Calling all Sequioa owners!!!!!

[Willman]

Hello all........:jumping:
In the near future...my family is going to need a bigger rig than our Honda Accord....In doing a little SUV search......The Sequioa really looked like a great family rig! Plus....I guess my wife and mother-in-law have had their eyes on a Sequioa come to find out.....This rig is going to be my wifes rig.....I'm not really going to do to many mods to it besides tires and DVD system for the kids......This rig is mainly around the town rig for the wife......Thats why i have my DC for expedition travel.....you never know about mods....a lift and a roof top tent could be in the future for the Sequioa???? :ylsmoke:

I would love to get all the Pros/Cons of your Sequioa experience!! What you like and what you don't like.....

Is the rig good in the snow???.....This is a must for us...Living in Utah.....the in-laws live up in the mountains.....This rig is going to have to bet my Honda with studded all the way around or its going down the road if you know what i mean...

Gas mileage?????

Seating????.......................and etc...............

How does it drive in your opinion????......The wife and i are going on a test drive soon!!!

Oh ya......I like the ExPo white too!!!

I did a search and found this great thread!!! I'm sure their are many articles out their....Feed my mind!!!!:chowtime: For an example...The Jan/Feb. issue of Toyota owner had Bill B's new Sequoia article!!!! Very nice by the way!!!:drool:

http://expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2890&highlight=Sequoia

Soooo....Lets hear your opinion on this rig!!!!!

:bigbossHL:

Thanks!!!!

 

[calamaridog]

I think they are nice, but the used market is soft on the Land Cruisers so if you are looking for an used one, the Land Cruiser may end up being a better value.

The pro's are coil over shock suspension in front and the fantastic 2UZ-FE 4.7L V8. They are also larger than the Land Cruiser.

 

[SOAZ]

A girl I know has one and gas mileage is bad. 12-15mpg.
Basically a tundra. I like them, but if you can do a land cruiser I think it would be even better... Kindof a toss up???!?!?!

 

[Pskhaat]

going to have to bet my Honda with stud all the way around

I had a 1989 SEi fully studded; it was cat-claw in the worst road conditions and I felt most safe in that on bad snowy days. It may be tough to beat the little low studded Honda.

 

[DaktariEd]

My '02 Sequoia drives like a dream. Your wife should love it.

The gas mileage started out at 17 mpg, but recently has dropped to around 16.

I had a torque converter failure so got a new transmission on warranty a few months ago. Also a very odd situation where the rpm limiter (?) kicks in randomly when I shift from Park to Drive...happened a dozen times so far. And so far the dealership has been unable to diagnose the problem. I think this may relate to the lost mpg's...not sure.

Overall I love the Sequoia. My next vehicle may be either another Sequoia or a Land Cruiser...

:sombrero:

 

[Willman]

Thanks everyone for the replys!!!!:clapsmile

Never thought about the Land Cruisers.....might have to check those out as well....

Keep the posts coming!!!!!

:26_7_2:

 

[RoundOut]

Nicest vehicle I have ever owned!

My wife drives our '03 Sequoia 4x4. SOAZ is right, it is a supersized 4Runner on a Tundra frame. There are a lot of interchangable driveline parts between the pre-07 Tundras and the Sequoias. Suspension is pretty much the same up front, so if you got 4x4, you'd be limited to a 2.5" lift spacer or coilover.

We bought the SR5 with factory leather and put our own DVD system in it. This vehicle is by far, the nicest driving chariot I have ever owned. It is so comfortable, you hardly feel the road.

The 4x4 is engaged like mine (ADD with full-time spinning hubs, CVs and front axles - before I put locking hubs on mine), but the Vehicle Skid Control feature is something my Tundra does not have. I don't even fully understand its benefits, because I don't drive hers very much and never took the time to read what it does. We have had her Sequoia over everything that Big Bend could throw at us, and it was unstoppable bone stock.

In fact, I was telling FlyingWil a couple weeks ago that I wondered why nobody on this forum has put one into expedition service. It is much more roomy, can accommodate 7 or 8 passengers plus lots of gear, depending on your middle row seat configuration (ours has two captains chairs, so we can carry 7 plus gear). I would love to lift it, put some bigger meats, unlock the front hubs, get some nice bumpers, put a healthy fridge in it, and a roof-top tent. What fun could be had?!

Anyhow, we were considering it versus a Land Cruiser, and the LC's were much more expensive and quite a bit smaller. The LC's size has its own advantages off-road, but if your family is growing and your wife will be driving it around town mostly, for comfort, the Sequoia is king. I cannot compare fuel economy between the Sequoia and LC, but our 4x4 stickered at 12/16 I think. I remember my Tundra stickering at 13/17 and hers was slightly worse, IIRC. With my engine mods (K&N intake, headers, Y-Pipe, & Bassani exhaust) I was getting significantly more performance as measured in gas mileage. Highway, I'd get 19-21 mpg even with heavy aftermarket bumpers & a loaded bed. I have tracked fuel economy on every tank in my Tundra, so this is not a guess, it is fact.

If you want to squeeze more from a Sequoia, the intake, headers, and y-pipe are all nice mods and are fully interchangeable with Tundra parts in the 03 model year. I have heard of Sequoia owners that put aftermarket exhaust on and because of the noise, went back to stock, so I'd be careful about that choice. Apparently it is an echo chamber under there.

Good luck on your decision, but I'd highly recommend the Sequoia.

One last thing, if it is only for around town, you'll get much better fuel economy on a 4x2. I think they were better by a couple/three mpg on both city and highway.

 

[Willman]

Thanks for the infor. Roundout! Love to see some pictures of the rig and all the mods!:chowtime:

So.......what color do you have???

Its all about color for the wife!...She wants ExPo white!!!!:wings:

 

[RoundOut]

Love to see some pictures of the rig and all the mods!:chowtime:

Sorry if I mislead you, her's is bone stock except for the DVD system. She's due for some new shoes, so we'll get some BFG ATs in 265/70/16 in the next week or so and hope they don't rub.:Wow1: They shouldn't, as they're only about a 1/4 to 1/2 inch bigger round than her OEM Bridgestone Dueler HTs.

My Tundra has all the mods. I guess I could start a mod thread for the Tundra some day, except that most of the work is done and the budget will not accommmodate additional expenditures at this time.

So.......what color do you have???

We have the Desert Sand/Mica color offered in '03 on both the Tundra and the Sequoia. It hides dirt well... :elkgrin:

One other thing to be aware of... for whatever reason, the Tundra and Sequoia are pretty hard on tires on the front end. Even with perfect alignment, they tend to wear evenly around the outside of the front tires more than the inside. This is not a huge deal, if you rotate your tires regularly, and after about half of the tread is gone, flip the tires on the rims inside-out. You'll get full mileage on them, if you do, and maybe 80% of treadlife if you don't.

 

[Willman]

One other thing to be aware of... for whatever reason, the Tundra and Sequoia are pretty hard on tires on the front end. Even with perfect alignment, they tend to wear evenly around the outside of the front tires more than the inside. This is not a huge deal, if you rotate your tires regularly, and after about half of the tread is gone, flip the tires on the rims inside-out. You'll get full mileage on them, if you do, and maybe 80% of treadlife if you don't.

Thanks Roundout for the infor!!! Very helpful!!!



still need to find time to take a test drive!!!!....coming soon!

:rally_guys:

 

[Cabnfever]

Great for our family of 7

We purchased our Sequoia in 1992 for my wife to drive, and with 5 kids she drives it alot. After 80k miles we still love it! It's great for long trips because all our luggage will fit behind the rear seats. When the 2 older kids don't go with us we fold-up (or take out) the rear seats and have even more room.

For camping, just fold the middle seat up and a blow-up queen size air mattress fits perfectly.

I wanted this rig for size and safety and it does both very well.

The wife won't let me use the 4wd much and we live in Vegas so I can't really comment about use in snow.

Reliablilty has been very good so far. The dealer replaced the entire front brake system under a 2004 service bulletin, but other than that, no problems.

For us, it's been a GREAT large family vehicle.

 

[Willman]

We purchased our Sequoia in 1992 for my wife to drive, and with 5 kids she drives it alot. After 80k miles we still love it! It's great for long trips because all our luggage will fit behind the rear seats. When the 2 older kids don't go with us we fold-up (or take out) the rear seats and have even more room.

For camping, just fold the middle seat up and a blow-up queen size air mattress fits perfectly.

I wanted this rig for size and safety and it does both very well.

The wife won't let me use the 4wd much and we live in Vegas so I can't really comment about use in snow.

Reliablilty has been very good so far. The dealer replaced the entire front brake system under a 2004 service bulletin, but other than that, no problems.

For us, it's been a GREAT large family vehicle.

Thanks for the report Cabnfever! And welcome to the ExPo!!!!

That is great that a blow-up queen size air mattress fits!!!

Thanks for the input!!! This rig sounds like a good one to me!!

:jumping: