I built a 2 door Rubicon

Usually family or sometimes I have to google if there’s been no contact after a certain time. We also see what you did with that 75k corvette on Instagram and fb but usually don’t give a flying flip as long as that money is coming in lol

 

It's funny, when I was first thinking of getting a forerunner. I also really wanted a four-door JK Wrangler. I went to the Wrangler forum to see if anybody had experience with both, and after posting pretty specifically about my exact needs, most of them actually pointed me toward the 4Runner.

Honestly, I really really wanted to get the Jeep, I think they're really cool and fun vehicles. I just made the adult decision to get the 4R. Not going to lie, whenever I see a nice Wrangler. I always have a little twinge of regret.

If I lived out west where there are epic trails, and not in Rhode Island where we get excited to drive down dirt roads, 100% would have went with a Jeep.

 

Wranglers are made 100% in Ohio, I wonder why they should not be very reliable

 

I think if you're looking for a weekend toy, the Jeep is the obvious choice. If you're looking for a practical, daily, multi use vehicle, the 4Runner is the obvious choice.

 

I am not a guy who can afford different vehicles for different purposes. I guess I'm going to forget about this Wrangler fever and get practical.

 

I will patiently wait for the 4Runner

 

From my buddy's Wrangler window sticker;

 

Depending on your uses, that can also work. I wouldn't want only a Jeep if I had frequent road trips, a long commute, or young kids. Otherwise I may have considered it.

 

Good things come to those who are patient. 4Runner > Wrangler

 

Mexico, damn

 

Oh, I will have plenty of road trips, so yeah 4 Runner is the right choice

 

Meanwhile, the Mighty 4Runner.

 

Roger!

 

Hey by the way, do you guys know why all used cars from US that end up in third world countries like Afghanistan, other African nations are Toyotas, like 4 runners, Land Cruisers, Corollas, Camrys Etc?
Because every freaking mechanic on the planet knows how to fix Toyotas, and Toyota freaking has presenceveverywhere on the planet. Parts are everywhere.
My dad's 3rd gen is approaching 400,000 miles, 300,000 miles of that where in the US.
Nobody sends Ford Explorers and Jeep Grand Cherokee etc over there

 

Next of kin informs them.

You typically need an official death certificate.

 

Reaction of my little sis when I bought a 4Runner

 

Answer this. Do you plan on living longer than 3 months? Because if I got a Jeep today, I'm reasonably confident I'll live to regret it.

That's why I bought a 4Runner a couple years ago. I also would have rather had a Jeep, but my family and myself have had too many problems with Chryslers over the years we had them.

My dad's Grand Cherokee is still okay after over 5 years, but he's got less than 25,000 miles on it. (I think he actually has far less than that. He's retired and doesn't drive much.)

 

This is one of the best reasons to get a 4Runner, and it represents my thought process pretty well. While I would have liked a Wrangler, the 4Runner was much better as an everyday vehicle that I could depend on. One of the biggest reasons I decided to go with it, despite the price tag, was that the cost would be largely up front and may actually save me money in the long term. With how much I spent keeping my second gen Jeep Liberty running, I could have bought a 4Runner and then some.

I got my 4Runner when I was 34, and I can see it being my last daily driver. You see how long Toyotas last. Especially Toyota trucks. Keep the frame from getting rusty, do your regular maintenance, and you may have a vehicle that'll last literal decades and won't break the bank to do so.

 

Regarding the bad gas mileage of the 4Runner, I think it's better to pay at the pump then to pay for part parts and repairs. My dad's 3rd gen 1998 4Runner is approaching 400,000 miles, nothing major has gone bad on it. So hard to believe that a transmission can last that long. It is insane if you think about it

 

Did you hear about the million mile Tundra? Its reverse went out. At 700,000 miles. They fixed it, and it continued going strong until Toyota bought it back to study it at around 1,000,000 miles.

My Jeep Liberty's transmission barely made it past 50,000 miles. Its replacement transmission only made it just past 80,000. That's not to say that the replacement lasted 80,000. It only lasted about 30,000. Not to mention two costly heater core replacements and loads of other work. Seriously, I should have gotten a 4Runner to start. Or an FJ Cruiser. They were still pretty new back then.

And mind you, that transmission was used in later Wranger TJs and I wouldn't be surprised if it was used in the JK generation as well.

 

Yeah. Tundra was bought back by Toyota, and some Tacomas reached a million miles too. It is insane man

 

I have driven Toyotas all my life. I drive a Camry now that I beat the crap out of. The idea of my Camry breaking down is not in my mind ever

 

Reliability really wasn't a top concern for me or reason why I didn't go with the Jeep. I had a 97 Grand Cherokee for about 12 years. It had the 4.0 straight 6 and that was actually a really reliable vehicle. Yeah, I had little things like suspension end links and ball joints that I needed to replace here and there, but the engine and transmission were flawless. I only had a check engine light once in 130,000 mi of ownership, and I just cleaned out the throttle body and that did the trick. The thing didn't even leak oil, I used to go 6,000 mi between changes and I never had to add any oil.

And I think the only reason why I had to replace suspension and steering parts was because I lifted it on the cheap, and didn't change all the necessary components.

Every once in awhile I look for these on Marketplace, and most of the ones I find have well over 200,000 miles and are still kicking.

Edit: just want to note it had 40,000 mi on it when I bought it, so it had 170k on it when I finally sold it. It was running terrific at that time. I sold it to my neighbor who was restoring an old Porsche, and wanted it for a winter beater.

 

Well this is a good thing. If you were to get the Jeep, you could use your Camry as more of a daily driver, and just keep the Jeep for fun.

I kept my old Volvo for that reason. I take it back and forth to work once in awhile to keep miles off the 4R, and I also always use it driving around town where I know I'm going to park it on the street. If somebody dings it or runs a shopping cart into it or whatever, I'm not so concerned.

 

Yeah, not going to lie, that was pretty much my same thought process. Plus with my budget, I was not buying new, mine had almost 80K on it when I bought it. And I did feel more comfortable buying a Toyota with 80k on it that I planned on driving for 10 years then a Wrangler with 80k.

My needs were something to have that can carry my mountain bike, my dog, and be good for road trips because I like to head up north to go mountain biking and camping. I drive 30 miles each way to and from work, so it had to be a comfortable daily driver. And knowing that I'd be doing about 25,000 mi a year. At the minimum, it had to be something that would hold together long-term.

Where I live there really aren't any difficult trails, so I knew I wouldn't need maximum off-road capability and I was not planning on building a rock crawler or seriously modding the vehicle. In fact, I figured it being IFS and not as capable as a Wrangler would deter me from going crazy modding it, and so far it has for the most part.

In the 50K miles I've owned it, all I've had to do other than maintenance was have the AC topped off.

 

@The last breed you may find this interesting, it's a good read. This is the thread that I had started on Jeep Forum asking about the 4R There's a lot of really good responses in here, and it's funny because reading through it reaffirms my decision to get the 4R. As much as I do like the Jeeps, I think I really did make the correct choice. And also, I have to say that these are really classy replies from all these Jeep owners. The vast majority of them have good things to say about the 4R which is not as common on the Toyota forums where people seem to just love to crap all over Jeeps. Honestly, when I got into these groups and saw that attitude, it kind of made me wonder if I even wanted to be part of the Toyota community. I'll say though, all the Toyota owners that I've met in person have been great, and all seem to be pretty open-minded about different vehicles.

https://www.wranglerforum.com/threads/anyone-come-from-a-4runner.2210969/page-2

 

Thank you, I will go through it

 

Oh, I should note that this is about the JK model. The JL is the newer one, and it's supposed to have a little bit better road manners and interior. When the JL came out I liked it enough that I decided I didn't want a JK, but I could definitely not afford the JL.

Something that made me laugh about this thread, was seeing a few times where people said the 4Runner was underpowered, and I was surprised at that lol.

I go by Stuntman Mike on that forum and a few others, but I think on this forum it was actually taken.

 

They said pretty positive stuff about the longevity and reliability of 4R. Jeep has changed so much since then, what if you go there again and tell them that Toyota is still putting out the same thing in 2022

 

Haha! Maybe I'll log back in, and post up a few photos of my 4R and see what people say.

I really would love to have both though. Who knows, since the 4R will most likely last so long, maybe in the years ahead I will end up picking one up.