Some of you know I've always been a fan of Sequioas. I've my 2005 for about 10 years now - first it was my wife's kid-hauler and then turned into my tow / utility / rally service rig. It's been totally reliable and I've always been happy with it. However, like most Toyotas of that era, it has its share of frame rust (it was from a salt state) and in recent months I've pretty much decided to move on to something less rusty. The thought struck me to get another 1st gen Sequoia, but didn't really want to spend thousands just to get one that has a *less* rusty frame and probably way higher miles (mine has 135k, which is super-low for a 16-year old truck).
Anyhow, long story short after a month or so of looking for exactly what I want in my budget, one popped up about 180 miles from here in PA. Chris Nonack (from here on GRM) checked it out closely for me and gave it a general thumbs up, so I got a ride up there last night and picked up this:
It's a 2010 Sequoia Limited with about 165k miles. Yeah, this is the third Toyota SUV I've bought in a row with MORE miles than the one before it. Maybe I'm doing this wrong lol...
This one has the features and I wanted (tow package, leather, 4WD, and the right interior/exterior colors) and not the ones I didn't want (specifically, the OEM rear air suspension. It has minor surface rust in some frame areas, but probably no more than my wife's 5-year old CX-9 - which is to say, pretty much none. Overall, had 9 pages of CARFAX history with basically dealer maintenance for its entire life, including all fluids flushed and changed in the last 20k miles at a Toyota dealer.
So after picking it up, I headed home down I-95 and an hour from home I got stuck 500' beind a huge accident with multiple cars, and two on fire big-time
So, we got to sit there for 2 hours, which gave me a while to dig around and find some of the features, how to use things, etc. I probably looked odd in the middle of I-95 messing with the power 3rd row seats and stuff like that lol...
A few initial impressions:
- On the 180-mile trip home I averaged over 18mpg, which is pretty excellent.
- The previous owner bought the $500 TRD air intake system for it. I have no idea if it helps anything, and it isn't particularly noticeable in terms of sound, but it certainly looks cool under the hood...
- On a variety of roads going home, it took a while to get used to the larger size (it's about 800lbs heavier than my old one), but it's also totally obvious the ride quality is substantially better than the old one due to the independent rear suspension, especially on anything uneven. Otherwise, totally smooth, quiet, etc...as would be expected from something that cost (according to the window sticker in the glove box) $54,000 in 2010.
- Storage: It's virtually endless. two glove boxes. the center console could probably fit a bowling ball in it. I think there are something like 7 cupholders accessible from the front seat. There are about 5 other smaller bins and areas for phones, etc. I know most large trucks these days have a lot of storage, but this is really a huge step up from the old Sequoia's storage. Also a storage bin behind the 3rd row seat under the floor.
- Both rows of seats fold down into the floor, though not totally flat. This is nice since I hate lugging the heavy seats out of my Gen1 in and out depending on passengers or cargo being hauled. To get a level load floor I'll proabably make one out of plywood to put in when doing cargo-hauling trips (like to rally events)
- Tow package on this is a Class IV, 7-pin, with a trans and oil cooler. It also has a transmission temp gauge, which is nice since the old one didn't. Also has a tow mode that adjusts gear holding, brakes, and steering.
- Drivetrain: feels strong in regular driving. I haven't towed with it yet, so can't really comment. getting onto a highway on-ramp, this thing defintely GOES. The old one with the 4.7 was no slouch either, but didn't move like this one.
I appreciate that this isn't a TOTAL redesign. I mean, it is, but Toyota kept a LOT of parts from the 1st gen Sequoia that are instantly recognized since I own one.....anything from various buttons to the safety latch on the hood, to reservoir designs and a bunch of other things. Basically, they kept stuff that worked well and carried it over, and redesigned stuff that wasn't good on the old one (like the tailgate latch/handle that always broke).
Anyhow, I'll add stuff of interest as I come upon it, just for anyone's information (since I wrote the 1st Generation "Sequoia buyer's guide" here). If you want to see other things I do with it (i.e. modifications), I'll probably put that in my main build thread (rally car, porsche, tow rigs, etc).
old and new
