{"id":25113,"date":"2020-04-09T20:42:05","date_gmt":"2020-04-10T00:42:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=25113"},"modified":"2020-04-09T20:42:05","modified_gmt":"2020-04-10T00:42:05","slug":"payne-review-toyotas-sequoia-warhorse-is-aging-well","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2020\/04\/payne-review-toyotas-sequoia-warhorse-is-aging-well","title":{"rendered":"Payne review: Toyota’s Sequoia warhorse is aging well"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The<\/p>\n<\/div>

The rear-drive-based, 2020 Toyota Sequoia also comes with a 4×4 option for Michigan winters and remote country homes.\u00a0(Photo: Henry Payne, The Detroit News)<\/span><\/p>\n

The Toyota Sequoia is aptly named. It\u2019s yuge.<\/p>\n

Pre-COVID economy, Mrs. Payne and I rolled into Birmingham one Saturday night for dinner and a movie. But the 6-foot-9\u00bd tall Sequoia wouldn\u2019t fit in the Birmingham theater\u2019s adjacent Peabody Street parking garage. Height limit: 6-foot-5.<\/p>\n

I tried the nearby Pierce Street garage. Height limit: 6-foot-3. Hmmm. I finally found\u00a0parallel street parking nearby. The end space, naturally \u2014 you don\u2019t think I was gonna\u00a0try to\u00a0park this 17-foot cruise-liner between two cars, did you? I\u2019d need a tug boat.<\/p>\n

If we still had kids in the house, I suppose we\u2019d go to the movies in shopping malls where sprawling lot parking is more appropriate for Brobdingnagian SUVs.<\/p>\n

Then again, maybe this isn\u2019t an urban SUV at all. My 2020 Sequoia was dressed in off-road TRD Pro trim with big, knobby tires, roof rack,\u00a0intimidating grille,\u00a0black highlights\u00a0and a coat of Army Green.<\/p>\n

\u201cHenry, did you join the Army?\u201d shouted my neighbor as I rolled by.<\/p>\n

With its huge roof rack and 66 cubic feet of space with third-row seats folded, I could clean out the local Costco of toilet paper, bottled water and other essentials \u2014 then haul the family to a rural cottage and wait out the coronavirus.<\/p>\n

With is impressive, 10-inch ground clearance (my 5-foot-5 wife needed a roof ladder to climb in), 27-degree front approach angle, skid plate and off-road-ready Fox shocks, the Sequoia seemed tailor-made to live out by the sequoias anyway. Far from the fancy-pants Chevy Tahoe that dominates its segment.<\/p>\n

By dominates, I mean crushes.<\/p>\n

The stylish Tahoe (and sister, stretched Suburban) swaggered to over 160,000 in sales last year compared to Sequoia\u2019s 10,289 \u2014 and that\u2019s even before the new-generation\u00a02021 SUVs hit the market. The new versions will put increased pressure on the Sequoia in addition to ganging up on the Toyota with two available models.<\/p>\n

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The Tahoe takes aim at the aging Sequoia\u2019s segment advantages \u2014 like my adventure-equipped TRD Pro. The Tahoe will offer its own lifted, skid-plated\u00a0all-wheel drive version called the Z71. The Tahoe will leapfrog the Sequoia\u2019s yawning\u00a019 cubic feet of\u00a0rear cargo space (behind the third row) with 25 cubic feet of its own. And Tahoe will match the Sequoia with an independent rear suspension for the first time.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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