2006 Toyota Sequoia Limited 4x4

The Towering Toyota

The name fits. It's big, it's uniquely American, and if you carved a hole in it, you could drive a small car through it. "It" is the 2006 Toyota Sequoia Limited 4x4. The 2006 Toyota Sequoia Limited 4x4 carries a $45,310 base price ($46,273 as tested), a 3 year/36,000 mile basic warranty, a 5 year/60,000 mile powertrain warranty and an EPA estimate of 15 mpg city/17 mpg highway. Like its towering namesake, Sequoia casts a long shadow over the Toyota SUV lineup. Let's take a look.

It almost goes without saying -- Sequoia is big. With a 118.1" wheelbase, it stands 75.6" high, 78.9" wide and is 203.9" long and weighs 5330 lbs. Compare that with the Honda Fit, with a 96.5" wheelbase, 60.0" height, 66.2" width, 157.4" overall length and 2432 lb curb weight, and all you can say is "wow." I'm a big guy at 6'2", and I still found myself looking up at Sequoia in awe.

Sequoia has been around since 2001, the year that Toyota brought out the mid-size Highlander. Toyota has an SUV for every taste and budget, from the compact RAV4 to Highlander to 4Runner to Sequoia and Land Cruiser. Sequoia, Highlander and 4Runner share a lot of styling cues, inherited from Land Cruiser and executed in different scale and to a different degree in each vehicle. Sequoia is on the modest, conservative end of the styling scale. A little gentler and more rounded than Land Cruiser, a little less assertive than 4Runner, a little less buttoned-up than Highlander, Sequoia is good looking but not particularly distinctive. My favorite feature is the single bar across the front grille split with the Toyota longhorn -- it's a straightforward, no-nonsense grille that sets Sequoia apart from the rest of the Toyota SUV family.

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It's quite a climb to get up into Sequoia's heated power leather seat. The standard running boards come in handy. Sequoia's size translates to great interior space. It's easy to get into the third row, and it's not torture to ride back there. If you regularly transport seven adults, Sequoia is a great alternative to a passenger van.

Sequoia is built alongside the Tundra pickup truck in Toyota's factory in Princeton, Indiana. It will undergo a redesign for the 2008 model year, probably following the lines of Tundra's 2007 redesign. Good, because the current interior gave me a case of the blahs. The dash is kind of boring and amorphous, with asymmetrical shapes dominating. The gear selector on the steering column is a throwback, especially for a vehicle with front bucket seats and a center console on the floor.

The materials in Sequoia's interior don't give off the same quality feel that I expect in Toyotas. I was especially disappointed with the leather inserts on the door panels, and with the feel of the dash plastics and trim. Toyota can do so much better, even on lower-priced vehicles. I am glad, at least, that Toyota avoided the fake wood trim theme on a vehicle that's named after our mightiest tree.

How do you expect a two and a half ton SUV to handle? If you're looking for a slalom champion, you're going to be disappointed. Remember how they used to call Jackie Gleason "light on his feet for a big man?" That would describe Sequoia's road manners. Stay within reasonable limits, don't toss Sequoia around or make any sudden movements, and you'll get a very pleasant, light-footed ride. Treat Sequoia like a sports car, or try and put Jackie Gleason on the balance beam, and you're going to have problems.

Sequoia's 4.7 liter i-Force V8 with VVT-i variable valve timing makes good, useable power, 273 hp and 314 lb-ft of torque. It doesn't throw you back in your seat, but you won't be the last one to pull away from the stop light. All that weight generates serious momentum, and Sequoia's four-wheel anti-lock disc brakes with electronic brake force distribution and power assist will help slow you down. Standard vehicle stability control with traction control combined with power assisted rack and pinion steering keep Sequoia on course.

Parking Sequoia is an adventure, like with most full-sized SUVs. You can't add a factory backup camera, but you will wish you could. Visibility to the rear is pretty good, but this is one big vehicle.

As you travel through the Yosemite of SUVs, Sequoia stands proud. I think it's the most American of any vehicle in the Toyota lineup. As such, it's got some serious competition in the full-size SUV market.

GM has revamped its entire full-size SUV lineup for 2007, and they've done quite a job. The GMC Yukon and Yukon Denali, Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban and Cadillac Escalade all ride on the new GMC900 platform, and they rival Sequoia in areas where the Toyota previously dominated -- ride and handling, and interior refinement. Ford's Expedition and Lincoln's Navigator are also vehicles worthy of consideration, though they fall a little short in the ride category. Nissan's Armada is enormous and powerful, with a more radical styling approach than the competition.

If you're considering a Sequoia, you must really need a full-sized SUV. Think long and hard about that Honda Fit before you decide, though -- it's half the weight, goes twice as far on a gallon of gas, and you can buy three for the price of a Sequoia. Ponder that every time you drive your empty Sequoia back and forth to work, and be sure that you're getting what you really need every day, not what you might need every once in a while.