Why a 4Runner over the other options?

Cause you are never done modding a 4runner
Simple, new old vehicle. Love the looks. Reliability.

 

I bought a used 2010 4Runner. Used 2010 JK Wranglers still had the old rubbermaid interior with the dangerously anemic 3.8L minivan engine.

 

Brand loyalty I own far to many Toyota`s

Plus 2 4Runners already.

 

Because my JLU Rubicon was an unreliable POS.
Because my Silverado was boring AF and starting to drink oil.
Because my S6 was completely impractical as a daily driver (and the brakes cost $15k)
Because my Raptor has inferior build quality to a Honda Civic (and it's a PITA in my little 3mi town)
Because the 4Runner will do 90% of what the Rubicon will (with the setup I had), be more comfortable, is reliable as you can get, and they look damn cool.
My ZL1 or 72 Plymouth can take over the giggle meter job.

 

I wanted a Jeep CJ, XJ, or YJ or a Nissan D21 or 1st gen pathfinder. My parents said it had to have air bags, I said it had to be a manual SUV and be reliable. And voila I ended up buying a 3rd gen 4runner because it was the only thing that fit every criteria. The Bronco wasn't out, and it would of been too expensive anyway (same for the Wrangler TJ and JK), my budget was under 10k. Manual XJ exist, but they are rare and normally predate airbags.

 

Why not have both?? I've owned 8 Toyota's and love them to death (5 of them 4Runners), but that doesn't mean I won't play with other toys. My 2022 Bronco just went over 20,000 miles and is still going great. It's a 7MT, which you can't get a manual in a 4Runner. I might try and time the sale of my Bronco for when my neighbor is ready to sell his GX460 and try and snag it off him.

 

Reliability and simplicity but it is also nice there is a lot of aftermarket support. I had a 1st gen Titan that was a great truck, but there was little in terms of aftermarket accessories.

 

I have loved every inline 6 jeep I have ever had (5) but especially my current 2001 Cherokee. I didn't want another wrangler (had a few) and I can't buy a new inline 6 jeep so I would have had to buy a 2006 Wrangler and we needed something new.

I'm not into Broncos....not sure why. I leased an Acadia and while it was nice I just didn't trust it long term. It felt cheap.

I have always loved 4runners and they just make total sense to me. Value, reliability, longevity, mod-ability, looks.

Now this tacoma on the other hand....not a fan at all so far. I bought it thinking I would love it based on my love of the 4runnner but they are night and day. I wish I would have just bought two 4runners.

 

I have the best of both worlds IMO and serve very different purposes...

 

Because I can't afford a Land Cruiser

 

Jury is still out. I've only owned my 23 TRD ORP for about 4 months. I've always liked the looks of the 4Runner but I also like the looks of the Jeeps and Bronco's. I guess if truth be told Price / Reliability / v6 engine / Comfort & Interior / and Tow rating were all factors. I think Jeep and Bronco fall short of most those on the scales. Sure I wish the 4 runner had a 7k tow rating but 5k is fine. Slightly better than the Bronco and Jeep's only tow vehicle was the Gladiator. My kids and I test drove one an OD green gladiator and I liked it, but didn't enjoy the stereo and weird red plastic interior accents. Adding red accents add's 5 additional HP I'm told.

Additionally my wife used to own 2015 Dodge Grand Caravan RT minivan with the same engine as the jeeps and it blew a head at 89k miles. Seemed early to be having issues like that. We went back to VW brand for the Atlas SEL Premium R Line. Much nicer and so far more reliable as usual. I still can't convince her otherwise but she is still eyeballing a Audi Q7 as her next.

 

Like many: Reliability.

Traded in my '13 Yukon for my '18 4Runner. The Yukon had a lot of desirable traits such as power, tons of interior space for family, and cargo space. Moving down to the 4Runner has had some downsizing gripes but the Yukon wasn't built to last. At around 75K miles the dash cracked in multiple locations and that seemed to start the slow decay of the interior; admittedly, exacerbated by my kids. The engine mounts were weak and thankfully the H3 had more robust mounts that dropped in. The transmission was anticipated to last 150k-170k miles. Overall, I was starting to spend more time wrenching on the Yukon than trucking the family around in it.

Like others here, I've already got a Jeep Wrangler and it's been excellent. I didn't want to wait for the arrival of the Land Cruiser and I couldn't afford a new '23 Sequoia. Aside from getting readjusted to the smaller cabin, the 4Runner's been great!

 

Previous Ford owner and did not have good experience

4Runner can tow 5,000 lbs Bronco cannot and I don't think a Wrangler can. For myself its perfect size, not as tiny as Bronco/Wrangler and I can put a lot of stuff in and leave town for a long time while towing my boat. I agree made in Japan is statistically better and real owners here attest to that. Also, this vehicle holds its value much better than most. Domestic name plates sadly for the most part suck at holding residual value as compared to most Japanese name plates in general. The 4Runner and Tacoma are always near the top so if you do not like it for whatever reason you will get back more of what you spent.

Plus overall, with all this knowledge given here as to why to have one, why would you want anything less and inferior. It is really just all common sense given here and the rest do not really compare in the long term or grandscheme of things. Dollar for dollar its a better buy.

Lets just hope Toyota does not jack up a good thing, if i were them I would not screw with it. If its not broke and makes me money why screw with it, the hell with the the greenies think.

 

Of course you can buy a new Jeep with an inline 6 engine! In case you haven't heard, Code name Hurricane and it is the standard engine in the new Wagoneers. It is 3.0 liters...and has twin turbos. Depending on configuration it will have over 500 HP and 500 lb-ft of torque. And it is slated to replace all the V8 engines in the pickups and cars.

However, no one knows when this engine will appear in the Wrangler.

 

I bought a 4R 'cause a Suburban was too f'n expensive, so I bought a mini 'burban. Needed the space for the grandkids and camping gear. I had no idea what I was really buying. Lifted and fully armored now, including the shock skids, it has taken me places I didn't dream I could drive to. Specifically, rock crawling trails in Moab.

 

Had lots of Jeep JKs, they all seemed to have some reliability quirks.
Had one JL which spent the first 5 months of ownership at the dealership service department. (sold it within 6 months)
Ended up finding a 2005 Jeep LJ (TJ unlimited) that I use for everyday trails and small commuting. (I will never sell this Jeep)
With all that said, I would never buy a NEW jeep product again. So far I'm in the honeymoon phase of the 4Runner so I'm very happy with my choice. No issues to report yet, I'm still on edge from my previous new vehicle purchase experiences.

 

Even if you do not plan to sell, the high resale helps if it was written off. My 2016 Tacoma was written off thanks to a distracted driver and I was paid what I originally paid for it.

I never also never thought I would sell my 2020 Tacoma, but decided to finally pull the trigger on a 4Runner and sold it for $6k less than what I bought it for in three years earlier. Even sold the topper for what I paid for it. You would be hard pressed to do this with anything from the big three (Other than a diesel).

 

I’m a Chevy guy but GM no longer makes a body on frame midsized SUV. The Tahoe is the closest thing and that’s too large and expensive for me. I looked at the Bronco but was turned off with the engine issues I read about. Jeeps are an Italian vehicle now.

I’ve always liked the 4Runner and folks I know who’ve had them love them.

 

My wife has a new Grand Cherokee and just had the head gaskets replaced at 15,000miles, her Chevy Equinox experienced the dreaded piston ring failure at 60,000miles and her Chevy Cobalt had the electric power steering fail at 60,000miles. I will stick my Japanese vehicles as my Subaru's and Toyota's have been good to me.

 

GM could have brought the Blazer back as a body on frame 4X4 and used either the 3.6L or 4.3L V6 and it would have been awesome. I still don’t like the cylinder deactivation and auto start/stop which are more reasons to like the Toyota.

 

This is a great point that should be considered more. Many people buy 4Runners because they plan to drive them for a long time - one of the main reasons I bought mine. Because of this people tend to not take resale value into account - "why worry about resale value for a vehicle I plan to drive for 15 years?" Before I bought my 2023 4Runner I drove a 2010 Tacoma TRD Sport 4WD for over 12 years. I would have driven it longer but the combination of wanting a 4Runner and my youngest son needing a reliable vehicle induced me into buying the 4Runner and giving the Tacoma to my son. 6 months after I gave him the Tacoma, he and his wife were on the way to her family's lake place. They hit a deer and the Tacoma was totaled. They were fine - the air bags didn't deploy - but there was so much damage to the front end that the insurance company said it was not worth fixing it. I was bummed out - until the insurance company gave him $19,800 for a truck that I had paid a little under $26K for 13 years ago. We didn't know it at the time - but my daughter-in-law was about 1 month pregnant with our first grandchild when they hit the deer. Before I gave my son the Tacoma he was driving a small 2015 Chevy Cruz - and she drives a small Mazda - they would have been in one of those cars if I hadn't given him the truck - who knows what could have happened. Even if you buy a rugged/reliable vehicle and plan to drive it for a really long time - high resale value is still very important. You don't plan for accidents - but they happen. My son got close to 80% of what I actually paid for a 13 year old truck. Think he would have gotten that much if I had given him a Ford Ranger or a Chevy Colorado? Paying for well built/reliable vehicles that are in high demand, both new and used, is never a bad investment (assuming you can afford it to begin with).

 

Was never a choice over Wrangler or Bronco, or any other SUV for that matter. I had a double cab 2.5 Gen Tacoma that I loved and would've happily drove until the frame let go of the wheels, but I acquired a family and the kids werent comfortable. I didnt want a fullsize, and I still think of 4Rs and Tacos as siblings rather than cousins, so it was the only choice.

 

If they went the way of the 2nd-generation Trailblazer in other markets or Ford Everest it definitely would've been on the list. I'm not sure if they'll do as well squished between mid-size crossovers, full-size BOF SUVs and pickups of all sizes.

GM's light switch removal and software fumbling with the new generation Colorado/Canyon (and good lord the new Blazer EV, plus canning Android Auto/Apple CarPlay) would most likely rule an SUV counterpart out in my book though if it launched today.

 

Reliability
Body on frame
Manual transfer case lever
Great size for wheeling in the North woods
Very capable off road
Old school design that's tried and true
Comfortable on pavement
Tons of aftermarket for anything you could possibly want
Practical
Fun
Holds value
Responds very well to being supercharged
Not a Gen 6 4Runner

 

I had a lot of fords and I always had a lot of problems with them, would never buy another Ford.
Wanted a Jeep Rubicon but everything that was on the lots were 4Xe, too complicated for my tastes and I didn't want to order since I had a have it before the end of the year.
Started researching the 4Runners, and I just like the styling and the reliability, I like to keep things for a while. I was dead set on getting a TRD Pro, and they were hard to come by, and a lot of them had big market adjustment costs. Finally located a brand new one just an hour from my house. Went to see it and bought it on the spot. Glad I got it!

 

Because it's God's chariot

 

I wanted something that could off-road, tow, and still be comfortable to travel in. If all I cared about was off-roading, I would get a Wrangler. If I didn't care about off-roading at all, I'd probably be in a Highlander or RX.

 

So here's my story on why we got a 4Runner:

My wife has a Tucson that is burning oil like there's no tomorrow. It's so bad that we usually carry 1-2 quarts of oil since we do a lot of long drives in it. One time the problem got so bad the engine almost locked up on me because it was like 3 quarts low. Fortunately we got that extended warranty due to the class-action lawsuit but we have had enough of Hyundai cars now so she decided she wanted a new car and drive her Tucson until the engine dies which could happen any day now.

We had a rental 4R back in 2020 and we both fell in love, but because it's a bigger truck she was like nah and made up her mind about getting a Bronco Sport Badlands since we do a lot of outdoor activities and we've done some off-roading even with her Tucson (I know bad idea). I told her to especially look at the Badlands cuz of the 4-cyl ecoboost... but she realized they cost the same as a 4R and she didn't think it was worth it. So here we are.

For now, the 4R is a weekend truck and she's using the Tucson as a beater. If her Tucson dies and if they don't give us a new engine, we might get another reliable beater since we're both in love with our 4R and wanna baby it as much as we can.

 

Wrangler and Bronco (sport mind you) that we test drove were way to small inside. My knees hit the dash on both. We're not overly tall at 6ft and 6'2 but it's all in the legs. 4runner was just right and made me think of what i loved about my Taco.

 

Our 4Runner journey started with me purchasing a used 21 Tundra. That has been such a solid vehicle, we purchased a used 13 Highlander when my daughter needed an update (had been driving an old Odyssey and didn't have any wrecks, tickets etc. over a couple years). After my wife drove the Highlander some, she decided she didn't want to be a van mom anymore (Odyssey, newer that what daughter was driving). She used to drive a Tahoe and liked the 'truck-ness'. So.. Toyota + frame on SUV = 4Runner!

We used to be a Honda family, but after rolling around in the Tundra, we switched to Toyota. Both are solid reliable makes, but Toyota has overall better build quality in my opinion.