Excited About Wife's New 4Runner

[Nick1994]

The 4Runner is about as good as it gets for reliability. My dad had an 07' FJ Cruiser. It was beat to death offroad, driven hard and out away wet. He sold it a couple months ago, the only thing it needed in 135k miles was the throw-out-bearing replaced under warranty (common on the 6MT) and the alternator was squealing. Everything else was original, down to the coolant, gear oil, spark plugs, brakes, etc. Not that I'd recommending neglecting it like he did though.

Now, the Lane Keep Assist, they can have that. No use for it. I’ll turn it off if I can when I’m driving it.

Have you driven a car with lane keep assist? It depends on the car. I'm not the biggest fan of it in my Genesis. Kinda fun sometimes. But I had a loaner 2020 Hyundai Kona and while it was an econo-box, the lane keep assist was phenomenal. Basically drove itself.

 

[MrWideTires]

My wife's Corolla needed an Alternator & a Blower Motor before 100,000 miles.....The Interior quality & paint quality is worse than any domestic I've ever owned.

The Japanese certainly built a reputation.....Especially throughout the 1990's & 2000's for building some of the best cars, But have cheapened their brands since. I'm not irritated at all.....Buy what makes you happy.

For me it was the opposite..

in 2016 I bought a 2010 Tahoe, it was crap.. then in 2020 I replaced it with a 2011 GX460.
Note, I replaced a Tahoe that was 6 years old when purchased, with a Toyota that was 9 years old when purchased.

The Tahoe had horrible fake leather that made my back sweat, the buttons were losing their letters, they were blank, door handle broke in my hand, dashboard cracked because the plastic is so cheap, it had evap and solenoids problems, poor paint..

The Toyota/Lexus has real leather, every button is intact, everything feels solid still, the dashboard is not cracked, never had any issues and I'm at 160k miles now.. more than the tahoe had. Not to mention it has better paint and tighter gaps.

It didn't live a good life either, the previous owner neglected any maintenance other than the most basic, I've had to get it up to date; and it was used for towing constantly.

The Tahoe felt that at 10 years old.. it felt tired, always a code for something.
The GX460.. feels like it's still new, except for the shocks that have lived a hard life almost 10 years now, but they're getting replaced with a lift kit.

 

[4WD]

For me it was the opposite..

in 2016 I bought a 2010 Tahoe, it was crap.. then in 2020 I replaced it with a 2011 GX460.
Note, I replaced a Tahoe that was 6 years old when purchased, with a Toyota that was 9 years old when purchased.

The Tahoe had horrible fake leather that made my back sweat, the buttons were losing their letters, they were blank, door handle broke in my hand, dashboard cracked because the plastic is so cheap, it had evap and solenoids problems, poor paint..

The Toyota/Lexus has real leather, every button is intact, everything feels solid still, the dashboard is not cracked, never had any issues and I'm at 160k miles now.. more than the tahoe had. Not to mention it has better paint and tighter gaps.

It didn't live a good life either, the previous owner neglected any maintenance other than the most basic, I've had to get it up to date; and it was used for towing constantly.

The Tahoe felt that at 10 years old.. it felt tired, always a code for something.
The GX460.. feels like it's still new, except for the shocks that have lived a hard life almost 10 years now, but they're getting replaced with a lift kit.

Have owned 3 through the years … bought new … kept between 5-10 years … none of the stuff you claim
Use loaded out TLC’s overseas … no big deal either

 

[4WD]

Have owned 3 through the years … bought new … kept between 5-10 years … none of the stuff you claim

 

[Delta]

Congrats on your purchase and have fun on your mini-road trip!

Looks like the 2021 Toyota's are slowly trickling in on here. Good choice on the 4Runner! If we didn't already have 1 4WD in the fleet the Camry would get replaced with one. In my region you can't even really find a 2WD 4R, for obvious reasons. I too was debating traveling a distance for a somewhat better deal, but my traveling days are over. I've had various cars and trucks over and still come back to Toyota's....

 

[cpayne5]

Cool, it‘ll get about the same mileage as the wife’s 2WD 4Runner

Ha! Our new 4R gets about 1.5MPG better than the old one, so things have improved over the years.

Our Tahoe has the 6.2, which makes it fairly quick for its size (it also has the 10 speed, which helps). Much quicker than the 4Rs...which doesn't help the MPGs.

It replaced a '13 Sequoia which I flew to buy and drove home, like you're doing with your 4R. The Sequoia was a CPO purchase. It was in Daytona Florida. I got up at 3AM to catch an early flight, drove the vehicle off the lot at noon and pulled into my driveway at 1AM the next morning. It was a long day!

 

[wtd]

Congrats on the new vehicle. A friend of mine just got rid of his 2001 Tacoma that he bought new. It was pretty reliable with no major issues. It did have a lot of underneath rust and the rear bumper had rusted holes in it. He also had some rear lighting issues which no one could figure out. He replaced it with a Nissan Titan.

I tried buying a Tacoma back in 98 but the local dealer was an a**.

 

[john_pifer]

Congrats on the new vehicle. A friend of mine just got rid of his 2001 Tacoma that he bought new. It was pretty reliable with no major issues. It did have a lot of underneath rust and the rear bumper had rusted holes in it. He also had some rear lighting issues which no one could figure out. He replaced it with a Nissan Titan.

I tried buying a Tacoma back in 98 but the local dealer was an a**.

Thanks!

We‘re in the South, so, hoping to avoid major rust problems. If ever we end up spending a lot of time driving it up north, we’ll get the underside treated With Krown or something similar.

My 07 Tacoma has recently experienced paint failure on the roof (from UV rays), and a rust spot has popped up. I’ll sand down myself and repaint or have a shop do it.

Going to try to avoid that same situation happening with this new 4R.

I need to go over to the detailing section and do some reading. I have somw good ole Meguiar’s #26, which I love, and makes an incredible shine, especially on darker colors like ours will be (dark gray metallic). But the protection doesn’t really last all that long Compared to some other products.

 

[glock19]

I had a 2006 SR5 that is probably the best vehicle I've ever owned (not my favorite, but the best built) and the only one I regret selling. Unfortunately, it wasn't a great car to commute across a major city or I would probably still be driving it today.

 

[02SE]

Thanks!

We‘re in the South, so, hoping to avoid major rust problems. If ever we end up spending a lot of time driving it up north, we’ll get the underside treated With Krown or something similar.

My 07 Tacoma has recently experienced paint failure on the roof (from UV rays), and a rust spot has popped up. I’ll sand down myself and repaint or have a shop do it.

Going to try to avoid that same situation happening with this new 4R.

I need to go over to the detailing section and do some reading. I have somw good ole Meguiar’s #26, which I love, and makes an incredible shine, especially on darker colors like ours will be (dark gray metallic). But the protection doesn’t really last all that long Compared to some other products.

Rust is simply about neglect. Unfortunately most people neglect their vehicles. I live where everything made of steel will rust, if neglected during the salt-encrusted winters.

Go back and look at my old '97. It spent it's whole life on salty roads in winter, and a fair amount of time on the Bonneville Salt Flats every summer, and had zero rust. No special undercoating, just washing the undercarriage with plain old water, as often as necessary.

 

[john_pifer]

Rust is simply about neglect. Unfortunately most people neglect their vehicles. I live where everything made of steel will rust, if neglected during the salt-encrusted winters.

Go back and look at my old '97. It spent it's whole life on salty roads in winter, and a fair amount of time on the Bonneville Salt Flats every summer, and had zero rust. No special undercoating, just washing the undercarriage with plain old water, as often as necessary.

What’s your procedure for that? Just rinsing under there with the hose?

 

[02SE]

Garden hose and a nozzle. It's a pain when temps are below freezing, and any water left in the hose will freeze. So you have to drain it completely every time. But that's the price you pay for keeping any vehicle rust or corrosion free, while driving regularly in a salt bath.

But living where you do, it's not nearly as critical.

 

[tbm5690]

Garden hose and a nozzle. It's a pain when temps are below freezing, and any water left in the hose will freeze. So you have to drain it completely every time. But that's the price you pay for keeping any vehicle rust or corrosion free, while driving regularly in a salt bath.

But living where you do, it's not nearly as critical.

I'm not doing that here where temps are routinely below freezing for months on end lest I have a permanent ice rink in my driveway. I wish there was a better solution, but for me the best I can do is get it washed with an underbody spray often...which I doubt is even hitting 2/3 of the areas needed. Salt is not as bad here as many other places, but I've resorted to realizing that I can't prevent it long-term.

 

[02SE]

I'm not doing that here where temps are routinely below freezing for months on end lest I have a permanent ice rink in my driveway. I wish there was a better solution, but for me the best I can do is get it washed with an underbody spray often...which I doubt is even hitting 2/3 of the areas needed. Salt is not as bad here as many other places, but I've resorted to realizing that I can't prevent it long-term.

Well, it's the same here. And as I said it's a pain.

I've given this example before, but here it is again.

When I bought the '97 pictured earlier in this thread, my neighbor bought a Mercury Mountaineer within a week. He used to give me a good-natured hard time about being out in freezing temps, washing salt off the vehicle. He would only wash his vehicle occasionally. Ten+ years later his Mountaineer was a rusty hulk, on it's third transmission rebuild, amongst a host of other repairs, when he got rid of it during C4C.

Ten+ years later my old 4Runner was still rust free when I sold it.

Everybody makes choices. I was willing to go to the considerable effort to keep the old 4Runner in great shape, despite the highly corrosive operating environment. That diligence paid off when some random guy offered me too much money to resist the offer.

I realize not everyone can or is willing to go to that effort to maintain their vehicle, and their rusting vehicle just becomes the cost of living where they do, and their choices.

 

[Skippy722]

I know you your kid isn’t born yet, but have you test fit a car seat? We’re looking to replace the van with another SUV once my truck is paid off. Had a Durango and I’m not so sure about 3 kids in that, the car seat we had for that required me to move my seat forward which made it uncomfortable for me to drive or sit in the passenger seat.

 

[john_pifer]

Garden hose and a nozzle. It's a pain when temps are below freezing, and any water left in the hose will freeze. So you have to drain it completely every time. But that's the price you pay for keeping any vehicle rust or corrosion free, while driving regularly in a salt bath.

But living where you do, it's not nearly as critical.

OK, I guess I thought some kind of more extensive procedure was needed. When ive driven the Tacoma in ice and snow (not a common thing here; usually 1-3x/yr), I’ve tried to rinse the underside.

 

[john_pifer]

I know you your kid isn’t born yet, but have you test fit a car seat? We’re looking to replace the van with another SUV once my truck is paid off. Had a Durango and I’m not so sure about 3 kids in that, the car seat we had for that required me to move my seat forward which made it uncomfortable for me to drive or sit in the passenger seat.

We haven’t.

Guess we’ll find out!

I’ll report back when we do!

 

[wtd]

Thanks!

We‘re in the South, so, hoping to avoid major rust problems. If ever we end up spending a lot of time driving it up north, we’ll get the underside treated With Krown or something similar.

My 07 Tacoma has recently experienced paint failure on the roof (from UV rays), and a rust spot has popped up. I’ll sand down myself and repaint or have a shop do it.

Going to try to avoid that same situation happening with this new 4R.

I need to go over to the detailing section and do some reading. I have somw good ole Meguiar’s #26, which I love, and makes an incredible shine, especially on darker colors like ours will be (dark gray metallic). But the protection doesn’t really last all that long Compared to some other products.

We live in SW Mo so our climate is the same as yours. I'm not sure why his had that much rust or if he ever rinsed out the underside. I was actually surprised how much rust it had. I went with him when he bought it new and it was at a dealer about 50 miles away so not from up north.

 

[ARB1977]

I’m a Toyota fan boy. My wife love Hondas. She got a 19 Pilot EXL AWD. Love it. Huge trunk 8 passenger. There are somethings to watch for. Fuel injectors is the main thing and transmission fluid in the 6 speed. 20K so far and it’s been a joy. I may install the VCM muzzler at some point.

 

[02SE]

Another video you might like.