"She's a squirrel-squashin', deer-smackin' drivin' machine."

Ack, 7AM is too early for a non-work day, but I’m not a morning person. Some people, like my uncle, can get up at 4:30AM, go to the gym, shower and be ready for work by 7AM. I’ve resolved that there’s just something wrong with people like that. I have problems being at work by 8:30AM, forget the gym at that hour. Anyway, I’m taking a few days off…only to drive a few visiting family members to south Florida for a few days of sight seeing in South Beach and the Keys. Taking 6 people and loads of crap with us, I’ve decided that packing it all into my little Toyota may not be the best solution for a drive this long. So, I rented a 2003 Toyota Sequoia for the trip, thinking it would be a good opportunity to test drive the American-built Sequoia, based of the Toyota Tundra frame. It’s bigger than the Land Cruiser, but not quite as big as the Expedition, it’s Toyota’s largest SUV built for Americans. But, compared to the Expedition, the Sequoia has a little more style in my opinion, more curves and stylized tail lights.

After juggling cars to pick up the Sequoia, I got to inspect it once we got it back home. Like many rentals, this is not the top-of-the-line model. It was the SR5 2WD model, not the limited, which is fine, I do not need all the bells and whistles for this trip.

Performance, Power and Handling
Under the hood, the Sequoia sports a 240 HP 4.7 liter I-Force V8 engine. I-Force is just the name for Toyota’s towing enhanced engine. This model is paired with a 4-speed automatic transmission that seemed to shift smoothly, no jerks or strange noises between speeds. I’ve read that this model can do 0-60 MPH in 9.5 seconds, but did not test this myself. However, I did find highway acceleration to be adequate for passing and about what I expected for a truck-based SUV of this size. Like many full size SUVs, the Sequoias excessive weight (5,070 to 5,295 lbs.) and not so aerodynamic body is preventing it from having better acceleration, despite the powerful engine. There seemed to be some strange vibrations at higher speeds, around 50 MPH and above, not a big deal. Also, as with many full size SUVs, the Sequoia was very sensitive to crosswinds. Going over a tall causeway during a windy storm was very nerve racking, the Sequoia felt jerky and jolted a few times. I suspect the results would be the same for other full size SUVs. Towing capacity for the 2WD model is 6,500 lbs. and for the 4WD model it 6,200 lbs. For this trip, I was not towing anything, so I can’t give you much information on how it handles towing.

Visibility on the Sequoia was not great, but I will say that it was better than many of the full-size GM SUVs I tested. Visibility issues seem to plague most large SUVs, maybe I notice it more because I drive a car with much better visibility. Front was not bad, I felt I had a good idea of where the front end was while maneuvering into parking spaces and felt confident about the distance between me and the cars in front of me. But, the rear visibility was not as good, it was hard to see through the back windows. It was a little troublesome for lane changing and seeing shorter objects behind the vehicle. One thing I hate about the SUV craze is when two large models are parked on either side of my car and I can’t see for crap while trying to back out, I just have to back out very slowly and hope if anyone is coming, they see me. Of course, this goes for minivans or anything that big, it just seems there are more SUVs. Well, I find this is also a problem even in a large SUV because you still can’t see through larger vehicles next to you and it’s not much easier to see around them. Just like compact parking spaces, there needs to be “light truck” parking (this includes minivans, SUVs and anything classified as a light truck).

The Sequoia has a payload between 1,305 to 1,430 lbs., depending on the model. And, it’s very important to keep this in mind when loading the vehicle, while it can hold 8 passengers, it shouldn’t if their total weight it over this. This is one of the major safety issues with SUVs, many perceive them as being able to hold an infinite amount of people and stuff, when in reality they can’t and become very dangerous when overloaded with a higher center of gravity and reduced handling. I think you can imagine what might happen should you need to make a sharp turn, say to avoid an accident, with the vehicle overloaded. One of the safety issues they’ve been criticized for because having all this open space gives people the feeling that they can put anything back there, making it very easy to exceed the vehicles payload. Even just loading the max number of passengers can exceed the payload, depending on their weight. And this goes for all SUVs, not just the Sequoia. With that in mind, even though the Sequoia is slightly smaller than the 4.6L Expedition, it has a higher GCWR, or gross combined weight rating at 11,800 lbs., the 4.6L Expedition at 10,500 lbs.

The ride seemed very smooth, larger bumps in the road were hardly noticed. However, I noticed that smaller bumps, like Braille lines, were very noticeable. Though, I don’t think I should make a big deal out of this because it’s something I noticed in many full-sized SUVs, including the pricey Escalade series. There was a considerable amount of body roll on tighter turns, though not as much as the Denali and not enough to make me feel the vehicle was going to loose control. There was very little road noise, a lot less engine noise than I expected and very easy to hold a conversation with someone in the back seat while cruising at highway speeds.

Gas mileage on the 2WD model averages about 14 MPG, based from my experience, and 10-13 MPG on the 4WD model with its 26.1 gallon tank, based from what I’ve read on other owner reviews. Not great, about average for the class and certainly not a gas miser as many Toyota cars have a reputation for. But, the Sequoia is running a better emissions standard than competing domestic models, ULEV. Many new Fords are still running LEV while most GMs are running the lowly, archaic Tier 1 emissions standard.

Interior Looks and Features
The Sequoia is 78 inches wide, the average full size sedan, like the Camry, is about 70 inches wide. So, fitting the Sequoia in smaller parking spaces may be a bit challenging. The Sequoia is 17 ft. long, the average parking spot it 18 ft., so you shouldn’t have much of a problem with its rear end hanging out. Its also just over 6 ft. tall.

The Sequoia has a max seating capacity of 8 passengers, 2 up front and 3 in the 2nd and 3rd rows. Though, the center seat in the 3rd row was not that comfortable, I would not want to be there for long drives. Overall, I found I had plenty of room in the second row and that’s saying a lot of a 6 ft. tall person. The 3rd row seemed a little more cramped, but doable for adults. I will say that minivans have the advantage over full size SUVs when it comes to using the 3rd row, because most offer large, dual sliding doors, while SUV still have conventional, smaller, open-out doors.

Behind the 3rd row of seats does not offer much cargo room, maybe just enough for a few bags of groceries. But, with the 3rd row removed, a lot more cargo space is available. But, having vehicles with open cargo areas can pose a danger to passengers in the event of an accident, another reason SUVs are criticized. Anyway, you can imagine the injuries a large cooler or cement blocks can cause if they’re suddenly loose in the cabin, which the force of an accident can easily do. So, it’s recommended that you separate the cargo area from the passenger cabin when possible. You can get a cargo net as an accessory for the Sequoia from Toyota and there are plenty of after market cargo barriers that are stronger. Unfortunately, removing and adding this each time you remove the 3rd row and plan to use the cargo area does not seem convenient or easy, but it’s one of the drawbacks to SUVs and is very important for safety. Of course, this is a concern with sport wagons, minivans, anything with the cargo area sharing the passenger area. It’s too bad that many “family” vehicles do this.

The air conditioning system had a very hard time keeping up with Florida’s heat and seemed to pump out warm air for quite some time before if finally started to feel cool, even then it took a long time for the large cabin to cool down. But, I’ve noticed this with other large SUVs and it’s because they have so much more interior space than a car, the AC has to work hard to cool down not only the passenger space, but the cargo space as well.

Moving around the interior, I counted 10 cup holders, that should be enough for the 8 passenger limit. We had the beige cloth interior that was comfortable and seemed durable. You can also upgrade to leather interior. The controls seemed to be laid out well, I did not have a problem reaching them. The radio controls are located in the higher part of the dash, while the AC controls are located in the lower part, which was a little strange to get used to, I’m used to the other way around. The gauges also seemed well laid out and easy to see. However, they were a little plain looking in white on black and a little hard to read with the sun glaring because in the dark background. The power controls in the door panels were easy to use and stayed touchable in the sun because they never seemed to take direct sunlight. Standard features on the SR5 include cruise control, center console with storage, map lights and power windows and door locks with power rear window.

Overall, the interior was a little bland with no metallic tones, a lot of beige and plastic, old-style gauges and large seats with a large console.

Exterior Looks and Features
I do like the exterior of the Sequoia, is has more character than the 2003 Expedition and much more than the Suburban clones, especially with the shapely, large headlights, large stylized tail lights and the overall stylized shape. It does break away from the boxy SUV mold a little bit…but just a little bit.

There are a lot of standard exterior features, like power side mirrors, mud flaps, P245/70R16 tires with stylized rims and tinted windows. The exterior of ours was desert sand mica…err it was metallic beige. And, that is one of my least favorite colors because every other car on the road seems to be that color (if not white) and it just seems bland. But, it’s probably good for hiding dirt and scratches. However, I think the salsa red pearl was a little more spiffy. But, if neither of these colors floats you boat, there’s also a dark metallic green, metallic blue, black, a charcoal pearl color, white and silver.

The 2WD Sequoia SR5 has a 10 inch ground clearance, while the 4WD has a 10.6 inch ground clearance. The fender flares seem to help the rugged looks of it. The fit and finish of the exterior seems good, the gaps between the body and the bumpers seemed a little big, but nothing out of the norm. The roof rack is an option on the SR5 that I would recommend getting. Remote keyless entry is also an option on the SR5, but comes standard with the Limited.

Safety
The Sequoia has front energy-absorbing crumple zones, something many earlier truck-based SUVs were criticized for not having, but I’m not sure how they compare to the crumple standards on cars. You can also get daytime running lamps as an option. 4-wheel ABS brakes are standard. It also has dual front airbags and optional side airbags for the driver and front passenger. But, no side airbag options for the rear passengers. It does have 3-point seatbelts for all eight seats.

It received a 5 star crash test rating from NHTSA for both front drivers and passengers sides and a 3 star rollover rating. It was not tested by IIHS.

Parting Shots
Unlike many foreign SUVs, the American-built Sequoia does not offer much of a change from the many boxy, over-weight blue collar mobiles that come flooding from Detroit. This is a good truck that comes with a 3 year/36,000 mile warranty, but I felt it was too much like the Expedition and did not seem to be up to Toyotas quality standards in terms of interior materials and exterior trim. Perhaps because it was built at a fairly new plant in the US. Toyota saw that full-size SUVs were so popular primarily in the United States, that they threw together their own to jump on the bandwagon. I did like it a little better than the Expedition in terms of styling and handling, but not enough to give it a glowing recommendation. Fortunately, I don’t need to drive that many people and that much stuff around a lot, once a year if that. I sometimes feel sorry for those that do because I’ve found over and over again that full-size SUVs just aren’t as much of a driving experience as cars. Sure, they’re great for hauling junk and more bodies than most sane people can tolerate, but they just don’t have the pep and handling that cars do. However, some smaller models, like the XC90, have come very close.

Anyway, if you need some serious towing capacity, say more than your average ski boat, and have loads of kids and are bogged down with loads of crap, then consider this model. But, if you don’t need to tow more than, say, 3,500 lbs. and don’t drive around with a collection of used furniture in the back, then I would recommend considering a smaller model with good safety ratings, better gas mileage and a third row seating option, like the Volvo XC90 or Honda Pilot.

Simpson’s fans will appreciate the title, it’s from the Canyonero theme song from the episode where Marge became an enraged SUV driver.