It's OK not to buy an F-150

Buying a truck can be a trying experience. Everyone and their brother (sister, mother, father, pet hamster) drives an F-150. Those that don't (the Ford haters) stick with the Chevys and Dodges. All good trucks. Recently, another truck seems to be gaining serious ground. I present the Toyota Tundra.

One thing you'll notice when shopping for a Tundra is the options. They are quite limited, as Toyota delivers them with pre-loaded packages. With the Ford you can pick and choose your accessories. With the Toyota, this doesn't really make much of a difference, as the packages are well thought out and provide numerous accessories. It also makes comparing prices between dealers and the internet a breeze. Dealer installed options also exist, so anything missing can always be added. Note that the towing capacity of the Tundra is maxed out as a standard item, no need to add a tow package. Something like 90% of Tundras sold are V8's (not the drink), so this is the engine to which I refer.

Once you step inside the truck, you'll notice that controls are well laid out and all gages and lights are easy to see. The seats are comfortable (referring to the Captain's Chairs option), and provide good support. The headrests sit a bit too far back. You have to go out of your way to tilt your head back to rest it. The center console is decently sized, but the glove box is puny. This seems to be a problem with most trucks. There is an overhead dome light, plus reading lights for both driver and passenger. This comes in handy when you want to get caught up on the news when driving in the dark. If you've seen the Tacoma's interior, you'll be glad to see that the Tundra doesn't appear so cheap. Moving to the back seat exposes this trucks biggest weakness, but not as bad as other make it out to be. We took our car seat with us on test drives, and it fits with no problem. My wife also fit without any issues. A tall front passenger or driver and a tall rear passenger would pose serious comfort issues, but since you'll be driving, let them suffer. On the topic of car seats, there are numerous car seat anchors (I keep finding new ones) to help keep little Timmy secure. The seat bottom folds up for storage, and there is a compartment under the seat.

How does it drive? Like a car. Despite a smaller wheelbase than the other full-size trucks, this one rides the best. Not a sports car, but still a great ride. Did I mention power? This is one of the faster accelerating trucks out there, so don't feel intimidated by those slightly bigger competitor's trucks. I'm not going into any of the stats here, as they are widely available on the web. Also, Toyota's web site is full of information.

All this and the truck looks good, too. The color choices are fairly limited, but all the standards are covered. I was told that black is harder to find, as it isn't very popular, so stock is kept to a minimum. Interior colors are limited to three, but that number changes according to your exterior choice.

You may have seen the recent crash test results with the 40mph offset crash. The Tundra was the only full size to get a good rating. The F-150 crumpled like an accordion. msn.com has videos of all the trucks results.

So, it's safe, powerful, comfortable, and attractive. Oh yeah, it's also 100% made in America, if that matters to you. All of this more than justifies the slightly higher cost of the Tundra.

About the price. USE THE INTERNET. Start at Carsdirect.com and Edmunds.com to get an idea what to pay based on the invoice. I personally used Costco's service, and the process was painless (as easy as buying my Saturn a few years ago).

Before buying one of those other trucks, test the Tundra. You will be impressed.