The Tundra’s 5 Year Ownership Costs Are Top Notch, But You Can Save More

The Toyota Tundra is arguably the best truck on the market. It’s combination of power, resale value, safety, reliability, and comfort place it at the top of the heap. In fact, the Tundra’s 5 year ownership cost figures are excellent. From KBB.com:

Five year ownership cost figures from KBB.com show the Tundra is a great deal.

Still, the Tundra isn’t exactly cheap, is it? When you breakdown the five year ownership cost figure, you find that a big chunk of it (about $17,000) is fuel.

Therefore, if you want to save money, one of the smartest things you can do is cut your fuel use. Here are some simple, sure-fire ways to reduce the amount of fuel you buy.

How To Improve Your Tundra’s Gas Mileage and Save Money

1) Drive nice and easy. The single-best way to cut fuel consumption is to drive as smoothly as possible. Don’t mash the gas pedal, don’t drive at high speed, coast when you want to come to a complete stop, etc.  It’s engine 101 – if you keep your RPMs low, you keep your fuel consumption low. Driving like your grandmother will save you lots of money.

2) Tire pressure is important. If your tires are under-inflated even so much as 2psi, your gas mileage can fall 2-3%. Therefore, check your tire pressure often. If you take 2 minutes to check and inflate your tires every time you fill up, you can save hundreds of dollars a year in gas.

Additionally, consider filling your tires with nitrogen, as studies have shown that nitrogen-filled tires run cooler and loose less pressure over time, which means you can save money on gas AND on replacement tires.

3) Lose some weight. Pun aside, I’m talking about reducing your vehicle weight to save gas. Adding an extra 150lbs to your truck in the form of tools, accessories, and miscellaneous gear (which I like to call “crap”) can have a pretty dramatic effect on fuel economy. Some experts suggest an extra 100 lbs of gear can cost the average truck owner almost 1mpg.

4) Improve your Tundra’s breathing. A few years ago TundraHeadquarters tested a K&N performance air filter and found that it improved fuel economy in their test truck by 1.5mpg. That’s a significant improvement for a very low cost, so it’s definitely worth checking out.

5) Avoid short trips. Short trips are bad for your engine and bad for your wallet. First, your truck’s engine needs 10-15 minutes to reach full operating temperature. Until it reaches that temperature, the engine computer is programmed to run the truck a little rich, partially because this helps your truck operate smoothly, and partially because running rich is the best way to warm-up your truck’s catalytic converter so it can reduce pollution.

What’s more, cold engines aren’t lubricated very well, so a good percentage of a cold engine’s effort goes into overcoming friction. This is bad for your gas mileage, but it can also be bad for your engine, as frequent short trips will lead to long-term engine wear.

Therefore, try to run all your errands at once. That will keep your engine running at full temperature longer, which is more efficient.

Author Rick Vernick writes on behalf of National Transport, one of the nation’s leading auto transport companies. National Transport ships cars and trucks anywhere in the nation – visit their website to learn more about their shipping services.