Tundra earns five stars in crash tests

The Toyota Tundra has emerged as a safe half-ton after receiving five out of five stars on the NHTSA’s front crash test. If there was ever anything imperfect about the Tundra, there isn’t now. According to Toyota and most truck experts, of course, the Tundra should have always received five stars. At our Toyota Libertyville dealership, we’ve always thought the Tundra was given an unfair score.

It was nothing short of a shock when the NHTSA gave the Tundra only four stars in 2007. Toyota’s own testing had determined the Tundra should have received five stars. Meanwhile, its American counterparts were given the five-star ratings, which was about all those models could claim over the well-designed and reliable Toyota half ton.

Regardless, what may or may not have been a fair rating in the past is done with now. The Tundra has received the rating that puts it on par in frontal crash tests with other half tons. Aside from that, however, I would say just about everything else about the Tundra has outpaced its truck competitors. At Toyota Libertyville dealer Classic Toyota, we proclaim to our customers the all of the benefits, including safety, that the Tundra has to offer.

During the period in which the Tundra was assigned a four out of five, competitors spent a lot of promotional money pointing out their “superiority” over the Toyota pickup. But we’ve always touted its safety. After all, during that period, the Toyota Tundra was bestowed the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s 2008 Top Safety Pick award. To that point the Tundra was the only pickup to ever win the honor.

So clearly the Tundra has always been a safe pickup, and I’m glad to see the the NHTSA ratings now indicate the accurate portrayal of the Tundra’s safety.

What’s more is that the Tundra really is a great, reliable worker. I’ve never had anyone come back to our Toyota Libertyville dealer complaining about the Tundra. In face, the opposite is true. I’ve spoken to plenty of people back in our Toyota dealership Libertyville service center for scheduled service who have nothing but the best things to say about the Toyota pickup. Contractors, construction workers, you name it – the professionals that need heavy duty trucks love what the Tundra gives them.