Has anyone notice the snap shot in the new Tundra Commercial? In the
commercial a contractor talks about when he started out 7 years ago he
needed a dependable truck and bought a Tundra (this in itself is
misleading - I doubt if 1 in a 100 contractor considered a Tunda in 2002).
He shows a snap shot of his "first" Tundra. The snap shot is of a current
body style Tundra, not the version from 7 years ago. Was this a deliberate
attempt to mislead people, or just another bad choice by the clueless idiots
that do Tundra commercials? I don't think any vehicle has ever been promoted
with so many obviously misleading ads. No matter how good or bad the current
Tundra may be, the ads suck.

Ed

C. E. White wrote:
The only contractor I've used had a Tundra of that era. He still has it
with nearly 300K miles on it. His feeling is that it's better to spend a
little more for a truck that will not need replacing every few years,
but it's true that the Tundra cost more than your standard Ford, Chevy,
or Dodge truck.

"Mike Hunter" <Mikehunt2@lycos,com> wrote



You might be right about that. Show your source for that theory. It's
interesting.

"C. E. White" <cewhite3remove (AT) mindspring (DOT) com> wrote


By "toughness", do you mean the ability to withstand use by professionals
who beat the crap out of a truck, like masons, carpenters, etc?

M. Balmer wrote:
At least those that have been used as work trucks. Many non-professional
users buy pick up trucks to use as personal vehicles with only
occasional use to haul stuff or to tow a boat or trailer. Any truck can
last a long time under that kind of use.

The advantage of the Tundra is that they are very tough in terms of the
engine and body. You still see a lot of 10 year old (model year 2000)
contractor's Tundra's on the road, having had nothing but routine
maintenance. I told my contractor, "you need a new truck" because his 00
Tundra has 300K miles on it and is rather beat up on the outside, but he
has no interest in spending $30K on another truck while the current one
still runs fine.

When you look at the big picture, in terms of not only initial cost, but
in terms of costs of maintenance and longevity, the cost per year of a
Tundra is much less than that of other trucks. You also have to consider
the costs of outfitting a new truck more often. Stuff like racks that
are truck specific can add thousands in extra cost, and you don't want
to be replacing them every three years.

Just the mere fact that a contractor is using a Tundra is one indication
that they are one of the better contractor's to consider, in terms of
price, quality of work, or both.

"SMS" <scharf.steven (AT) geemail (DOT) com> wrote


This may be the silliest thing I have ever heard. I would suggest that
the contrator you driving a Tundra likes Toyotas and nothing more.
There is no credible evidence that suggest that Tundras last longer
than US pick-up. Actually, given all the quality problems associated
with Tundras, I'd suggest it implies the Contractor didn't research
things at all and just blindly purchased a third rate truck based on a
bunch of BS he read on the internet.

Ed

M. Balmer wrote:
The Tundra is a very popular truck for contractors. It's expensive, but
it's much tougher than the trucks from Ford like the F150, and they last
for a very long time. The F150 is more for the weekend warrior that
needs to occasionally tow a boat, or pick up a load of stuff from Home
Depot. They were popular car replacements for a long time, but they
really can't be considered "work trucks."

"M. Balmer" <boogerpicker (AT) wazoo (DOT) net> wrote

Well I am not in Az. I am in NC and have a small farm. I know plenty
of big farmers with 20+ year old Ford that are still going strong. One
of my neighbors uses his to haul cattle trailers on a regular basis.
I've also seen him use it to pull a loaded fertilizer car around on a
plowed field (you should try that with your Tacoma). I kept my 1992
F150 for 14 years and it never gave me any significant trouble. It is
currently being used by the local water meter reader and seems to be
holding up just fine. I don't know how you define quality, but to me,
my old F150 was about as good as it gets.

Ed

"SMS" <scharf.steven (AT) geemail (DOT) com> wrote

Come on, this is total BS. It is almost the exact opposite of reality.
I'll bet 80+% plus Tundras are sold to people who never haul or tow
anything more significant than a load of potting soil form Home Depot.
Most serious contractors/famrer go for F250s ,or Silverado HDs. I use
my F150 on my farm and it does jsut fine. I considered an F250, but
the F150 jsut seemed to suit me better. If I was goign to tow a 20 ft
cattle weekly, then I'd probably have gone for the F250 (or 350), but
I only tow something heavy a few times a year, so I decided to go for
the F150 (queiter, better ride). I do regulalrly carry pallet loads of
seed in my truck (2500#) and it handles that just fine. I know one
farmer in my area that owns a Tundra...but for real work he pulls out
his F250. The Tundra is his ride around truck. The local Toyota dealer
was practically giving them away and he couldn't resist.

As for toughness, have you looked under a Tundra? Try it and then look
under an F250. The Tundra frame is so whimpy the bed shakes like a
bowl of jello if you leave the tailgate open.

Go to http://www.fordvehicles.com/2009f150/ and look at the durability
test. I know this is a Ford produces advertising film, so I don't
doubt it is biased, but there are enough complaints from Tundra owners
that I am sure it is a problem and there are aftermarket fixes you can
buy, so it must be a significant problem.

Ed

"C. E. White" <cewhite3 (AT) mindspring (DOT) com> wrote


The words you just typed suggest that you're sure of your claim.


But these words say the opposite: You're guessing, wishing or hoping. Maybe
***SOMEONE*** has this information, but you do not, and neither does anyone
else in this discussion, including me.


See above. You have no data to back this up, except for what you've seen
with your own eyes, and that's just not enough data, unless you failed
statistics in college. The only people who **MIGHT** have this information
would be the salespeople who sell trucks, assuming they were professional
enough to qualify their customers by asking how they intended to use their
trucks. But since most car salesman are slobs, even this is a stretch.