First time Toyota owner now in love...

So I've been a die hard Ford guy most of my adult life. Currently have a 2018 F250 SD King Ranch daily driver with 135k miles and recently had to deal with the underside wiring harness issue (such a waste of $1,200 at a local dealer), and after going thru that experience which in addition to $400 replacing both batteries before, determining it was the factory corroded underside wiring harness, I started doubting the reliability of this very well taken care of truck.

So the Tundra 2nd Gen was first on my list, simply because a friend or two have them and they never have anything negative to say about their trucks. While searching and visiting a few dealers, I started falling for the 3rd Gen Tundra's and finally made the jump on a 22' with under 16,000 miles located in South East FL.

We picked it up on X-Mas Eve, then drove back across the State to SWFL for the Holidays, and over the Holidays I must have washed it 3-4 times, found every excuse imaginable to run every possible errand in it, with each and every drive only further cementing in our minds we chose the perfect new to us vehicle.

The ride of this truck is absolutely amazing, the cornering, acceleration, and braking far surpasses the F250, not to mention the amazing comfort of the overall ride of this Tundra....speechless she is (significant other calls the F250 King Ranch "Mr Bobblehead") due to the stiff suspension and crappy ride when unloaded. This new Tundra is like riding on a cloud, but with some amazing performances abilities hidden within.

Looking forward to enjoying this great truck for at least 200k-300k miles, perhaps even more with the outstanding history Toyota has garnered years past.

The pic below was airport parking in Tampa. Lucky karma or something, but got the first spot at the elevators.

I spent this past weekend doing a light polish to remove the effects of water spotting stains and a few minor scratches, then coated it with two coats of a Graphene Ceramic Coating. While the finish of the truck looked great in the pic above, it now pops with the metalic flakes in the grey paint and the color comes alive in the sun.

I will post a pic or two of the ceramic coated finish when I grab a few photos tomorrow perhaps, but for now just had to share my joy and excitement with such a great vehicle. If anyone wants to purchase a 2018 Ford Super Duty lucky to get 15mpg....LOL

Oh yeah, how many of you have seen the turn signals in action on this gen? Perhaps I am just weird, but the front and rear turn signals are pretty damn cool looking when blinking (unknown while testy driving and sitting at the dealership doing walk around to me). But when I was checking out every detail I could find, I discovered the pattern blink of the front signals and when walking into the house to get the SO, we both noticed the rear blinkers doing their thing.

 

Great to hear your story about getting it. Must have been a fun Christmas.

Appreciate your enthusiasm! ….and welcome!

 

Welcome from LA (Lower Alabama)!

 

I have a friend with an F250. I was chatting with him the other day and he said he was excited 1) finally had rig paid off and 2) he had replaced some lines to the turbo with reinforced by steel instead of just the original plastic. He thought all the original cheap plastic lines and fittings had all failed and been replaced with 3rd party good ones. He finally had the truck he thought he got from the plant.

 

Awesome looking rig.
Welcome from Texas!

 

Thanks to everyone who’s replied!

‘now for the admission of geeky behavior….i must spend ten minutes a day just looking at it parked in my garage or driveway, admiring the lines and sexiness of this truck.

had everything set to polish and ceramic coat it this past weekend, but my order from Ethos ended up missing some products and they just vanished without reply to my inquiries. So it’s going to stay in the garage for a couple of weeks while I head back up to the Boston area and deal with getting the now not needed F250 listed for sale.

looking forward to many great miles and years with the new Tundra.

 

Great choice! Welcome from TX.

 

Awesome truck! I am in Fort Myers so must not be too far from you. Where did you end up purchasing from? I am looking to get into one of these trucks within by next month.

 

Welcome to the world of Tundras! I've had each of the Gen's since Jan 2000, and this is the best one yet. I'm somewhere near you as well, living in SWFL most of the year.

 

Welcome from PA!

 

You pull travel trailers for living?

 

former ford guy here too. (2013 F-250). Martha (name of my ford) had 260K miles when she finally needed to be put to pasture. Used it as a work truck (Pull a 10K GVWR enclosed trailer) but it finally said bye bye. So I started looking at the new fords but found this iForce Max deal and fell for it the moment I stepped on the pedal. This thing has better torque and pulling power than my old f-250. Im super pleased with THOR and looking forward to many years with it.

 

Welcome from East Tennessee!

 

Welcome from NY.

 

Welcome from the Great White North and enjoy your Tundra.

 

Most of trucks with rock guards all way across the back like you have pull travel trailers. My brother did it for a while.

 

Same boat here. I had a 2020 F-350 with 40k miles and it was already on its second engine. I was a die hard ford guy before that truck.

I picked up my 23 tundra last year with 3k miles on the clock. I've got 20k miles on it now, and am super happy I made the switch.

 

7.3 second engine at 30k miles, and in the shop 4 or 5 times after that before I sold it. I averaged 18 mpg on the first engine, the second never got more than 11 mpg.

 

The first engines cylinder head cracked, and when they opened it up to replace it, the dealership found a scorched cylinder and replaced the engine. Apparently there were a number of 7.3s that had cracked heads in the first year.

The second engine ate sparkplug wires, constantly.
Powersteering leaks, ac issues and tons of other issues.

I just lost all trust in that truck.

 

I had two F150's in the past, which I bought new. Both had problems. After the second one left me broke down needing a tow twice within a two week period due to electrical problems, I bought a new 2012 Gen 2 Tundra. Put 170K miles on it with zero problems. Just bought a 2023 TRD last August and, while I was a bit apprehensive due to the complaints I was hearing on this forum, I'm lovin the new Tundra. I've had no issues with the new TRD and I've gotten 21.5 and 20.4 mpg on my last two tanks of winter fuel here along the Great Lakes.

 

The internet and retired flight benefits made my search a bit wider than most probably. But while searching anything East of the Rockies (hoping for good excuse to fly and drive one home from that area), we ended up buying from Toyota of Deerfield Beach Fl.

At that point of being four weeks into searching, it started with a few texts and became a decent number I could be happy with after about 15 total texts.

Picking it up Xmas eve couldn’t have been any easier with my commute originating in the Orlando area and her flying into whichever city we settled on purchasing from Boston Xmas eve as well.

So far it’s been a great lightly used (16,000 miles) vehicle and having dropped it off at the Toyota of Orlando dealership last week for the fuel line recall and rear window trim pieces read about on this forum which went very well while out of town for the week.

Ceramic coating goes on this weekend after a light polish to remove the water spotting already in the clear coat.