This is not a soccer mom car.

I'm not sure who was writing the rave reviews for the Sequoia when I was looking to buy. It's definitely not what it was billed as. Perhaps all the raving was done by people on Toyota's payroll?

The specifics:
Any interaction with a Toyota dealership, IMO, is painful. My Sequoia purchase especially so. It arrived 8 weeks late
and somewhat dirty. Many dealers simply did not return my phone calls or told me they couldn't talk to me on the phone. How is talking to me on the phone harder than talking to me after I drive to the dealership? These people have no concept of customer service at all. I get the distinct impression that they feel they're doing me a favor by allowing me to buy their vehicle.

Most of the drawbacks of this vehicle I knew about in advance, but that doesn't mean they aren't worth bearing in mind: *Huge* blind spot (2nd largest in any new truck if I recall correctly), drives like a tank, poor interior quality, weak engine for its mass, gear-shift on steering column, nonsensical ceiling console with sunglass containers for the whole family and all their friends, a storage compartment between the front seats that can hold several pairs of hiking boots, no seat position memory on electric seats

etc.

What's gone wrong that I didn't plan on?

After 6k miles:

Gas pedal is practically on/off. It's difficult to make a smooth acceleration.

Transmission shift-thresholds appear to be set for another vehicle, they don't match my RPM and power at all.

O/D switch randomly changes function - on actually means off and vice versa. Does reset itself after turning car off and on, but for $40,000 I expect it to not do this.

If you don't screw the gas cap on tight enough it will indicate on the dash you have a malfunction requiring you to go to the shop to have it turned off. (it says so on the gas cap too)

Gas tank makes a bizarre humming/purging sound after driving.

The Dunlop tires that came on the vehicle were 30% worn at 4000 miles when I had them replaced with real tires.

There is a massive exhaust leak into the cabin at highway speeds, as indicated by exhaust sulfur stench.

There is always a burning smell after highway driving.

4WD may take several minutes to engage or disengage. This can lead to severe binding if you don't time your 4WD demands accordingly. The dealer will give you "tricks" to try to make it behave more like you'd expect from a $40,000 vehicle.

Up-shifting from D2 to D can stop in some no-man's land where there is no gear position indicated.

Brakes creak, clunk, snap and otherwise sound scary at random times.

Engine periodically runs rough, then magically recovers.

At random times, while going downhill using brakes, I can hear a relay switch, then the brake pedal sinks. I can't even guess what's going on there. Is it safe to carry my family in this thing?

Will periodically not shift out of park after staring unless you do something specific - I haven't figured out what. Press brakes hard and wait 30 seconds? Sometimes that works, sometimes it doesn't.

I opted for the TRD blower. Since there is no hood-liner in this truck (was that too much expense for Toyota?) accelerating means a whine from the blower that prevents any conversation in the truck.

Transmission fluid stick is very close to impossible to re-insert.

Heat, radio and other controls appear to be placed for phantom drivers in other parts of the vehicle. It's quite a reach to the fan control for the heater. Clock, mirror, radio, heater, rear-window controls all exactly opposite of where I'd expect them. Side mirror controls near the side mirror? No, in they're in the center console, where else?

Lighted controls totally invisible during daytime if you wear sunglasses and forget to turn your headlights off.

It's missing accoutrements the base 4runner had: lighted vanity mirrors, leather-wrapped steering wheel, FM diversity antenna etc.

Vehicle under-steers which takes a lot of getting used to.

Sequoia owners, pray you never have a flat, and practice using that jack in advance. Make sure you only change the flat on dry, flat cement during the day.

Air re-circ turns itself off randomly. Yes, this matters as I drive behind a lot of diesel trucks. In a nutshell, the build quality is nothing like the 4 Runner. A dead branch blew into a body panel the other day creating a very large dent. How flimsy is a body panel that is dented by wind and a stick?

There are more things, there are so many I can't remember them all.

Edmunds called this truck "ultra-refined". That is a huge stretch. I suspect they didn't actually drive this truck. It's a vanilla flavored truck with a couple gadgets on it and no remarkable styling or qualities that would ever lend itself to the label "refined" let alone ultra-refined.

Other than that, pretty normal truck.

I'm hoping the engine and power-train impress me much more than everything else or this is the last Toyota I ever buy.

This is DEFINITELY not a soccer mom car; It's a truck and a very heavy truck at that, close to 3 tons. How many people take the time to learn what driving a 3 ton truck requires?
Do they actually test the braking distance? Do they follow further behind traffic? My guess is most people buy this as, and drive it as a car.

BIG MISTAKE.

If it becomes popular with the cell-phone-toting-bimbo-crowd, we're going to see a big jump in the number of backed-over children.

What's good about the truck? With the blower it has good acceleration. It can tow a trailer with a cord of wood just fine. It's has fantastic traction (when real tires are put on it). It's comfortable on the highway, at least more-so than the Subaru Legacy Outback or the 4Runner. It has plenty of clearance which is crucial in Colorado mountain driving. It survived a 10 mm hail storm unscathed. It has plenty of interior room. Changing the oil is relatively easy. Gas mileage is ~15mpg which for this size truck is quite good. Lumbar support actually does support my lumbar. Engine access is easy (plugs, filters, fluids). Has supplementary electric cooling fan on radiator - good thinking. Plenty of 12VDC access outlets. Good seatbelts in all locations. Easy installation of child seats. Good driver's view of road (not excessive view of hood). Truck feels solid.

32k mile update, 11/04:

A number of the aforementioned problems have been explained by the fact that my car somehow got the wrong "ECU" (the car computer that controls engine/transmission function). It had a Tundra computer, which the dealer "fixed" by putting in a remanufactured Sequoia computer, which took about 2 weeks. My "new" $40,000 SUV now has a used ECU in it. They can't guarantee having the wrong ECU didn't do long term damage to the vehicle.

At 15k miles the car started demonstrating a rumbling feeling at highway speeds. It's pronounced enough that even our 3 year old asked what that sound was. I assumed this was a tire or alignment issue, but the problem didn't go away even after the 3rd set of new tires, realignment, rebalancing etc. The Toyota dealer service rep said "that's normal." Well I disagreed and pursued it to the next higher management level. I rode with the District Service Rep, and he said with a straight face he couldn't feel it. It gets stronger the faster you go so I took him to speeds where it's so strong that the rumbling is giving everyone in the car a vigorous massage. He determined this is a "characteristic" of the car, and not a failure.

Given that anyone who's ridden in this car on the highway considers it a flaw, the obvious conclusion is that flawed cars are characteristic of Toyota. They are refusing to fix this, so I will have to pay an independent shop to fix it. If you're going to buy a Sequoia, consider setting aside money to get your drive train fixed.

Toyota's front end alignment specs are apparently very forgiving (to Toyota that is - refer to tundrasolutions.com for more info alignment and braking problems, and learn about the now famous Sequoia humming noise/drive train vibration) so my Sequoia eats up tires like there's no tomorrow, even after I paid Toyota to realign it. I'm on my third set of tires at 32k miles. Michelins for this car run about $600 a pop.

Plan on having your Sequoia aligned at a professional shop after your purchase.

Something failed in the emission control system which caused all of my traction, VSC and ABS lights to come on. Those were on for a couple weeks while we waited on parts.

The oil pressure sender failed and was replaced and now the replacement unit has also failed.

Did you know that this vehicle cannot have 4 wheels turning at the same time? It has open differentials, so you'll only ever get 2 drive wheels at a time. This means you can get stuck in it as easily as a 2wd car.

"Oh! What a feeling!"

Update 11/05

Correction to previous comment "vehicle cannot have 4 wheels turning at the same time" should read "cannot have 4 wheels powered at the same time".

My 4th (5th? I've lost track) oil pressure sender has failed. Rumbling is worse. TRAC control seems to have become more sensitive and will now shut my vehicle down if I accelerate while turning. I've read other people commenting about this on tundrasolutions.com, but hadn't experienced it until now. This requires me to change my driving habits since my car will spontaneously stall pulling into traffic in an unpredictable way. All door handles now loose. What I thought was oil drops on my battery is actually a leak - it's battery acid, and it's been there since early in the car ownership. The battery is defective since warranty and I have to pay out of pocket to have it fixed because I didn't notice that during warranty.

My driver indicator now never reads that it's in drive. Dealer conveniently forgot to address that issue from my list during warranty repairs so now I have to pay out of pocket for a warranty problem.

Suggestion: If you take your Sequoia, or any vehicle, in for warranty work, go in with a very clear and concise itemized list, then make sure they have entered every single issue in their own records. Magically, only a fraction of what I give them on the list (same experience after each of 3 new cars) actually makes it into their records.

Also, when you test drive your Sequoia, or any vehicle, get it on the highway for an extended drive. Really put it through its paces. Get it up to highway speed and let it warm up. Take it into mud or on ice or sand. Use the 4wd. Use the low range. Use every feature during the test drive that you'll use as an owner. Be certain what you experience you'll be happy with. Keep track of the items you're going to overlook for the sake of the things you like. I disliked a lot of things about this vehicle and overlooked them because of Toyota's [prior] history of dependability and functionality. I regret that decision now. If your salesman gives you guff, find another one.

Plan on a backup camera or sensor if you buy this car, if it doesn't come in your package. Too many kids are being killed due to blind spots in all cars, not just this one. Sequoia happens to have a big one.

On the "pro" side, the car still starts, runs well, has the same power, has no major rattles at 50k+. Was almost front-ended by a speeding pickup the other day that crossed the center line. I was confident that this vehicle would have "won."

PS: BUY THE AIRBAGS FOR PETE'S SAKE!