Whoa they are NICE. Stopped to look at one this afternoon. It was a limited edition. I didn't expect there to be so much room inside. Price tag was around 37K I believe.

 

Yea, I am about to sell my 4runner to my brother, and thinking of getting a Tundra double cab or Titan. I am even considering a new ram.

But those tundra double cab's or so expensive right now....my neighbor got one in a limited version and man does it look nice!

 

They are great, but I think 4-wheeler magazine says they are a bit underpowered for a V8, or some magazine tested them out and said so. You're right about the price tag, it is just about the same price as a limited 4Runner a few years ago.

As someone said in another forum, you need to test drive all of the truck you are considering, one of the trucks will feel just right to you and that's the one you should get.

Those Hemi rams are absolutely a blast to drive, a co-worker of mine has a 2wd version, but it is sweet. I don't quite like the interior though of a ram.

 

My bro just picked up a new Tundra DC SR5 4WD V8 for 27K. It's sweet! I know its longer than the Access cab but it looks a lot bigger than the A-cab. Save your money and get the SR5 trim, it looks better anyway. I'm so jealous I wanna get one, too!!!!!

 

They are sweet, but I cant believe they only run a 16.8 1/4 mile according to Car and Driver! That 4.7 must really be taxed.

 

One of the guys at the fire dept here got one, the limited version. He already got a 5-6 lift on it, running 305 tires, with a supercharger and the dual exhaust pipes. Its a pretty sweet truck.

 

Im from CA, Los Angeles County and in the newspaper adds double cabs run for about $24K while tundras run $17K. CHECK THE ADDS BEFORE YOU BUY! .. the ads are actually REAl. just be at the dealership early friday morning with the ad! My gf almos got a tahoe for 24K but she didnt like the cargo doors! hehe

 

wow 24k for a tundra dbl cab? this is for an 04?

 

I test drove (well, actually it was a rental while my wife's Honda was in the shop) an 04 Dodge Dakota 4x4 Quad Cab SLT yesterday.
I looked up sticker on this one (it had the Magnum 4.7L V8 with 5 speed automatic tranny) and it was around $27000 after a rebate on the website. An approximately equivalent Tacoma Double Cab goes for $32K and the Tundra priced out around $37K (again, these prices were a quick check from the website).
For the money, I can't figure out why you'd ever buy a Dodge Dakota. This truck absolutely sucked. The doors felt like my old '89 Toyota Corolla's flimsy hollow doors. The interior upholstery and trim was absolute crap! The transmission shifted awful (I can't imagine it'll have a long life), the ac blower was LOUD, the cab was very small, the ground clearance seemed sucky for a 4x4, etc. For as small as the Dakota is, I'd have expected the 4.7L to do a lot more than it did with this. My 3.4L in the T could have pushed this Dakota just as well I think. This confirmed for me that I'll never buy Dodge (or any so-called domestic) vehicle. I'm sure the Ram with the Hemi is fun, but I can't believe the build quality surpasses that of the Dakota by much.

All that said, let me give my take on Toyota trucks. When you shell out the bling for a Toyota you get what you pay for. My '98 T100 with 150K feels more sound and quality all the way around than this Dakota did.
People complain about the 1/4 mile of the Tundra, they complain about the small size of the V8 in the Tundra, etc. The thing of it is, Toyota precisely engineers and designs their vehicles from the cupholders to the camshafts. Toyota doesn't care that your Tundra can't beat a Dodge Hemi Ram on the drag strip, they care to the point of meticulous design and standards that at 100K miles your V8 will be just broken in while the Hemi's condition is anyone's best guess. The standard cab V6 Tundra has a higher towing capacity without a towing package than the similarly equipped 5.7L Hemi Dodge Ram (I should note that with towing packages, the Ram comes out slightly ahead).
Toyota's growing niche in the automotive industry (it has nearly passed up GM now) is that of high quality and longevity. This is reflected in their very high resale value. Since this is their growing niche, I very much hope they don't fall in line with the Big 3 and start designing for the 1/4 mile rather than the 250,000 miles.
Finally, I think one very legitimate gripe is that we don't have a diesel available. They offer diesel in almost every other market. However, come 2006 or so, we should see that change here in the states. Hino makes some remarkable diesel engines for Toyota and I'd love to see them in the new, larger truck Toyota releases.

 

Great post, Honger, right on the mark. Toyota announced around 2000 that they will never get into a horsepower race with other manufacturers. That doesn't mean they won't get into a torque contest, though! I've hopes that we'll see Toyota diesel D-4D technology arrive here with the new, low sulfur fuel regs. D-4D is a smash hit where it's been introduced. This might be a good time to get in line at your local dealer for a 4Runner D-4D (called Land Cruiser in the link above).

 

One thing about the Hemi engine is the efficiency of the engine. From what i've been learning about the semi-hemispherical head, you mount the intake valves on oneside and the exhaust valves on the other, spark plug in the middle of the flat part of the piston. This creates a very efficient engine in that you are able to quickly move mixture in and out rather quickly as compared to other engines. It's almost like a straight through design. That's why back in the day, it was king to own a hemi. The problem was the whole cleaner burning cars movement came out and hemi engines wheren't (and aren't still) very clean burning engines and that's why they where eliminated from the market for a very long time.

 

Have you seen the new Hemi engine? That thing is "technically" a Hemi but doesn't look like one. It's all marketing B.S. who cares. Toyota makes the best trucks if you are buying.
If you're leasing for a couple years, anything is good.

 

I drive by a Toyota Dealership every day on the way to/from work. I keep seeing those Tundras and Sequoias on the lot but haven't stopped to look. I'd like to get a new truck and turn my current ride into more of an off road machine but I keep hitting a couple of sticking points:
1) I'm worried about the gas mileage of a new truck
2) I can't get one with a manual transmission - which would help the gas mileage
3) My wife keeps asking where I'm going to park all these cars I'm getting - I've already got two and the neighbors probably wouldn't want me parking on my front lawn!

 

I think i jsut saw one of those today, it was so beautiful!! lol...they look great and i wish i had a job to afford one... they look nice, and are LONG....and have 4 doors.. nice combo.

 

compared to the 22re and the 3.4, the mileage is def. worse...but it's also a v8. fwiw, i have a bunch of bolt-on engine mods and get 16.5-17 @80mph on the highway (that's far beyond the "good mileage" speed of 55mph, i get better mileage cruising easy), but also fwiw i get that same mileage whether i'm empty or running with 1K# in the truck through the mountains. highest ive ever gotten legit was 18. highest ive gotten drafting was 21, 22, and that was also when i was carrying at capacity on the highway, mountains or flats didnt seem to matter much. the v8 is quite good for the weight class it's in (1/2T), some of that may also be the engine mods ive done, which add a bit of torque to help hump a load over the hills.

give an auto tranny a chance, theyre not bad...tho have you considered a tundra with the v6 manual? in which case...why not a late model T, some of those i've seen ('98 and so forth) are in PHENOMENAL shape, come with a proven engine and based on the comments of a few people here and there with experience with a T and a tundra, the fit & finish and qc on the T is better than on the tundra. also, there are more and more readily available mods for a T than a tundra.

it really only matters if you want the v8 or not, which i guess might also be a question of whether youll need it or not...me, i wanted it ...and also thought it would come in handy towing a boat or something around.

-sean