Toyota 4 Runner shockingly disappointing rental experience

[buster]

Time will tell how well the 6th gen holds up. I've been seeing quite a few of them.

The 5th gen was tank, but also very dated. Sometimes fit/finish and interior materials can be deceiving. The 5th gen wasn't anything to write home about either in terms of interior quality.

I'm not defending the 6th gen as I've not driven it yet, but it's too soon to say how well or not they will hold up.

I do come across a lot of people that went from Tacomas to the Chevy Colorado and praise the better build quality of the Chevy. I always find that interesting. But the ZR2's are built like tanks IMO.

 

[meep]

Time will tell how well the 6th gen holds up. I've been seeing quite a few of them.

The 5th gen was tank, but also very dated. Sometimes fit/finish and interior materials can be deceiving. The 5th gen wasn't anything to write home about either in terms of interior quality.

I'm not defending the 6th gen as I've not driven it yet, but it's too soon to say how well or not they will hold up.

I do come across a lot of people that went from Tacomas to the Chevy Colorado and praise the better build quality of the Chevy. I always find that interesting. But the ZR2's are built like tanks IMO.

That is really interesting. I was leaning hard towards the Chevy, but saw that the passenger side doesn’t get safety structure which the driver side gets, when I was looking. I really don’t like it when mfrs do that. As such I didn’t even go look at it as a matter of principal.

 

[Pablo]

That is really interesting. I was leaning hard towards the Chevy, but saw that the passenger side doesn’t get safety structure which the driver side gets, when I was looking. I really don’t like it when mfrs do that. As such I didn’t even go look at it as a matter of principal.

I thought Toyota was expensive until I went and looked at GM trucks

 

[TheOtherAndy]

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.

Average Toyota owner: "I'll never own anything but Toyotas because they're so reliable! Aside from the engine replacement, mine has needed nothing!"

Replace "engine" with "transmission" and you have your average Honda owner

(I'm kidding, don't hurt me)

 

[KrisZ]

My 21 CHR is pretty decent for an economy car, but I also fail to see that special “Toyota sauce” in it. The rear shocks creaked loudly until I had to modify the end caps that were rubbing.

And most recently it started squealing, but only in drive, not in N or reverse. I think it’s the accessory belt, but haven’t got around to diagnosing it properly.

 

[02SE]

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.

As many here know, I am (or was) a Toyota fan. I became a fan when I worked on them at a Toyota dealer back in the day, and more so later when I worked at independent shops and could see how all of the other brands compared.

I have a 5th gen 4Runner with very low miles. The value of which just keeps going up in the offers I get regularly from Carvana and Carmax. I could sell it for well over it's original MSRP, and get a new, discounted 6th gen 4Runner, and come out ahead financially. It's still not worth it to me.

I really wanted to like the 6th gen. I've driven every version of the 6th gen they make. I agree with everything you said. Although I liken the 6th gen 4Runner to the Yugo a friend drove in Highschool. One poorly put together, flimsy, cheaply built, piece of junk.

A neighbor sold his 5th gen TRD ORP, and bought a 6th gen TRD ORP. He regrets his choice. The 6th gen gets essentially the same MPG as his old 5th gen. But the 6th gen has a smaller gas tank, so he's having to fill up more frequently. Timing both with his Dragy App they run essentially the same 0-60 time. Not that anyone buys a BOF SUV to go dragracing, but the supposedly better power of the 6th gen, doesn't really manifest in quicker acceleration. The 8-speed transmission should help with that, but there have also been reported failures of those.

It should be noted that we live at over 5k feet, so the turbo should be more of factor in acceleration, than it is by actual the numbers achieved by my neighbor.

Bottom Line: It's a major disappointment for me.

 

[QwikKota]

We thought our 2010 4Runner was a tank but definitely not all that powerful or efficient. Still, it felt like a truck and was very safe for our young kids.