Hey first time posting here I found this site while I was researching the 4Runner. I am graduating college in a couple of months and I need to get the hell out of my Ford Escort ZX2 with no AC. I am lookng at the 4Runner as one of my main choices but I have some questions and doubts.

I am looking into getting the '04 Sport Edition V6 in black. My main concern was a topic in this forum before and its that the V6 was listed as least reliable in Consumer Reports, but I know Toyota's reputation of being reliable. I am looking at the V6 rather than the V8 because I don't do any towing and I want the horsepower. I also noticed wind noise is a major issued in alot of reviews that I have read. The gas mileage is not a big deal to me, but is using Premium Plus necessary?

I was also looking into the Pathfinder, but I decided against it, just because of the aged appearence of the Pathfinder. Also do any of you know if you can get a factory installed carstarter/alarm system from Toyota? Carstarters are necessary in Mass. If you guys could answer some of my ?'s that would be sweet.

That should be good for now.
Thanks,
John

v6 is a workhorse. Don't read into those consumer reports as they're useless. there were a few problems when the v6 initially came out but they've been pretty much resolved. so I'd say toyota still has it's reliability

gas: cheaper the better since it's getting expensive. 87 is fine, 91 is recommended if you plan to drive hard and race. But you won't know the diff between 87 and 91 so I'd say save your $$$.

As for the car starter, I'd say any aftermarket alarm should have an option for a car starter. Can't say much about stock alarms though... never bothered to buy anything stock (expensive and not as effective). Always get aftermarket... better stuff

Good Luck

Well, I wouldn't call Consumer Reports useless. I consider them one of the best magazines for consumers. One of the concerns is they evaluated the V6 for the magaizne in just a few months, maybe even weeks. There was one re-call and that may of messed up the overall score. If your not buying tomorrow, Consumer Reports brings out their Auto issue in April. We usually hear about in the news around mid-March. My feeling is their rating has changed since they published those results. In any event you can get a more acurate picture since more time has passed. If it still sucks, then maybe there is more to it. We will see.

As far a premium fuel, you can run on regular. My understanding is that the computer changes the settings and runs on regular fuel. Of course the rated horse power goes down a bit. Consumer Reports uses regular fuel and has not had a problem with it.

The V6 is a solid engine. My neighbor has the V6 and has had no problems with it. You'll love the 4Runner. And BTW, Black is an awesome choice

They really need to give an explanation for their reliability report. Personally I think they can't read their own data perhaps? Here is the latest issue 2004 New Cars issue.
It's obviously a reliable vehicle. They just don't seem to know it. I have the V6 and no engine problems since last August '03. I have 7325 miles today.. Notice they checked the bottom of the column with an "X". This means, and I quote , " Worse-than-average reliabilty for that year."

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possible due to the alum. v6 engine since its the first year toyota had this engine. whereas the v8 engine has been around in the tundra/lexus models.

Why would reliability be reported as worse than average for the aluminum V6?? I don't get your reasoning. You may have left part of your explaination out of your post. Please elaborate. Does CR report all new aluminum engines as worse than average???

Proof to show that CR is abunch of useless crap....

LOok at the paint section for both v6 and v8... Shouldn't they have the same rating?

The only difference should be the engine. All other features are identical....


Anyway.... I never read those reports anyway....

well since this is toyota's first try at a aluminum engine for mass production, there is no reliability data to make a judgement. where as the older v6 have been around for awhile in more than just the 4runner, so they have more data to go by. probably after the 1st year they will change the rating on the alum. v6 based on feedback and data collection on the alum. v6. cant make claims on something when you have no data to go by.

previos to the 03 v6, all v6 have not been alum.

I was wondering that also when I looked at consumer reports a few months ago. The simple logic which should be present is lacking.

One point is that it could be a very safe statement about Consumer Reports is that they will factor price as factor in making a decision or grading capital. When I was looking at purchasing a lawn mower, they gave the TORO commercial grade mowers poorer overall scores than the Wal-Mart $150 mowers(not to degrade the mower, but it is like having a Lexus to a Ford Focus). Which it shows that they are trying to get the "best" deal for the consumer, not the best piece of capital.

Understand?!?!

That is great that ToolmanJohn posted the results. Looking at the results, the aluminum engine is fine. It got marked off on fuel, if you count the whole year it seems resonable to me, the re-call problem should show up here.

I have noticed new cars that do mostly red dots can get a poor reliability, the thinking is if there is some problems on a new car, the outlook can be poor. If you look at the report, my 2001 did better than the 2003 for last year. Also if a 8 year old car gets some red dots and very few black marks it is considered a good car.

If you look at the data, I expect the fuel concern to go away, the paint and body integrity might be a future problem, but personally, I think the two results of the V6 & V8 will be closer in relability in the future. I wouldn't be too afraid of buying the V6.

hmmm, only thing i can think of comparing is windows 1.0 vs 3.1

same outside, but the underlying stuff is different.

but given toyota's overall track record whether new or old or updated, you usually dont go wrong in the long run.

CR is just being cautious since they have no hard data to make a sound judgement that the lawyers can defend in court.

If someone is going to sue them for the wrong info that's pretty sad..... Cuz you know anything that's published now a days have damn disclaimers anyhow...

wouldnt be the first time some idiot tried to sue for not having any common sense.

remember the hot coffee fiasco at Mc D's. commone sense would tell you since it's hot not to spill it. but someone got the bright idea to sue.

This was my first truck. Drove sports cars all my life. I have a 04 Sports Edition V6. The engine is quite good and got a nice kick for a SUV. Not the tire ripping of my Mustang or the handling of my Lexus SC. But I doubt either one of those can handle the pothole I rumble over nowadays.
I usually run mid-grade gas. It's perfectly fine if you ask me. At $2/gal, a fill up can really hurt. But it is a SUV and most of my friends' trucks get worse gas mileage.
My brother works for Toyota Service. I bought one because he tells me it's trouble free (not that I really have to pay for anything service-wise anyway). At only 1500 miles, I can't really give you a fair judgement but this forum gave me a lot of feedback on its reliability.
Aftermarket alarms ARE a hundred times better, and often much cheaper. As long as it's installed by a pro, you should have no problems with compatibility.
Hope this helped...