Used Titan vs Tundra

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Feb 22, 2011
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Starting to look at trucks this week. Looking at a 2011 Titan tomorrow, possibly a 07 Tundra (5.7 TRD) as well. Miles are within 10k of each other. Titan is about 1600.00 less. Money is NOT the issue. The more I read about the Titan, the more it grows on me..... MPG is not an issue, you don't buy a truck and worry about that.

How bad does the TRD suspension beat you up in daily driving?

Would like to hear from ACTUAL owners, regarding their experiences.


TY
 
I am not familiar with the Titan, but the Tundra 5.7 from that era probably has leaking cam towers (cam housings). And valve springs are somewhat of an issue with the super-high mileage ones from that era.

 
Starting to look at trucks this week. Looking at a 2011 Titan tomorrow, possibly a 07 Tundra (5.7 TRD) as well. Miles are within 10k of each other. Titan is about 1600.00 less. Money is NOT the issue. The more I read about the Titan, the more it grows on me..... MPG is not an issue, you don't buy a truck and worry about that.

How bad does the TRD suspension beat you up in daily driving?

Would like to hear from ACTUAL owners, regarding their experiences.


TY
The TRD suspension on the Tundra is not harsh. I prefer it over standard since the Bilstein shocks last much longer.
 
Starting to look at trucks this week. Looking at a 2011 Titan tomorrow, possibly a 07 Tundra (5.7 TRD) as well. Miles are within 10k of each other. Titan is about 1600.00 less. Money is NOT the issue. The more I read about the Titan, the more it grows on me..... MPG is not an issue, you don't buy a truck and worry about that.

How bad does the TRD suspension beat you up in daily driving?

Would like to hear from ACTUAL owners, regarding their experiences.


TY
Tundra, no question. Nissan's quality is not great.
 
I personally find Toyotas much easier to work on. there wasnt a single bad wrench angle in my 06 tundra TRD. The TRD ride in mine was barely ok, until I installed 17” wheels with 32” (1” more than stock) tires. The extra axle weight showed. However, mine also had the tow package with 6900 rating, so it may have also had stiffer springs. We towed up to 6100 pounds with it. The 07 is an entirely different truck - I’ve ridden in two - seemed as tight as a corvette and wanted to play far more than a truck should.

i don’t know the titan - struck me as quite comfortable the one time I rode in one - but I owned an earlier pathfinder and found it to be a pita to get under the hood for maintenance.
 
Good thread!

I like the Titan…and Armada.

I’ve often thought that if something happened to our 4Runner, I’d look pretty hard at the new (2021+) Armada.

The Titan and Armada have always had a monster of an engine.
 
I've only known two people personally that owned Titans. One was a first gen 2005 and the other currently owns a 2018. Both had good reliable service out of them but neither were taken to any significant mileage. I've seen a number of them listed here locally with mileage between 200-300k that didn't appear to be too well cared for so I certainly think they're capable of lasting a long time and can take some abuse.
 
It may come down to which truck looks like it has been taken care of best. They are both ok, but I do prefer the Tundra. The Titan 5.6 and Tundra 5.7 are both good engines.
 
I have always heard good reports from people with first gen Titans. The one issue is I believe the rear diff may have been a weak point.

I do think the Tundra 5.7L will outperform the 5.6L though. If you plan on using it to tow or anything, this may be a consideration. 64 hp difference is not nothing.
 
My 2017 Titan only has 30k but 80% of them have been towing a boat. So far it’s been great, and I still have a year of warranty left.
 
Love my 04 titan - been an awesome truck.

Big tow 4x4 still thumps a chevy 5.3.

Look out for manifold cracks, but aside from that + a fuel pump and me wearing out brakes and shocks towing its killer.
 
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I have a 08 Tundra TRD which I have owned for a decade. It's been a great truck. The ride is good, but I use P not LT tires. My brother had a 2011 Tundra reg cab short box TRD with LT tires and it was much stiffer. The 5.7L and 6 speed is an awesome drivetrain. If my truck was wrecked tomorrow, I'd go out and by another without hesitation.

Tundras are IMO (and statistics back it up) the most reliable full size trucks. Titans typically have lower reliability statistically. Critic mentions cam tower leaks, which is an issue on some trucks, but many like mine don't have that problem. If you live in the rust belt, rust can be an issue on the chassis and components. There are issues that can crop up like water pumps, wheel bearings, air pump issues. Check the Tundra forums. You are looking at 15 year old truck so get it inspected.
 
I have a 08 Tundra TRD which I have owned for a decade. It's been a great truck. The ride is good, but I use P not LT tires. My brother had a 2011 Tundra reg cab short box TRD with LT tires and it was much stiffer. The 5.7L and 6 speed is an awesome drivetrain. If my truck was wrecked tomorrow, I'd go out and by another without hesitation.

Tundras are IMO (and statistics back it up) the most reliable full size trucks. Titans typically have lower reliability statistically. Critic mentions cam tower leaks, which is an issue on some trucks, but many like mine don't have that problem. If you live in the rust belt, rust can be an issue on the chassis and components. There are issues that can crop up like water pumps, wheel bearings, air pump issues. Check the Tundra forums. You are looking at 15 year old truck so get it inspected.
The cam tower leaks are mostly overblown too. They happen for sure but the end result is nothing important the vast majority of time - a slight oil weep. I have read a number of Toyota mechanics say they have cam tower leaks on their own vehicles and they see no reason to fix it. I've seen a number say they'd buy another otherwise good high-mileage vehicle with the 5.7 even with a minor cam tower leak. I have on rare occasions heard the leak gets significant enough to really be an issue. This issue is mostly a problem in the brains of owners who can't handle that something is not perfect.
 
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If it matters the Titan is on death watch. It's surmised that at 50,000 to 60,000 units a year the truck is not sustainable for production.
 
One thing I do is get the model number for the engine and transmission and do a search on each. Wikipedia usually has good definitions for vehicles to find this. Most components probably have wear limits and weak points, the real question is can the problem be easily solved and/or the cost to repair acceptable. And as issues become more clear sometime you just have to take a pass on it. Previous maintenance schedules can help but not always being available the more information you have the better you will understand how to proceed, usually your gut instincts are a good guide...

Here's one example of a transmission that I find under the given model I think is correct from the Nissan Titan Wikipedia page. With all references you'll want to check other sources to be sure everything is correct. This video was found under a YouTube search using only the transmission model number RE5R05A. At ~6:35m the problem is found and the repair is shown shortly after.

Edit to add another video I think is worth a watch, I am at 1.5 speed as I don't have a Titan but this is good content;
 
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