TL;DR - Of the many vehicles I've enjoyed owning over the years, the 2005 T4R V8 LTD 4x4 is one that I wish I kept.



I bought my 4R private sale with 116k miles and immediately fell in love with it. The locking center diff, the VSC disable, the comfort, the rear roll down window...I could name 100 things that delighted me whenever I got behind the wheel.

As I quickly saw the offroad potential, I put OME suspension on all 4 corners in order to eliminate the slack from the factory XREAS and went on enjoying my 4R. At some point I joined this forum and met some cool people on a few offroad excursions. Life was oh so good in the 4R.

Years later at the time I sold it, it was still in very good condition, had 255,000 miles and needed tires, front control arms replaced (due to frozen camber adjustments), a timing belt and water pump service as well as the radiator replaced.

To add to the situation, the towing capacity was eventually not going to be enough for some upcoming changes and it did not have a bed to do simple things like dump runs, transport firewood and other homeowner types of fun. The limitations of the 4R were growing and the cost of the repairs (or the amount of my time required to complete them) was not going to fly at the time.

In order to bridge these gaps, I begrudgingly sold the 4R and ended up going with a 2010 Tundra Rock Warrior since it fit the bill....it can tow the moon, has a bed for hauling stuff and also has a reasonable back seat for travel guests. Plus, it's a 4WD truck, albeit "portly" compared to the 4R, but hitting the trails should still be entertaining, right?

Within a few weeks of Tundra ownership, I found I was not loving my truck. Of the many things I wish Toyota did with this Tundra, the drivetrain from the T4R would have been exceptional. Instead I found that my new-to-me Tundra did not have diff lock and was nothing more than a couple open diffs from the 80's that were being controlled by computers in a noticeable, delayed and very rudimentary way. Compare that to the seamless operation of the permanent 4WD system in the T4R and I was no longer having fun offroading or driving in the snow and being forced to run everywhere else in 2WD further exposed my being unimpressed.

Now, somewhere around year four of selling the 4R and picking up the Tundra, I've come back here to post this thread because...well...I don't have a whole lot of regrets in life, but letting go of that 4Runner is certainly top 5!

FRICK!!







Anyway, I've said enough. You get the point.


Today's advice is: Hold onto your 4R's!







Take care, folks, and enjoy the heck out of 'em!!!

Signed,
The village idiot

Great post. I know of no other vehicle right now that would suit my needs better as a daily driver/work vehicle. I have my toy cars for other activities, but the 4Runner is what I drive 99% of the time. Since I hate the gen 5s, and their lack of v8, it will be around for as long as I’m able to feasibly keep it running.

BTW, I solved my lack of a pickup bed by just using a utility trailer for functions where a bed would be needed. Best of both worlds!

I know a guy who sold his 3rd (or 4th gen, don't remember) and also regretted it. He was driving a Honda Pilot at the time. I lost my Tacoma years back and longed for another capable hauler of things, but then the kids came. Finally back in a Toyota, but it can haul kids plus things. Love it so far. Sorry for your loss, BTW

I feel your pain. I traded my 04’ in on a (gasp) hybrid! I drive 115 miles a day for work, one way. The 4R was getting 23ish but it was still costing a mint every month in fuel. I didn’t want to let it go and when I was sitting in the dealership I kept telling my wife “I’ll regret this”....I was right.

Fast forward to a few weeks later and I was surfing cars.com and found THE 4Runner I had traded in, I knew I had to do whatever it took to get it back, so I did.

I am proud to say I pissed away about 6k in the process but I’m a sentimental idiot when it comes to cars so it was fine with me.

The family is back together again and I now have six vehicles including one very special Toyota 4Runner.

Bergs is right.....DON’T LET IT GO!

-D.C.


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