I know, but at least toyota does the recall, besides honda, I can't think of any other company that would put out such good recalls, and take care of there customers as well as Toyota does.

 

yes yes let the proffesional driver that took that 2010 4runner through the rubicon trail take mine i would bet it does about the same but let me throw this into the mix.... my 3rd gen fell down on her passanger side at the springs in trenton tennessee and slid about 9 ft on her side... all i did was winch her back over change the oil, the plugs reconnect the battery and drove it through the remainder of the trail then an hour and a half home with no problems. body damage was minimal the approx cost to repair by colision specialists was 1650..... if the 2010 4runner can do that i would give you the title to my truck! i have sense had no mechanical issues at all with my runner none

 

By the looks of the 4Runner in those pictures it pretty much WAS dragged on its side through the Rubicon Trail. That sucks that she flopped, but im sure many vehicles can do that too. Im not bashing your truck whatsoever, thats awesome that you got out pretty luckily man. They do say in the article though that they drove it another 700 miles home after they got done beating the effing snot out of that 4Runner...If i was rich and could afford to take a new 4Runner out and thrash it, i would soooo take you up on that offer haha

Important thing to remember tho...WE ALL LOVE TOYOTA!!!!

 

haha right on brother yea i should really get to updating that picture under my name my 4runner looks different now it just doesnt do it justice

to be honest guys as far as being rugged and built more for off road i think alot of yota fans who can afford brand new vehicles are turnin to the fj and the taco not the 4runner=(

 

They call you Mr. Speedy for a reason I see. I agree with the point you make on the minimalist interior. I believe that would be more fitting for this type of vehicle.

In terms of power though, when Toyota first started selling SUV's in this Country you could get an FJ40 with about 120hp. I think even the Land Cruiser was only pushing about 140 hp originally. The point is that Toyota has progressed nicely in the power department. I would respectfully suggest that you may not be representative of the typical buyer with your power requirements.

It's really all for sake of argument on my part. I can't picture spending 40K on a vehicle to abuse it the way I do my 3rd gen. I actually use this thing in the mud and off the beaten path while pulling my boats. My next vehicle will probably be a lower mileage 4th gen. No body will want one now but me. Maybe I can get a deal.

 

Before I get started, let me say I am a huge Yota fan and have been raised with Yotas.
To me the problem goes much deeper than the 4Runner. Toyota really screwed up when they decided to become the largest automaker in the US. Funny how they are claiming how many toyotas are still on the road. This is because they USED to pride themselves on being the best built vehicle on the road. Now they are just competing to be another of the "big three" I guess they are the new Chrysler er Fiat... I remember when the 3rd gens were coming out, they were a bit more expensive than the domestics in its class but it was a given that you were getting a better product. It may be me but I just don't see that anymore. To me they have almost flip-flopped with Ford. Ford now is paying a lot more attention to interior materials, feel etc while I could totally see the current tundra interior in a early 2000s F-150 with the huge plastic knobs and buttons. They have succeeded their goal in becoming the largest automaker in the us, which now makes them the target of Washington DC. It will be interesting to see where things are going to go from here. Hopefully they will go back to their old ways of making something better. This happened to Audi in the early 90s with false accusations of idiot drivers trying to make a buck. Their "crime"? A brake pedal that was too small and a gas pedal that was too large. This for some reason made people mat the throttle thinking it was the brake. It almost drove Audi out of the US. I don't think that will happen with Toyota, I can only hope its a reality check to go back to their old ways...

 

You may be right. I'm a hot rod kinda guy and am probably not your atypical buyer.

I personally wouldn't take a brand new 4Runner to any serious off road places where damage could occur. Heck I don't take my 8 year old 3rd gen to places where it can get damaged. I just love it too much to abuse it.

I'm planning to go test drive a 5th gen so I can report back some real experience with it rather than how I "think" it is.

 

I didn't read every post in this thread but I love the new 4Runner and even with no V8 it's going in a better direction than with the 4th gens IMO and cost over the years really hasn't changed.

Speedy,how much did your '02 cost new? Then figure in the cost of your SC and all your fuel upgrades and I bet your Runner new would cost more than a loaded 5th gen TE and it even in stock trim will go further off road than your truck.
I know you like power (I do too as I drove a Eclipse that tore Vipers new boo-holes) but do you really need a tall truck that goes 14 flat in the 1/4? Hardly and mid 15s is fine for a real SUV. Really,where would 400hp in a 4Runner really help you except at the strip and how many people buy their 4runners to drag race with.
Plus I bet it would be cheaper for most folks to insure a 4Runner vs a 400hp challenger.

My '99 almost cost $36k in late '98 and you can get a TE for easily under $40k so really it hasn't increased too much 12 years later and while IMO it's not quite built to fit and finish as a 3rd gen it has alot more goodies to make off road ready right off the showroom floor. (it does need better tires for actual off road adventures)

Yeah,no V8 but Toyota has refocused the 4Runner for the most part and will lose sales to those who want V8 power and more towing capacity but I personally am glad they returned with a real TE model (I don't really care for the Limited and the Sr5 doesn't really excite me) and would consider one in the next few years but for now my '99 does the job.

I think we should be happy they still make a 4Runner with sales as low as they've gotten(hard to compete with more unibody street friendly SUVs that dominate sales) and the economy has been Toyota could've easily pulled the plug and is one of the very few SUV that still resembles the definition of an SUV that used to put 4wd capablities as a priority.

 

X-Awd, I agree with you. There will always be whiners no matter what. Usually those that have not driven one and/or cannot even afford one. Once again, I love the new 4Runner and hope to be able to afford one someday.

 

Eh, I think on paper the new 4runner looks great. Well, the TE anyway. Good power, great options, locker again. Plus the TE doesn't sport that hideous body kit. I'm really not a huge fan of the design but I do prefer it to the fourth gen. The fourth gen felt too feminine to me, design wise. But I think the 5th gen doesn't quite hit the mark either. Alot of people complain about no flip down tailgate but in my opinion the roll down rear window is much more representative of a 4runner as it's been a trait for far longer. I'm glad to see they carried that over as well as the hood scoop on the TEs, as silly as it might be. If I was in the market and had $40k to spend? I'd buy a CPO Landcruiser over the 5th gen. It's still capable and doesn't look like poop. Kinda like the 3rd gen Runners. Just my 2 cents.

 

I bought my 02 used (in 03) with 12K miles on it, and I think I paid $23K for it, but looking online it appears the MSRP was $29K for an SR5 4WD 2002 model. I got my supercharger brand new off Ebay for $2K and $1K for my fuel upgrades, so $3K in mods.

So I have $26K total invested. That's about $10K less than the 2010 5th gen, but I know what you're trying to say and agree the price hasn't gone up all that much over the years.

However as part of that it appears quality has slipped as of late and some of that could be due to cost cutting measures where QA is concerned.

I did add the TRD wheels, custom powder coated tube steps, and a sport hood, but those were just cosmetic things I chose to do.



No body is whining. I'm just expressing my opinion that the new 5th gen isn't all that great compared to my 8 year old 3rd gen....and it SHOULD blow mine out of the water. If I wanted a 5th gen, I could buy one no problem...I just personally don't like it from what I've seen thus far so I'll keep my money in my pocket and keep driving my 3rd gen. That's bad for Toyota. After 8 years they should have added enough upgrades to said vehicle to make me want to take my wallet out to buy one, and I don't even go off road, so I should be an EASY sell!

I will say this....a couple of you have said you don't think more horse power is really necessary. Well, it's not, really, it just makes the vehicle MUCH more enjoyable to drive when you don't have to plan lane changes or highway merging 10 minutes in advance.

Stock I had to really give my 3rd gen a lot of gas to merge on the highway and even then it was still a chore. My blower setup added 100 RWHP and now I can EASILY merge on the highway with half throttle and not think a thing about it.

Big SUVs need power to move them around. This will not only make them more enjoyable to drive, but also give them better fuel economy. There's no problem offering piddly 4 cyls and decent powered V6s, but an option for a nice potent V8 for those of us that want one and have the money for it should be available or a nice supercharger upgrade like was available for the 3rd gen.

 

MSRP might have been $29k but real world dealer prices I'm sure were over $35k out the door (my mom's '99 Limited stickered $38k) so prices really are holding plus you got get the electronic goodies that make an amateur off roader a much better one and safer too.
I drove a TE last week and it felt fine at 75mph and passing at that speed was no issue as 85mph showed up pretty quick but then again everything feels quick compared to my non-SC'd 3rd gen.

People are complaning about the lack of a few things from the last gen but alot was all in the name of cost cutting and the V8 was the casualty plus these decisions were made back when gas was $4/gal and the V8 didn't make sense and if you look at the last several years of 4th gens the V6 was the popular choice by almost 3 to 1.

This was the TE I drove at the dealer last week and it was priced at just over $38k but I'm hearing they've been going out the door a bit cheaper for the savvy buyer.
I like the look as they seem at least in the looks dept. a progression of the 3rd gen's more truck-like appearance compared to the 4th gen.

 

Well, that may be because the V6 actually put out more power than the V8 if I remember correctly. They may have updated that at a later time, but when I was shopping on 2003 the V6 was 245HP and the V8 was 235.

Also, if Toyota could only get 235HP out of a 4.7L V8 well.....

Ok, went back and looked up the new performance figures - 2009 V6 = 236HP where the V8 is 260. I doubt many people would pay extra for a 260HP V8. The torque was a bit better on the V8, but still not by enough.

The new Tundra 5.7L is more in line and would be a great match in the 4Runner. It gets 14/18 mpg city/hwy in the 5100 lbs Tundra. It would get a bit better in the 4Runner.

I was poking through some options on a 5th Gen 4Runner and found a couple of things that are at issue.

You can't get the hood scoop on anything but the TE.

You can't get leather seats in the TE.

You can't get the locker in the SR5.

Most importantly, I don't really care for the looks. Especially the TE wheels. Those are awful and frankly look cheap.

 

I think you're missing the point of the 4Runners. They were never meant to be a sporty on-road suv. This is evident from many features, such as solid axles, removable top, rear locker, etc. Now, the 4th Gen, they made more on-road friendly, and IMO, it's the most on-road friendly and sporty generation to date. V8, XREAS, huge wheels. But they (Toyota) got some sense knocked into them and they are going back to it's off-road based suv. They're not going to stuff a heavy V8 into it. The 4.0L V6 has plenty of power to get up and down any trail.

This is not to say that it can't be used for strictly on-road use, but I would look at many others before considering the 4Runner.

 

X-AWD, I am jealous you got to test drive a TE. I couldn't find a single one around here. Too bad you couldn't properly demo it!

 

Hehehe, in my opinion you can never have enough power on road or off

 

2010 4runner= fail!!!

 

On-road, no, you're right. Thought my CBR600 was way too quick first, but after a bit, wanted more and more. But off-road, more power doesn't do you any good. What you want is controllable power down low. Just look at those 22RE's with dual t-cases with ultra low gearing. They can crawl up and down anything. Stuffing a V8 in there won't do any good.

But I can see the frustration from some people. After 00, the 4Runner did away with the manual, rear locker and focused more on on-road features (vsc, awd, etc). Now they're reverting back to the original 4Runner concept with the manual t-case lever, rear locker, etc. Which might have confused some people. I, for one, am glad, since there are plenty of other sporty suv's being produced today--X5, SRT8, RDX, etc.

BTW, the "whiner" comment wasn't directed at you. You actually had reasonings behind your points. It was meant for those that gave no type of insight at all for their reasonings. ie, the comment directly above.

 

I personally have no issues with IFS (done properly) and I think the 3rd gen 4Runner was the best all-around. It had a decent motor that had lots of options for increased power, the overall size was just right, you could get a manual trans and a rear locker. All it needed was a removable top, but I imagine with modern safety standards that is hard to pull off, although Jeep still does it.

I've always felt that if Toyota offered a legit truck for about $35-40K that had a strong motor, manual trans option, mid-travel suspension, locker(s), 33" tires and some other off-road features it would sell like crazy. There are enough people willing to spend the money to make their stock truck into what it *should* be, that's for sure. Subaru was hesitant to bring the WRX to America and look what a success it has been, also the Ford Raptor has been a huge success. Maybe Toyota will realize this one day but I'm not holding my breath.

 

Well, I still think a V8 would even help off road.

The new V8s don't weigh all that much with their aluminum blocks and other goodies.

You could put the xfer in low, 1st gear, and let it idle up and down whatever obstacle you wanted.

Then for the rest of us that just want a nice powerful SUV on the road and to get to the occasional camping spot we get to enjoy those 5.7 liters as well.

Seems like a win/win to me.

When I think small 4banger powered off roaders I think Suzuki Samurai.