[NA] Toyota Tundras

When I was looking at trucks in '08, it was between the Titan and the F-150. I liked the way the Titan looked on the exterior, but the interior was a bit more "plastic-ey" than the F-150. On top of that, it was in the middle of the housing crash and fuel prices were up, no one was buying full-size trucks and SUVs. I ended up buying the F-150 SuperCrew Lariat with just about every available option (would have been a Platinum had that trim level existed at the time), which I bought for $12K under sticker (MSRP was $42K). The Nissan dealers wouldn't come off of sticker at $38-39K, so I passed on the Titan simply because they weren't adjusting to the market. I really liked their UtiliTrack bed system and wider, sliding back glass on the Titan Pro4X, but oh well. Worked out better in the end since the Titan just never gained much market acceptance and their re-sale was tougher.
Nissan pulled the plug on the Titan. It's done after 2024 I believe. They are sticking with the "midsized" Frontier.
 
Nissan pulled the plug on the Titan. It's done after 2024 I believe. They are sticking with the "midsized" Frontier.
Was a shame, really, but Nissan has been floundering for a decade to figure out their product lines. I've ridden in a TitanXD (diesel model) and it was a decent truck from what I could tell. They just don't market anything and pretty much sold out their business model to the rental car fleets for Sentra/Altima/Maxima cars. They revived the Z car, which is great and the design was good, but they didn't give it nearly enough attitude and horsepower to be on-par with the reincarnated BMW Supra. The new Pathfinder and Frontier are fairly decent-looking, but they just seem to let their vehicles go a long time without major refreshes and it kills their image.

Toyota has been steady with the Tundra/Tacoma. They didn't generally lead the truck category in any particular area of performance (although the 5.7 iForce Tundra was pretty quick in acceleration compared to the Big 3 when it first debuted). They managed to win over customers from the Big 3 by making a dependable truck, even if it was class-leading payload/towing/interior space/etc.
 
… TitanXD (diesel model) and it was a decent truck from what I could tell...
I think that experiment confirmed the heavy half ton segment is dead in favor of building the modular chassis and powertrain options that can flex between a half-ton and heavy half (max payload/max tow).
 
I think that experiment confirmed the heavy half ton segment is dead in favor of building the modular chassis and powertrain options that can flex between a half-ton and heavy half (max payload/max tow).
Yeah, I do think a few things have contributed to the death of the "heavy half".

1) is generally the payload/towing of most trucks being high-enough that it covers most anything the weekend project-types will take on. Being able to tow a 9K lbs travel trailer, or a small skid steer, is doable by a half ton in most instances when properly equipped.

2) the ride quality and general luxury of the 3/4-ton and 1-ton trucks has improved so much that they aren't a chore to drive anymore. People don't try to avoid buying a diesel F-250/2500-series truck like they used to.
 
… People don't try to avoid buying a diesel F-250/2500-series truck like they used to.

The section 179 6000lb vehicle write off probably contributes significantly in there too.
 
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