What can you kind gentlemen tell me about the 1st Gen Sequoia?

So I was thinking about dropping a new motor in the Durango, but I've been thinking otherwise of late.

I've been eyeballing the 1st Gen Sequoia. I've always liked the way they looked and they are roughly the same size as the Durango was even though Toyota claimed them to be full size. They have just gotten to the point that 10 year old ones with 150k are priced around $8-9k. One with 200k are around $6-7k.

How are these with reliability? I imagine they are typical Toyota.

Did these suffer the same fate with the Tundra with frame rust?

We have one - my wife's kid-hauler and my trailer-puller.

1. Get the 05+ - they have about 20hp/tq more and an extra transmission gear (also the 05+ transmission is said to be much stronger than the 00-04 one).
2. The 4.7 is pretty much bulletproof. It's not going to set your hair on fire with power, but it pulls our 6k trailer/car fine even in the mountains and never complains. Early ones had a prolem with cracking headers but I don't think the later ones did. Timing and water pump on schedule and the engine should be good to go.
3. One annoyance is that there is no transmission dipstick on the 05+ so you have to fill with a pump from below. Only an issue if you do frequent fluid changes, but it's the one thing that truly annoys me abotu this truck.
4. Fuel economy is lousy. Though admittedly ours is usually either doing local kid-hauling or towing a racecar, so YMMV..
5. Early ones had the same frame rust issues. From what I know that was for pre-04 models. Our 05 has some rust on the frame, but nothing that worries me (and it lived at a beach for 10 years before we bought it)
6. Size. My neighbor has a Durango and my other neighbor has 2 Suburbans. The Sequoia is as big as the Suburbans but maybe a foot shorter in length. It could just be my perception but the Seqouia certainly seems larger than the Durango.
7. Interior space is very good. 3rd row seats come out super-easy. 2nd row can either roll up flat against the front seats or be removed by taking out a couple bolts.
8. Some Bilstein HDs make for a good ride/handling upgrade.
9. We had an 08 4Runner previously and the Sequoia is nothing like it in terms of anything other than reliability. Sequoia drives like a big, heavy truck. It is not fun at all to drive, but neither is is bad to drive. It's just a big appliance. Quiet interior, ours has 110k and has a couple little rattles from rear interior panels but otherwise is aging well.

Oh, you.

My brother has one bought new. Really nothing wrong with it ever, now at about 200k. They were designed to compete with tahoes and are pretty much the same size. Good large reliable appliance as Irish said.

Kartoffelbrei wrote: Oh, you.

What?

My brother bought an '02 new and his wive still dailys it. 220K+ Zero drive train issues. He's done the timing belt himself a couple times and said it's pretty easy. He blew up the stock speakers and had to swap them. He's also replaced the handle/latch on the hatch a couple of times. He said it's been the most bulletproof and reliable vehicle he's owned.

In reply to irish44j:

That's the info was looking for.

WingZombie wrote: My brother bought an '02 new and his wive still dailys it. 220K+ Zero drive train issues. He's done the timing belt himself a couple times and said it's pretty easy. He blew up the stock speakers and had to swap them. He's also replaced the handle/latch on the hatch a couple of times. He said it's been the most bulletproof and reliable vehicle he's owned.

The rear hatch handle is a common problem, but you can get an upgraded/stronger version on ebay for a few bucks.

Timing belt is easy, though it takes forever since basically all the accessories have to come off first. Also results in a sore back with the truck being so damn tall lol

I keep seeing these with stupid miles on them, thats a good sign. I did a hatch handle on one a while back, job went smoothly.

I haven't done a lot of work on them, and considering how old they are that's a very good sign. I have done that latch handle repair. The 4.7 also has an idler bearing that likes to chew itself up. Make sure there is not a pile of fine metal shavings sitting on the engine behind any of the pulleys.

Second vote for getting one from '05 or newer. We had an '04 and it was a fine appliance. The ex kept it in the settlement and did a head on accident a few months later against an F-150 at speed. Everyone walked away fine, so they can take a hit.

She replaced it with a 2005 (in 2011) and put 200K miles on it over the next 4 years. Then replaced that with a 2015 Sequoia.