Couldn't agree more. I went tonight for the first time and looked at the new 07' Dbl Cab and found it to be lacking compared to my 05' Dbl Cab. The salesman even said he would not part with his 06' for one of these new ones. The crewmax will be bigger inside but the box will be sacrificed. Toyota should've kept the original line going for those of us who like them the way they are (were). All the supersized parts and engine are neat and all but for the purpose of more pulling power they could have offered the old body style with a 5.7 i think. The salesman also told me that the new ones are not for offroad but rather for towing heavy loads and that mine would remain more capable on the trails. I don't know, i am just disappointed in the new model. My $.02

 

imo that's why they made the Tacoma larger. It is technically a midsize and just slightly smaller than the old Tundra. If they put the 4.7 in it I feel they have a truck to appeal to most buyers.

 

The tacos I rode in rode like crap because of the wheel base, also the damn seat sat right on the ground. It felt like my legs were straight out in front of me. Honestly, my corvette was more comfortable than that thing was. But, on the brighter side they do look really cool on the outside!! I never thought of the first comment, the new bigger engine in the old Tundra!! That would have been sweet. I am sure in time, someone will do it.

 

I have been thinking the same thing. Toyota should not have supersized the Tacoma so much, which would have left a bigger difference between it and the old Tundra. The 07 is a bigger truck for a different need than the old Tundra. That would have given Toyota three distinct classes of trucks. My 05 serves my needs better than the bigger truck, but I needed something bigger than the Tacoma.

Time will tell. The old double cab Tundra was a great combination of rear seat room (for family or hunting party hauling in comfort), awesome ground clearance (hunting and fishing), and six foot bed length (sleeping, hauling), that really no other brand offers.

 

A little early to throw in the towel. Yer betting yer feelings against the millions in marketing research Toyota spent bringing the new Tundra to fruition. If they steal just a small percentage of the folks currently driving Ford and Chevy trucks, this thing will be a huge success. Heard on tv the other day that Toyota is poised to become the largest employer in the US in the next few years.

 

I really like the new Tundra. IF the come out with the 5.7 in a 3/4 ton with a full-floating rear axle/heavier brakes & frame, I'll trade my '03 in on one in a heartbeat.

 

What's funny is we have 2 people telling us that Toyota lost a big market, one has a 2006 and one has a 2005.


Hmmmm?

 

The MONEY is with the full size truck market not in the midsize market. Which vehicle has been the most popular and has sold more than any other vehicle for over 10 years? Its the F150. Look at the top 10 list....how many full size trucks do you see......and that is why Toyota did what they did.

If you don't like it....you don't have to buy it...this is a free country.

 

Well, I am being COMPLETELY honest right now - I wouldn't trade my brand new 06 DC 4wd for the new tundra even if I was paid. I think the 4.7 v8 is perfect for my needs. I am very happy I got my tundra when I did, and I hope toyota makes another truck like it in the future when it's time for mine to be replaced. I hope to get 10-12 years out of my new tundra.

Toyota should make three lines of trucks: Tacoma, Tundra, & Tundra Classic (04-06). I think the Tundra "classic" is PERFECT in every way. I love it!

 

I think they really dropped the ball on this, and later on they will kick them selves for letting the 3/4 truck go down the tubes. Even if it does not sell as much as the full size, which I am sure it would not, they still would be the only company to offer one. If you dont need a big truck, but a small truck is to small, EVERYONE would have come to them for it.

I disagree. I for one am really glad that toyota has finally decided to make a full sized truck. My wife drives a 2005 camry and I'm impressed with toyota's quality, however, the lack of a full sized truck has kept me from driving a toyota. My 1998 dodge/cummins is getting a little long in the tooth (328,000 miles) and I'll be needing a new truck in the next year or so. Quite frankly, other than the size, nothing the big 3 makes today appeals to me. I'd like another diesel, but the price of diesel plus the reduced fuel economy due to the new emissions requirements is going to make me shift back to gas for my next truck, I'll just keep my old truck as a farm truck to pull my tractor and stuff with.

I'm sure the old tundra was a quality truck, but it just wasn't big enough to be seriously considered by the folks that live in farming/rural country like I do. The formula for what american truck buyers want in their trucks has been pretty well set for the last 40 years, all the big three have evolved to be roughly the same size with roughly the same capabilities. It wasn't be accident that the american pickup evolved that way, it's because full sized trucks are what truck buyers want and that's what sells. Trying to convince a guy that's been driving a full sized truck that the old tundra was an acceptable substitute wasn't going to work. It cost just as much, got the same fuel mileage, but didn't give the same room nor capability as an american 1/2 ton. When I first rode in a friend's new 2005 double cab tundra I was immediately turned off by it's lack of room. I'm a big guy and made the decision right there that I wouldn't buy one of those, there just wasn't enough room for me to be comfortable compared to my dodge. I'd be hard pressed to shoehorn all my hunting gear in there and make it fit. I'm suprised it took Toyota so long to break the code on this. Their two previous attempts to enter the big truck market were failures in my opinion. It's almost as if they decided that the T-100 and old Tundra were what americans needed, instead of trying to give us what we wanted. As I said before, the formula for a full sized american pickup is set, what toyota needed to do from the beginning was take that formula and build it with quality, something the big 3 can't or wont do. I believe they've achieved this with the new tundra. I can almost see in my mind the japanese bosses scratching their head wondering why the old tundra wasn't tearing up the marketplace while the american toyota managers are banging their heads against the wall trying to get it through the intractable bosses head that it's because it's not big enough for the american public. What works in Japan with men an average of 5'6", tiny roads and crowded cities isn't going to sell to a 6'2" american like me who from a rural area who almost lives out of their truck. I'm just amazed that it took them this long to figure it out. Toyota does a great job of engineering quality vehicles, but they just now seem to be coming around to the idea of giving buyers the type of vehicle they want as well as the quality.

There is a market for midsized trucks, but it isn't nearly as big as the full sized market. The new tacoma is pretty much a midsize, as is the dodge dakota and the new chevrolet/GMC midsizes, plus you have the honda ridgeline if you call that a truck. There's also the nissan titan, which to me still isn't comparable to an american 1/2 ton. Folks like to argue with me about it, but there are too many things about the titan that are undersized for me to consider it a full size. There are plenty of options out there for those that want midsize trucks. In the real truck market you previously only had the big 3 american makes with their associated mediocre quality. This new tundra just expanded our options by 25%. I'm going to give it about a year for them to get the bugs out and if the quality shows itself to be there then I'll buy a 2008 as long as they don't get too crazy with their pricing.

 

imo that's why they made the Tacoma larger.

I agree, and not only that, I think the Tacoma will bet "Tundra-sized" - maybe gradually, maybe suddenly, but sooner or later...

 

I just hear two people voicing an opinion Anyhow there will be people who love it and people who hate it. As far as Toyota being the largest employer, that won't make them better. My only wish is that their customer service was better. You can build a new truck, but you'd better fix what's wrong (if and when it comes into play). They've been busted as a corporation, both in their country and in ours for trying to cut a corner or two (passenger air bag and the latest ball joints were federally investigated). I definitely have found that my 06 isn't my friends' 4runners of the past. Toyota is living off it's legacy, which for now is still decent, but from what I see of the new 07 that interior got smacked with an ugly stick and they need to rectify it (BTW that's just my opinion have at it):td:

 

My 1998 dodge/cummins is getting a little long in the tooth (328,000 miles) and I'll be needing a new truck in the next year or so. Quite frankly, other than the size, nothing the big 3 makes today appeals to me. I'd like another diesel, but the price of diesel plus the reduced fuel economy due to the new emissions requirements is going to make me shift back to gas for my next truck, I'll just keep my old truck as a farm truck to pull my tractor and stuff with.

I'm sure the old tundra was a quality truck,....

I wouldn't recommend a jump down into a 1/2 ton anything after your dodge/cummins...at least not quickly and after having done a BUNCH of homework. I don't know what mpg you get on your cummins, but my duramax gets 16 bumping around town, and almost 22 on the highway with a load. By comparison, my '03 Tundra got a reliable 11.9 around town (same exact driving) and was hard pressed to get 17 on the highway (same load as the duramax).

You won't get better mileage with a 1/2 ton gasser. Or you might get the same as a 3/4 ton diesel. A 1/2 ton will ride better, but you sacrifice payload capability. A big part of the reason I moved out of the Tundra was that if I carried 12 sacks of 60# concrete or traveled interstate with 900#, the truck suffered in handling, rear end sag, and the tranny was always shifting all over the place. I had quite a few warranty issues too, but I still liked the truck and had a hard time parting with it.

I am not bashing Toyota here. I thought is was a decent truck, and the service department was great. But, you have to understand it's limitations.

I agree with some of the above posts that the 3/4 size (mid) truck has a market and some appeal. The (3/4 size) tundra was great to go skiing, do weekend furniture moving, and other light work. I suppose that may be true for any 1/2 ton.

 

I would agree with the sizing on the Tudra. Its big enough to be useful in my personal situation and I plan on keeping my 05 DC for a long time. On the other hand, I can understand Toyota wanting to compete with larger trucks directly and wanting to bump the Tundra up a size. That being said, I think that Toyota understood that the spec bump would take a lot, if not most of the market away from the 05-06 size Tundra and therfore it would not be cost effective to keep both sizes in production. So they didn't really lose a market, they adjusted to the market. I don't blame Toyota for their decision, I am just glad I purchased mine when I did.

 

The tacos I rode in rode like crap because of the wheel base, also the damn seat sat right on the ground. It felt like my legs were straight out in front of me. Honestly, my corvette was more comfortable than that thing was. But, on the brighter side they do look really cool on the outside!! I never thought of the first comment, the new bigger engine in the old Tundra!! That would have been sweet. I am sure in time, someone will do it.

A Taco DC LB has the same wheelbase as your Tundra DC. Hopefully they will migrte the 4.7 into the Taco now.

 

If you want to predict which vehicles that Toyota makes will NOT sell in tremendous volumes, you could just look at the ones I buy: Tercel, T100, Echo, Tundra (obviously the last one was the best seller of the bunch). I always like the ones that are based on what Toyota thinks Americans will buy, rather than what Americans WANT to buy. In the case of the new Tundra, while it is certainly true that people who actually use pickups for work on a daily basis will now be more likely to migrate to the Tundra than they have in the past, the more important reason to make the Tundra larger in every way is to sell it to the guys who just plain want the newest and the biggest, the guys I see every day commuting to office jobs in huge pickups. There's a ton of money to be made pandering to the whims of acquisitive Americans (and I'm not saying that's bad; that's what makes for a booming economy).

So I bought a 2005 Tundra 4 x 4 "work truck", because I'm pretty sure that it's the last plain Tundra I'll ever see. From the side, you can't even tell what it is, since there's no trim or emblems. It has no power windows or locks, and the floor is vinyl. All it has is that wonderful V-8 and the ability to haul a sheet of plywood with the tailgate closed.

Toyota may have lost me from the market on this new Tundra, but I don't think they care, because they probably picked up three others.

 

Ok, so if the theory is that Toyota lost a big market by going to a full sized truck (which is a bigger market than they were playing in before), what is the alternative? There were only two players in the size between 1/2 ton and compact pickups and that was the Dakota and old Tundra. So you think that everyone that would have liked the 2000-6 size Tundra is now going to grab a Dakota? Me thinks not.

I agree that the new Tundra is a larger than many people need, myself included for now......but I don't think they went into this blindly.

We have to think a little here, do you really think one of the largest most successful auto companies in the history of the Earth didn't do their homework? Doesn't understand their target market? You think we all know more about what they are trying to do than they do?

They wanted to grow in units. Well they dominate many segments already in the auto industry, the 1/2 ton market was prime for growth for them. But they needed a comprable or better product to do it. So here we are the 2007 Tundra.

 

The 2007 Tundra is charging into the so called full sized half ton market "a day late and dollar short" with big advertisement and will end up like the Titan: not quite good enough for the work world of the trade people and farmers. Toyota is bragging about towing power, and admittedly, it will out-tow basic GM, Ford, and Dodge half tons. Big deal. Remember: You can buy one of the Big Three's 3/4 ton trucks, loaded, for less than the 2007 Tundra and tow to your hearts content, drop a snowplow on the front and a salt spreader on the back, and equip with a 400 horsepower engine.

I like the Tundra of 2000 to 2006. I own an '03 TRD. It's exactly what I need and want. If I wanted a real heavy duty work truck, I'd get a 3/4 ton from the big three with endless engine and differtial options.

 

I have been thinking the same thing. Toyota should not have supersized the Tacoma so much, which would have left a bigger difference between it and the old Tundra. The 07 is a bigger truck for a different need than the old Tundra. That would have given Toyota three distinct classes of trucks. My 05 serves my needs better than the bigger truck, but I needed something bigger than the Tacoma.

Time will tell. The old double cab Tundra was a great combination of rear seat room (for family or hunting party hauling in comfort), awesome ground clearance (hunting and fishing), and six foot bed length (sleeping, hauling), that really no other brand offers.

I don't agree at all. I have a 06 tacoma, maybe I'm getting old I know know but even though it's bigger than the old ones which I had it my 06 seems way to small. I looked at a mid 90s tacoma the other day and couldn't imagine how I drove that thing it was so small inside.

It seems now I'm carrying more and more stuff all the time. digital cameras, cell phones, laptop, extra clothes, safety gear, shotgun, GPS, extra batteries battery charger,flashlights, rope and the list goes on. The backseat is full all the time.

The baby boomers are buying all the stuff now and we need more space!!

I don't really need a 07 tundra , but i want one and the extra gas it will take will be well worth it, and If I need to take 5 friends with me , I can, and in comfort.

 

Lets see. The new Tundra is bigger, faster, safer, and get this. It gets better fuel mileage. So where did Toyota go wrong?

It takes alot of man power and such to keep 2 lines going. The Tundra sales were going down just about every month compared to last years numbers. There is no way they are going to keep building it with the sales numbers falling. I love the old Tundra's, dont get me wrong. I would love to have a 2001 or 2002 Tundra SR5 with four wheel drive. Best looking Tundra Toyota ever built in my eyes. When they started going to the plastic front ends is when I thought the looks started going down. Just my opinion.

Toyota knows what it is doing. Look at there track record, it speaks for themselves.

 

ill just keep mine i really dont like the looks of the 07:td: gas is going back up anyways!!i do belive toyota lost a big market on the new tundra why??/gas on the rise/big gas guzzling v8/ cheap interior/ the dodge and chevy has it beat on looks BIG TIME!!!THE NEW TUNDRA LOOKS LIKE A OBEAST JAP GIRL FIGHTING FOR SCRAPS IN A PIG PIN i remeber someone saying it looked like a hair lip catfish lol am sorry guys but i just think my tundras body design looks better am sure they r alot of people that like the new tundra design but am just not one of them...sorry

 

OK, it looks like alot of people read my title, and posted their opinion on what they THOUGHT my title meant. If you were to take the time to read my first post, you would see that I am NOT saying they should not have made a Full size Tundra. From my first post, I said "I know they want to compete, and they need to". Toyota would never be seen as a truck player without a full size truck. My dad drives a 2004 Dodge Quad Cab Long Bed Cummins Dodge, and he has said all along that Toyota needs a bigger truck, and a diesel if they want him and people like him to buy one. I agree.

Also from my first post, "Even if it does not sell as much as the full size, which I am sure it would not, they still would be the only company to offer one". One, referring to a 3/4 size truck. And no, the Dakota is not as big as my 06 Tundra Double Cab.

So, basically what I am saying here is, please do not make comments on a thread that I started basically telling me that Toyota should have made a full size trucka and I am wrong. when, in my first post I said exactly that!! My point is they could have made the 07 Tundra a new truck line, give it a different name, and keep the Tundra.

"I disagree. I for one am really glad that toyota has finally decided to make a full sized truck."
I said this in my first post, yet you are disagreeing with it.

I tell you guys, I really like this site and I have posted here quite a bit in the short amount of time I have owned my Tundra. If you want to disagree with me, that is perfectly fine, but please read and comprehend my post instead of twisting my words to make it appear as though my post meant something that it did not.
:ts:

 

Ok then. No, I don't think they are missing out on much of a market. People will be forced into the slightly bigger '07 Tundra or the slightly smaller Taco, and probably be happy with that. They probably won't lose many sales, as the other brands don't really have something to fill the void.

 

OK then, Firetruck. We will agree to disagree I just wanted everyone to know what I was saying instead of some fragmented version of my original post.

I saw your post about the wheel base on the Taco. Is it really the same? I am not diagreeing with you on this, I have never checked it out, and probably will not as I am not in the market for a taco. I just know that I did not like the ride, and hated teh seats. Itg also seemed to small. It was close, but not close enough.

 

Oh, I see you said LB = Long Bed. I did not find one around here with a long bed, so I can not attest to the ride in that one. Is it better? I can tell you probably still would not like the seats. Actually a friend of my Dad bought an 06 Double Cab Long Bed, maybe I will have to go for a ride in his and check it out.