"You should be happy that the prices of 4Runners are never discounted, even end of year - it means your vehicle is not being devalued. It's the same reason you can sell a 2 year old 4Runner for such a high percentage of the original purchase price."

I agree. In agony, I sold my Radiant Red 2002 Tacoma TRD 4x4 to get a 2012 SR5 4x4 4Runner. My two kids didn't fit in the Xtracab anymore, which equaled lots of complaining; in no way, shape or form was I willing to give up a real 4x4. I knew the price of 4Runner would be steep, and with no incentives, but that is the price of admission, and I paid it--happily. Why? My '02 TRD, like the 4Runner, was a rare and sought-after commodity, which meant after 11 years of ownership, I sold it for $11k-just a tad less than half of what I paid.

4Runners are the same story, and which would be better: getting that "year-end $3500 off your new Silverado" that is worth nearly nothing after a decade, or paying an extra $500-$1000 that translates into an extra $3000-$4000 when you sell the vehicle after 15 years?

I've made my choice. Happily.

^^^Good first post^^^^

I understand the sentiment, and am looking forward to my first Toyota and it holding value well... however $1-$2k in rebates at the end of the model year would be nice on a vehicle that at $33,900 with no options other than cloth floormats is a bit pricey compared to some competition. I know it would most likely mean purchasing right now, verse waiting till deep into the fall for my wife and I.

Supply and Demand

They just had $1,000 matching rebates in July......

Maybe there is more demand where you are… but here in Kansas it seems every dealer has 10+ 4Runners sitting on their lot. The closest dealer has 14 2012's. Total just from checking the inventory on-sight (not available through network but actually sitting on the lot) at the 5 dealers I can name off the top of my head there are 48 brand new 4Runners locally (within 30 min.).

Why only one month, and why would they offer the deal before Clearance month???? Even $1,000 would be enough to make me jump on purchasing.

I totally agree with the comments that Toyota should NOT be throwing incentives at the 4R.

One major decision point for me was depreciation.

I looked at a number of suv's and most had major incentives on them. 6k off of 2012 Explorer LE's and even dicounts on 13's.

The Explorers have lots to love inside, they are more modern and tech oriented (for better or worse), they have 6speed trannys, more HP (though less torque) and my wife liked it better. we owned a 2002 explorer 4x4 for 5 years with no real issues so we are ok with 4ords.

But after 5 years of ownership and 44k miles (low for california) a dealer offered me 5k on a trade. 5k wow that kind of depreciation sucks for a 32k vehicle. I eventually sold it private party for 10k. still ouch.

thats because 4ord discounts and incentives suck the value out of the purchase. People expect them to be cheap and nobody will buy a used one for anything but a steal of a bargain.

The 4R on the other hand has little or no incentives and folks expect to pay more for them so they do...

I have to admit that i was pleased to get 10% off of my brand new 2012 LE. msrp $43,215 for $39,205.00. That was the average price of a 2011 with 25k miles around here.

most dealers in my area didnt have more than 5 4R's and the closest one only had 1 sr5. It was even harder to get the mag grey LE. There were 2 within 75 miles. One dealer had it and wouldn't deal on it at all.

The 4R best served by no incentives.

Am i reading this right? Did you say you bought ur 4R for for 39k with 25k miles on it?? 4k off a vehicle with 25k miles? Great, why not just buy a brand new one?
As far as incentives its pretty late in the year and dealers have many 4Rs on the lot. At this point if I didnt get a smokin deal on a 12, I would just buy a 13.
In 5 years the 13 will be worth more than a 12 and any discount on a 12 this late in the year should be enough to cover the diff in price say 5 years from now of the value between a 13 and a 12.
Not sure if that came out right, but....

Sorry, no. I bought a brand new one. Thats what i was saying. Used one's cost almost as much as new one's. Thats my point. Not a huge depreciation.I thought about waiting but my trade was dropping faster in value than i hoped to save. So I pulled the trigger on the 12 LE @ 10% off. I didnt expect to get much off a new 13. I was hesitating waiting for info on the 13's but felt any changes would be minor. So far that appears to be true. we'll see soon enough.

The manufacturer doesnt see any money from resale. From their standpoint resale value is useless except from a marketing stand point.

I was hoping I got that wrong...
Good deal.

I guess we will agree to disagree... I think Toyota during clearance should offer the same $1,500 you can get off a Camry, off a 4Runner. I don't think that would effect resale at all... If you think you will sell a three year old 4Runner with 30k-50k for close to the purchase price of a new one just because blue book says it's worth that much good luck. Re-sale with Toyota's has to be looked at more as a long term situation. 5-10 years out the Toyota will be worth much more than it's competition.

If there is really any confusion the reason they offered you $5k for your 02' Explorer Sport has nothing to do with incentives, and everything to do with the vehicle itself. Ford has recently done a pretty good about face, but in 2002 quality was a lot different.

I agree about the initial price point of the 4Runner, but only if that price point, with its very infrequent incentive program, is taken on its own. But in comparing price in terms of build quality and reliability on a long-term basis, and only using the 4Runner's peer group of the Grand Cherokee and Nissan Pathfinder (which are-as I can find-the only two other vehicles in the mid-sized, body-on-frame, low-range SUV class), the 4Runner is a clear winner. Why? Based on Consumer Reports' used reliability and resale ratings: 1) only the 4Runner is rated as a "Good Bet"; 2) of the last 10 model years for each of the three vehicles, the lowest rating for the Toyota overall was "Above Average," while the best for the Nissan was just "Average" and the lowest was "Worse," and the Jeep managed only one year out of ten-2008-to rise above "Below Average" or "Average"; and 3) as I've said before, the 4Runner's mean resale value based on all models since 2008 is always more than $1,000 higher than the next-best competitor, the Jeep (appr. $24,000 mean for a 2008 Toyota, versus $22,500 for the Jeep).

Moreover, what is peace of mind worth? In 10 model years, the Toyota sank to "Average" for only one detail rating, while both the Jeep and Nissan were veritable icons of unreliability. Toyota knows this; just like Jeep, we're cult mentality about the 4Runner-a cult of bulletproof build quality, and the truck is priced accordingly.

As to what was said above-paraphrasing-the manufacturer doesn't make money on used sales, I disagree. Ever had a bad experience with a vehicle model? Did you go out and buy the same vehicle again? Good build quality and good resale=repeat customers. A company needs folks to come back and buy again.
And look at all of us on this forum-we do.

I don't disagree that the 4Runner would walk off the lots a few more times-maybe many, based on the positive psychology of "I got a good deal"-with incentives, but that's the game Toyota chooses to play. So, with all sincere and due respect, yes, "buying bonuses" are nice, but in this poker game, Toyota's betting we're usually bluffing about walking away to another brand. Most of the time, they're probably right.

Minor nitpick - the Grand Cherokee has always been unibody and the Pathfinder has been unibody since 1996. In terms of body on frame 4-door SUVs I think the JK Unlimiteds might be the only comparison.

I understand where you are coming from however I think the game has changed espcially when looking at Jeep as competition. Since Fiat purchased Chrysler the quality of the Jeep is going up... so the prior 10 years will at this point obviously favor Toyota. The new Jeep Grand Cherokee is stiff competiton... espcially as you get into the Limited and Overland models with the V8 and Quadra Drive and Quadra Lift. The JGC is currently up 44% over previous years sales, and have proven so popular that Fiat/Chrysler has decided to keep the factory open instead of the normal 2 week shut down to help keep up with demand. It had been argued that because the 4Runner is so popular, and sells so well that Toyota doesn't feel the need to do incentives... yet even with the JGC's popularity I can get $1,500 incentive money right now.

It seems strange because I feel that the Camry is polar opposite of the 4Runner... priced very well to start, has incentives, and dealers are willing to negotiate. Part of this is due to the fact that Toyota wants to be #1 in that segment... with the JGC bringing very real pressure with increased sales, and improved reliability, you think Toyota would extend the $1,500 incentive in order to stay competitive with Jeep?