New Member. Couple of questions!

Hey all. New member here. Former owner of a ‘96 Land Cruiser, which was my favorite car I’ve owned to date. Had some questions about a new 4Runner I’m considering.

I put a deposit down on a ‘22 4Runner TRD Sport today (note: This deposit can be transferred to a different 4Runner if I decide not to get this one). My current lease is up in 10 days so I’m slightly desperate to get a new 4Runner fast, but I also don’t want to make a dumb mistake. The one I found that will be at the dealership tomorrow is an Army Green TRD Sport with black interior. Which is the exact color scheme I’ve been looking for. And I’m considering some upgrades to try and make it look how I want. Small lift, cargo rack, black wheels, new tires, black logos, step rail….etc.

My issue is…..am I making a mistake starting with the TRD Sport? I don’t really like the front grille. It seems like it’s a totally different front end than on the higher up models. Unless I’m mistaken I won’t be able to get the appearance of a TRD Off Road or a TRD Pro even if I wanted to. Is that assumption accurate?

Second, the one that I found is a 2WD model. I’ll preface by saying I don’t do much off-roading anymore and I live in South Florida so I don’t necessarily need 4WD, but am I screwing myself on resale if I take the 2WD?

Basically, I’m looking to get a 4Runner that I’m going to own for a long time. I love the look of the front grille on the TRD Off Road and the TRD Pro. Is that even possible to achieve in the TRD Sport? Is the TRD Sport a kinda “lame” trim package to waste money trying to look “cool”? Any insight here would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

Well they make different trims for a reason, nobody knows if the Sport is right for you more than you do. It's my least favorite trim, a lot of people really like it. But why do you want the Sport instead of the SR5? It almost sounds like you regret the purchase before you even make the purchase. I'd explore all the trims and figure out what you like before signing on the dotted line.

 

Like I said, I haven’t purchased it yet. As we all know cars are flying off lots now. My dealership only had one other ‘22 4Runner available and it sold overnight before I could even get there. So I put the deposit down on the Sport just to hold it. I can transfer it to another 4Runner if I decide to. But this Sport has basically everything I’m looking for…..except that front grille. I just don’t know all of the in’s and outs of the different trims. I don’t want to get one that’s not really viewed as a desirable trim level. And I definitely don’t want to screw the resale by getting a 2WD over 4WD. Just wanted to get some opinions on it.

 

My dad always said "If it's worth havin', it's worth waitin' for". I would wait and get what you really want. You will know it when you see it.

I looked on-line for 3 weeks. Every night, for about an hour, give or take. I bought mine right when the madness started. Whew!!!

When I saw that bone stock, Nauti Blue SR5, I knew...knew...that was the one. The only "upgrade" I wanted was heated seats. Syntex seats were a nice upgrade too, but cloth seats are not heated, so....

It is now in my garage. And it is no longer bone stock.

 

Yeah you’re right. I’m having trouble getting past the front grille. It just looks so much better on the other models and it doesn’t seem like something I can easily swap out. Think I gotta wait.

 

Everyone told me not to get the TRD Sport because of the front grille. But it looks mean with the lift on. I really love this car.

 

Whether you like the grille or not, you can always change it later. Does it make sense to buy a different trim that could cost you 5 to 10K more for a grille you can switch for $500 or less? As the gentlemen before me said, you may end up liking it.

Do the math and see what makes more financial sense. $5,000 is a prinsu rack, an IronMan 4x4 Stage III Foam Cell lift, and TRD wheels with Wildpeaks.......

 

Welcome from Wisconsin! You can swap the grill later! As said above, makes lots of sense.

 

If he gets an SR5, he's not spending 5-10k more and it has the front end he wants.

 

Welcome Rob!

right now, the market is going to dictate what you're actually going to get. 4Runners are flying of the shelves here on the West coast. oddly, the SR5 trim level is not available in Army Green with Black softex here in SoCal.

To add the 4X4 option is $1875 extra, so I think it would be worth it in the long run. But my opinion is bias because I'm really starting to get into the adventures of Off-roading.

A 4X4 TRD Sport runs about $42K. A TRD Off-Road Premium runs about $44K (both is MSRP, before tax and licensing).

For the extra $2000, I'll just be done with it.

 

I guess I am confused, I believed he wanted the TRD Pro grille? I am with you on the SR5 in the sense that im all about getting a blank template and building to my preference.

 

I think the Sport is an odd model, not bad looking, but it just doesn't have things that add value in my opinion.

The big negative is the 2wd. Even if you don't really need it, it's worth the money just for resale. Beyond that, I don't see the point of a 2Runner, if offroad capability isn't needed a RAV4 or Highlander is probably a better choice.

I would wait to get exactly what you want, it's a lot of money to spend to settle for something.

 

He said he wanted the front end of the OR and Pro. And if he does mean the Pro grill, that's really easy on an SR5, but a big job on the Sport.

 

Makes sense now, so yeah even more reason to go SR5 if he can find it.