How dependable is the Toyota Tundra?
When you’re looking into buying a new truck, you want to make sure the vehicle in question is dependable. Not just in the sense of its capabilities or performance ratings or any of those things we often look at specifically, but actually dependable, in the longevity sense of things. You want to make sure you can beat your truck up and it’ll still be standing, because often when looking at a truck it’s not just going to be a trophy for the driveway. So how dependable is the Toyota Tundra? Well we’ve got an answer to that question thanks to Victor Sheppard, a Tundra owner from San Antonio.
[ READ MORE: 2016 Toyota Tundra Specs & Features ]
“My truck looks great, and, except for a few little dents, it’s almost like new. Even the seats look just as they were when I bought it. They’re not as clean, of course, but they’re not busted or worn out.”
– Victor Sheppard, Loyal Toyota Customer
Why does it matter that this gentlemen’s truck – a 2007 Toyota Tundra – is in good condition? Because he’s put well over one million miles on its odometer, and it still has the original engine, transmission and paint job. That’s 1,000,000 miles in nine years, virtually unheard of in any type of vehicle. But Sheppard, who regularly makes work-related treks from his Texas home to places in North Dakota, Wyoming and Virginia, made sure to take care of his beloved truck, so that it could last past that million-mile mark.
The Million-Mile Tundra
When Mike Sweers, the chief truck engineer at Toyota Technical Center, caught wind of Sheppard’s million-mile truck, he quickly wanted to find out how much it was worth to Sheppard. A truck like Victor’s could provide tons of insight into what went right, and what allowed the truck to last as long as it did. That’s not to say that it was an outlier, as long as you keep up with maintenance any Toyota truck could be just as dependable as Victor Sheppard’s.
In the end, it ended up being worth a brand-new truck, as Sheppard agreed to trade his million-mile Tundra to Sweers for an all-new 2016 Toyota Tundra. But if a million miles doesn’t scream dependability, then we don’t know what will.