We don't know definitively what caused this. What I know, is that I haven't seen this in the past on prior generations of the 4Runner, or Lexus GX.
2025 4Runner rental review
- Thread starter dishdude
- Start date
We don't know definitively what caused this. What I know, is that I haven't seen this in the past on prior generations of the 4Runner, or Lexus GX.
May have been factory ordered to be a rental.Recently had this new 4Runner as a rental, picked it up with less than 1k miles on the clock. About 2 years ago I had the previous generation as a rental and returned it extremely disappointed by the driving experience, but I am pleased to say this new generation is much more pleasant, engaging and comfortable to drive.
Pros -
The brakes/steering/ride and handling are all dialed in and pleasant. It's an easy, comfortable and fun SUV to drive, kind of reminded me of a WK2 Grand Cherokee. The 2.4L turbo has plenty of power and low end torque, I think it's a great engine for this vehicle. There's an area ahead of the gearshift that holds two cell phones that are visible while driving, very convenient. In higher end trims, I would expect these to offer wireless charging but this was not available on this base SR5.
Cons -
The interior is completely made up of cheap, hard plastics - absolutely nothing is soft touch. The tech for a brand new vehicle was lacking, the gauge cluster already looked dated and the infotainment screen was on the small side, but the resolution was decent and wireless Android Auto and CarPlay worked well. When I went to refuel it I was surprised to find a gas cap, haven't come across one of those in a long time. The transmission also had some rough, abrupt shifts but that seems to be the norm these days with a lot of autos.
Bottomline, I liked this 4Runner and of all the Toyotas I've rented, it's the first one I actually liked and wouldn't mind owning. MSRP $45k, if you can find one for that I'd say it's worth it.
All rentals are, but this is the same SR5 trim retail customers purchase, optioned with 4WD and running boards.
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Got at my kid's high school yesterday for a football game. Found the visitor parking lot empty except for two boys in a recent Accord who seemed positively panicked.
They had parked the car normally, with the nose hanging above the curb, then had the splash shield ripped off when they backed up, as it grabbed on the edge of the curb. The shield was flipped backwards in front of the car, still attached.
I helped them put it back in place and clipped the bumper back in, told them what to do and where to go on Monday.
All I know is I won't drive a vehicle with clearance less than SUV clearance. Add that I won't drive a two wheel drive vehicle, and we end up with I won't drive a "regular" vehicle. At least in NYC and on the East Coast - those pay for themselves the first year, given that any tow and shop visit will eat into any savings in one chunk. And specifically in NYC, explosion-like potholes that rattle your teeth fillings and sound like a stick of dynamite went off under your car - you can avoid them all you want, you get into one at 60mph at least once per year.
edyvw
$50 site donor 2026
There are reports of main bearing failure on this engine too, but not widespread as V35.
It seems transmissions are hit or miss.
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- Dec 20, 2024
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Weren't those machining errors that affected 800 vehicles (although thousands had to be checked) ?
edyvw
$50 site donor 2026
Not sure. Saw a video here aboutV35 where they were talking about some failures on 2.4T.
Hmm, I've only seen two reports of a blown-up 2.4T and that was due to stripped oil filter threads causing all the oil to dump out.
The 8 speed rollout was a small dumpster fire. My truck is under the list of the possible affected, but nothing yet. I haven't seen any new failures out there so hopefully the bad ones already took a dump.
I actually would want to own this gen 4Runner in TRD Off-Road trim. The last one (as reliable as it was) just didn't hit the mark for me, especially when a used GX460 is far superior.
On the flip side, with a little negotiation, you can get the same vehicle for $10k less with a pickup bed, the Tacoma that is, which is what I am thinking for next year. 2.4 turbo and 8-spd auto will be amazing in high elevation off-roading and road trips.
On the flip side, with a little negotiation, you can get the same vehicle for $10k less with a pickup bed, the Tacoma that is, which is what I am thinking for next year. 2.4 turbo and 8-spd auto will be amazing in high elevation off-roading and road trips.
I'm turned off by the 2.4 4 cylinder in that type of vehicle. It needs a small torquey V8 or supercharged V6.Recently had this new 4Runner as a rental, picked it up with less than 1k miles on the clock. About 2 years ago I had the previous generation as a rental and returned it extremely disappointed by the driving experience, but I am pleased to say this new generation is much more pleasant, engaging and comfortable to drive.
Pros -
The brakes/steering/ride and handling are all dialed in and pleasant. It's an easy, comfortable and fun SUV to drive, kind of reminded me of a WK2 Grand Cherokee. The 2.4L turbo has plenty of power and low end torque, I think it's a great engine for this vehicle. There's an area ahead of the gearshift that holds two cell phones that are visible while driving, very convenient. In higher end trims, I would expect these to offer wireless charging but this was not available on this base SR5.
Cons -
The interior is completely made up of cheap, hard plastics - absolutely nothing is soft touch. The tech for a brand new vehicle was lacking, the gauge cluster already looked dated and the infotainment screen was on the small side, but the resolution was decent and wireless Android Auto and CarPlay worked well. When I went to refuel it I was surprised to find a gas cap, haven't come across one of those in a long time. The transmission also had some rough, abrupt shifts but that seems to be the norm these days with a lot of autos.
Bottomline, I liked this 4Runner and of all the Toyotas I've rented, it's the first one I actually liked and wouldn't mind owning. MSRP $45k, if you can find one for that I'd say it's worth it.
I'd love to have a Tacoma with the Manual transmission but according to Toyota only are 5-6% of sales. I was fairly certain they were dropping that option on the new vehicle.
They exist but are rare and hard to get a good deal on. As much as I love a manual, in most cases off-road, the auto is a better fit.
edyvw
$50 site donor 2026
Video in this thread:
Absolutely true.
I remember that mental exercise: "Supra has a BMW engine, but Toyota engineers made final touches to make it better."
And actually, the guy who made the video really believed that.
Big displacement turbo 4's have a lot of nice low end torque, I thought the engine was a good fit for it.
Some of the shifts left a lot to be desired, 4Runner had less than 1k on it. If I was test driving it as a used car I was looking to buy I'd probably walk.
No way, even in Phoenix I've never seen automotive plastic melt like that. After many years of never being garaged and sitting out in the sun I've seen it get brittle and discolor, but never melt like that.
So here's an article talking about the melting Lexus GX 550's.
https://www.thedrive.com/news/lexus-gx-owners-report-their-shiny-new-suvs-are-melting-in-the-sun
https://www.thedrive.com/news/lexus-gx-owners-report-their-shiny-new-suvs-are-melting-in-the-sun
And it's quite undersquare, pretty much the same bore to stroke ratio as the 6.7 Cummins. When I compare it to the 4.6 V8 in my GX460, it makes comparable power even lower in the rev range with half the pistons, camshafts, valves, heads, and gaskets, which sounds like a less expensive engine to operate in the long run if the turbo runs a few 100k miles as well.
Yea, I get that. It took my truck several thousand to figure itself out. Almost 12K on it now and it seems to know what it wants to do.
