If you could do it all over...

Thanks for letting me join the community folks.

I'm in the process of shopping for my first 4Runner and would love your thoughts.

Back in 2019, I picked up a new Jeep Wrangler Rubicon. Rationale was that it'd hold its value best. When I ordered, I ticked every box available but one. Two years later, I sold it during lockdown and made a nice little profit before going without a vehicle for a bit. In the interim, I've been driving a too small, but fun BMW.

At one point, I realized that I missed out on some fun by going "bought, not built " with the Jeep.

I'm wondering what your thoughts are as current owners? Would you do it the same again, or change?

 

Really not many options available from Toyota on these vehicles compared to Jeep. If you want a built truck, you need to do it yourself.

 

Welcome sir!

Nice to hear you made a profit on your Jeep.
As a first time Toyota, and Runner owner brand new in 2016, I wouldn't change anything on how it played out. Funny though it took me 5 years - 2021 til I was ready to throw down 10k n start building. 2016 was last year before TRD came to Canada I believe, so I bought Trail Edition. As opposed to a new fully loaded trd pro or something, I can vouch for the pros that come with maybe buying a good shape used T4R.

 

Thanks for the input so far.

As I read through build threads, it's really looking like Off Road Premium vs. Pro. I like the 40th ann'y myself as well.

The wheels and emblems on the 40th Anniversary model look great, but my wife isn't a fan of that striping, and it's not something I want to hear comments about for years to come.

Some of the Premium builds I'm seeing are amazing.

 

If you are even slightly leaning towards a PRO, make sure you test drive it with your wife in the truck, and make sure you get on the freeway and drive it at the speeds you normally would. I'm saying this because the PRO has an exhaust noise that a lot of people hate the sound of. It would be costly to swap the exhaust system with a non PRO. Trying to save you some money here so we can help you spend it on other things for your truck!

 

Haha, smart married man. 2Toys brings up a great point.
Also breaks down to I believe ORP has KDSS, beefed up front sway bars, better handling, arguably better articulation, 1/2" wider wheels I think.
PRO is pretty pro though. Best sound system, exhaust, suspension, I believe 1" lift, trd intake, badging.

 

Precisely why I asked the question. No trim level is perfect. Swapping exhaust is the first reason I've seen not to go Pro aside from getting to choose wheel and suspension upgrades.

 

Married? Who me? Nah, but I do have a little experience!

 

I would go with a different color.

 

If you really want to do a serious build, I'd start with an SR5, or an OR. If your plans include regearing, and/or adding a front locker, I'd go with the SR5.

The manual transfer case is nice, but you still rely on actuators in the front differential so I don't really consider it a significant upgrade. The locker on the off-road is nice, but I think the aftermarket ones have advantages. And, MTS and crawl control are neat, but I would trade both for a front locker.

If I were back to square one knowing what I know now, I would probably still buy an off-road, but I would not get KDSS. It's a very cool feature for a weekend warrior in some specific situations, but eventually it becomes a limitation.

 

There are so many good options available for the 4Runner in terms of suspension, wheels, and tires - if you get a Pro you’ve let Toyota make those choices for you. As for the KDSS: the ORP is available with and without it. It is of great benefit on the street. But can be limiting if you want to lift more than 3 inches, many have said.

To answer the original question - if I could do it all over - I’d think really hard about getting a Limited for the full time 4WD and other goodies and then swapping out the bodywork, wheels, tires and suspension. Like this.

 

@2Toys lol no I meant to @Scishfottman OP

 

Get married and have babies bro

 

If you meant this for me: I WAS married a long time ago. I have three - oldest son, middle daughter, youngest son, and they are the best any father could want. I now have seven grandchildren and that is heaven on earth.

 

Wow!!

 

In my case I went straight to Limited, it has all the goodies I wanted, 7 seats, the comfort is great. In my country the Limited comes with 18 inch wheels, it helps a lot with long trips (USA Limited comes with 20 inch). I can do light offroad but bought it to drive it in the city. I have no plans to modify it. Would buy this same model again if I had the need today.
For what I read your needs are very different than mine so I recommend to study each trim.
I suggest you watch this video, you can forward to where the Master Tech recommends a trim. Let us know wich way you went, good luck.

https://youtu.be/ZDGAe8DOmck

 

couple things.

toyota not releasing voodoo blue for lower trim levels after 2019.

i think pros were in the low 50k range at the time i decided to buy. i had a couple of chances to buy a VB Pro but couldn’t get past the premium price for just color.

 

If I did it over again, I'd get an SR5. I'll never use all the 4WD gadgets. I considered trading, but new SR5s around me now are $3-5k more than I paid for my OR new, which is stupid.

If I knew of someone with a similar year/mileage SR5 that wishes they'd gotten an OR, I'd consider swapping. Not very likely, though, as my 2019 OR is just over 12k on the odo.

 

@Scishfottman - was your Rubicon 2 or 4 door?

 

There's a lot of room to "build" even on a Rubicon. A Wrangler is probably the most buildable vehicle out there.

I bought my 4R in 2019. Hindsight 20/20, I should have bought a house, damn neary ANY house, and held onto it till early 2022. Would have been a much better use of $$ than a vehicle payment.

 

I don't have any real "mods" done to my '21 Venture but I don't think I would've done it differently if I had the chance. I checked out an SR5 and the Venture at the dealership and I loved all of the off-road goodies that the Venture (based on ORP) had. Every other car in my past has been pretty cheap and basic so I was kind of excited to be in a place in my life where I could get something nice.

 

For sure! A roof over your head is more important than any frivolous vehicle. Especially the way housing has appreciated of late!

 

For sure, I see college friends of mine with multiple cars each, all modified and cool, and sometimes get envious. Then I remember I own my house and they live with their parents so I feel a little better about myself.

 

That beautiful vehicle can be taken away in a instant (accident), but you can always go home to YOUR house! Vehicles usually depreciate / houses usually appreciate!

 

For the past 40+ years I have always spent too much on fun cars. When my wife would complain I would say; in a pinch you can live in your car but you can never drive your house.

Don’t ask how that went over.

 

I absolutely love to take my buddy's Wrangler Rubicon with Xtrem Package (35in tires and some other stuff right from the factory). But I don't have that confidence of reliability on them. One time faced the sway bar disconnect not working. If I were to have a non daily driven trail rig I would definitely have a Jeep with or without factory sway bar disconnect as its no big deal to get a manual option for both.

I did love the driving feel of BMW X5. Always enough power when needed and gave me about 24mpg on my daily drive to work. I have confidence on it as a city car but never feel comfortable taking even on forest roads.

Needless to say my love for 4Runner, not only for weekend trail runs & long trips I got a 4Runner for city driving only as well.

 

Welcome!
Reality vs. Fantasy when it comes to the actual use of your vehicle. Daily driver, weekend warrior, lots of offroading? It's all a compromise. Happy Shopping!

 

Who could have predicted 2020. Completely priced out of the market in my area now.

The 4R was 6yo at the time and priced in the low 20s. I thought it was a somewhat responsible purchase at the time.

Shortly before buying the 4R I looked at a house on a whim. Did not care for the busy street it was on, it did not have a garage, and it would have been a lousy and even longer commute to work. Was otherwise a cute, move in ready small house. Was 185K in Jan 2019. Now you can't touch anything that doesn't need a total reno for under 300k. F*ck me, right?

 

Well, I think that’s kind of legit! even if it’s in a weird way lol.

Some people have more of a wandering mindset. Or view everything in life as temporary and always have a bag packed and ready to go.

And if there ever was the perfect vehicle for wandering, the 4runner has to be pretty close to being it!

 

Even though I never imagined doing as much trail and off roading as I’m doing now, I think the basic Off Road trim package I picked is the sweet spot for me. What I like most is the the factory rear locker. Because it’s an OE solution that’s had the kinks worked out by the factory, and it means I don't have to do the work of researching a locker install (I’m an over-thinker, it takes me twice as long to decide or do anything).

I’ve never been that impressed by the electronic gizmos the Off Road comes with, so I don’t think it’s a reason to seek out this trim. I’d rather have a place for a garage door opener/sunglasses. For electronic aids, A-track is good enough when paired with the rear locker.

I really like the idea @Captain Spalding mentioned…it would be epic to have a 4runner with full-time 4wd, set up for proper trail/travel/camping duty. That might be worth doing the work of installing a locker yourself. Although to be completely honest, I would really miss the 4wd shifter lever on the off-road.

Knowing the pin stripes and dents I’ve gotten makes me feel like getting a new one was a bit of a waste. Finding a nice insurance salvage 4runner…something newish with hailstorm damage, might be the perfect 4runner for me. Although I could imagine prices that
wouldn’t make having a salvage title worth it.