What Is a Million-Mile Toyota Tundra Worth? https://t.co/jCKXGHTmjp pic.twitter.com/2vs96vMFu3
— Toyota USA (@Toyota) May 11, 2016
The Proclaimers are going to have to up the ante; Victor Sheppard of Houma, LA drove his Toyota Tundra 500,000 miles, and then he drove 500,000 more, and he did not break down on anyone's door.
"My truck looks great, and, except for a few little dents, it's almost like new," Sheppard said. "Even the seats look just as they were when I bought it. They're not as clean, of course, but they're not busted or worn out."
In fact, after 1 million miles of driving between Louisiana, North Dakota, Wyoming, and Virginia for his job, the 2007 Tundra still has its original engine, transmission, and paint. The secret to the truck's longevity? Sheppard diligently returned to his dealership's service center for timely oil changes, belt replacements, and other regular maintenance.
That can't be all there is to it, can it?
Toyota's production engineers are curious, too. Mike Sweers, Chief Truck Engineer at the Toyota Technical Center said, ""Having a million-mile truck in as pristine condition as this one with original parts is a truly rare find. Our team plans to tear down the entire truck, bumper-to-bumper, top-to-bottom to evaluate how the quality and safety we designed, engineered and built into the Tundra has held up to over one-million miles of real-world driving and help us continue providing ever-better vehicles for our customers."
To get their hands on his high-mileage truck, they traded Sheppard a brand new 2016 Tundra. Not a bad deal. To Sheppard, however, reaching a million miles was no big surprise.
"These trucks are safe and dependable," he said. "I think if you see a Toyota on the side of the road, it might be a scam, because they just don't break down very often."
