What is Toyota 4Runner's competition?

Honestly I don't consider Jeep Wrangler and Ford Bronco competitors to 4Runner? They are different vehicles. The only other two vehicles that would be a true rival to 4Runner would be the Land Cruiser or the Lexus GX. 4Runner is a very unique vehicle, unlike any other out there.
What do you guys think?

 

IMO the closest competitor Jeep has to the 4R is the Grand Cherokee.

 

But the Grand Cherokee is not as capable, and it is also a unibody platform. Grand Cherokee was never even body on frame

 

Nissan Xterra was a true competitor to 4Runner, but Nissan killed it

 

The Xterra from years ago and the Montero Sport from the 90's. That's it. Nothing else is even close which explains why it sells so well even though it hasn't been really updated since 2010.

 

Yeah these 4Runners are ancient, and Toyota is getting away with it. They're not giving them away, thet're charging a boatload of money. The world has become so stupid, that now you pay a price for old school stuff. "You want a gas guzzler that destroys gas, okay pay 20 grand more!"

 

Honestly at this point Toyota should offer a different 4Runner trim with a key, and manuel windows, charge like $10,000 extra

 

I didn't say they were the same, just that the GC is the closest thing Jeep has to the 4R. Anyone can sit and make an argument for the Wrangler if you start selecting specific details.

 

Nothing right now but if they make the 4R uni body god help us.

 

That will be the end of the mighty 4Runner. In the Next Generation they're putting some hybrid and turbo crap in it, but if they go ahead and change it to a unibody, that would be the most stupid thing Toyota has ever done

 

A unibody 4Runner, I wouldn't take that piece of crap even if they gave it to me for free.

 

Seems to be the trend now days so only can wait and see.

 

Whatever nonsense Toyota is up to, they should keep it limited to their Highlanders and other crossovers. They need to leave 4Runner alone. They can change the Tundras and Tacomas too, but no not the 4Runner. They must not ruin the legend. The Toyota 4Runner is the Hilux in Disguise, the pickup truck with machine guns mounted on it around the world lol.

 

I'd say a unibody 4Runner would never happen, but Chevy neutered the Blazer/Trailblazer and somehow they still sell. That's actually what pushed me towards spending more money that I really should have on a 4Runner to begin with but I'm glad I did. The reliability of the 4R compared to even the old Blazers that were good, is insane. I'll probably drive my 2019 until one of us rusts completely out.

 

Speaking of rust, did you coat the frame of your 4Runner? I got an appointment next week with Line-X. They charge $500 and they will spray on whatever I want underneath my truck

 

Forgot one,(imo) Land Rover Defender. Had it not been for its overarching lack of reliability my choice in vehicles would have been different.

 

The Land Rover is not body-on-frame anymore, another piece of plastic

 

Your original post says nothing about body on frame. fwiw

 

Lol ok. But any competition has to be similar to a 4Runner.

 

Your game your rules

 

Maybe the Nissan Pathfinder redesign. In the 90s the pathfinder was a pretty decent competitor. 4Runner is a lone wolf IMO.

 

Range rovers ?

 

Interesting topic. We decided to move on from a family suv (Murano) and go to a real suv. We narrowed to jeep or 4Runner, I can’t afford a LR defender . There aren’t many true SUV out anymore. The last one I owned was a S10 Blazer. That is arguable, but that thing went places it shouldn’t have and hung in there for almost 200k miles before I sold it. Hopefully still running today….

I have a Nissan Titan which is a great truck, but decided if we buy a family SUV, it need to be off-road capable. And that’s where we started. I know Toyota is a great vehicle and reputation, but we quickly narrowed it to 4R or Jeep. Quickly chose 4R for many personal reasons, and after some research related to both.

 

What’s the big advantage of BOF vs uni?

 

G-Wagon Mercedes. Triple locked, solid rear axle, body on frame construction. Now the cost.....

 

Suppose you have two wooden boxes. One box with steel frames around it and the other just wood. Which box could withstand more pressure/stress?
These unibody so called SUVs are like that box with no steel frames. They are hollow crap, which serve only two purposes, better handling and better gas mileage. A true truck is always body-on-frame. Don't fall for the crap that Elon Musk is saying about his stupid Cybertruck. Cyertruck is not a truck, it's a unibody piece of crap. Stick to your 4Runner!

If unibody designs were so strong, then skyscrapers would be unibody.

 

And another failure in Toyota Management/Design, is when they discontinued the FJ-40/FJ-45 series.
Those would have been some serious competition to Jeeps JL & JT line. And not to forget the last true jeep, the TJ.
But instead, came out with that fugly FJ Cruiser. It looks like an AMC Pacer with Roid-rage.

 

The 4Runner will never be unibody. Toyota already has 4 unibody vehicles with the Highlander getting the extended treatment soon to satisfy the 3 row seating needed. And yes expect the 4Runner to get a hybrid and probably turbo, hopefully a V6 one and not a 4 banger turbo.

 

Grand Cherokees are available with way more power and can tow way more than the 4Runner. Unibody vs. Full frame is pretty much irrelevant. Also, the first two generations of Grand Cherokee can out wheel a 4Runner with a few simple mods.

Even the WK2 Grand Cherokees are pretty capable, check out what Prodigal Overland on YouTube does with his.