2nd gen Sequoia- upgrade to new car or no

Just looking for some guidance as I am less experienced with sequoias. I just bought a 2008 Platinum with 155K miles in pretty darn condition. I was planning on having this car and then upgrading to a new Toyota, but I bought this one for 12k and if I upgraded my budget would be about 25-30k ish. I kinda have fallen in love with this older one, needs it timing chain tensioner done but other than that I think this think will go to 300K easy.

so my question is- do I upgrade to a newer sequoia with more budget or just put some money in to this one?
End goal is to have it lifted 3 in with 35s- I live in Boulder so love sleeping in the back and have a place in Idaho so do hauling from there and back. (Didn’t really know what the platinum was until I had it with the rear suspension etc, have come to love it)

 

Well, for your price range of 25-30k for a newer one, it will have similar miles to what you have already.

If yours is nice and has been cared for I would keep it and just do the maintenance and any upgrades you may like.

Either way, the vehicles require maintenance, so even if you get a newer one, it will need the same type of maintenance as what you already own.

 

As you may know the 2008-2021 Sequoia is the same. It had some "facelift" changes in 2018 to LED headlights. But for the most part it's the same vehicle. If yours has been well maintained and no rust, I would say keep it. You can get new headlights and other things to update it. Spend the extra money on aftermarket parts...suspension lift, wheels/tires, etc.

 

Only reason to upgrade would be for the safety sense stuff in the 18-21. Spend the money on mods and services. Get new headlights, lift it with a good lift kit, get good tires and build it out the way you want it.

When I sold my truck I was looking at used trees in the 25-35k range so I wouldn't have a payment, but wanted to the safety features for when my wifes drives it. The miles and condition of anything in that price/ year range were terrible, so ended up with a 21 pro for way too much money, but well drive it till the wheels fall off.

FYI skinny 35's here and after correcting for mpg were getting 13-15mpg... not bad

 

I have a 2008 with 230k, still going strong, who knows how long it will run.

I have a timing chain tensioner rattle on drivers side but only if I let it sit for 2-3 days without driving. I ran seafoam in the crankcase oil and gas tank for 300 miles, then dumped oil, and it did get better. I might try one more seafoam treatment before eventually replacing the tensioner...but right now it's not bad. It just clatters for 1 second on startup, and only occasionally.

I would say just keep it, the new sequoia has a lot of downsides (at least for me), I use the roll down back window, that's gone in the new, and now there's the lovely engine recall which will, I think, affect the Sequoia with the 3.5 TT.

I looked at a new Tundra and Sequoia, but just can't pull the trigger for the price. They are proving so far to be very unreliable, fit and finish is bad, and lots of things lost between 2nd to third gen (space is worse/floor height in third row etc.).

 

I recommend also trying two cans of BG EPR right before an oil change, and then two cans of BG MOA with the new oil. A lot of people on the 2g page on FB have had some pretty good results, the EPR cleans up the oil channels really well.

 

We just completed a 700 mile round-trip: fully packed cargo compartment, 4 people, air-conditioned, and towing a 3000 lb travel trailer. While towing, the average MPG was 12 - mixed flat highway and rather hilly back-roads. Without the trailer we're getting 17.5 MPG, easy. Monitored with Scan Gauge III.

 

It seems far more cost effective to just keep the one you have and run it as long as possible. The 2nd gen Tundra and Sequoia are the most bulletproof platforms out there in their respective segments.

There’s a LOT of life left in these vehicles at 150k miles, and more people should take advantage of it.

Wife’s daily is a ‘09 LX. Best vehicle we have ever owned. We bought it at 149k miles in Nov ‘22. We’re at 182.5k now. Just maintenance. Replaced the radiator and nearly everything the serp belt touches about 10k miles ago.