Dave85zxt

I am looking to buy a toyota truck of some kind but I am not totally sure whether or not to get a Tacoma, T100 or Tundra. What type of fuel mileage do you guys get?

Anything to look for in a T100 or Tundra that fails easily?

How reliable are the T100 and Tundra?

Is the T100 underpowered with the 3.4l v6?

Thanks for the help guys,
Dave

shazaam

Tundra .. awesome truck .. have an 02 with 70K+ miles on it .. not a single problem with it.

good luck

Mohamed

Tundra, great truck, my opinion a bit underpowered for a V8, but adequate. 13 mpg in the city with my 4WD V8, access cab.

2000 model: dipstick was just a bit short, replaced with new dipstick under campaign
2000-some 2002 models: Brake vibrations, fixed under factory warranty some have no luck, and still vibrates. Mine, no problems, but then again I babied the brakes for breakin period when I first got it.


T100: A better looking, meanier truck (in my opinion), lifting is much easier than a Tundra. 3.4L V6 is a fairly decent, and strong engine, coupled with a S/C and you're running almost alongside a V8 Tundra. Better gas mileage of course. I think there was a rear dif seal problem in eariler ones (I could be wrong). Interior in my opinion is rather bland as compared to the Tundra's (that's just me).

I like this next shot

Chi_San

Uhhhhh... We have a 1995 T100 with the 5VZ-FE engine. Yeah, it weighs 4,000 lbs, but that sucker moves. I've gone fast enough to hit the electronic speed limiter.

We have the RWD only extended cab version. It is manual with no OverDrive (Unless you think of 5th gear as overdrive), and gets about 20 mpg city. That's 22 gallons lasting 450 miles. Well, that's a tad bit high, it's more like 400 miles, but that would be only 18 mpg. That's city. It gets better on the highway.

If you think a RWD V8 is underpowered, you either need a muscle car, or a supercharger. My Subaru is underpowered, it's 2,400 lbs (I've weighed it, and that is what it weighed in at) and only 130 hp. That's with AWD. I've thought about throwing $20k at it and putting in a 2.8l H4 turbo that makes 600+ hp at the crank. But not for a while. :p

Please excuse me, I'm in a ranting mood today. :p

Mohamed

When you compare the Tundra engine to the Chevy 5.7 pushrod, and the Dodge V8's, and even Ford's anemic, yet Torqey V8's... it seems the Tundra is slightly below the crowd...

I wonder what the Titan feels like, I bet that sucker can move and put the Chevy to shame

Chi_San

That is true. Numbers for the Toyota V8? I've never seen them, believe it or not. :p

Arg, Dodge. Their stuff sucks. I would own a freaking Yugo before a dodge. I 'raced' a Dodge truck up a hill in the Subaru. V8 vs H4. 5+ liters vs. 2.2l. I spanked him. In the low RPM range. Where my car makes no torque.

The 5VZ FE makes a bit of power. How much does the Tundra weigh?

WileEToyote

Jeez. Thanks Mohammed.

That was a fun trip - Mystery Creek; 90 miles, 1 day. Got 'er configured a little differently now. First quick calcs are that I'm still able to pull almost 17 mpg with 36s mixed town/highway. I've always found the 3.4 plenty powerful for my needs which involves mountainous on road and off road driving.

Never had a problem with the pinion seal on mine (either one, but now the one in the Dana weeps a bit around 0 deg F). Did chew up the rear axle seals and bearings, but that was a clogged breather I found to be the culprit - pulled in all kinds of water through the axle tubes. The biggest problem with the T100 I think is the clutch bracket tearing. In some cases the dealer has split the cost of that repair. A few guys have had problems with the rear axle tube cracking, but I think in some cases there it was a combination of blocks and axle wrap that caused that. They also encounter the same warping rotors as the Tundras.

Basically, yeah, either truck is going to require some service, but there's no guaranteed problem with either. Any make/model vehicle is going to have a shortcoming or two to contend with, especially if bought used.

Mohamed

According to this website, since mine is pretty much so damn close to a limited (minus bucket seats and leather), I will use the "limited" weight of 4644 lbs otherwise for the SR5, it's 4518 lbs.

You're welcome

Chi_San

Yeah, that's only a 4.7 liter engine. I know some of the smaller F150's with V8's have more displacement.

That is a nice Torque number, though. The HP seems a little low. Cast Iron block means boost ++. Although, I don't think it's the horsepower that makes it seem slow. It's probably the gearings. Since the gas milage is on the low side, it might be a necessity.

WATER MAN

Hey Dave, both the T100 and Tundra are great trucks.

I have one of each. Both of mine are 4WD.
My '96 T100 V6 get's about 18-20 mpg,
My '02 Tundra V8 gets about 15 mpg.
Both trucks are problem free and both are very reliable.
Note: They all have had a few TSB's, you will need to check by year and model.
The V6 makes great power as long as you keep the rpm's up.
I added TRD headers to mine.
The V8 is silky smooth with lot's of power - bone stock.


There are some '00 and '01 4WD V6 Tundra's out there if you search long enough - some had 5 spd's. That is if you want 4WD...

caliyota

I have a 98 T100 3.4 auto 4WD access cab and get 14/16 mpg combo driving. If I keep the speed down to 65 mph (did it once just to see what would happen) I was in the 18/19 range. My time is worth more than that kind of savings so its pedal flow of traffic for me thank you. I tow a 3500lb boat and as the others have mentioned high altitude and steep grades = high RPM, gets the job done just needs to work harder than something with a V8. Bought it used with 230k and have 250k of trouble free miles on it. Plan on installing a 4" procomp lift, 33's, Auburn LSD or Electric locker out back, and manual hubs. Great mid sized truck for the money. Prior to that I had a 06 Tundra crewcab. Loved the truck, hated the payment not to mention the sound branches make as they drag across my paint job lol.

Regard's caliyota

Fink

If you have no need for a full-size truck I would go with the Tacoma.

I just sold mine due to recently moving to an urban area but it was the best truck I have ever owned.

I bought it brand new and babied it like no other.
It was a 2007 with 48,000mi on it and the dealer gave me $20,000 cash for it.

That should tell you that they hold their value pretty damn well.

The Tundra is my next choice - if I still lived somewhere where I used a truck I would have picked one up.
The 5.7L does not feel underpowered to me at all.

I used to sell Tundra's and we had reps from Chevy, Dodge and Ford come teach us about their trucks and then we would roll-out the cutaway Tundra model that Toyota gave us and would show them how the Tundra beat their trucks in every category.
This was a couple years ago - I realize that the Big 3 have done some upgrades but either way, Tundra's are amazing machines.

That's just my $.02,

Fink