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A photo of the Toyota Tundra outdoors.

3 Reasons Why You Don’t Need a Toyota Tundra in Your Life

The Toyota Tundra has been in production for over 20 years and is the brand’s first full-size pick-up. It’s powerful, it’s capable, and it’s dead-on reliable, however, if you don’t need all of the capability that the Tundra has to offer, then you probably don’t really need one at all. We’ve spent some time with …

The Toyota Tundra has been in production for over 20 years and is the brand’s first full-size pick-up. It’s powerful, it’s capable, and it’s dead-on reliable, however, if you don’t need all of the capability that the Tundra has to offer, then you probably don’t really need one at all. We’ve spent some time with the 2021 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro and came up with three reasons why you really don’t need one in your life.

The Toyota Tundra is huge

In case you have never seen, or stood next to, a Toyota Tundra in real life, just know that it’s huge. It stands 76 inches tall and is 228 inches long, and in case you don’t know just how big that is, the Camry is 56 inches tall and 192 inches long. Case in point, it’s a massive vehicle that probably won’t fit in your garage and will barely fit in your driveway.

On top of that, due to its tall ride height, it can be a pain to get in and out of. We had to use the steering wheel to hoist ourselves in and out of the truck (which is probably not good for the wheel), so unless you like to brush-up on how acrobatic you are every time you get in and out of your car, the Tundra probably won’t fit well into your daily life.

A photo of the Toyota Tundra outdoors.
Toyota Tundra | Toyota

It gets terrible mileage

We are fully aware that no one who buys a full-size truck has gas mileage on their minds, but if that’s something that you’re worried about, then a Tundra is not for you. The Tundra is powered by a potent 5.7-liter V8 engine that produces 381 hp and 401 lb-ft of torque, however, it also gets an EPA-estimated 13 mpg in the city and 17 mpg on the highway. In our real-world driving, we managed to achieve around 12 mpg, which was mostly in a city environment, so if you’re at all worried about gas mileage, then you might not want a Tundra.

White 2019 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro driving down a dirt road
2019 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro | Toyota

You don’t tow or haul as much as you think

If you are shopping for a Toyota Tundra, then you probably do a fair amount of towing and hauling. If that’s the case, then we don’t blame you for checking out the Tundra as it has a payload rating of 1660 pounds and a maximum tow rating of 10,100 pounds. It’s extremely capable, but it’s a great time to ask yourself just how much you actually tow and haul stuff.

For example, if you happen to tow a boat to the lake on the weekends throughout the Summer, then you could probably make a lot of good use of the Tundra. If you only think that you tow a lot, but in actuality, you only need to tow anything once or twice a year, then you can probably get away with owning a smaller vehicle.

2021-Toyota-Tacoma-Tundra-4Runner-Trail-Editions
2021-Toyota-Tacoma-Tundra-4Runner-Trail-Editions

Be honest with yourself

Ultimately, if you’re shopping for a Toyota Tundra, then you probably have a good reason why. After all, it’s a very dependable truck that’s been around for a long time and will likely be around for longer. But remember to take the following reasons into consideration if you catch yourself looking at Toyota’s full-size pick-up because there’s a chance that you might not need one. But if you find that you really do need one, then the Tundra is easily one of the best trucks that you can buy.

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