Tundra or Ridgeline

[esjay]

Ridgeline or Tundra

I'm probably going to buy this week, but like an idiot I am gravitating back and forth between two totally different vehicles. I keep my vehicles a very long time, so it's a huge decision. Since I am 67 years old, this will probably be my last tow vehicle. Priorities: reliability, comfort, towing ability. I'm towing a 3,000 lb. travel trailer, but could conceivably move up later.

1. 2014 Ridgeline SE ($36k sales price) (5,000 lb. max. towing)
2. 2014 Toyota Tundra Model 1794 ($43k sales price)(10,000 lb. max. towing)

I am a hard-headed Honda and Toyota devotee, so other brands are out.

Ridgeline:

advantages: handling, maneuverability, ride, cost, fits my wife and my driveway

disadvantages: old school, last year of production, manually adj. passenger seat, less roomy, limited towing ability

Tundra:

advantages: first year of restyle, full-size spare
roomy, plush interior, power passenger seat, almost unlimited towing ability, RWD

disadvantages:
cost, maneuverability, slightly less mpg., takes up a lot of space

[youngone]

mrp116 wrote:
I own a 2012 Tundra with the 5.7 that we use to tow our 6,000 lb, 32' TT. I am an avid follower of the major Tundra forums (Tundra Talk and Tundra Solutions) to keep abreast of any issues with these trucks. I have NEVER heard, or read, ANYTHING about any "howling" problems after the truck is turned off or of any issues with the trucks losing power.

You might want to contact your Toyota dealer and look into this recall. For some reason I think this was a recall for colder climate areas

[GeoBoy]

I believe that you will be much happier with the Tundra as a tow vehicle and it will have a much higher resale if and when you decide to sell/trade it.
Good luck.

[aemedic]

Go with the Tundra! You will be too limited with the Ridgeline because life changes and the Ridgeline is really just a car.

[goukcats]

Esjay: We all choose our TV for various reasons. I have never owned a Tundra or Ridgeline so I can't speak to either. I do own an Avalon & think Honda & Toyota make good vehicles.

You have chosen to limit your choice to these 2 and you made a good list of neg/pos for each. You also said this will probably be your last TV. Why not make the last one count & get everything you want & can afford? I also have to agree with others; only one of your choices is a real truck.

PS: We recently went shopping for a new BR suite. I was surprised that 60% of wooden furniture is now made in Vietnam. My only thought was to wonder if I had met anyone that help make our furniture. That was another time & our world has changed.

[otrfun]

youngone wrote:
I have owned Toyota Trucks for 25 years. I had a 2007 Tundra with the 5.7v8. My latest one was a 2012 Toyota Tundra Doublecab SR5 TRD 4x4 5.7v8. I had 2,000 miles on this truck and I started losing power as I drove along. Brought truck back to dealer and they were confused. Somehow they thought they solved the problem. One year later {May 2013} I get a Recall notice so I bring in my truck to dealer. Recall was because the 5.7v8 engines were loosing power. They did the recall. A week later I am hearing this howling noise after I shut off the engine. I go back to the dealer and the mechanic tells me that with the recall now the electronic air pump runs after the engine is shut off and there is nothing that they can do with that howling sound after you turn off the engine. That was part of the recall. I met with a Toyota engineer and he told me to listen to his company supplied truck {Tundra}and it does the same thing. I ended up filing a grievance with the lemon law book that they give to you when you buy the truck. I had my hearing and I lost my case because this was a Government approved recall. I think this recall was between 2011-2013 models.
I decided I did not want to listen to this howling sound every time I shut off my truck. AS off today I am no longer a owner of a Toyota pickup and have no plans to own a Toyota product for a long time. I feel Toyota could have solved this problem some how different. I'm not saying the other brands out there are better but I will take my chance.
I feel Toyota could of taken care of my problem better after buying a $40,000 Toyota Tundra.
Good luck on what ever you decide to buy!

mrp116 wrote:
I own a 2012 Tundra with the 5.7 that we use to tow our 6,000 lb, 32' TT. I am an avid follower of the major Tundra forums (Tundra Talk and Tundra Solutions) to keep abreast of any issues with these trucks. I have NEVER heard, or read, ANYTHING about any "howling" problems after the truck is turned off or of any issues with the trucks losing power.

I believe this recall (ref youngone's post) deals with the Tundra AIP (air induction pump) issue. The recall involves reflashing the ECM to change the pump's operating characteristics. After the reflash the pumps run much longer upon shutdown. That's exactly why I'm not having this ECM reflash recall done on my truck--it's very irritating (i.e., "howling"). Sure, I run the risk of having AIP issues, but even without the reflash the AIP is still covered under warranty. Have plans to trade/sell before the warranty expires.

The losing power issue youngone is referring to is the truck going into "limp" mode when the AIP unit throws certain error codes. This issue has been covered in detail over and over again on tundratalk and tundrasolutions.

BTW, if one or both AIP units fail (out of warranty) it's a $2000-$4000 fix!!

[RandACampin]

Why just those two?

[bikendan]

no one has mentioned the fact that Honda does NOT recommend using a WDH with the Ridgeline.
any auto company that says that about their truck, doesn't consider it a real towing vehicle.

Honda is the only company i know, that does this, which goes against every other auto manufacturer recommendations.
IMHO, the Ridgeline is really only a good tow vehicle for low profile trailers or boats.
a full height TT will cause enough air resistance to tax that Ridgeline.

just so you know that i'm not a Ridgeline hater, we were going to buy a Ridgeline to tow our new HTT. but the more i read the specs, reviews, mpg ratings and Honda's anti-WDH policy, i realized that not even Honda sees it as a capable tow vehicle.
plus it cost as much as the Avalanche we bought instead. and the Avy got the same gas mileage, tows 2200lbs. more and has room for 6 adults.

so, my vote is for the Tundra!

[CKNSLS]

Toyota Howl

It's apparently something to do with the air induction system.

[mrp116]

I own a 2012 Tundra with the 5.7 that we use to tow our 6,000 lb, 32' TT. I am an avid follower of the major Tundra forums (Tundra Talk and Tundra Solutions) to keep abreast of any issues with these trucks. I have NEVER heard, or read, ANYTHING about any "howling" problems after the truck is turned off or of any issues with the trucks losing power.

[The_Texan]

A search of Tundra recalls from 2008 to 2013 shows NOTHING that resembles what you say. Please provide a source.....

[youngone]

RinconVTR wrote:

youngone wrote:
I have owned Toyota Trucks for 25 years. I had a 2007 Tundra with the 5.7v8. My latest one was a 2012 Toyota Tundra Doublecab SR5 TRD 4x4 5.7v8. I had 2,000 miles on this truck and I started losing power as I drove along. Brought truck back to dealer and they were confused. Somehow they thought they solved the problem. One year later {May 2013} I get a Recall notice so I bring in my truck to dealer. Recall was because the 5.7v8 engines were loosing power. They did the recall. A week later I am hearing this howling noise after I shut off the engine. I go back to the dealer and the mechanic tells me that with the recall now the electronic air pump runs after the engine is shut off and there is nothing that they can do with that howling sound after you turn off the engine. That was part of the recall. I met with a Toyota engineer and he told me to listen to his company supplied truck {Tundra}and it does the same thing. I ended up filing a grievance with the lemon law book that they give to you when you buy the truck. I had my hearing and I lost my case because this was a Government approved recall. I think this recall was between 2011-2013 models.
I decided I did not want to listen to this howling sound every time I shut off my truck. AS off today I am no longer a owner of a Toyota pickup and have no plans to own a Toyota product for a long time. I feel Toyota could have solved this problem some how different. I'm not saying the other brands out there are better but I will take my chance.
I feel Toyota could of taken care of my problem better after buying a $40,000 Toyota Tundra.
Good luck on what ever you decide to buy!

I'm really sorry to hear about this. It's interesting I havent seen a thread on the two main Tundra forums about this. Have you posted this on anywhere else?

Regardless, please dont think for a second this reflects on Toyota "quality". Every...and I mean EVERY OEM in the world has problems and major faulures like this. Asking for 100% perfection from anything man made is 100% impossible.

After owning Toyota pickups for 25 years and having a product that you bragged about over the years and that is what I expected with my 2012 and I was very disappointed how Toyota handled their problem with this recall. If you only knew what I went through with Toyota with this recall. Even thou I don't own my Toyota anymore I still have all my paperwork and I would be willing to share with any Toyota owner.I can only tell you what I went thru with my recall.After dealing with a Toyota engineer I don't have any good words to say about him either.My feeling is they do not build Toyota's like they use to. Just to many dam Recalls. Like I said I realize today nothing is built perfect put after owning Toyota's for all those years I guess I was spoiled.

[RinconVTR]

Odd duplicate, deleted.

[RinconVTR]

WTF

[RinconVTR]

youngone wrote:
I have owned Toyota Trucks for 25 years. I had a 2007 Tundra with the 5.7v8. My latest one was a 2012 Toyota Tundra Doublecab SR5 TRD 4x4 5.7v8. I had 2,000 miles on this truck and I started losing power as I drove along. Brought truck back to dealer and they were confused. Somehow they thought they solved the problem. One year later {May 2013} I get a Recall notice so I bring in my truck to dealer. Recall was because the 5.7v8 engines were loosing power. They did the recall. A week later I am hearing this howling noise after I shut off the engine. I go back to the dealer and the mechanic tells me that with the recall now the electronic air pump runs after the engine is shut off and there is nothing that they can do with that howling sound after you turn off the engine. That was part of the recall. I met with a Toyota engineer and he told me to listen to his company supplied truck {Tundra}and it does the same thing. I ended up filing a grievance with the lemon law book that they give to you when you buy the truck. I had my hearing and I lost my case because this was a Government approved recall. I think this recall was between 2011-2013 models.
I decided I did not want to listen to this howling sound every time I shut off my truck. AS off today I am no longer a owner of a Toyota pickup and have no plans to own a Toyota product for a long time. I feel Toyota could have solved this problem some how different. I'm not saying the other brands out there are better but I will take my chance.
I feel Toyota could of taken care of my problem better after buying a $40,000 Toyota Tundra.
Good luck on what ever you decide to buy!

I'm really sorry to hear about this. It's interesting I havent seen a thread on the two main Tundra forums about this. Have you posted this on anywhere else?

Regardless, please dont think for a second this reflects on Toyota "quality". Every...and I mean EVERY OEM in the world has problems and major faulures like this. Asking for 100% perfection from anything man made is 100% impossible.

[breeno]

Big Tundra fan. I owned 2. My last one was a 2012 double cab with 5.7 and it handled our ~6.5k travel trailer with ease. We upsized our RV to a 5th wheel so I had to move on to the TV in my sig. I did struggle with payload with the Tundra, but everything else - power, brakes and transmission were excellent. We got 8-10 towing, 16-18 on the highway. Doesn't even seem like a fair comparison with the Honda 😉