1st Gen Tundra vs 2nd Gen Tacoma?

[psilocyBen]

I posted this in the Tacoma thread also but thought I’d ask here because I really could use some help deciding.

Has anyone here owned both or made a switch between the two? I for the life of me can’t decide which one I want. I have a GX470 now which I love but I want a truck with a bed and camper shell. I’m specifically looking at the 2nd Gen Tacoma Access Cab 4x4 V6 vs an 1st Gen Tundra Access Can 4x4 V8.

The Tacoma would be nice because it would just be newer and lower miles, the ones I’m seeing in my max price range are 2010-2015. Better MPG. No timing belt. In general more expensive though than a 1st gen Tundra of course. But I know with a newer vehicle there will just be less small items/fixes.

The Tundra just seems like it is much more comfortable (roomier interior, comfier seats/driving position, larger bed for sleeping the back). The V8 is also great but I wouldn’t mind not getting 14mpg. It would also just be older. Theres someone selling an extremely clean built out 01 tundra that’s exactly what I want but it has 200K miles and it’s a 2001. For the same price I could likely get a non built out 10 year newer Tacoma with less miles. I really want the Tundra but I’m now leaning towards the Tacoma because I feel like it’s just the wiser decision.

Has anyone here owned both? Which should I get?

 

[joseywales]

I’ve had both. The Tacoma is gone and my 1st Gen Sequoia is in its place. (I recently added a ‘97 Tacoma as a firewood and dump run truck for when my ‘19 Tundra goes away in the spring.) The 1st Gen Tundra will give you better everything, aside from fuel economy. I find the seats in my 240,000 mile ‘03 are FAR more comfortable than my 2019 Platinum. We take the ‘03 on all our long trips. What is the “extremely clean 2nd Gen” you are talking about? Either one (Tundra or Tacoma) in 2001 would be a 1st Gen.

Will you be towing at all? Tundra wins that hands down. Being in SD, you are lucky that you can find plenty of options for both in very clean trucks. The cheaper entry price on the Tundra would also pay for any maintenance needed. A 2nd Gen Tacoma is still 10 years old at best, so can also be entering heavy maintenance cycle time too. As you know, both are solid choices. I just love the 2UZ motor and drivetrain.

 

[psilocyBen]

I’ve had both. The Tacoma is gone and my 1st Gen Sequoia is in its place. (I recently added a ‘97 Tacoma as a firewood and dump run truck for when my ‘19 Tundra goes away in the spring.) The 1st Gen Tundra will give you better everything, aside from fuel economy. I find the seats in my 240,000 mile ‘03 are FAR more comfortable than my 2019 Platinum. We take the ‘03 on all our long trips. What is the “extremely clean 2nd Gen” you are talking about? Either one (Tundra or Tacoma) in 2001 would be a 1st Gen.

Will you be towing at all? Tundra wins that hands down. Being in SD, you are lucky that you can find plenty of options for both in very clean trucks. The cheaper entry price on the Tundra would also pay for any maintenance needed. A 2nd Gen Tacoma is still 10 years old at best, so can also be entering heavy maintenance cycle time too. As you know, both are solid choices. I just love the 2UZ motor and drivetrain.

Thanks for the reply, but man you’re making my decision harder. That was a typo on my end, I found a super clean 1st gen tundra but it’s a rust free 01 with 200k miles and he’s asking almost 17k. It just had major maintenance items done though, timing belt/water pump, new transmission, radiator, brakes/rotors, LBJs, new tires. It has high clearance front/rear bumpers with a swing out which would be very cool but I honestly don’t “need” them and I know that’s gonna make the MPG even worse. I’m just having a hard time justifying spending that kind of money on a 23+ year old truck. For about the same price or slightly more I could prob find a 2013+ Tacoma with 30% less miles.

Right now I honestly rarely drive my GX470 because the gas mileage is bad. I find I’m only using it when I truly need 4x4. Getting a bit better mpg would be huge for me but also comfort is a big deal. I’ve driven a 3rd gen Tacoma a fair amount and you’re right I thought the comfort was bad. I hated the seat position. Not even in the same ballpark as the GX. Im hoping there’s some mods I could do to make the seats better though. I will very rarely be towing so that’s not an issue for me. Overall I feel like the Tacoma is the wiser decision. Newer/less miles, better MPG, no timing belt, and will for sure hold its value. The tundra would be more comfortable, have a bit more space, and I do love that 2UZ (though not the MPG it gets). Have you tried fixing the seat discomfort in the Tacoma ever? To me it felt like it was the position that was the main issue. Felt too low but I never tried pin pointing the issue.

 

[joseywales]

Sorry I’m making it difficult It’s very hard to go wrong with your two options. I love an access cab Tacoma, but I have two Weimaraners so need more space. I drive my friends 2010 AC with 5 speed fairly often, but I prefer the ‘03 Sequoia. My 2020 Tacoma we only kept a year and a bit as it was too small (Sequoia was it’s replacement), and I always felt it was a bit cramped. I’m 5’10 and 175 lbs, so pretty average sized. I don’t love sitting that low in a truck. The 2019 Tundra seats are horrid. Being a Platinum, I expected way more. They are very flat and wide. Maybe they fit bigger people better? I used some washers as spacers under the front mounts of the passenger seat, and it made it more comfortable for my wife, but still far from as nice as the ‘03 SR5 seats. They feel like “Toyota seats”. As I said, we do all our long trips in the old rig for the comfort.

In your situation, the Tacoma might make more sense as it will probably always hold its value better. I tend to not worry about that as much if I’m planning to keep something long term though. I’d bet you’re only going to see at best 2-3 mpg difference between the 4.7 and the 4.0 engines. That does add up over time, but neither is as horrendous as the 5.7 in the 2 and 2.5 Gen Tundras.

Here, enjoy a Tundra and Sequoia pic…

 

[psilocyBen]

Sorry I’m making it difficult It’s very hard to go wrong with your two options. I love an access cab Tacoma, but I have two Weimaraners so need more space. I drive my friends 2010 AC with 5 speed fairly often, but I prefer the ‘03 Sequoia. My 2020 Tacoma we only kept a year and a bit as it was too small (Sequoia was it’s replacement), and I always felt it was a bit cramped. I’m 5’10 and 175 lbs, so pretty average sized. I don’t love sitting that low in a truck. The 2019 Tundra seats are horrid. Being a Platinum, I expected way more. They are very flat and wide. Maybe they fit bigger people better? I used some washers as spacers under the front mounts of the passenger seat, and it made it more comfortable for my wife, but still far from as nice as the ‘03 SR5 seats. They feel like “Toyota seats”. As I said, we do all our long trips in the old rig for the comfort.

In your situation, the Tacoma might make more sense as it will probably always hold its value better. I tend to not worry about that as much if I’m planning to keep something long term though. I’d bet you’re only going to see at best 2-3 mpg difference between the 4.7 and the 4.0 engines. That does add up over time, but neither is as horrendous as the 5.7 in the 2 and 2.5 Gen Tundras.

Here, enjoy a Tundra and Sequoia pic…

Sorry I’m making it difficult It’s very hard to go wrong with your two options. I love an access cab Tacoma, but I have two Weimaraners so need more space. I drive my friends 2010 AC with 5 speed fairly often, but I prefer the ‘03 Sequoia. My 2020 Tacoma we only kept a year and a bit as it was too small (Sequoia was it’s replacement), and I always felt it was a bit cramped. I’m 5’10 and 175 lbs, so pretty average sized. I don’t love sitting that low in a truck. The 2019 Tundra seats are horrid. Being a Platinum, I expected way more. They are very flat and wide. Maybe they fit bigger people better? I used some washers as spacers under the front mounts of the passenger seat, and it made it more comfortable for my wife, but still far from as nice as the ‘03 SR5 seats. They feel like “Toyota seats”. As I said, we do all our long trips in the old rig for the comfort.

In your situation, the Tacoma might make more sense as it will probably always hold its value better. I tend to not worry about that as much if I’m planning to keep something long term though. I’d bet you’re only going to see at best 2-3 mpg difference between the 4.7 and the 4.0 engines. That does add up over time, but neither is as horrendous as the 5.7 in the 2 and 2.5 Gen Tundras.

Here, enjoy a Tundra and Sequoia pic…

Well I finally went and just test drive a 2nd gen Tacoma and 1st gen Tundra back to back. I drove the Tacoma first and was trying to convince myself that it was reasonably comfortable and not too crammed. The V6 and handling felt pretty good and I definitely felt that it could work for me. Then I got in the Tundra and wow, apart from them being “roughly” the same size they’re really not even comparable. The Tundra was just so much more comfortable to sit in, more spacious, and I liked how the interior was very simple with a higher build quality. It drove and handled about how I expected, very nice bottom end power. You can definitely feel the extra weight compared to the Tacoma though and in some ways I liked the “sportier” feeling of the Tacoma but the Tundra just felt just way more solid. Man this is a tough decision. Thanks for all your insights on this. Both your Tundra and Sequoia are clean! I love the look of this generation.

 

[joseywales]

That’s the right way to do it. Drive them both back to back. I had Ram Cummins 3500s for more than a decade, and then decided to shift down to a 1/2 ton as I didn’t need the payload anymore. I drove a 20 Ram “Classic”, and then went two blocks to my Toyota dealer and drove my 19 Tundra. The Ram was noticeably quicker, but in a squirrelly and unpredictable way. The Tundra feels more like a truck. The 2 and 2.5 Gen Tundras are more like light 3/4 tons.

I like the drive of the 1st Gen Tundra and Sequoia about the best of any truck I’ve owned, and only slightly less than my 100 series on OME suspension and Toyos.

Do you have a link or pics of the built 01 Tundra you were looking at?

 

[psilocyBen]

That’s the right way to do it. Drive them both back to back. I had Ram Cummins 3500s for more than a decade, and then decided to shift down to a 1/2 ton as I didn’t need the payload anymore. I drove a 20 Ram “Classic”, and then went two blocks to my Toyota dealer and drove my 19 Tundra. The Ram was noticeably quicker, but in a squirrelly and unpredictable way. The Tundra feels more like a truck. The 2 and 2.5 Gen Tundras are more like light 3/4 tons.

I like the drive of the 1st Gen Tundra and Sequoia about the best of any truck I’ve owned, and only slightly less than my 100 series on OME suspension and Toyos.

Do you have a link or pics of the built 01 Tundra you were looking at?

Yeah driving two vehicles back to back really highlights the differences well. I’m glad to hear you really like the 1st gen Tundra/Sequoia. My dad had a Sequoia when I was a teenager learning to drive and I remember loving it. I decided not to get the built out 1st gen, it’s just a bit too much and I don’t “need” the front and rear high clearance bumpers with the swing out. In fact I’d rather not have a swing out because I’ll be sleeping in the back often and I don’t want the significant extra overall length.

I found another clean one with 200k miles that just had all the major maintenance items done (timing belt, OEM lbjs, etc) for $7K . OR I now came across one with only 87K miles for $17K but it’s halfway across the country and would be a pain to go get. The seller also seems slightly sketchy for some reason. This lower mile one looks extremely clean but there’s also not as much maintenance history and some light surface rust. Do you think it would be worth all the extra money for the low miles one or should I maybe just get the 200K mile one that has all the records and a perfect frame? Thanks again for all your insight here

 

[joseywales]

Yeah driving two vehicles back to back really highlights the differences well. I’m glad to hear you really like the 1st gen Tundra/Sequoia. My dad had a Sequoia when I was a teenager learning to drive and I remember loving it. I decided not to get the built out 1st gen, it’s just a bit too much and I don’t “need” the front and rear high clearance bumpers with the swing out. In fact I’d rather not have a swing out because I’ll be sleeping in the back often and I don’t want the significant extra overall length.

I found another clean one with 200k miles that just had all the major maintenance items done (timing belt, OEM lbjs, etc) for $7K . OR I now came across one with only 87K miles for $17K but it’s halfway across the country and would be a pain to go get. The seller also seems slightly sketchy for some reason. This lower mile one looks extremely clean but there’s also not as much maintenance history and some light surface rust. Do you think it would be worth all the extra money for the low miles one or should I maybe just get the 200K mile one that has all the records and a perfect frame? Thanks again for all your insight here

Sorry for the delay. I was busy putting another couple of thousand on my ‘03 driving it out to the beaches of Oregon for a week. If the 200k one has all the maintenance done, I’d keep the $10k in my pocket for any future repairs or mods. These as you know, are easily 500,000 mile rigs if maintained properly, so a lower mile truck from a sketchball with unclear service history is not a worthwhile spend in my mind.

 

[psilocyBen]

Sorry for the delay. I was busy putting another couple of thousand on my ‘03 driving it out to the beaches of Oregon for a week. If the 200k one has all the maintenance done, I’d keep the $10k in my pocket for any future repairs or mods. These as you know, are easily 500,000 mile rigs if maintained properly, so a lower mile truck from a sketchball with unclear service history is not a worthwhile spend in my mind.

No problem, glad to hear your 03 is still getting you around well. I ended up finding and getting a very clean 03 4x4 access cab that just had all the major maintenance items done for a decent deal. Super excited about it. Thanks for all your insight and opinions here, I appreciate it!

 

[joseywales]

Glad to help out. Photos of the new truck are required, of course.