Toyota has been building vehicles in the states since the 80's. The Tundra and Sequoia were designed exclusively for the US, and built exclusively in the US, and are sold exclusively in the US. Up until the new model came out, the ONLY problem in these lines were bad overdrive gears in the 4 speed autos behind the V8 engine, and that was fixed by the 2003 model. I had an 01, and it never had any issues with the trans, or anything else for that matter. I had it for nearly two years, and I put new tires on it, and changed the oil every 10,000 miles (Mobile1 15,000 mile synthetic). I had ZERO problems with it. When I bought it, the odometer said 57,000, and when I sold it, it read 97,000. I'm still kicking myself for getting rid of it.