irish44j (Forum Supporter)
irish44j (Forum Supporter) MegaDork
6/19/21 8:59 p.m.

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

JG Pasterjak
JG Pasterjak Production/Art Director
6/19/21 10:06 p.m.
irish44j (Forum Supporter) said:

 

- On the 180-mile trip home I averaged over 18mpg, which is pretty excellent. 

 

As the owner of a 2010 5.7l Tundra, I can only assume this figure is attributable to some form of demon magic. 

grover
grover GRM+ Memberand Dork
6/20/21 2:28 p.m.

I've got a 2010 as well. I didn't even know that air cleaner existed but now I want it. Just wait till you u-turn that thing- it will blow your mind. 

759NRNG
759NRNG UberDork
6/20/21 4:38 p.m.

Good lookin' rig congrats! My I ask how many samoleians(cartoon speak) yu gave for it? What are the hp/tq #'s......and what grade fuel do you put in it? Thanks......someone looking for a replacement for '04 Bravada...... 

irish44j (Forum Supporter)
irish44j (Forum Supporter) MegaDork
6/20/21 7:46 p.m.
JG Pasterjak said:
irish44j (Forum Supporter) said:

 

- On the 180-mile trip home I averaged over 18mpg, which is pretty excellent. 

 

As the owner of a 2010 5.7l Tundra, I can only assume this figure is attributable to some form of demon magic. 

The magic of cruise control at 72mph for 150 miles, :highway" tires, and literally zero cargo or people aboard.

I do not ever expect to see that number again in my actual usage of this vehicle lol. 

That said, I expect the aero of the SUV body is probably better than the pickup from a drag perspective. 

irish44j (Forum Supporter)
irish44j (Forum Supporter) MegaDork
6/20/21 7:48 p.m.
grover said:

I've got a 2010 as well. I didn't even know that air cleaner existed but now I want it. Just wait till you u-turn that thing- it will blow your mind. 

I looked it up. Apparently some sucker paid over $500 for it.....which I would never do. But it looks cool, so I'll keep it. 

Yeah, apparently this has a turn radius 2 feet LESS than my 2005, which I never had any trouble maneuvering. Crazy. 

irish44j (Forum Supporter)
irish44j (Forum Supporter) MegaDork
6/20/21 7:52 p.m.
759NRNG said:

Good lookin' rig congrats! My I ask how many samoleians(cartoon speak) yu gave for it? What are the hp/tq #'s......and what grade fuel do you put in it? Thanks......someone looking for a replacement for '04 Bravada...... 

I paid mid-15s for it with 165k. It's in really nice shape, no rust, and full maintenance history and as I noted before it has all the stuff I wanted (and the right color). I consider it to have been a decent deal (He had it listed for 17,900 originally and most 2010s at dealers are over 20. 

I think the hp/tq is 380hp and 400tq. It takes regular as far as I know, and that's defintely what I'll use. lol... Again, I just got it 3 days ago but I'll update this thread periodically with items of note as my ownership continues. For "mods" I do, I'll put those in my thread in the build forum

MrChaos
MrChaos GRM+ Memberand UltraDork
6/20/21 8:36 p.m.
JG Pasterjak said:
irish44j (Forum Supporter) said:

 

- On the 180-mile trip home I averaged over 18mpg, which is pretty excellent. 

 

As the owner of a 2010 5.7l Tundra, I can only assume this figure is attributable to some form of demon magic. 

My old coworker bought a brand new TRD Pro Tundra the first year they came out, was averaging 13mpg, then he had the TRD supercharger installed on it and started averaging 18mpg.

crxmike
crxmike Reader
6/21/21 7:42 a.m.

Thanks for this update. I am also looking at replacement for a rusty Toyota (2004 4runner with the v8). Where was the new sequoia listed? I plan on buying down south as everything up in New England has rust after a few years.

 

I loved the old days of Craigslist but it doesn't seem to be very useful any more. Fb marketplace is brutal but it's what we have now I guess. 

irish44j (Forum Supporter)
irish44j (Forum Supporter) MegaDork
6/21/21 8:18 a.m.
crxmike said:

Thanks for this update. I am also looking at replacement for a rusty Toyota (2004 4runner with the v8). Where was the new sequoia listed? I plan on buying down south as everything up in New England has rust after a few years.

 

I loved the old days of Craigslist but it doesn't seem to be very useful any more. Fb marketplace is brutal but it's what we have now I guess. 

I use Facebook marketplace to look for private sellers. For dealers I was using the Carfax site since it has the Carfax reports on all of them. I've been searching for a few months for the one with the right color and right options and right price. There are better deals to be had South but they were a lot farther away. This one was from Pennsylvania but does not appear to have been used in road salt. I checked out the inside of the frame and didn't see any rust at all which makes me happy since my 05 frame basically rusted from the inside out

John Welsh
John Welsh Mod Squad
6/21/21 8:30 a.m.

In reply to irish44j (Forum Supporter) :

Aside from Carfax, make an account and see all past Toyota dealer service as I detailed in this thread

Cchambers13
Cchambers13 New Reader
6/21/21 9:01 a.m.
irish44j (Forum Supporter) said:
JG Pasterjak said:
irish44j (Forum Supporter) said:

 

- On the 180-mile trip home I averaged over 18mpg, which is pretty excellent. 

 

As the owner of a 2010 5.7l Tundra, I can only assume this figure is attributable to some form of demon magic. 

The magic of cruise control at 72mph for 150 miles, :highway" tires, and literally zero cargo or people aboard.

I do not ever expect to see that number again in my actual usage of this vehicle lol. 

That said, I expect the aero of the SUV body is probably better than the pickup from a drag perspective. 

The Average out of our 13 5.7 Sequoia is 14-16. But it sure scoots for a big heavy pig, and tows pretty well.

2nd gen Sequoias are probably the next thing for fauxverlanders to pick up so aftermarket support should improve as well. 

PeterAK
PeterAK Dork
6/21/21 10:46 a.m.

That's well bought.  I've had my 2010 Limited for almost four years and it's been a great vehicle.  I tow a boat with it and it does great.  Typical MPG is 14.x when not towing, and not far off that when towing.  151k on it now and no concerns about longevity.  I'm in WI and have some rust on the bottom of the tailgate and also on the bottom of one of the doors where I think it must have gotten dinged and damaged the paint at some point.  With the cost of new full size SUV's these days, I'm pondering a new tailgate and door with the idea of keeping the truck for another 100k miles.

95maxrider
95maxrider Reader
6/21/21 12:25 p.m.

Damn that thing is enormous.  But I'm sure it'll treat you right, so enjoy!

Brett_Murphy (Agent of Chaos)
Brett_Murphy (Agent of Chaos) GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
6/21/21 12:33 p.m.
JG Pasterjak said:
irish44j (Forum Supporter) said:

 

- On the 180-mile trip home I averaged over 18mpg, which is pretty excellent. 

 

As the owner of a 2010 5.7l Tundra, I can only assume this figure is attributable to some form of demon magic. 

I was coming here to say that's really good mileage. The newer transmissions in these must make a huge difference.

PeterAK
PeterAK Dork
6/21/21 2:21 p.m.

Saw your post on FB about tires. I've got stock size Wildpeaks on the factory 20's. Ride is good and it does really well on fire roads and in snow.  Highway ride is not noisy.  From what others have posted it sounds like 18's would be good too--and I think the Black TRD wheels look awesome if you can find a set at a decent price. 

irish44j (Forum Supporter)
irish44j (Forum Supporter) MegaDork
6/21/21 6:40 p.m.
PeterAK said:

Saw your post on FB about tires. I've got stock size Wildpeaks on the factory 20's. Ride is good and it does really well on fire roads and in snow.  Highway ride is not noisy.  From what others have posted it sounds like 18's would be good too--and I think the Black TRD wheels look awesome if you can find a set at a decent price. 

Thanks. As luck would have it the guy who is buying my old Sequoia also has an LX 470 that he is about to sell, And he said he would just straight swap me the split five 18" Wheels off that for my twenties and he will just sell the Lexus with twenties. So I will get those and then paint them a darker color and then get some beefy tires on them :) 

irish44j (Forum Supporter)
irish44j (Forum Supporter) MegaDork
6/21/21 6:42 p.m.
Cchambers13 said:
irish44j (Forum Supporter) said:
JG Pasterjak said:
irish44j (Forum Supporter) said:

 

- On the 180-mile trip home I averaged over 18mpg, which is pretty excellent. 

 

As the owner of a 2010 5.7l Tundra, I can only assume this figure is attributable to some form of demon magic. 

The magic of cruise control at 72mph for 150 miles, :highway" tires, and literally zero cargo or people aboard.

I do not ever expect to see that number again in my actual usage of this vehicle lol. 

That said, I expect the aero of the SUV body is probably better than the pickup from a drag perspective. 

The Average out of our 13 5.7 Sequoia is 14-16. But it sure scoots for a big heavy pig, and tows pretty well.

2nd gen Sequoias are probably the next thing for fauxverlanders to pick up so aftermarket support should improve as well. 

It's nice that pretty much everything from the tundra fits the Sequoia other than the rear suspension. There was some crossover with the first gen Sequoia for tundra stuff but not much. From what I found so far there's a lot more crossover for the second gen.

Also there is a very active group on Facebook - TSOR (Toyota Sequoia off-road) with some pretty crazy impressive rigs. For off-roading in this area in the forests the Sequoia is just too big, But it's probably great for the big open areas out west. Luckily I have my little raider for East Coast wheeling!

Cchambers13
Cchambers13 New Reader
6/21/21 7:48 p.m.

In reply to irish44j (Forum Supporter) :

On Ih8mud one of the vendors just got Eaton I think to make 10 selectable lockers for the rear diff and supposedly Nitro is working on 4.88-5.29 gears as well.

On paper they are a very competitive US version of a Y62 Patrol. Big HP, big diffs, brakes, cargo etc.. our QX56/80s on the same platform were downgraded in the diff department unfortunately. 

All this to say you did good. Love 1st gens but the day to day commute and pavement road trips are awesome in a 2nd gen... however the 1 ton axles in the barn are awful tempting to put under one to ditch the IFS/IRS.

irish44j (Forum Supporter)
irish44j (Forum Supporter) MegaDork
6/21/21 8:26 p.m.
Cchambers13 said:

In reply to irish44j (Forum Supporter) :

On Ih8mud one of the vendors just got Eaton I think to make 10 selectable lockers for the rear diff and supposedly Nitro is working on 4.88-5.29 gears as well.

On paper they are a very competitive US version of a Y62 Patrol. Big HP, big diffs, brakes, cargo etc.. our QX56/80s on the same platform were downgraded in the diff department unfortunately. 

All this to say you did good. Love 1st gens but the day to day commute and pavement road trips are awesome in a 2nd gen... however the 1 ton axles in the barn are awful tempting to put under one to ditch the IFS/IRS.

yeah, and I have no plans to commute in it (I have a GTI for that). The 1st gen has been great for the towing, long family trips, and general "moving big stuff around" and this one seems like it should be better in every way!

One complaint: the steering is LIGHT. Too light. I'm hoping putting some heavy Load Range E all-terrains on it will make the steering a bit heavier. 

You'll need to log in to post.

Our Preferred Partners
TtAJkdM2ONbKddmpfh8DVLPRhDYsUTpFWxC4wDG9nZBR7UpNRUwPr3UTWPM09VKw