the truck. Averaged 23 MPG over 45k miles. Of course once it was out of warranty it started eating batteries and had to be towed 4 times out of my driveway in 3 months. Think I / dealer put 3 brand new batteries in it during that same time period.

GMC got traded for a 2023 F150 Powerboost, FX4 package. Hybrid Ford has more power, gets about 21 MPG with my driving, but the turning radius is SO BAD. I wanted the new Tundra, but the engines blowing up scared me off…

 

[DooleyVT]

I really love my 23 Chevy half ton Trail Boss with the 3.0 diesel. By far my favorite truck/vehicle ever after having Rams, Toyotas and an F150. Only 20,000 trouble free miles so far but it's been super impressive with 25-30 mpg, endless power and super comfortable.

 

[SandyCreek]

I have a 2023 tundra as a company vehicle. Its been towed twice and in the shop 6 other times for warnings/service lights in the year i've had it with 40k miles, currently there is an active spoiler fault light that came on.. I don't like anything about it. My personal vehicle is a 24 2500HD gmc that i really like so far except I'm back to needing DEF again.

 

[ZValentine]

the best new truck is an old one with some money or time spent to get it to where you need it mechanically

 

[spur60]

the best new truck is an old one with some money or time spent to get it to where you need it mechanically

I'm about to buy a 1999 suburban. Rust free, 185K miles. Receipts for recent work done. $3,000. Going to need the spare vehicle while my 19 F150 gets the transmission repaired for the hard shift issue that Ford won't recall.

 

[180ls1]

The base engine (probably a boring v6 with 300hp) is worth a look. It will get good gas mileage, be cheap to own/operate, and be reliable.

When you start moving up in HP, you lose reliability, durability, mpg, and incur additional costs (premium fuel, engine buy-up $, wear-out parts faster) and so on.

 

[DapperDan]

Manager at Toyota told me the reason they dropped the 5.7 was to meet emissions with not only the truck, but the fleet of vehicles they offer. Hence, the twin turbo v6 hybrid. Then they dropped the price on a new limited hybrid by over 10k trying to sell me a new truck.

Told them they were insane and out to their mind. I’ll gladly keep the tundra they were changing oil on. 2020 5.7 v8

Just wish I wasn’t about to roll 100,000 miles already


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[cobbc03]

Highly recommend an F150 or F250, great riding trucks and they look great, all of mine have been extremely reliable.

 

[Tjdeerslayer37]

I'm just here to make sure the EPA and CAFE gets some blame too... their standards are at the root of diminished reliability and increased service cost across all manufacturers.

This^^^ especially in the new diesels. all the dpf/nox/egr stuff is just ticking time bombs ready to toss your truck into limp mode at any moment.

 

[GunsAreFun]

The 1/2 ton Chevy with the 3.0L diesel has got some great reviews and I have a bunch of friends that have them and they love them and they have been pretty bulletproof.
The only thing I did not like on them was the stupid belt driven oil pump that needs inspected/replaced at 150k. And to do that the trans has to come out. Kind of a dumb design in my opinion. But have not heard a ton of them failing.

So it has a built in preventative maintenance recommendation that cost what…like $5,000-8,000?

 

[Brendan]

24 GMC AT4 3.0L here. So far I am impressed

I have one of these being built soon and delivered probably in August. Crew Cab, Standard Bed, AT4, 3.0 Diesel. Going to throw a Smartcap on it.

I'm fully aware there's a little bit of a crap shoot with diesels compared to more tried and true gas powertrains (although, there are plenty of issues with those too), but for a full size that can get ~25mpg on the highway and over 20 mpg combined, too hard to pass up. (Some of the 3.0's can get closer to 30, but I don't expect that with the AT4)

I'm hoping that with the 24, LZ0, they've worked some of the bugs out of the earlier ones. But, it'll have an extended warranty too, and will probably still have my old Grand Cherokee, a commuter car, or maybe a CJ7 as a backup just in case.

 

[Brendan]

So it has a built in preventative maintenance recommendation that cost what…like $5,000-8,000?

Something along those lines, but I think it's 200K miles for the latest model of the engine. Roughly $5K in parts and labor from what I've seen. If I'm keeping the truck that long and not trading it in, I'd be okay spending that after that long. Realistically, I'm probably trading it in on something else before then.

 

[deltadukman]

I was somewhat in your shoes last year. I am a Toyota fan. I had a 98 Tacoma and a 2015 Tundra that were both fantastic vehicles. I needed a little more towing capacity and my Tundra was getting a little up there in mileage, albeit with zero issues, but too many to be towing a big boat with my wife and daughter in the truck on long trips(4+ hrs). I did a lot of reading and settled on a Ford F250 Tremor(lariat ultimate trim) with the 7.3 gas motor and 4:30 gears. It's not the greatest on gas mileage, but the same if not slightly better than my 5.7 Tundra. Other than little things here and there I love it. But like others have said, any vehicle manufacturer is a crap shoot these days. I've taken my new truck back for a few warranty issues a time or two. I think you're going to have that with anything these days.

 

[DapperDan]

So it has a built in preventative maintenance recommendation that cost what…like $5,000-8,000?

on one hand, not the biggest expense in the world.

on the other hand, that's a lot of dough and work to replace a cheap belt.