This year I have been looking at new cars. I have a 91 Toyota Previa, 92 Honda Accord Wagon and of course my 2001 4Runner. I think we are getting rid of one of the older cars, probably the 92 Accord and I have been looking at something like a small wagon. I have looked at the Mazda Tribute, Honda Element and the Rav4. I have pretty much got down to the 3.5 V6 Rav4. Good mileage, peppy and it can tow my camper if I need to.

My son has been driving the 4Runner and I have been thinking of giving it to him when he gets out of High School in 2 years. It currently has 97,000 miles so giving him a car with 130,000 or so for college isn't that much over the top and he really likes the 4Runner, heck my son is no fool.

Anyway, we got down to numbers for the Rav4 and I told my Wife the price is $600 less than a brand new 4Runner. She had one of those light bulbs go off in her head and said for $600 I would get the 4Runner. Duh..... I have not been considering a 4Runner, but it makes sense for me, of course it can tow, hold stuff and I noticed the V6 is rated at 18 to 22 MPG. My old one is rated 16 to 19 MPG and I am hoping the new one should get about the same as my old one, in spite of being a larger vehicle.

Anyway, I test drove one. I have not drove one of the newer ones yet, I don't test drive a car, unless I am ready to buy. The seats fit better than the Rav4, the Rav4 was a little tight at the hips. I had enough headroom, being 6'4", I had a inch or two, of course it had no sunroof, which gives me more headroom. I figured it would drive better than my 2001 4Runner, it did drive better but it was still a truck. It was like coming home, it still drove like a 4Runner. The engine seemed fine and I felt quite at ease in the car.

I was surprised that reading the instrument cluster was not a problem. It looks so clutered in the pictures, but behind the wheel it was no problem. The dials for the air, fan, etc. was a little confusing to me, but overall it was a very nice vehicle.

So, it looks like I might be getting a second 4Runner. They did have one there, black with 17" wheels, 2WD for $23975, exactly $600 more than a Rav4 I was looking at. It did not have side air bags or air curtians on this rig and I noticed that the 2008 will make that standard, so I am wondering if I should wait for a 2008 or go with the 2007. That is certianly a good price and I do like the black color. Any ideas or comments?

Is it a new one for that price? Toyota.com shows the SR5 4Runner starting out at 28k for an 08 model.

Buy the 07' its not like youll win free airbags since the 08's will be priced higher with the extra airbags in its base price so its almost like forcing you to buy the airbag package. for 23K it must be used, because a used 2006 goes for that much these days, i was at Longo yesterday and all of the 4runners regardless of model were over 32K


The newer gen Rav4 is pretty nice, its about the size of a older 4runner, i especially like the rear seats that recline back, thats pretty cool feature. What i hate is the back door that opens like a car's side door, i really dislike that.

It had 6 miles on it before I drove it, now it has 9 miles on it. I was talking about real life pricing and since the 4Runner sales have been off, there are more discounts. The RAV4 I looked at was 26,980 and they gave me a price of 23,397. The 4Runner I looked at was around 29 thuosand and change on the sticker. I don't remember the exact amount. It had leather steering wheel with remote radio controls, double deck trunk gizmo???, roof rack, 17" wheels and other items. I have seen the 4Runner in the paper for about $23,900 and when I went to the dealer, he said the one I drove was in the paper for $23,997. I think there is a re-bate going on for the 4Runer and the RAV4 is selling like hot cakes. The big thing is the gas mileage, smaller cars are selling better, thus not as much of a discount.

As a side note, I have seen the new Pathfinder for $20,900, but I know to stay away from that one, I didn't even test drive it. Another pretty good deal I thought about was a 2008 Mazda Tribute, 4 cyl for $14,999 or so. The Tribute was a stick and seemed really cheap, which for the price I guess should be cheap looking.

Eck! The Mazda Tribute is nothing more then a rebadged Ford Escape.

Yeah stay away. My buddy was buying a Mazda6 and the salesman said a guy who bought one had been back about 10 times in the month he had it due to problems. Thats a really good price for that 4Runner, you should jump on it.

Now that I have finally looked at a new 4Runner, there were two things that impressed me. The first is when you open the hood to see the engine you don't have to look for the bar thingy to hold up the hood. That is really nice. Then on the V6 it had a lot of room and right in front on top is the oil filter, wow that is REALLY nice. My 4Runner oil fitler location really sucks. I was truley impressed.

One thing though when I turned on the radio I did not hear the antenna go up, I am not quite sure were it is. Is it stationary or in the back? Hey, I new to these 4Runner new thingys. Also, do you turn on the air condition manually like in most cars or do you just set the temperature you want and it does the rest? Please bear with me, as I am a newbee......:bonk:

The antenna is integrated into the defroster like the camrys. On the AC you can chose manual control or automatic mode.

Get the 08 model. You'll get the RSCA and side airbags standard without having to search for a remaining 07 with them.

The antennas are embedded into the rearmost side windows between the C and D pillars.

Another advantage of the 4runner over the RAV is the rear hatch. Not only does it retain the retracting rear window, but also has an electric closer and opens overhead.

The filter location of the 1GR has to be one of the best setups of any engine. I first saw the 1GR in the '05 Tacoma, never looked under the hood of a 4th gen even though they've been out years ago prior to the second gen Taco's.

There is a button to turn on or off the AC. The climate control system in the 4th gen are all automatic, dual-zone in the Limited trim. Probably the big change from the third gen and manual climate controls is temperature setting is now in degrees Fahrenheit, rather than a dial or slider between hot and cold. You set the temperature, much like a thermostat at home, hit the 'Auto' button and the system takes over completely choosing which vents the air should flow out of, recirculating on or off, and if the AC needs to be on or off. You can also set the temperature manually and select which vents you like the air to flow out of.

"4Runner will improve its numerous standard safety features on all models with the addition of driver and front passenger seat-mounted side airbags and first- and second-row side-curtain airbags with roll-over sensor. For 2008 the MSRP will increase $380 for SR5 and Sport Edition models and $350 for Limited models. The 4Runner MSRP ranges from $28,015 for the 2WD SR5 V6 to $38,735 for the 4WD Limited V8. The total 4Runner average MSRP increases $376 or 1.2 percent."

Side curtain airbags is usually listed as a $600-700 option prior to 2008. Therefore, the '08 price increase is not all that bad...and is worth it IMHO.

Peter, since the 4th gen 4runner is much better on-road than your old 4runner, i would assume that you will be using your new 4runner more for long distance travel. If my assumption is correct, then i would get side curtain airbags for your family's safety on long trips. It's worth it...side airbags are going to be mandatory in 2012 on ALL vehicles.

I never use the Auto climate control, i always use it in manual mode, i dont like how it blows the air at full blast most of the time and i dont use the dual mode either. I find myself just setting the AC on and the fan speed low in manual mode. There are some thing i like old school.

While I agree that side air bags will make a vehicle safer, the 4Runner without side air bags is not exactly unsafe either.

http://www.safercar.gov/Cars/4041.html

When I purchased my 2004 4Runner (w/o size air bags) I noticed that it's ratings were as good as some other mid-sized SUVs that had air bags.

Too bad the safercar.gov web site has not crashed tested any 2008 4Runners with side air bags as of now.
Had they done so, it would be interesting to compare a 4Runner w/o side air bags to one with them.

I would go for the 2007. With the current $2000 rebate, it sounds like a good deal, and a great value.

But, remember, NHTSA does the side crash test with a car bumper. IIHS does it with a truck bumper. Therefore, side curtain airbags show the most benefit when you get side swipe by another truck/SUV.