Dealers suck, and Toyota's dealers might suck most of all. I don't trust any of them. But just because you and your cousin's brother's uncles and aunts all got fed the same line of absolute BS doesn't make it true. The one single fluid that Toyota prices as if it's liquid gold is their 75W transfer case oil. That's it. Last time I looked it was like $80/liter. And pretty much every Tundra owner gives Toyota the finger for it and uses Ravenol 75W instead. Dealership service managers tell feed Toyota owners all kinds of BS. They push harder for the maintenance revenue because they aren't making nearly as much money off repairs as everyone else.
My 5.7L Tundra just shrugs at everything I throw at it. It does not care at all, even when I (rarely) overload it. I agree with you about the payload–I wish it were more in the 1900lb range instead of 1300lb. That's the one thing that bothers me. I'm on 285/75R18s with skids, bed cover, etc, and I can still get 16mpg combined. There is no other gas-engine half ton that makes sense for me, as I am absolutely allergic to having to go back to the dealer even once (never have with my Tundra). At the end of the day, I just have the best chance of having zero issues with Toyota. I don't need 3 more mpg at the risk of more issues. Comparing resale values confirms this.
This is hilarious. Could you possibly be more personally offended that the OP chose a different truck? Lol. Overwhelmingly, most of the Tundras I see on the road are early 2nd gens ('08-'10). The first two to make it to a million miles (there are at least four now that I'm aware of) hauled well over their ratings working as parts hotshotters for oil companies.
Here is some hard data for you:
Dashboard Light Full-size Truck Ratings. This site compiles dealer service and car auction data to paint a picture measuring long-term drivetrain reliability only. Any weird infotainment glitches, body or interior issues, noisy or failing cab mounts, etc, is not going to be covered in this study. Drivetrain only. And the whole thing was started and is run by a pair of Volvo fanboys. The numbers speak for themselves.