Toyota unveiled the 2010 Tundra pickup at the Chicago Auto Show this week, featuring an optional smaller, more fuel-efficient V-8 engine and other features.
The truck, which will arrive at Toyota dealerships in April, can be equipped with a 4.6-liter V-8 engine, which the Japanese automaker said gets 15 miles per gallon in the city and 20 mpg on the highway. Currently, the most fuel-efficient Tundra gets 15 city mpg 19 highway mpg.
For an added price, the truck will also feature a flex-fuel power train, which allows vehicles to run on gasoline-ethanol blends, and upgrades to the vehicle’s exterior.
Toyota said it will release pricing on the vehicle before in the spring. The 2009 Tundra starts at $22,490, according to Toyota’s Web site.
Sales of pickup trucks like the Tundra have taken a beating over the last year, first from last summer’s spike in gasoline prices, then from the slowdown in new construction. Last year, passenger cars outsold light trucks — a category that includes sport utility vehicles — for the first time since 2000.
Tundra sales in the U.S. fell 41 percent last month. Toyota sales overall declined 32 percent during the same period.
U.S.-traded shares of Toyota Motor Corp. rose 64 cents to $67.88 in morning trading.
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Tell me the exact trim level of your Tundra and I’ll repost in the consumer review section. On a scale of 1 – 5, how would you rate the Tundra overall and its perceived value after driving it for eight months?
I hope they get into the same groove as GM with the 8 to 4 cylinder engine when on the freeway. I had a lovely loaded 08 Tundra Limited but the gas mileage was a nightmare, the frame flexing which caused a bouncy feeling throughout the cab was getting on my nerves while driving on the freeway and the hard plastic dash, center console and door panels on a $46k truck did not sit well with me in the long run..
The JBL stereo was disgustingly weak and sounded no better than the stock Tundra stereo.
The straw that broke the camels back was the disturbingly thin sheet metal that is used to skin the Tundra, I have a 25 foot pecan tree outside of my house and on 8 different occasions pecans fell and put small dings in the hood sheet metal. This is the same pecan tree that has been dropping pecans on 2 of my BMW’s over the years with no ill effects. Toyota replaced my hood but told me there was nothing they could do about the sheet metal.
I’ll be the first to admit, I walked into the Tundra truck purchase with starry eyes over the monstrous power and the giganormous cabin, the more I drove it the more I knew I made the wrong decision by not going with the gas efficient, soft touch interior and smooth riding Silverado LTZ. Needless to say, 9 months later the Tundra is gone and I am back driving my Range Rover