I took a week-long vacation to my home town in Wyoming last week. I had rented a midsize SUV and surprisingly ended up with a 4Runner. Not sure what year it was, but it had 42,000 mi on it so I'm assuming 2024 or 2025. It became immediately apparent that Toyota has ditched the V6 in favor of a turbo 4. I think that and several other factors have been transformative for this legendary vehicle. Not transformative in a good way.
I defer back for a moment to my friend Kelly's 2013 4Runner. I always regarded it as a solid, quiet, comfortable and capable truck. The vehicle I drove last week pales in comparison. That is the loudest, coarsest 4-cylinder I've experienced since my '78 Monza with an Iron Duke. Noisy, rattly, wheezy, and whiny with seemingly no sound insulation in the firewall whatsoever. I actually went out to the garage one morning to check the oil because I wasn't sure it had any in it. It was full.
Calibration on the throttle was also sketchy at best. A regular amount of throttle from a stoplight got you next to no acceleration, but a millimeter more spurred a reaction as if I was trying to race someone. My right foot was never able to adapt to the underreaction and overreaction of that throttle mapping.
Moving on to fit and finish, doors were surprisingly tinny and hollow sounding when closing, and if I put any weight on the door armrest while getting out, it creaked loudly. Similar situation with the assist handle on the far side of the center console. When I picked up my 91-year-old friend to take her to dinner, she used it to help her up into the passenger seat and we both thought it was going to tear off.
I'm writing this brief review because I've heard nothing but praise, accolades and boot kissing from all Toyota owners about how wonderful their cars are. If they've been so wonderful for most of my life, they've taken a dive recently. My sister, who was traveling with me, even said "none of my Toyotas were ever like this". She comes from an '89 Corolla SR5 coupe, 2001 Tacoma PreRunner, 3 Highlanders all of different generations, and now she's on her second Camry. She was quite excited to find out we were getting a 4Runner at the rental counter. We were both excited to get rid of it at the end of our trip. Cost cutting apparently has taken its toll this celebrated Toyota. I somehow feel this condition isn't reflected in all new Toyotas, but I no longer feel like I'm missing out on anything.
I defer back for a moment to my friend Kelly's 2013 4Runner. I always regarded it as a solid, quiet, comfortable and capable truck. The vehicle I drove last week pales in comparison. That is the loudest, coarsest 4-cylinder I've experienced since my '78 Monza with an Iron Duke. Noisy, rattly, wheezy, and whiny with seemingly no sound insulation in the firewall whatsoever. I actually went out to the garage one morning to check the oil because I wasn't sure it had any in it. It was full.
Calibration on the throttle was also sketchy at best. A regular amount of throttle from a stoplight got you next to no acceleration, but a millimeter more spurred a reaction as if I was trying to race someone. My right foot was never able to adapt to the underreaction and overreaction of that throttle mapping.
Moving on to fit and finish, doors were surprisingly tinny and hollow sounding when closing, and if I put any weight on the door armrest while getting out, it creaked loudly. Similar situation with the assist handle on the far side of the center console. When I picked up my 91-year-old friend to take her to dinner, she used it to help her up into the passenger seat and we both thought it was going to tear off.
I'm writing this brief review because I've heard nothing but praise, accolades and boot kissing from all Toyota owners about how wonderful their cars are. If they've been so wonderful for most of my life, they've taken a dive recently. My sister, who was traveling with me, even said "none of my Toyotas were ever like this". She comes from an '89 Corolla SR5 coupe, 2001 Tacoma PreRunner, 3 Highlanders all of different generations, and now she's on her second Camry. She was quite excited to find out we were getting a 4Runner at the rental counter. We were both excited to get rid of it at the end of our trip. Cost cutting apparently has taken its toll this celebrated Toyota. I somehow feel this condition isn't reflected in all new Toyotas, but I no longer feel like I'm missing out on anything.
