Is everyone happy with their Tundra?

My 2002 SE 4WD bought new, now has 23,000 miles:

Engine breaking in nice, been flogging it on the x-way (Mobil1), much better than when new. Engine is addictive. Must be flogged to get to spin sweet, like the old tight Pontiac GTO big blocks. Cruises 90 'no sweat' and wants more. All on 87 octane. 17 1/2 mpg US consistent warm weather mileage.

Slight ping right cylinder bank when 1/2 warmed-up on a cold day under moderate acceleration through the middle ratios.

On a very cold start, engine sounds like it is self-destructing. Some have said this is piston slap. Mine sounds more like valvetrain noise. Anyway it goes away with warmup, and I have not mentioned it to the service dept. yet.

Brakes quite adequate, but wish they had the feel of the new 4Runner Sport. Mine have had almost unnoticeable pulsation since new; dealer won't touch until more pronounced. Hasn't worsened. I do not have the anti-locks; I wish I had them here in the snowbelt.

Fit and finish great, compared against any used domestic. No squeaks, but a very intermittant driver's side dash rattle, comes and goes, mostly never there 95%.

Steering pull increases with severity of road crown. Rack and pinion much nicer than the recirc. ball arrangement. Body lean not excessive; altho not a TRD, I've never had the urge to correct lean with an add-on sway bar. Just no need, and I regularly break the speed limit cautiously.

Automatic tranny seems bullet-proof but a slow up-shifter. Kickdown at highway speeds seems right-on. Seems to have a consistent whine at certain speeds, I remember around 35-40mph. No whine outside of this range.

Have another drivetrain noise between 26-32mph, sounds like a bad wheel-bearing type sound. I think it's in the drivetrain somewhere like maybe the transfer case. It started after I first used the 4WD last year. Hasn't worsened, but will address under warranty sometime before expiration.

Truck is not a Lexus, has some vibrations showing up in cab esp. at low speeds. Normal truck stuff FWICT. A used 2000 I drove felt the same.

When really cold outside, temp control on dashboard frozen stuck until ~7 miles of warmup. Strange.

A/c is fine.

Good luck!

Yes. I did have a transmission problem. Just as the truck went out of warranty,

60,000 miles. Puff no trany. I worked out what I considered a reasonable deal with my local dealer. I payed labor and they supplied the transmission. No other problems. I am at 90,000 miles on a 2000 tundra.

Dnns

I am. No problems here @ 34,000 miles. I have the new long-tube S&S headers on order, should get them next week, and I'm really looking forward to more mid-range power. The engine is great as is, but likes to rev--really puts out in the upper half of the rev range. The 2000 & 2001 had some brake problems, but they're 99.9% fixed by now. The 2000-2002 seems to have an overdrive gearset that isn't as strong as it should be (never tow in overdrive), but the '03 & '04 have a slightly different transmission and I haven't heard of problems. I get 18.4-18.7 mpg in mixed city and highway driving (65 max) with my V8 4wd.

I really like the way my truck handles with a Hellwig rear antisway bar added. I think Bob H needs his alignment checked...the factory spec for alignment is way too wide, especially for the caster. If he has a good alignment shop equiped with a Hunter rack and CAMM console align it to exactly the mid point of the spec for camber and toe-in and for the max spec for caster, his truck will track much better.

Ken

I test drove several '03 and '04 models. I did notice a rather violent upshift in one as though it went into a coast and then slammed into gear while riding on the freeway. Some mentioned they do have some auto-tranny bugs. I did detect rattles from the driver's door in one. Each was different so I would suggest you drive different ones to determine what suits you best. The tranny mis-shift kept me from buying that night and the salesman wouldn't comment on it. I wanted more info.

I didn't care for the power, or lack of, in the V6. Salesman was embarrassed as he insisted it was a V8. He said I "never really did mash the gas." Yeah, I did. It didn't go whoosh! When he saw the lack of the V8 insignia we went for more drives in the others with V8's to make up for his mistake. Definitely go the V8 route if you do.

I couldn't get the salesman to say if there were any differences between the '03 and '04 models. I noted he tried to keep the radio turned up, and I kept turning it down, while we test drove the vehicles which I took as a way to keep me from listening to any odd noises. It was as though he was hiding something from me.

I am still undecided on the Tundra. I didn't like the limited legroom in the access cab model. Still, the more I hesitate, the better the deal they offer when they call --- and they do call about every 3-4 days with a better offer. Latest was 0% and 1.9% APR.

Check this site:

for customerstories on their Tundras, especially the brake issues. Good luck, and test drive!

Bent~

Lots of Tundras have minor piston slap when cold...it goes away in a couple of minutes when the engine is warm and everything has returned to the correct dimensions and clearances. The Tundra piston slap is *nothing* like the GM piston slap where some engines are so noisy that the resale value of those have nosedived.

Ken