[oilmpg]

I came VERY close to buying a King Ranch F-150 last summer. The dealer was dumb to let us walk out of there. He did call me the next day to tey to get me interested in a lesser model but no deal. I have friends that have Tundras and they really like them so I did some research. After dealing with rust problems on my F-250 diesel, I am familiar with the undercarriage, brake lines, drive shaft and rear diff cover which all rusted after 8 winters and 70,000 miles. I needed to get rid of this truck before major $$$ would be needed to keep it on the road. I looked under the F-150 and then the Tundra. I'm not saying the Tundra is going to be rust-free after 8 winters but it appears as if Toyota paid more attention. Aluminum drive shaft, coated brake lines, coated frame and lower body coating all convinced me that this truck should hold up longer than Ford. Winters are brutal with salt, calcium chloride and magnesium chloride all being used before each snow storm.

So I bought a black 08 DC LTD with red rock seats. I still like the King Ranch leather better but the Tundra interior is really nice. I have had some issues (front diff, radio, dash sinking) but Toyota has been 100% in making things right. 17,000 miles and I love this truck. Winter is here and the snow is piling up. The Tundra has passed all of my tests with flying colors...so far. Gotta lot of towing coming up so we'll see how she compares to the F-250 diesel. It is cheaper per mile to run and there's plenty of power on tap so I can't ask for much more.