I call mine a truck all the time and refer to others' Runners as trucks also. No matter what year. They ARE based on the trucks, not one of the cars.

 

i know not to mention jeeps hate them as much as the next but would you consider a cherokkee a truck even though its a unibody but has solid axles. wat about a nissan armada irs and ifs but has a frame borrowed from the titan trucks

 

in my lingo there are cars and trucks. there's no need for any more complication. the word 'truck' sounds more rugged than 'car' so 4Runners are called trucks while vans are referred to as cars. if i'm referring to a prettied-up girly 4Runner, i'll call it a car. any vehicle that should have a big Milwaukee's Best can fall on it will be deemed a 'car'.

 

trucks haul stuff not people

 

I have to bring this one up...
What about the Honda Ridgeline? It's called a truck and has a bed but also a uni-body frame???

 

even the brand new 4 door soccer mom 4runners are more truck than that thing
IFS/IRS/UNIBODY its basically a crossover

 

i just call it my 4runner, i know its a truck tho : )

 

They are a truck until you get to the 4th Gen. Then they are a soccer mom vehicle. I had a boss that bought a 2004 4-runner for a survey vehicle. He ripped so much plastic off that thing and got hung up so many times it was funny. It even has all the fancy traction system and rear locker in it. What a waste of money and materials. What was Toyota thinking.