Where it all began:
I've always been a car guy. I've never liked trucks, never wanted a truck, never had any interest in a truck. In fact, after buying the 4Runner a bunch of my friends gave me crap about it because I always said trucks were for hillbillies. Living in the Midwest (Chicago) that was totally true, everything was flat, the worst you came across was a dirt road if you drove hours to get to it and you may have to park in a field during an event of some kind. but people bought trucks and lifted them and gave them the off road look for nothing. I never once even considered a truck living there even despite have an outdoors active lifestyle (hiking, biking, triathlons, skiing, ect.) That mindset changed when I moved to Colorado. I had a modified 4 door MK6 Volkswagen GTI and first time it was no longer practical. From dirt and gravel washboard roads and driving over cattle grates in route to trail heads for mountain biking, to driving a lowered front wheel drive car up mountain passes in the snow with 300 ft/lbs of torque to go skiing, it just wasn't practical for my lifestyle in a mountain environment.

This thing hated rough unpaved roads.


Fall through spring could be bike or ski season, this is all I could do to maximize space but it was always limited to 2 people plus gear.


Heading up to go skiing it was common to plow snow with the front while hoping the snow tires keep biting. It didn’t take much to really bury the car.


And stuff like this is no joke.



So, I started looking for a replacement. My first thought was a Subaru would be perfect. I was all for it, until I actually drove one. I really wanted to like them but it was bad. It felt like I was sitting on a folding chair with a cushion surrounded by an interior designed and built by Fisher Price. They just felt so cheap and crappy, I couldn't do it. I was working at a car dealership so I'd regularly take used cars home for a night to spend some time driving them and seeing what I liked and didn’t like. After literally a year of casual researching, looking at, and driving everything from small hatch backs to pick up trucks I had a pretty specific list of what I wanted in a replacement for my GTI.

This was my list of firm requirements:
- Real truck/SUV (body on frame, no crossovers)
- 4-wheel disc brakes with ABS
- 4 doors
- 2" hitch receiver
- A center differential inside a low range transfer case (full time 4WD that you don't have to mechanically lock any part of the drivetrain, I did not want 2WD or locked 4WD)
- I had to be able to adjust the driver’s seat to where I want to sit and then be able to get out and fit comfortably in the seat behind that one (I'm 6'2")
- It had to fit me laying down in the back with the seats folded flat for sleeping in it
- Reliability and long-term durability
- One touch auto up and down on ALL of the windows
- Split folding rear seats
- The ability to comfortably fit 4 adults with all of our ski equipment inside the vehicle.

On 8/27/14 after a long time the winner was a used 2011 Toyota 4Runner Limited – 4.0L V6, full time 4WD, automatic, silver exterior, black interior, smart key, heated full power leather seats, navigation, voice recognition, bluetooth phone and streaming audio, one touch up and down windows, dual zone climate control, 2" hitch, 5,000 lb tow rating, 4 and 7 pin trailer wiring, steering wheel controls, sunroof, homelink garage door buttons, 20" alloy wheels, 15 speaker JBL system, running boards, heated mirrors, roof rack cross bars, auto dimming rear view mirror, 6 disc changer, Aux jack, USB hookup, iPod hookup, backup camera, 4 wheel disc, front and rear 12v and 120v power outlets, XREAS sport suspension, side curtain airbags, knee airbags, front airbags, side airbags, etc. It had 29,000 miles, 1 owner car, clean carfax, all the maintenance records, and they even had the original $43,000+ window sticker. It was mechanically perfect but with a lot of minor cosmetic flaws up close. That was perfect for me, the price was lower, the value was better, and not being a mint perfect condition truck, I wouldn't be so stupidly over anal about it like I have been with every other vehicle I've owned.


New with the old