Victor Sheppard of Louisiana wasn’t too surprised to see his 2007 Toyota Tundra hit one million miles. "I believed [reaching a million miles] wouldn't be a problem," said Sheppard. "These trucks are safe and dependable. I think, if you see a Toyota on the side of the road, it might be a scam because they just don't break down very often."
Since buying the truck new, Sheppard has had it serviced 117 times for things like oil changes and timing belt replacements. "Most people can't believe how much on his truck is original," said Ron Weimer, general manager of Greg Leblanc Toyota. "Victor has been loyal to his maintenance and kept it up." The truck still has its original engine, transmission and paint job.
He has put an average of 125,000 miles a year on the truck, regularly driving long-haul trips from his home to states as far away as North Dakota and Virginia for his job. Now he’s moving on to a free 2016 Toyota Tundra, thanks to Toyota. Ironically, the 2016 Tundra is also Sheppard’s 16th Tundra that he has owned.
In turn, the automaker wants to study Sheppard’s old truck. "Our team plans to tear down the entire truck, bumper-to-bumper, top-to-bottom to evaluate how the quality and safety we designed, engineered and built into the Tundra has held up to over one-million miles of real-world driving and help us continue providing ever-better vehicles for our customers," Toyota's chief truck engineer from Toyota Technical Center, Mike Sweers said.
If you’re in the market for a new truck, then you’ll want to consider the all-new 2016 Toyota Tundra. Browse through our huge online inventory of Tundras, and when you’re done, stop by Texas Toyota of Grapevine for a test drive.
