All New Toyota Tundra: Not Up To Standard

The all new Toyota Tundra was really hyped up just before the release, and for good reason. The new Tundra though is not living up to the legendary name and it is upsetting enthusiasts.

The Toyota Tundra has legendary background history. I own a first-generation Toyota Tundra (2006), and I can say without a doubt I will be buried in that truck (or my Prius, I have not decided yet).

The second and third-generation Tundra have left their mark as well. The 5.7 and 4.6 engines have proven their worth many times over. Toyota has always taken the time to bring solid quality to the market, and we would think the all-new 2022 Tundra would be no exception, right? I wish I was.

The 2022 Toyota Tundra may be all-new, equipped with a 3.4L (V34A-FTS) V6 Twin Turbo is not up to the standards of Toyota, and for customers who have paid dearly, this is a crisis.

What Is The Issue?
Toyota Tundra is experiencing turbo issues early on, with some owners reporting as little as 160 miles of use. Ouch. The sad part is that with all the problems in the supply chain, customers have no other option than to "wait it out" and be left without their new pickups.

Why This Is A Colossal Failure On Toyota
In 1989 for the 1990 model year, Toyota released an engine known to the world as a 1UZ-FE. It is a 4.0L V8 that has been in many Lexus vehicles over the years.

It is highly regarded as one of Toyota's best engines ever to come out. The 1,000,000 miles of testing and refinement that Toyota engineers did before releasing the vehicle to the public was a total win.

From that engine came the legendary 2UZ-FE, which was the standard V8 issue on the first generation Tundra and Sequoia. These engines have grounded Toyota as reliable and dependable. That is when Toyota cared about building the best quality vehicles possible.

It is clear that the current new power plant for Toyota has not gone through the rigorous testing as its predecessors, and that is nothing short of sad.

It Is Not Only Toyotas Fault
While Toyota is responsible for the failure and the engineering, I cannot fault them entirely. Call me a fanboy or whatever you like, but the pressure put on Toyota to compete is pretty high. They are just showing their weakness under pressure.

With many manufacturers pushing EV trucks (Ford, Chevrolet, Rivian, Tesla), Toyota needs to stay competitive. This ultimately means increasing fuel economy, better power, and reducing emissions.

The EPA is also on the heels of every V8 engine to keep it clean and efficient, and in these hostile times, you have to constantly be changing to keep up with the times. So rushing into new technology and "figuring it out" in the field has become commonplace.

Still, I find great fault on Toyota and all manufacturers for rushing into new technology. It severely hurts the reputation of the manufacturer and blemishes the brand.

Conclusion
Something else to consider. Vehicles are made in exact replicas one after another. That means if one vehicle has an issue, the whole batch will likely end up with the same problem. While we do not know how many Tundra pickups will have the problem, I can tell already it will be plenty.

I (and others) can only hope that Toyota will learn from this and Kaizen their way back into the quality standards we all have grown to love about the brand. I primarily drive Toyota vehicles, and for a good reason, they are typically incredibly well built.

I also hope that dealers bend over backward to take care of their precious clients who have waited patiently and probably spent more than MSRP for the pickup.

I plea that Toyota gets it together and makes every vehicle that rolls off any of your assembly lines a complete masterpiece like they have done before.

I am also waiting for you to come out with my first electric car that gets more than 250 miles of range. It is possible; you just need to see that you can do it.

That is all for today. Remember, Today's adventure is tomorrow's story. Have a good one.

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Image source: Courtesy of Toyota Pressroom
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Peter Neilson is an automotive consultant specializing in electric cars and hybrid battery technologies. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Automotive Service Technology from Weber State University. Peter can be reached on Linkedin and you can tweet him at The_hybrid_guy on Twitter. Find his page on Facebook at Certified Auto Consulting. Read more of Peter's stories at Toyota news coverage on Torque News. Search Toyota Prius Torque News for more in depth Prius coverage from our reporter.