Greg and Pattis Tundra

[greg mgm]

My wife and I pulled the trigger on a 2010 Toyota Tundra 4x4 today.
It's a base model extended cab, standard bed, a 4.6 V8, auto, cold weather package,and a tow package. The tow package ups the tow rating to 8300 lbs, and includes a hitch, wiring plug, 4:10 gears, 130 amp alt, trans temp gauge, etc. I didn't realize until I got home that it also has the cold weather package, including a HD battery HD starter and wiper de-icer (great for us at 6400')

One thing that is very cool for me is the bluetooth hands free phone option. Never had that before and found it very cool and useful. Also cool for us is that the base Tundra comes with a heck of a lot of features- ps, pw, pdl, tilt wheel, tow/ haul mode, limited slip rear diff, dual zone AC, 2 power points, tons of storage, flip down front console, blah, blah, blah. Doesn't seem like a base model to me!

The first thing I did after leaving the dealer was to stop by the local ARE dealer, Snap on Campers in Hemet CA. The owner of Snap On was super easy to deal with, and helped me figure out which shell to order, which was the CX model. I ordered it with the lining, dome light, ARE clamp and seal kit, Yakima Rack tracks, and the Bed Rug kit. The rug kit is super cool. It has a foam bottom section with contours to fit the truck bed floor, bonded to a poly carpet top. I'll get the shell and Rug Kit in a few weeks. I also ordered a truck cover while I was there.

We found the whole process of negotiation on the truck pretty easy and painless. I did my homework on costs and was happy with the deal. We bought it from Gosch Toyota in Hemet CA, and thought highly of everyone we dealt with. We did walk out once during negotiations, but the sales manager came running out and did better on the price. Then we did the deal.

Someone's bound to ask...so OTD was $29,900.
The shell with options, labor and tax was $1825.

My first new vehicle purchase and I'm :wings::wings::wings::wings::wings:

My wife and I at the dealership...after writing the check-

In front of the house-

New truck- Old truck-

Oh so clean-

 

[CYi5]

I didn't know they came sub 30k, great deal! What are you planning on towing with it?

 

[mountainpete]

Congratulations on a beatiful truck! Looking forward to the build up!

Idea: windoors are a superb option on an ARE canopy. Really increases the usability of the truck at camp. If it's not to late, I would suggest considering adding them.

Pete

 

[greg mgm]

The walk out was to get it below 30k and it worked. But then again, we had an advantage by already having the $. If this truck had any more options it definitely would have been over $30k.

I'll be towing either a baja bug or manx type buggy on a 14' Carson car hauler, plus camping gear. With the 8300 lb tow rating, that shouldn't be tough at all for this truck.

The windoors sounded pretty good, but to be honest the rear door will be fine for us. Also, we still have several other things we want for the truck, like an alarm, fog lights, seat covers....you know, the never ending list!

Thanks for the comments!
I'll definitely update with pics as upgrades go along.

 

[shawkins]

Idea: windoors are a superb option on an ARE canopy. Really increases the usability of the truck at camp. If it's not to late, I would suggest considering adding them.

X2! My dad loves his! The ability to get to stuff at the front of the bed when its packed full on a trip is awesome.

 

[lowenbrau]

That 1UR engine should be pretty sweet in that truck. I had no idea they were going to replace the 2UZ until a couple weeks ago. I wonder if they are assembling it in the US like its big brother?

 

[keezer36]

Ah the dealership photo. I got mine snapped outside Poway Toyota. What memories.
Nice truck I'm sure you'll get many years out of it. My '05 still feels like a new truck to me. Here's one more plug for the windoor. I got one on the passenger side and a slider on the other, perfect setup for ease of access and airflow while driving.


Nice digs too by the way.

 

[greg mgm]

Thanks!

As for the engine, I have to read more about it. It's more high tech than anything I've owned! Coming home and up the mountain, it zipped up the grade with no sweat. I had to make an effort to keep my foot off the pedal to keep the speeds reasonable.

My old GMC has more power with it's a built 454. But it's a completely different experience in the Tundra. Smooth, very quiet, comfy... Yup, that works!

 

[bjowett]

Awesome! You'll get many years from it....

Hate to tell you, but you don't have a LSD. Toyota thinks it's OK to call the traction control a LSD.... it's only an open differential.

The 9.5" LSD from a 100 series Land Cruiser might fit, this needs to be verified.

 

[abeaudin1971]

Dang. Pricing in the US is very attractive. My Tacoma SR5 Access Cab 4x4 was about the same when you take the currency exchange into account.

Nice wheels!

 

[greg mgm]

Awesome! You'll get many years from it....

Hate to tell you, but you don't have a LSD. Toyota thinks it's OK to call the traction control a LSD.... it's only an open differential.

The 9.5" LSD from a 100 series Land Cruiser might fit, this needs to be verified.

Yup, auto limited slip. Not a real limited slip. DOH!
We plan to try it this winter the way it is, and go from there. Obviously the tires will be upgraded first, then I'll consider a true limited slip....or ARB.

Ya, the wheels aren't bad at all. Thanks for the comment.
Before we bought it, I thought I HAD to have alloys, but these wheels are nice enough.

I haven't found high quality seat covers yet. Any recommendations on where to buy?

 

[ryguy]

Congrats, they're really nice trucks.

 

[suntinez]

I haven't found high quality seat covers yet. Any recommendations on where to buy?

Congrats on the new ride, it's a beauty! :sombrero: Be interested to hear your impressions of the 4.6L engine.

There's a discussion of seat cover options here. I like that forum for the 2nd gen Tundras, some real characters, and helpful and talented mod-crazy maniacs too boot.

 

[targa88]

Greg,
You might want to check out this Tundra forum (no affiliation). Could help with Tundra specific stuff (ref.seat covers)

 

[greg mgm]

Congrats on the new ride, it's a beauty! :sombrero: Be interested to hear your impressions of the 4.6L engine.

OK, I can do that...(sorry I may ramble a bit!)
Today we got a chance to drive the Tundra for a few hours. On starting the engine, it revs up to about 1200- 1300 rpm for a couple seconds then settles down to a normal idle. The gas pedal is slightly touchy, but I'm getting used to it. The main thing that impresses me with the engine is how zippy it is. Give it half throttle and the truck hauls arss. I have yet to put the pedal to the floor considering it only having 99 miles on it, but I look forward to it. Driving around town is a pleasure. The trans seems totally dialed in and feels in the right gear all the time. It downshifts nice and smooth, and doesn't do anything weird. Coming back home for us is an increase in elevation of 5000'. I use the "tow/ haul" mode for a bit more rpms which works well. Climbing the grade is nothing for this truck....easy.

EDIT- I've been trying out "sequential shifting" and it works bitchen. There's a selector on the steering column with a + and - for going up and down the gears. Perfect for our area with all the hills.

I should mention that I'm used to driving a 78 GMC 4x4 454 manual trans, and a 91 4Runner 3.0 V6 4x4. So the difference is night and day. The GMC was very powerful, and rode like a real truck. I felt that the 4Runner didn't have enough power and needed more ooomph....but it rode nice. The Tundra has it all- power, a nice shifting trans, a car like ride, very comfy seating, and a very quiet ride.

I crawled around under the Tundra the other day....What a beautiful underside. I'm used to seeing oil leaks and grease on the trans and frame (on my old vehicles) ...I'll have to wait a while for that on the Tundra!

Greg,
You might want to check out this Tundra forum (no affiliation). Could help with Tundra specific stuff (ref.seat covers)

Cool. Thanks for the link.