It’s a tense time to be a Toyota truck fan. By the end of next year, every one of the sombrero’s North American market body-on-frame models will have been replaced by full redesigns and we’re all waiting to see if they can meet long-awaited expectations. No pressure. It’s only been 15 years.
The changes are enormous for such a conservative company. The platforms are brand new. The powertrains are brand new. Big anvil-reliable fuel chuggers with 5 and 6 gear ratios are replaced by smaller-displacement turbos, hybrids, and turbo hybrids with 8 and 10 gears. They’re powerful and they still chug, but with a modicum of restraint now. Conventional wisdom said Toyota was going to do all this new-fangled technology correctly, but the Tundra has had a few teething issues and 381,000 Tacoma owners are now nervously watching their rear axles. And that’s the old Tacoma that’s been out since 2016. Hmm. Maybe wait a few model years and avoid the fleecing dealerships give to early adopters.
I already made a firm commitment to replace the Camry before the 4Runner, so I’m watching the current developments from afar. I’m at least 5 years out. That Camry replacement search, incidentally, is still ongoing. Work, weather, and travel have kneecapped it and I’m sure there are a few car salesmen at this point who don’t want to see me around again until I’m ready to play foursquare.
My Toyota service department is happy to see me, however, because I just paid them to replace brake pads at all four corners of our 2016 4Runner and I even threw some extra money their way for a rental car for the day. And what did they rent me? A 2024 4Runner with a $50,000 window sticker. This allowed me to answer a few questions banging around my head: what’s changed on the 4Runner in 8 model years (not much), and if I were shopping for my 4WD SUV today, would I still take a 4Runner home?
About that $50K price tag; it seems like a lot. Because it is. Consider, though, this is an upper-middle trim with some nice features and it is assembled on the other side of the planet in a country with high labor costs. Inflation has a role as well: the price of my SR5 hasn’t changed since 2016 if you adjust for it.
This 2024 is a TRD Off-Road Premium. It’s the trim I wanted but refused to pony up for 8 years ago, when it was known as the Trail. It is really the same thing as my SR5, but with a locking differential, some automated off road crawl modes, and a few more creature comforts. It feels like they recalibrated the brake pedal to be more responsive, the transmission to shift a tad more smoothly, and there’s a bit more acoustic matting on the firewall and hood to mask the grumbly engine. All good things. The Lunar Rock paint is the best grey I’ve seen on a mainstream vehicle (how do you make a grey rich and radiant?), and the coolest 4Runner color since Cavalry Blue. I like this thing.
The extra frosting makes a difference. The sunroof is nice if you can afford the loss of headroom, the synthetic leather seats feel price-appropriate, the gauge cluster and infotainment screen are updated (but still outdated), and this one had a heated steering wheel that I didn’t know was essential to my wellbeing until now. Headlights are now LED, there’s adaptive cruise and lane departure and blind spot monitoring so the car can beep and flash at you and be a general pain in the ass. Sparkly black plastic replaces the SR5’s faux aluminum on the dash face and console. That’s a lateral move. The faux aluminum shows scratches, but the black shows disgusting finger oil smudges. There have long been better hard materials that could be employed here, but Toyota is sticking with this stuff.
On the way to work, it struck me that this is still a nice vehicle if you don’t require a squishy dashboard and aren’t motivated by the latest tech. It wields a few timeless and fundamental core strengths: road noise is nearly non-existent on the stock tires, wind noise is reasonable, it rides well enough, steers pleasantly, and shrugs off the crappiest pavement with impunity. It has a vaguely imperial character from behind the wheel, with exceptional sightlines and good isolation from the outside world. It is right-sized, feeling substantial and secure while being more maneuverable than something like a Tahoe or F-150. When flowing along at this ride height, smothering potholes while being coddled by heated seats and steering wheel, I felt mighty fine. The sound system is still lousy and fuel economy is poor, but I’m still fond of this vehicle and it doesn’t feel a day over ten. Maybe eleven.
Which leads us to the second question: how does this stack up against its modern 2024 competition? In 2016 I couldn’t find a direct competitor to it. Eight years later I still can’t. What other fixed roof offroad SUVs exist for $50K?
The closest comps are tangential. A Wrangler equipped like this 4Runner is sixty grand and is far more compromised as a daily driver. A similar Bronco is closer to fifty grand. It rides and handles better than the Jeep, but the interior plastics and dashboard design are truly abysmal, and, like the Wrangler, it is loud and packaging is compromised by the rollbar structures. Grand Cherokee? The $50K Limited is a very nice roadgoing wagon, but the old Pentastar is a disappointing choice for the price and if you want low range gearing and usable ground clearance it’ll cost you $66K minimum for the 4xe Trailhawk. That one has a complex turbo-hybrid-plugin drivetrain and air suspension from the reliability wizards at Fiat-Chrysler. You can guess what a Toyota boy thinks of that.
Too much fun for me; I need more space from my SUV.
Ugly and shockingly cheap. For years people made fun of the 4Runner’s hard plastic dashboard. Then this landed after a blizzard of hype, and no one said a word.
Pilot Trailsport? Another very nice softroader but that’s all it is, and the same underwhelming formula is applied to similar versions of the Explorer, Telluride, and Pathfinder. Land Rover Defender? Very capable, very cool, but it begins at $62K with a 2.0-liter turbo four. It’s a vehicle I’d be afraid to lease for a commute, much less rely upon to take my family forty miles from pavement. It’s also thirsty, overcomplicated, and has the cargo space of an RAV4 despite its heft and bulk.
Blown front air suspension. I don’t even trust Toyota with this technology.
And that’s really it. If I were shopping today, as I was in 2016, for a reliable, well-packaged family wagon that can handle rough roads and still be comfortable on pavement, the 4Runner is still the only choice. Weird. I was certain someone else would fill this gap by now.
The only competition will soon come from the Toyota showroom itself. The new downsized Land Cruiser. Such a peculiar, head-scratcher of a vehicle. It’s now the same size as the current 4Runner, has the same boxy 5-door body-on-frame format, and its pricing starts just above where the 4Runner presently ends. I was intrigued by the early specs, but once the $57K starting price was announced I became skeptical.
Given this shape and size, I’d have thought it the new 4Runner.
If you explore that entry-level “1958” edition on the Toyota website, what do you see? A loss in ground clearance and approach/departure angles. No roof rails. Three greyscale exterior color choices, none of which approach the Lunar Rock of my rental. A dour grey interior with 6-way manual seats, and a cheapo 60:40 split seatback that doesn’t fold anywhere near flat. Judging from pictures, if the cargo hold isn’t 25% smaller than the 4Runner I will be surprised. The door panels and arm “rests” are hard unpadded plastic in the launch reviews. Picky? Yes, for good reason. Basic seat cranks and hard contact points are fine and dandy in a truck, but $57K ain’t no basic price. The 4Runner has dual power seats (8 way on the driver side), comfortable places to rest left and right arms, a standard roof rail system, sunroof, more color options, and a rare 40:20:40 folding rear seatback I’ve found remarkably useful over the years.
The tweed cloth looks promising. The ratchet handle that lifts up only the back of the seat, dumping you toward the steering wheel, does not.
Circular outboard vents, blocky design, and that specific tone of grey give it a distinct mid-80s to early-90s Land Cruiser vibe.
What does that extra $7K get you over the 4Runner? The big mechanical changes. The standard LC powertrain is a 2.4-liter turbo four-cylinder hybrid that makes over 400 lb-feet of torque (vs. 278 in the 4Runner), paired to a full-time 4WD system with two locking differentials. The new chassis and suspension will likely improve road manners and I’m guessing real world towing performance is going to go through the roof. Those are large, potentially transformative changes, and they’re not coming cheap.
326 horsepower, 465 lb-ft of torque, EPA rating of 22/27 city/hwy. All those numbers are so much better than my 4Runner’s.
Inside, the dashboard looks to be made of better materials and the onboard technology is far more contemporary. Still, seven grand is a big jump and after 15 years of amortizing costs and raking in profits faster than Peter hauling in fish, I kind of expect a brand new vehicle to blow the old one into the weeds without such a price premium. The ancient 4Runner remains surprisingly appealing.
The $57K starting price does give space for a new 4Runner to slot beneath. There are no confirmed details on that vehicle that I can see other than an expected 2025 debut, but if Toyota is going to sell two similar brand-new SUVs with price overlap at the extremes, it will be interesting to see how they manage to differentiate them. Stingier interior appointments and a decontented powertrain seem inevitable. Who knows how they’ll do that to the interior when the current base $43K 4Runner comes with some niceties the $57K LC lacks.
This is a biggie. Full time 4WD for the crossover-conditioned, and two locking differentials for the off road purists.
Mechanically, though, the new Tacoma’s part-time 4WD and 2.4-liter turbo non-hybrid four cylinder seem more than likely. That drivetrain is a big step down in power and fuel economy over the LC, but it will still be a nicer subjective experience than the old V6. The highest Tacoma trim ($52K+ now, if you can believe it) will receive the LC’s turbo hybrid and full-time 4WD as an option for 2024. If the spendiest redesigned 4Runner does as well, I don’t see how they avoid price overlap with the base LC. Since that top-trim 4Runner is likely to have power seats, leatherette, and some real color options, it could be a nicer-feeling cabin than the base LC while carrying the same powertrain. That’ll be a confusing thing to see on the same showroom floor. Perhaps Toyota planned this Land Cruiser to have a bigger presence globally than in the US and therefore expects a new 4Runner to outsell it 5:1 here.
I prefer the pop-up back glass to the power tailgate window in my 4R, which serves only to pull exhaust into the cabin when underway and then break outside warranty (which mine is about to do).
I’m interested to see how this plays out because at some point I’ll want to replace our 4Runner with a new one, but it has to meet the same objectives. We won’t be doing it any time soon. There’s nothing outside a Toyota dealership that can replace it, and the future within looks a bit mixed… and expensive. After 8 years of depreciation, just trading “up” to my rental 4Runner would be a $25K proposition. Twenty-five grand for the same vehicle, but with a reset odometer. That’s about as dumb a move as shopping seriously for a used Audi, and since I’m already engaged in that hubris I will be keeping the ‘ol red gal for a while and hope that Toyota hasn’t soured the formula by the time I do want to replace it. I can say this, however: if I needed a Toyota SUV today, I wouldn’t buy that $57K Land Cruiser with its cost-cut furnishings and compromised interior packaging when this $50K 4Runner ($47K if you go for the SR5 Premium) is still available. The new vehicle should be the easy choice, but it isn’t. After 15 years of waiting, that is a bit disappointing.
The latest trend towards having cars and trucks in roughly the color of drywall does nothing for me. I’m so done with gray – how about some real colors.
I normally agree, but this is an incredible grey.
Can’t believe I just wrote that, but here we are.
Agree, Tom. But since the colour czars have clamped down and you absolutely positively can’t have colour, this might do. As greys go, it’s a nice grey. I can’t put my finger on the how and why of it, but somehow it doesn’t look like they just skipped the colour coat and glossed over the primer.
Besides, depending where you go offroad, it might not show the dust.
I completely hear you. It’s unfortunate because I like Toyota and would be hesitant to leave the brand.
I guess your saving grace here is they sold a TON of 4Runners in this run so finding a used example would not be hard.
Last weekend I was cruising my ’21 Tacoma through the lot and the salesman asked if I wanted to test drive their demo ’24 Tacoma. No, I’m good for awhile.
I think my saving grace is the mere 82,000 miles on the clock of my 2016. It’s got a while.
I’ll be watching the turbo and hybrid experiment with great interest. I wouldn’t say no to the Tacoma’s 2.4T in the 4Runner if it had a proven track record. Luckily I can wait.
If you occasionally need the capability of a TRUE SUV, and want a reliable mid-sized vehicle the 4Runner (and Lexus GX) has for years been the only choice.
I hope the new one, whenever it arrives, delivers the goods.
The featured car is, in essence, the new GX. Perhaps the Lexus version gets a nicer interior.
The GX also gets a twin turbo V6 instead of a turbo four hybrid.
The GX is also priced fairly close to the new LC, $64K to start vs $57K.
“I hope the new one, whenever it arrives, delivers the goods”
Me too. If the 2.4T is reliable and they keep the size, packaging, and off road capabilities of the current 4Runner at a price class below the Land Cruiser, it should be good. The new Tacoma’s ugly, but it otherwise seems to deliver.
I don’t like the blocky plastic interior design. The dash looks very 1980’s GM.
Example
One more time
HaHa. Most amusing. I have (own) a 2005 LX470 (aka a luxury version Toyota Land Cruiser) with a classically bulletproof Toyota cast iron block V8 bolted to a solid dead reliable transfer case and an equally bulletproof antediluvian 5 speed automatic that I bought coming off someone’s lease. This truck has survived multiple Northern Ohio salty winters, still looks good with minimal rust, has solid frame rails, proving it to be an outstanding vehicle that I plan to keep long into the foreseeable future. Tell me why, if that is possible, that I should want any newer truck, Toyota or otherwise, especially powered by a “turbo”. Again, thank you for a most amusing article convincing me again of the merits of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”
Exactly! I have a 2014 4Runner, and it has been dead reliable, with the notable exception of rust through on the rear hatch and the damnable “improvement” of no transmission dipstick. Otherwise, it has been a great ride, one that I will not part with.
The new crop of SUVs, now apparently including Toyota, have gone the route of smaller, turbocharged engines, with greatly increased complexity and dubious longevity and no apparent gains in fuel economy, In fact, it may be worse. Case in point: the new Bronco. All Ford offers is small turboed engines with impressive power ratings, but try to get to the engine. Worst of all, it requires premium fuel to produce that power and run smoothly. The price difference was over 60 cents at Costco last time I filled up. Where is the economy in that?? All this for either “bragging rights” or a small decrease in emissions or cost for the manufacturers. Add complex transmissions (no CVTs thank goodness). It’s bad enough the current generation of 4Runners has increased in base price by 30% over 8 years, but at least you get a good, proven, reliable truck.
Toyota might have held out, but they have succumbed to this mindset, with all their vehicles. No doubt Toyota will do it better, but do we really need this “advance?” No wonder the prices of older SUVs have skyrocketed.
We knew that Brougham as a lifestyle had petered out when this vehicle showed up.
The Shark had jumped. These Toyotas are the SUV equivalent, in my opinion.
The market in 5 year will probably be almost all hybrid and BEV. The recently announced Rivian R2 might actually be the closest thing to a 4runner when it comes out in 2 years. The market seems to have decided the don’t want to really play in the offroader SUV arena and left it for Toyota and Jeep to fight it out.
I’m a bit of an edge case, but the Rivian would use to much of its battery charge just getting to the start of the dirt roads I’d use it on.
I don’t mind the concept of hybridizing a 4×4 like the 4Runner. The power and economy figures for the new Land Cruiser are enviable, and the 4.0-liter V6 is a coarse enough engine that I wouldn’t miss it.
It’s interesting you mention amortization: I’m pretty sure Toyota don’t care. To explain, this vehicle is a replacement for the Landcruiser Prado in other parts of the world, and THAT vehicle is essentially a re-work of a 2002 release! The Prado is also reworked into the (just replaced) Lexus GX. Now, sure, they’ve put in more safety stuff, and some panel changes, and some mechanical upgrades, but can you even begin to imagine how much money Toyota has made from that platform?!
The Prado is particularly popular in Australia, even with a selling price of a mind-boggling $75K+AUD. The REAL (full-fat) Landcruiser 300 starts way over $100k, and I believe the waiting list is so long that Toyota Aus closed the books for now. It’s madness, but what else are you going to get?
I generally trust Toyota to do their engineering work thoroughly – their ethical work is another issue – so the replacement Prado and 300 series should be wholly reliable turbos n’ all, but I also know Toyota DO like to gouge, whenever possible. Perhaps they think their name for quality justifies it, and because it’s largely true, we all have to endure it – and I’ll hazard a good guess your replacement for the 4-Runner will indeed be from the amortization specialists themselves, when that day comes.
I mentioned it in a comment below, but Toyota’s current profits are up 100% and projected to be well over $30 billion for their current fiscal year. They are minting it, especially on these vehicles.
” this one had a heated steering wheel that I didn’t know was essential to my wellbeing until now. ”
Isn’t that the way with technology sometimes?! I never knew I needed an icemaker in my refrigerator until I had one. Now I can’t imagine living without it.
“adaptive cruise and lane departure and blind spot monitoring so the car can beep and flash at you and be a general pain in the ass. ”
Preach it, brother! When we bought our Highlander a few years ago, I specifically sought out a 2016 because it was the last year without all that stuff. Apparently, my feelings about technology are conflicted.
My cousin recently bought a new 2023 4Runner TRD. If you like the traditional 4Runner with the naturally aspirated V6, it seems like a wise move at this point. I appreciate all the detailed look you gave of the new LC and prospective changes to the 4Runner. I hadn’t looked at it in as much detail, but I have had the general impression that all the changes might not be very appealing to the type of buyer who would want a 4Runner. We’ll see what they come up with.
I’m not loving the new LC styling so far, but if the 4Runner loses the runny mascara front styling, that will be a good thing.
Random thoughts:
– I think it’s interesting that Toyota released the Land Cruiser version before the 4Runnner version. It’s almost as if they’re encouraging folks who are sceptical about 4 cylinder turbo’s to get the “last of the V6’es”. Of course, as a 3rd Gen Tacoma owner, I think it’s amazing that the 4Runner still has the 4.0 liter V6 and 5 speed auto vs 3.5 liter and 6 speed auto that was in the Tacoma from 2016 to 2023. The 4Runner skipped an entire generation of pickup for the first time since its introduction in 1984 (yes, I understand it really isn’t based on the pickup anymore).
– the 4 cylinder turbo powertrain and new transmission has gotten very good reviews in the Tacoma. I don’t think people will actually miss the V6.
– my first year 3rd Gen Taco has been troublefree over 90K miles, except for a few nagging bugs. But mechanically 100% solid.
– as a former 80 Series LC owner, I think full time AWD is awesome on these serious off-roaders and despite a few dabbles with it in certain trims of the 4th Gen T4R and the FJ Cruiser, I think it should be standard on every Toyota 4wd.
Thanks for the loaner review and thoughts. I’d keep what you have. Until the R2S is available.
My impression is that the Tacoma has been primarily a North American phenomenon, with a lighter, slighly lower-duty chassis compared to the HiLux, Prado, Fortuner, and 4Runner. The 3.5 + 6spd strikes me as a way of getting another 1-2mpg in the crucial EPA rating here. The 4.0 + 5spd is still found in the Fortuner and Prado elsewhere. So I guess I’m not surprised the North American cousin kept it.
I’m fully ready to let go of the 4.0-liter and 5spd. I have no durability concerns whatsoever–which is big–but I don’t like the NVH and the broad gear ratios. I think you’re right that the 2.4 turbo will be a fine replacement for most.
When we were in Mexico a few years ago (drove down in our Tacoma) I saw far more Tacoma’s, including new 3rd gen’s, than late model Hiluxes, even though at the time both were available new in the country. I didn’t check, but I assume the Hilux was more expensive and/or diesel was considered less desirable. Of course Tacoma’s, including mine, are built right there and I think the Hilux was a Japanese import.
and it is assembled on the other side of the planet in a country with high labor costs
I know that’s a common perception but labor costs in Japan are actually much lower. A search for Japanese automotive assembler wages ranges from $13k to $20k, based on experience (reflecting current exchange rates).
And on a related note, Toyota just announced its profit for the first 9 months of its fiscal year $26 billion, up some 100% from the previous comparable period in 2023.
Toyota is generating absolutely massive profits, thanks to the low yen but also its ability to raise prices substantially without hurting demand. When I see the prices on these glorified pickup-SUVs, all I can see is incredible profit margins.
Japan has GDP per capita of only $39,000 and at the moment exchange rates make exports from Japan very profitable.
Japan missed many years of growth during its long recession of the 1990s and this has led to their relatively low GDP per capita.
Japan once had a reputation for being outrageously expensive. Nothing could be further from the truth at the moment. My son is there at the moment and a very nice little apartment is Y40k a month, or about C$365. Prices in Japan are pretty much the same as when I was living there in the 1990s.
Didn’t realize the labor costs were so low, thanks for the correction.
re: profit margins. It’s interesting how successful they’ve been on the Tacoma and 4Runner here. Because other automakers ceded the market to Toyota, and Toyota has kept the core appeal of the vehicles for the target buyers, they can sell for original MSRP + inflation for twice the typical redesign cycle.
If I was in the market for an SUV, the current 4Runner would be the only contender. Complexity is the long term killer for durability/reliability, I am talking about beyond 250k miles btw.
New tech is mostly gimmicks and is the chrome and tailfins of this generation, and will age even worse than styling faux pas.
Cranky middleaged guy 2 cents
Agreed, all the turbos and 3 and 4 cyl powertrains are trouble waiting to happen, I’d stick with the V6 and 5 speed auto if buying, and am considering doing so, with a 2-3 year old one with low-ish miles as we usually do. Our Denver daughter recently traded their 2018 Tundra TRD for a 2021 4Runner TRD, and bought a 2020 Rav4 last year when she lost her company car on “retirement” to run her own business. All 3 have been and are so-far rock solid and hopefully will last until all the mini-turbo 4 cyl hybrids are ironed out, if any one can pull it off it’s Toyota.
I do like the new more back-to-basics LC over the over-big over-priced over-luxurious and porky discontinued previous V8 LC version, but it should be priced in the low 40s to start and for the current asking money I’d certainly take the time-proven 4R while it’s available in present V6 5 spd form.Someone needs to bring back a no-frill functional and capable 4wd like the Xterra or their version thereof. we’re looking at you Nissan!
The market has spoken, and the number of people who are interested in owning a V-6, BOF SUV that gets 17mpg combined is dwindling. Toyota wants volume and market share.
I’m certainly not lamenting the loss of 17mpg combined, but spending another $12,000 in base MSRP to get a fuel economy improvement is an unappealing way to do it. And the new Tacoma powertrain likely to end up in the 4Runner is still only getting 20mpg combined.
I think my main point is that the high pricing and mixed feature set of the new Land Cruiser worries me a bit. It leaves the door open for a redesiged 4Runner to also be overpriced and decontented in some areas I find important. After 15 years, I expect it to be clearly superior to its predecessor without a giant markup.
Regarding volume and market share, I’m not sure who they could steal it from since no one sells something like the 4Runner. Probably the only reason it stuck around. A new one could probably could chip away at some Bronco and Wrangler Unlimited sales, or steer a few Passport or Pathfinder buyers, but seems limited. The unibody crossover segment is immensely competitive and they’d risk stealing from the Highlander or RAV4 if they went too far that way.
The joke is that, according to Scotty Kilmer and some others, apparently many of the 4 cyl turbo versions of several previously V6 models and the new turbo V6 version of the formerly V8 Tundra are reporting gas mileage figures that are no better and sometime worse that their older iterations, and there’s no doubt the more complex and harder working smaller engines won’t have the previous durability and longevity… and towing? Fugeddaboudit!
I can understand the desire and need for AWD or real 4WD if someone lives in areas of snow and inclement weather. I can also understand it being useful if you drive on unimproved roads in the “country” for hunting, camping, access to a backwoods cabin, or heavy towing. Currently, off road capabilities are stylish in a “macho” vein. I wonder how many owners actually use these capabilities. Of course, I support a buyers right to buy whatever they want to, it’s their money. I’m a long way from an early adopter of any technology, and worry about the reliability of tech in new cars over a reasonable lifespan. I guess that I’m like a car buyer in the late ’50’s who looked at all the chrome and fins and wondered if there were any real improvements in the new cars. Luckily I have lots of alternatives available on the used car market.
Thanks for this article. Like you, I’m watching current developments from afar. In my case, I’m 2 years or so away from buying a new vehicle, but I can’t help but think what will be interesting when I’m eventually ready. (And with the combination of inflation and a diminishing number of products that actually interest me, I’m looking forward to our next car-buying adventure about as much as I look forward to looming surgery.)
The new Land Cruiser interests me in theory, but it’s just too expensive, and nothing that you’ve mentioned here is nearly enough to prompt me to spend $57k for one. The “ancient 4Runner” holds more appeal.
It will be very interesting to see how Toyota juggles these two vehicles in their lineup.
I am super curious as to how the new Cruiser appears price wise once it shows up. It looks like an attractive choice but maybe it may just not have the old school Toyota goodness that the 4Runner represents. I would say if I was out all the time in the bush it would be hard to rule out the current 4Runner. Probably a better choice than a Bronco for 95% of off-road tasks.
It’s been a winter of freeze/ thaw/ mud and ice up here. My daughter got the F-150 stuck-ish but I got it out by using the lockers and a lot of pedal. I rescued a friend’s Cummins last week with the F-150 sort of redeeming itself. I really have been preferring the CrossTrek for the mild off-roading. The light weight got it through the exact same spot that stopped the F-150. Not a rock crawler by any means but if Toyota wants to bring out something lightweight they would have my attention.
Interesting. Does Toyota need to split the Land Cruiser and 4Runner lines still further, and offer a back-to-basics no-nonsense toughie for those whose life and work really requires such a beast (like you, Petrichor), while also offering something with all the latest hybrid electrotech for those who use it primarily as a commuter vehicle occasionally taken offroad?
I remember going on an outback tour years ago in a high-end Land Cruiser 100. The 200 had been out a year or so, and our driver said other outback tour operators she knew were buying up old 100s as the 200s weren’t as tough as the old 100 in the kind of use they needed it for. When it may be several hundred kilometres between towns, you want something basic and uncomplicated, that doesn’t need all of a dealer’s workshop facilities to fix if it goes kablooie.
And it absolutely, positively has to have a diesel. For the rest of the world, if not North America. When Nissan replaced the Patrol with what was essentially the Y62 Armada, sales plummeted. Not only was it bigger and more complex, but it only came with a thirsty petrol V8. It sounds lovely, but…
Of course, a decade before when the 100 series came out, they were all buying up old 80 series, because, you know, solid axles. And a decade before they were buying up 60 series – leaf springs. The back-to-basics 3rd world Hilux Champ which was recently announced has attracted a lot of attention among US Toyotaphiles.
…the synthetic leather seats feel price-appropriate.
Synthetic leather, like “Creme,” has never had any relationship with a real cow.
It might share some genetic relationship to the Nauga, of hyde fame.
Yeah, but a lot of automotive “leather” below a steep pricepoint is even worse in my mind.. The synthetics seem to hold up better and still feel nicer than what passes for cloth nowadays. Gimme 80s velour any day, but since that’s no longer available
My niece and her husband bought one of these about 11 years ago when they were expecting their first child. I thought it was an unusual choice, because although they live in a very winter city, they never do anything that would require off road capabilities. I would have thought a Highlander would suit them better. Their other vehicle was a well used Jetta, which was replaced a few years latter by a new Jetta. The reasoning became clear the next summer when they bought a ski boat with an inboard motor. Towing capacity!!!
As far as I know they are not planning to replace it soon, but it will be interesting to see what they choose. They now have 3 boys. Her husband got a full sized pickup last year after their new Jetta was totaled in a collision with a deer.
Thank you for a great write up & thorough review of this market segment. It’s my next main shopping segment & honestly there’s not a lot of choice, I have to agree with your findings wholeheartedly. I could consider the TNGA-F midsize offerings, and am with LC & GX. I definitely want to see what the 25 4Runner has to offer. Of course will check out a Taco too.
But for competition, really nobody offers anything similar. I might consider other “SUV’s” but most are 3 row family movers, not applicable to my situation. The explorer is nice as is the TX but I don’t need a 3 row bus (even if both are on my shopping list). Beyond those, the Bronco (or Wrangler) is an obvious choice for a dude & his dog, but without a fixed roof, just as you show, everything else, especially long distance on road comfort, is compromised. Even my Ford sales dude with a Bronco agrees.
Midsize trucks at least have competition, so I could choose a Ranger instead of a Taco, but midsize pickups have space compromises of their own with greater lengths to accommodate a separate passenger compartment & box. I could move up to a full-size pickup (or SUV for that matter) to truly give me the space I want for myself as driver, which works great on the highway, but then is unmanageable in the city. I’m surprised more makes don’t see the trade off the 4 runner makes & implement their own fixed roof competitors.