2024 Toyota Sequoia TRD PRO | The Legit SUV

The 2024 Toyota Sequoia TRD Pro. Now we've already done a fairly extensive video on the Sequoia. We talked to the engineers, we put it up in the lift, and Mark and I did our best to walk you through the struts pros and cons. By the end of that video we came to a somewhat controversial and largely unfavorable conclusion. And in this video, now that it's been over a year, I'm going to do my best to address some of those points and see if my opinion has changed on this vehicle. Because since then we've driven a lot of other TNGA F-based products. The thing to note about the Sequoia is it's a North American product. It's designed by American engineers and it's sold for the North American market. And this is a very competitive class. Nearly everyone, at least here in North America, makes a body-on-frame giant truck-based SUV. There are lots and lots of different options. And the thing that the Toyota does best, honestly, is its drivetrain. The 3.4 liter V6 that is found in every Sequoia model makes 437 horsepower and 583 foot-pounds of torque. It's their i-Force Max, it's their turbocharged V6, so their hybrid drivetrain or hybrid setup. It's got an electric motor that sits between the gearbox and the engine itself, and it's good for pretty good efficiency. And something this size in the TRD Pro variant, you're looking at 19, 21, 22, at least EPA, that's really, really strong. You combine that with excellent stop-start technology, it coasts well, the 10-speed automatic is very, very smooth compared to, you know, one pair to this hybrid. It's a great drivetrain in nearly every objective metric. It's better than the V8 that it replaces. It's one con that I have to mention is for those who are planning to keep their Sequoia until they die, serviceability long-term might be a problem. While they claim their QDR cycle, or Quality Durability Reliability Cycle, specifically for Toyota trucks, is commercial grade, which means it's 1.5 times the regular Quality Durability Reliability Cycle, say a RAV4. Sooner or later you're going to have to replace the electric battery or the battery pack in the rear seat area, which is going to be expensive, and to do anything to this turbocharged V6 is a pain in the ass. I've talked to enough techs that say the serviceability of this engine is just more labor-intensive than the old V8. That's a con of this. The Pro is everything else, and that's just something you're going to have to live with. So what does the TRD Pro package offer? Well, it's what you're used to in these trucks. It's got their Fox shocks, it's got their forged upper control arms in the front, giant skid plate, BBS wheels with off-road tires. I think they're 285 18s. You have a light bar, so if you want to you can do that. You have MTS, which is their multi-track select, locking rear diff in the back, and of course their TRD suspension tuning and their sway bar in the front. This is a very capable vehicle. I've driven it off-road of its launch program. You can do basically anything you want off-road in this thing, as long as you can live with its sheer weight and its length. That's the compromise when you're trying to off-road a three-row SUV. It still tows a lot. It tows up to 9,000 pounds, and that's really why you buy a body-on-frame SUV. It's the its ability to tow and go off-road. The Sequoia can do both of those things. Now, from an interior perspective, we've already talked about this at Nasdaq, so I'm going to talk about what they changed. You get some TRD Pro seats, which are heated and cooled. They're not my favorite things in the world. I don't think they're as comfortable as the American counterparts, but I'll leave that up to you. You have some TRD badging throughout, and the big thing is you have all of the cameras, so you're going off-road. You can see what the truck's doing. The cons of the Sequoia still are here. You don't have the best interior storage. While there are big door pockets, it's just not as plentiful or plentiful or as deep as you find in the American variants, and the third row, or at least behind the third row, storage is still screwed up. It's not a flat floor. That's largely due to the battery pack and some of the packaging of the rear end of this vehicle, which means, say, you want to throw an international-sized baggage bag there, it won't lay flat, largely due to the fact that the floor is not packaged all that well. While the actual cubic feet of cargo capacity is still very large, just the way that you have to interact with a non-flat floor. Past that, though, I think it's time for us to take this for a quick drive. 2024 Toyota Sequoia TRD Pro. Let's start this off with a launch. Let's get this right out of the way. I will tell you, if you watched our original Sequoia video, Mark and I had some mixed feelings about this vehicle, specifically in its use of its interior space and some of the packaging issues we have with the rear, and at least in the case of the Capstone, we had a lot of problems with the way that vehicle rode and some of the general compromises of the platform. So in almost a year since we did that video, and this is the first time I've spent a lot of time with the TRD Pro on road, and the biggest pro of this vehicle, or the best thing about it, is its drivetrain. While you can argue the V6 isn't as easy to service or doesn't sound as nice as the old 5.7 liter, and long-term reliability and serviceability is going to potentially be an issue, at least now within its warranty time period, it's great. It's very smooth, it makes an unbelievable amount of power, and all of its efficiency things like the stop-start, its ability to coast, work flawlessly. As a driver, you never notice any of it, and what you notice is its power band. Making almost 600 foot-pounds of torque in peak output mode is very impressive. 437 horsepower is more than enough in a three-row truck SUV thing. It is a very, very potent drivetrain, and the efficiency is quite good. I recently reset it around town in this cold weather we're in. I'm getting about 15 miles per gallon. In warmer climates, you're probably going to see 17-18 miles per gallon combined, which in an almost 6,000 pound off-road vehicle is very, very good. And this 10-speed automatic, while it's not necessarily the sportiest gearbox in the world, this is a truck after all, what it does well is shift very smoothly. You don't notice any of the herky-jerkiness you would have, say, of a 10-speed out of a Ford product, and it doesn't feel, you know, as lazy to me as some of the GM programming. Now, the way I look at it is, while there are lots of body-on-frame SUVs, the really the three big ones, at least the ones you're most likely to cross-shop this with other than the the Dinosaur Armada, is the Expedition, which I don't think is very good, and I don't particularly like the EcoBoost combined with the 10-speed, at least in a more luxurious SUV application. I don't know how many Toyota buyers are going to be cross-shopping an FCA product, but the Jeep with the Hurricane engine is something I would stay away from, at least for now. With all the reliability issues, I think that engine needs a little bit more time to bake, but I'm going to fix some of it. And the GM products, while I love the 6.2 liter in the the GM trucks, and honestly that might be my choice, this is a more efficient drivetrain. I think its power band is even more usable. It just has so much torque down low all the time. Now, when it comes to ride quality and the way this thing drives, it feels like a three-row SUV, and I will tell you, we did drive this at its launch program off-road, much like all of the big three-row off-roaders. It's very capable. It's going to be able to do more than enough for someone who likes overlanding or camping off-road. I mean, outside of its size, you're not really going to run into many issues in that regards. The main thing is the ride quality itself is actually better in this TRD with the giant off-road tires and the 18s, and the Fox dampers do a really good job isolating you from most of the road imperfections. And it does a better job than the Campstone, even with its ABS, from shielding you from some of the truckishness of its ride. Yes, over uneven pavement or railroad tracks, you notice some of the herky-jerkiness, but it's very, very compliant most of the time as we're going over some of these bumps. When it comes to turn-in and some of the maneuverability of this product, I think the GM products with the MagnaRide do a better job at maneuvering the mass, but this honestly doesn't feel that much of a hindrance in day-to-day driving. I don't mind it. I think if you are in the market for a three-row truck SUV body-on-frame vehicle, you like off-roading and you prioritize the smoothness of the stride train, this is a very, very good option in a very competitive class. With that, though, I think it's time for us to head into the final thoughts and wrap up this short refresher video. Yeah, I forced my... Oh, I'm just here. I forced my... Final thoughts on the 2024 Toyota Sequoia TRD Pro. So what do you need to know? Well, this is a really good truck, plain and simple. If you can live with some of the packaging constraints or compromises behind the third row and in the interior, you're gonna really love this thing. The best thing about it is the way it rides. The box dampers, these passive shocks do a great job. The 18s, not only do they look great, they actually improve the ride over the capstone, the supposed luxury trim Sequoia, and this thing costs less. The V6, the iForce Max drivetrain, is still excellent. It gets reasonable fuel economy. It has oodles of power, and the 10-speed is very, very smooth. All the hybridness of it is basically unnoticeable. The fact that it coasts when you're in town never really causes any drivability issues. The way it sounds, yes, there's some fake engine noise, but the TRD exhaust, which I did not talk about earlier, does give it some some spice. Now, the reality of this truck is it is expensive. It's almost $80,000, but so is nearly every other three-row body-on-frame SUV. If you like what Toyota has to offer and you can live with the fact that one day in like 20 years it's going to be a bit of a pain in the ass to service, you're really, really going to like this thing. So with that, thanks for watching. Hope to see you soon.