5th gen: Daily driver, or as an extra vehicle?

Daily driver and road trip car for me. I work from home and don't put many miles on my 4Runner luckily. If I were to buy a separate car to "save money" on gas, I'd never recoup the purchase price of that separate car.

 

I have used mine as a commuter/daily driver a few times mainly because if I don’t drive it for more than a week I miss being in it and I feel good driving it but it’s not the main reason I bought it for.
I mainly use it for fun/weekend activities and didn’t buy it thinking about resale value (because I plan on keeping it forever).

if I needed a car which first purpose was to commute I’d probably go back to a Lexus sedan for about the same price of my 4R or something cheap and really economical (but still nice inside)

 

I picked up a used 5th gen as my daily driver. I have a newer 3rd gen Tacoma as my hobby vehicle with armor, coilovers, 35" tires, etc.

I needed a tall vehicle for rush hour grind visibility (since most other vehicles on the road are trucks and SUVs), off road-capable suspension for the potholes, and proper 4WD system with no center diff for the snowy days. The 4Runner, with its shorter wheelbase, is more maneuverable in traffic than the Tacoma

 

In my case, the 4runner makes a great vehicle to spend time in for my commute. I drive backroads to work. They’re rolling country roads, sometimes on the rough side, but not riddled with potholes. The 4runner feels great on these roads. Some other cars I’ve driven on these same roads ride horribly.

Sometimes I think I should drive it less for commuting in order to keep from racking on mega miles. But that’s because this is the first car I’ve had that’s also my hobby car. All the trail rides tend to put some miles on.


4runners are expensive, but not relative to other comparables. Our 18 highlander xle cost maybe 1k-2k less than my 21 4runner OR. Their msrps were nearly identical. Yes, a Pro at a crazy mark up is overly expensive.

The only other interesting vehicles that I’ve liked for my commute are manual hatchbacks. Currently have an old serviceable 06 Tribute 5 speed manual that’s not boring on my commute, but my mileage is similar, since I like to have fun with manuals lol.

 

So I take it the Dobinson suspension you went with makes these types of roads not a challenge in any way...?

 

06 4runner used for Daily 18-19MPG
21 4runner is for weekends and fun. 15MPG
04 Tacoma is for runs to the dump. 16MPG

 

To be fair, I loved the feel of the 4runner on stock suspension on these roads as well. It was just different because it was soft.

The dobs feel just as good, but now damping results in a more of a taut ride.

The road itself is not a challenge in any way to really any vehicle. It’s just one of those roads that has good “texture” that feels good as you roll along. The suspension is always doing something.

On the other hand, I ‘ve had cars with horrible rebound damping new from the factory, a 2000 civic, and an 2011 Optima. Both had rear shocks that were just not proper for the vehicle. That road unmasked how totally craptastic those cars were in terms of driving dynamics.

 

It's so nice to see "damping" spelled correctly.

 

I only use mine for shuttling mountain bikes, snowboard gear, and off roading. If I had to daily it I would buy something else. Its very unengaging to drive on pavement. However I don't need to daily drive anything so all my vehicles are just toys.

 

Daily, our '23 SR5 but my commute only adds up to 3000 miles/year. I'm expecting less than 10,000/year including long trips and weekend adventures, so gas isn't our biggest expense.

Our second car is a 2012 Mazda 3, which has become the city car. It gets parked on the street so it's dinged and dented. It probably won't even see 1000 miles in a year running errands every couple days.

 

Ugh bummer about your Mazda. I am not sure I could move in the city where my car was out in the street like that.

I remember visiting friends in Chicago years ago who had to fight for a place to park on the street each day. I remember going to the bar with my buddy who had a rental Taurus there for work one night and the car was blocked in (in my opinion). He said let’s go, I said huh? It’s blocked in. He said welcome to Chicago that’s why they call them “bumpers” hop in.

 

Perfect scenario for using one as a DD. IMO with a 7 mile commute, mpg is basically irrelevant. I'd probably be driving a 2500 Suburban with a 8.1L if my commute was that short, haha.

 

I should say that while the 4R will eventually be my daily driver, I held on to my 2010 Outback, which will continue to fill that role as long as I'm commuting 70 miles per day. That won't be a whole lot longer.

 

Was a DD until paid off, now it's a secondary vehicle to a economy-ish car (Si Civic).

It's a fine DD unless you have a long commute. In the winter I commute in it daily and I'm gassing it every 3rd week, not great for environmental impact but it don't hurt the wallet too badly....

 

Somebody got somebody on 'ignore' LOL