F150 vs Tundra....I’ll make a decision tomorrow

FJR Colorado

Explorer
If you're cost-conscious, consider a good used Tundra. Great deals can be had if you look long enough. Look for something in a 2008 and up with around 100K miles. It will have all the Toyota reliability, cost less than half of new and, will not be all that different from a 2019...
 

RBear

Member
I’ve had both an F-150 and I now have a Tundra
MPGs were great in the F-150 but it reached close too 200 k and it was not worth keeping
Our 2001 4 runner is approaching 300k and is in awesome running shape
Reliable enough to drive into Baja
I have reason to believe my Tundra May do the same
 

Mtoddsolomon

New member
I have a 2016 F150 SuperCrew 2.7L ecoboost. I haven't had the first issue in 60,000 miles. My family has a good friend that owns an automall and I was able to get the F150 for less money, and honestly I felt like I was getting more for my money. The tundra seemed outdated and got worse gas mileage. At this point i don't see one outlasting the other. I'm happy with my purchase.
 

Kmrtnsn

Explorer
Get the Ford. The Tundra is overpriced, outdated junk. We had the TRD on the list of trucks to look at when my wife was looking for a pickup. It fell quickly from the list, immediately after the Tacoma. Final three were the Ram Power Wagon, the Ram Rebel, and the Raptor, she went with the Rebel.
 

calicamper

Expedition Leader
Well, it's embarrassing to say but after driving all of them, even a F250, I was unable to make a decision. I was impressed with the F150 in the 3.5 motor however I'm not sure about those TwinTurbo's. We walked away without buying Anything I thought my wife was going to scream as I think I drove her crazy in the process of test driving so many. Maybe I'm just cheap or maybe I can't justify spending that kind of money on a truck. More to follow......
I just bought the F150 station wagon err Expedition. Got it Friday last week. I sold my Sequoia to my dad. Here are the reasons I didn’t buy another Toyota after 22yrs of Toyota trucks.

#1 New Toyota purchases in my Region are MSRP or more the Toyota store fronts are all owned by a out of area Auto group that manipulates the market prices.

#2 Technology in the Toyota is a decade behind
#3 Lousy mileage

I shopped Domestic GMC and Ford because both can be fixed in remote regions in the US ie massive dealer network.

All our GM and Ford dealers are locally owned shops. They have competitive pricing and competitive service prices.

The Expedition with its Technology and modern seating layout was a no brainer choice for us.
 
The Tundra is overpriced, outdated junk.

Outdated? For sure. Overpriced? It's the cheapest full-size truck and holds its value the best. Junk? You're funny. Dashboard Light's overall quality rating index has the Tundra at an exceptional 96/100. The F-series overall rating is 40/100.

If you look at 2015-2019 only, the F-series does much better at 87.6/100. There should be a caveat with that as Dashboard Light looks at long term quality and reliability...just how much long term data do we have for trucks that are ≤ 4 years old?

If you don't mind 15mpg combined and don't need all of the new features, the Tundra makes the most sense, especially if you're going to be going out in the middle of nowhere and want to be able to come back every time. I know there are people on here who take their F-150s out and come back no problem, but the aggregate data does not lie. The Tundra is simply more reliable. Period. And yes, that comes from it being an older design with less bells and whistles. But it is ridiculous to call it "junk".

Do any of you who rag on the Tundra for having no rear locker have any experience driving Toyota's ATRAC system? It's incredible what that can get you out of. Stock Tundras have successfully tackled Hell's Revenge in Moab. My 4Runner's ATRAC has gotten me through lots of hairy off-road situations...mud, sand, steep inclines, etc. with ease. Turn it on in 4Lo, and away you go. If you still want a locker, maybe you can spend a little of the $10k you saved on a Tundra on an ARB setup.

I say all this, and I like the F150. My father in law has a 2016 EB, and so far it's a great workhorse of a truck. But, for exploring remote trails and places well outside of cell service, I would choose instead to rely on the severely outdated, thirsty, feature-poor Tundra.

 
D

Deleted member 9101

Guest
Outdated? For sure. Overpriced? It's the cheapest full-size truck and holds its value the best. Junk? You're funny. Dashboard Light's overall quality rating index has the Tundra at an exceptional 96/100. The F-series overall rating is 40/100.

If you look at 2015-2019 only, the F-series does much better at 87.6/100. There should be a caveat with that as Dashboard Light looks at long term quality and reliability...just how much long term data do we have for trucks that are ≤ 4 years old?

If you don't mind 15mpg combined and don't need all of the new features, the Tundra makes the most sense, especially if you're going to be going out in the middle of nowhere and want to be able to come back every time. I know there are people on here who take their F-150s out and come back no problem, but the aggregate data does not lie. The Tundra is simply more reliable. Period. And yes, that comes from it being an older design with less bells and whistles. But it is ridiculous to call it "junk".

Do any of you who rag on the Tundra for having no rear locker have any experience driving Toyota's ATRAC system? It's incredible what that can get you out of. Stock Tundras have successfully tackled Hell's Revenge in Moab. My 4Runner's ATRAC has gotten me through lots of hairy off-road situations...mud, sand, steep inclines, etc. with ease. Turn it on in 4Lo, and away you go. If you still want a locker, maybe you can spend a little of the $10k you saved on a Tundra on an ARB setup.

I say all this, and I like the F150. My father in law has a 2016 EB, and so far it's a great workhorse of a truck. But, for exploring remote trails and places well outside of cell service, I would choose instead to rely on the severely outdated, thirsty, feature-poor Tundra.


I'm willing to bet if you take out the fleet vehicles and work trucks, the F150 is tied with the Tundra for reliability. They build a new F150 every 53 seconds... Clearly they are doing something right, or you would see them constantly on the side of the road.

You also forgot to mention that Tundra is rated to tow less, rated to haul less, it's slower when empty, it's deathly slower while towing, has a longer 60-0 stopping distance, has a far worse ride, cost more to repair, handles like an old Buick, and to top it off it has the safety rating of a mid 1990s GMC...lol.

Speaking of price, a Tundra, optioned as close as possible to my F150 was about 4500.00 more (out the door). Add to that the increased cost of insurance and dramatic difference in fuel economy (24-25 at 70 mph vs 17-18) and I'm sure you can see why some of us will gladly take the small hit in resale value many years down the road.

I owned a Tundra before buying my F150... Toyota gave me zero reason to buy another one. I am not going to pay a premium price for an outdated and inferior product.
 
I'm willing to bet if you take out the fleet vehicles and work trucks, the F150 is tied with the Tundra for reliability.

Is there a way to test this bet? Seems not. So it's pure speculation on your part. Sure, your personal experience might encourage you to say such a thing, but you have to realize that your personal experience is anecdotal. The aggregate data makes no distinction, and unless someone comes out with a study separating every maker's work and fleet trucks from consumer bought vehicles, you have no actual basis for making that claim.

You also forgot to mention that Tundra is rated to tow less, rated to haul less, it's slower when empty, it's deathly slower while towing, has a longer 60-0 stopping distance, has a far worse ride, cost more to repair, handles like an old Buick, and to top it off it has the safety rating of a mid 1990s GMC...lol.

Sorry, if I want the towing/hauling numbers that Ford says its half ton is capable of, I'm going to be looking at 3/4 ton pickups. And again, I agree with you that the Tundra is outdated. No one would dispute that.

Do we tow 12.5k lbs when we're out in Moab? Do we need 3k lbs of payload when we're remote camping with our families? The number that trumps all others when it comes to exploring off the beaten path is long term reliability. That's it. And with that number, the Tundra is superior to the F-series pickups. Pointing out other numbers where the F150 excels doesn't change that fact.

Speaking of price, a Tundra, optioned as close as possible to my F150 was about 4500.00 more (out the door). Add to that the increased cost of insurance and dramatic difference in fuel economy (24-25 at 70 mph vs 17-18) and I'm sure you can see why some of us will gladly take the small hit in resale value many years down the road.

In my area, the highest trim level Tundras (the 1794) are selling for $54k with some relatively small incentives (the Platinum Tundras are less), and Platinum F150s are asking north of $70k. ?‍♂️ I'm also not belittling anyone for making the decision to buy a Ford. I was responding to the ridiculous claim that the Tundra is "junk".

I owned a Tundra before buying my F150... Toyota gave me zero reason to buy another one. I am not going to pay a premium price for an outdated and inferior product.

Outdated? 100% agreed. Inferior? Not in long term reliability; the Tundra is superior there. Again, I like the F150. If I were looking for a truck to do regular truck stuff or if my job required a truck, I could see myself buying one. But for remote camping and off-roading, I would trust the Tundra more based on the numbers.
 

Buliwyf

Viking with a Hammer
Master auto diesel tech. ****** is dashboard light? Stop with the rigged surveys, and go talk to your mechanic. One of our favorite laugh sessions every month is JD Powa, Consumption reports, Motor untrend, etc. etc. etc.

Don't have a personal relationship with a good mechanic? Better start one, or start wrenching for yourself then.

(although I never recommend anything American and used, new only)
 
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****** is dashboard light? Stop with the rigged surveys, and go talk to your mechanic. One of our favorite laugh sessions every month is JD Powa, Consumption reports, Motor untrend, etc. etc. etc.


“Dashboard Light is our attempt to offer free information about the long-term reliability of vehicles, forever.
When you search for the long-term reliability of any used car at Dashboard Light, you’re looking at the collective results of over a million vehicles that have been independently inspected by ASE certified mechanics and professional car buyers.
Our study, now called the Long-Term Quality Index, is over four years old and has been designed to focus specifically on those older vehicles that fall off the radar as vehicles age.
Unlike J.D. Power, which focuses their studies on the earliest portions of a vehicles life, and Consumer Reports, which regulates its study to surveys filled out by owners of late model vehicles, LTQI has been designed to assess the long-term reliability of used cars from the point they are three years old to the end of its life cycle.” Hope this helps. More here.
 
D

Deleted member 9101

Guest
In my area, the highest trim level Tundras (the 1794) are selling for $54k with some relatively small incentives (the Platinum Tundras are less), and Platinum F150s are asking north of $70k.


Annnnnd that proves what???? The upper trim level F150s come with features that Toyota doesn't offer on the Tundra.

Toyota could not come close to the price of my F150 when I was truck shopping. Not only were the higher by thousands of dollars, the only truck they had that was close was stripped down.
 

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