While I'm still searching for a truck (I think I'm up to 8-10 phone calls a week) I might as well use this pause in the show to tell a story.
I have been travelling a lot in the last few months due to a family health issue. My 99 did work and finished every mission as necessary before folding in on itself, and my 2003 xterra is soldering on in its place.
In all this "everything is on fire" I sucked it up and threw myself on growing up and getting a grown up car. The last time I did this a decade ago the car I wanted (2005 subaru legacy GT wagon) blew up in three months it was a legal s*** show. I had CarMax 2016 tundra shipped up to me. Limited, ex cab, a nice brown color, limited so heated seats, first year of the integrated tow control, and the best part, factory big tank.
This is it, this is supposed to make my life easier and yeah paying for it wont be fun it'll help..... *10 miles up and down the throughway*.
Return to CarMax and the annoyingly mediocre sales person meets me. "I need you to smell the truck" "Well I live with family who smokes"
I drag the service manager out and he nearly falls over. Somehow between having the truck shipped and two CarMax locations and their 69420 point inspection process they missed a clearly obvious smoker truck, and also the blind spot monitoring was f***ed. After driving it on an extended test drive after it was "cleaned" it wasn't clean enough and the dash squeaked against the windshield. I wasn't going to be ripped off for premium money for a not premium truck. My CarMax buying process was disappointing and I am the worst car buyer because I ask questions and don't want to just rubber stamp a car.
I have test driven a half dozen tundra's now and despite my 99 cruiser being an absolute s*** pile and the worst example, it's way more civil to live in, I want another cruiser.
The hunt continues.