Experienced by Adrian McQueen
Photos by Adrenaline Lifestyles
Winter time in the Washington DC area is no stranger to bad weather, so the 2019 Toyota Sequoia Limited edition arrived right on time. The Toyota Sequoia is a full-size, three row SUV and was Introduced in 2000. The Sequoia is manufactured at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indiana in Princeton, Indiana. As a part of the North American Toyota SUV lineup the Sequoia slots in between the mid-size Toyota 4Runner and the premium Toyota Land Cruiser. I was excited to receive this beast for a week and get a feel of all it has to offer.
Upon first look, you can’t help but to notice that the 2019 Toyota Sequoia is a big vehicle. It is the biggest vehicle that Toyota produces. The Sequoia maintains a curvy shape and the front and rear fascia that is updated with sharp angles. The Limited edition sits on 20-inch alloy wheels, LED high and low beam and daytime running lights, a sunroof, chrome mirror caps and door handles, and a power tailgate. The Shoreline Blue Pearl hue is beautiful and gave the Sequoia a classy look.
The 2019 Toyota Sequoia has a lot of cabin space. As the driver, I enjoyed good visibility out on the road. There are eight passenger comfortable leather trimmed seats and lots of cargo space. The first two rows have a lot of room and are comfortable. Adults can fit in the third row but there isn’t much legroom. The power-folding function to the third row on the Sequoia is a great feature alongside the two-passenger captain chair layout for the second row. The third-row allows space for adults can still fit back there. The Sequoia is one of the best cargo haulers in the class. Using all the seats, it gives you nearly 19 cubic feet of cargo space. The Sequoia also has wood trim, similar to the modern luxury SUV. As a parent of a young child, it was great to see the Sequoia equipped with three full sets of LATCH connectors for installing car seats.
The Sequoia Entune infotainment system comes with a 6.1-inch Hi Res touch screen, features include a 14-speaker JBL Synthesis audio system, satellite radio, a USB port, Bluetooth, navigation and Siri Eyes Free. The Sequioa also has a rear-seat Blu-ray entertainment system, a 4.2-inch display in the instrument cluster and a three-zone climate control system. Unfortunately, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are still not available. The Entune system is easy to use but small in comparison to its’ competitors. It is also tough to reach from the driver’s seat.
The Sequoia runs off a powerful and proven V-8 engine that has 381 horsepower and 401 pound-feet of torque via a 6-speed automatic transmission. This plenty of power to move this big Toyota, and it feels aggressive whether you’re taking off from a stoplight or merging onto the highway. The Sequoia is comfortable on various road conditions and handles well. Properly equipped, the 2019 Sequoia can tow up to 7,400 pounds.
All of this power comes at the expense of fuel economy. The Toyota Sequoia delivers 13 mpg city, 17 highway and 14 combined. This rating with four-wheel drive is low since the larger and more powerful competition is rated at 17 and 18 mpg combined. Be prepared to hit the gas station frequently and spend a decent amount of money to fill this beast up.
Toyota always rates high in terms of safety. Standard driver assistance features include a rearview camera, blind spot monitoring, lane change assist, front and rear parking sensors, rear cross traffic alert, and Toyota Safety Sense. The Toyota Safety Sense includes pre-collision warning with pedestrian detection, automatic high-beam headlights, lane departure warning, lane keep assist, and adaptive cruise control. Front occupants are protected by front airbags, seat-mounted side airbags, and knee airbags. Each row features side curtain airbags. The chassis is also equipped with modern features such as brake assist, brake force distribution, vehicle stability assist, and a tow/haul mode which helps lessen the force burden on the brakes. The 2019 Sequoia has not yet been fully crash tested by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, but it earned four stars in their rollover test.
There has been one recall so far on the Sequoia with the airbags. On some models of the Sequoia, the air bag electronic control unit (ECU) may erroneously detect a fault during the vehicle start-up self check. If this occurs, the ECU may not deploy the airbags as intended, in the event of a crash. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 208, “Occupant Crash Protection,” and 214, “Side Impact Protection.” If the air bags do not deploy as intended, it can increase the risk of injury in a crash.
The Toyota warranty covers the Sequoia with a three-year/36,000-mile basic warranty and a five-year/60,000-mile powertrain warranty. The 2019 Toyota Sequoia is in a highly competitive class amongst the Ford Expedition, Nissan Armada, Chevrolet Tahoe, GMC Yukon and the Dodge Durango. If you want a big, powerful family hauler, then the Sequoia is the way to go. Enjoy the photo gallery with Jack Frost.
