I've been looking at trucks and wracking my brain to find a solution. I really, really like my 2003 Tundra and I'm not that fond of new ones. I've looked at Ford, Chevy, Toyota, and Dodge come away thinking, "meh." I looked at several 2000-2006 Tundras - gawd they maintain their value! I found a great 2003 with 102k miles, they wanted $13k for it!
Soooo, My board of directors (my wife and I) met and decided I would sell my Tundra and the corp would sell its Silverado and the corp would buy a 2016 Tundra SR5 to do the job of both of them. We leased the truck, but after driving it over the weekend I knew I was going to buy it at the end of the lease. I looked at the numbers - it was going to cost $38k w/taxes etc to buy it outright and $44k to lease then buy in 3 years. One of the factors was that it pissed me off that they insisted I buy scratch and dent insurance for $795 and pay a $350 "disposal" fee at the end of the lease. I went in Monday and said, "What if I buy the truck at the end of the lease?" They said, "You still have to pay us to sell it to you." (they used different words but that's what it amounted to) I said, "F- that, tear up the lease and I'll pay cash right now."
A big plus of the '16 is alloy wheels. My steel wheels rusted and make the truck look like he11. But it's a truck, and over the years looking like he11 with all its cuts and scrapes has kind of become a badge of honor.
It's bigger than my '03, which is one of the reasons I don't like it as much. The hood line is higher, but it drops off on the corners and visibility isn't as bad as with the Ford. The bed sides are higher (although the floor is about the same) and the seat bottom is about 2" higher. I've got running board style steps on order to help climbing in and out of it. I'm considering having it lowered a couple of inches but I don't know what that would do to the warranty.
The dash has a lot of do-dads that I might never use, but the heater system has real knobs to control the fan, temp, and distribution AND it has a back-up camera - both of these features are HUGE for me.
I love the simplicity of the '03 dash. I can control the heat and radio without taking my eyes off the road because they have
knobs.
I put a BedRug bed liner in it and I've got a cap and running board steps on order.
