i had a 2008 tacoma and absolutely loved it, how it drove, how it sounded, the power, the trans shifting, it was literally a perfect truck for the entire 275,000 miles i drove it

i bought the wife a 2012 4runner and fixed it up, absolutely amazing vehicle. JBL stereo system in the limited, which had the big screen like the LEXUS, rear view camera was spot on, trans didnt do anything whacky, drove perfect, shifted perfect, did everything we asked for the 140,000 miles we owned it

She wanted something with rear AC and we got a 2017 limited platinum Highlander with redrock interior. Boy that things interior was nice, it looked good and drove good but the interior noise was WAY louder than i ever expected for the highest trim level Highlander. She hated how it drove, and the sliding center console thing and she only kept it 9 months before she wanted out of it.

She bounced around getting a new vehicle basically every 11 months and every time she pulled the
"i really miss my 4runner"
"i sure wish i had another 4runner"
So i started looking in 2020 for a white limited 4wd with auto running boards with the red interior... I literally looked nation wide until October 2021 when the TRD Sport was released and my search instantly changed to a white TRD Sport 4wd with auto running boards. It took me almost 2 years to find one, i paid for the moroney page and a vin decoder to search vins as toyota did allocations. Since you couldnt order, i had to search for vins with the options i wanted after they were allocated. In the 20 months it took me to find the one i bought, i only found 9 that matched my options. Either dealers were asking +$5000 over sticker, it was pre-sold, or they just wouldnt come down off their mark-up. I eventually got a dealer to sell me one and waited in anticipation.

During this time i also drove a new Tacoma, in anticipation that i might buy another one. My daily driver 4runner is getting close to 250,000, my 92 pickup started knocking from pinging from bad gas, so i was looking to replace my 92 pickup with a new tacoma. NO SIR....
They are right, the interior cab noise is CRAZY loud in the new tacoma, not sure how or why but the interior noise sounds like a honda civic with no interior, the road noise sounds like a unibody with no interior. The trans does hunt like a fuggin beagle chasing a racoon if you put it on cruise control. Totally not usable, even on flat ground no load, no hills, the trans is downshifting to maintain speed in cruise. NO SIR i wont own a new tacoma unless those two points get fixed

So.... I made a deal with the dealer i bought my 4runner thru, that i was going to fly out to Long Beach and pick the 4runner up myself. No PDI, i didnt want the dealer touching it, i didnt want it loaded up on a car hauler, i wanted to pick it up myself and drive it home. I wanted to be the only person who sits in the seat, peeled the plastic off the front end myself, no scratches from anyone. The dealer let me pick the 4runner up without them taking possession, i flew out, caught an uber to the port, showed some paper work to a guy, got the keys and headed home. I was so happy, it was so pretty, it was exactly what i wanted. I filled it up at a gas station up the road and figured the mileage and figured i could make it to Tuscon on the first tank of fuel so i set the GPS to a DelTaco in Tuscon and headed east. First thing, it drives nice, smooth, feels tight, doors are sealed WAY differently than in the past. If you dont slam the door its not closing, a soft nudge and the door wont close, the seals are stiff and you gotta really tell the door to close or it aint closing. It smells good, feels good, drives smooth, nearly silent inside, AND the first problem arises when i set the cruise control on the highway. FUGGIN HUNTING. The trans WILL NOT stay in a gear in cruise control FUGG ME... On i-10 from LA to Phoenix its minimal elevation change, long straight highway and the trans is constantly downshifting, upshifting, downshifting, literally 5 miles and 13 gear changes later i cut the cruise control off. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO what is wrong with the freaking trans tuning............................... Well.... I get over it and ponder how i am going to make this 2000 mile trip back home without cruise control...... Meh i guess its ok i can live without cruise i guess.... I watch my mileage, and speed, and make it to north Tuscon before i gotta fill up again, then head to that DelTaco i have been wanting for so long. I pull into the DelTaco and click it in reverse for the first time to back up and HOLY CRAP.... I think there is a sticker over the rear camera i cant see crap. I put it in park and walk around back to see if i forgot a sticker over the rear view camera and nope, its clean, i wiped it off anyway and got back in and put it in reverse and :WTF i simply cant see crap on the screen, its the worst backup camera image i have ever experienced and i remember when the first backup cameras were introduced. My 2008 tacoma had the backup camera pictured in the rear view mirror and it was better than this, huge screen 2023 4runner. BOY i was tasting the sour taste of those grapes in my mouth right about now. The "technology package" which comes with the 360 degree cameras is an absolute waste of money, under no circumstance should this be allowed on a current model vehicle. The image quality was below sub par, its unacceptable.

Aside from these two gripes, i have not found anything about the 2023 TRD Sport that i dont like. It looks good, it drives great, it feels great, it is a great vehicle other than the trans cant stay in a gear under any sort of load, even driving with your foot, on an incline that would normally just bog a little, drop 5mph, this thing downshifts in an instant. You may as well just tip into the throttle at the beginning of a hill and speed up on your own, cause if you keep you foot level, and the engine starts to bog, that puppy is downshifting and its REAL quick to downshift 2 gears and get to 4500RPM with a quickness for absolutely no reason. My Tundra doesnt downshift at all, sure it bogs a little on hill climbs, so what it loses 200rpm and 5mph or so, yeah on a big hill climb it might lose 6-8mph, so what it speeds back up without downshifting and nobody notices anyting. The new trans tuning in the current tacoma and current 4runner wont do that. If it bogs slightly, loses RPM a little, its downshifting. IT WILL NOT maintain overdrive with the cruise control on. It downshifts constantly EVEN ON FLAT GROUND. IT sucks.

Hope you can get past those two slight imperfections, other than that i absolutely love the 4runner.