Is buying a 5th gen now in current market simply a bad move?

So I’m looking for my first 4Runner (5th gen). Finally saved up a hefty amount for a down payment and was approved for a car loan to cover the rest. But than this horrible car market inflation happened. Looked for months trying to find one to my liking. With markups of up to 10k or even more. In my opinion it was jus not a smart buy at the moment. I had to let my loan expire. Im kind of bummed since I have everything in place.

4runners have great resale value but people buying now and paying these markups. They are simply giving the resale value away plus interest. Also information on the new model will most likely start to trickle out as soon as this fall with the new tundra.

To many factors from prices, potential new model etc. this is why I’m thinking that buying now is simply a bad move. Yes you can have some getting great deals here and there but that’s not the norm as of right now. Also if money is not an option than your excluded.

I will continue to look for a trd off road premium, trail, venture, or pro. The search though has halted drastically.

Everyone's situation and priorities are different. If it were me and it wasn't necessary to purchase a car right now, I would wait. A next gen 4Runner is at least a year out, perhaps two for whatever that is worth to you.

Not every vehicle is seeing the type of price escalation as the 4Runner. It is among the most difficult to buy and carries some of the highest premiums right now. A short term perfect storm.

Where are you located that you are seeing those markups? I just looked at the the new 4runner inventory on cars.com here in Omaha, there are some 4runners available and I don't see any priced over MSRP. I'd say if you search around and find one for MSRP that's the best you are going to do at this time. As for the new model 4runner its almost sure to be wimpier, less power with a 4cyl motor. That will make the current model more desirable as time goes on.

it really depends on how badly you need a car. if you need a daily driver you might not have much of a choice. If I had to distill what I'm seeing into some thoughts here's what I've gathered

- used car prices will likely be reaching their peaks soon or have already reached their peaks. I would expect by fall we start to see some declines here
- new car pricing is going to be elevated for quite some time. it will take time to recover from the semi conductor issue, the China/ Taiwan situation isn't helping and most auto makers have said their 2021 year will be weak in terms of production
- I would think by 2022 we start to see some declines but getting to pre corona levels will be a while. if supply picks up and people are willing to pay these elevated prices and the cars keep moving off the lots well guess what, prices will stay high
- If you have the flexibility to wait and see what happens, then why not, I don't think prices will continue to increase. if you need a vehicle then at some point you're gonna have to jump in. make the best decision you can with the information you have and then onto the next crisis

If you have your mind set on getting a 4runner, I have read that some on here have negotiated prices online and then flown to buy it. Then drive it home. It is an option most people won't do (myself included) though but these are different times.

Otherwise, everything else you mentioned seems accurate. Nothing wrong with waiting it out.

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I’m located in Los Angeles. I have a daily car for me and my wife. Though my wife needs a car as well. It works out because I drive a company vehicle to work and back. But it’s time for us to get another family vehicle to be our pride and joy. Feel the 4Runner will be just that. Have a 2 year old son as well and would love for him to grow up in the 4Runner. Our daily is fine at the moment but does have over 100k miles now. But our growing family needs another vehicle like i said. Maybe now the hope is to wait it out for any 4Runner news hopefully coming in the newer future. Also hope our daily can hang around a while longer.

Also waiting I will be able to save a bit more and have a bigger down payment. Though it sucks as I am ready to buy but won’t let this current market get the best of me.

It depends a lot where you live. Here in Utah, you seldom see price markups except on the Pro. Also, some dealers are more greedy than others. So don't just shop locally, but look state wide or nationally as others have suggested.

If you are not in a hurry, you might consider doing a special order with a pre-negotiated price; I just did that a couple weeks ago for a RAV4 hybrid; build date is July 27 with delivery about two weeks later. With the 4Runner, since all of them are made in Japan, the build date will be longer in the future than for the RAV4.

Normally, this time of year, you see "year end close out" deals; doubt you will see that from any manufacturer this year since there is such a shortage of new cars.

If you are a Costco member, ask for Costco pricing. The Costco discount on my 4Runner three years ago was $2000.

Listen to your gut. Never follow the herd.

I'm starting to think it's a bad time to buy anything.

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mmike87 said:

I'm starting to think it's a bad time to buy anything.

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Some people might disagree. Then again, some people ate glue when they were children.

I was lucky, I ordered mine in May after the first indications that the market really low on inventory. I wasn't in a rush, so ordering one that was in production was not a problem for me (and I paid MSRP). I would see if that is something you could do where you're at, if you're not in a rush.

Do you want it? Do you have the money? What's it worth to you having now vs MAYBE in 10 months from now? Is that worth a 1-4k premium? Consider a lease is 300-400 a month. $400x10=4k

Might be worth to buy now... You ought to to see how housing has gone up in the last 12 months and people are lining up to pay OVER. We have unrealized inflation, this is the new normal like it or not.

If i were in your situation, I would not be willing to pay an absurd premium to get it earlier. I think I would do a nation-wide search for exactly what I wanted, bake in the cost of a plane ticket out and gas back into the cost equation and see what pops up. Negotiating prices on a new car via email is a perfectly reasonable thing to do - used car different because of condition and other factors. New - not so because you are getting the same OPR in LA that you are getting in Atlanta (for example). The way I have had success is prove to them right out of the gate that you are an informed consumer and are not interested in wasting their time or yours. The way I do this is to present my resources / information and tell them to let me know where I am wrong. I also accompany that with the offer and say that it is where I am price wise and that I really don’t care if it works out or not. If we can do a deal, great. If not, also great - we have invested less than 15 minutes. Sometimes I can do a deal, most times we can’t - don’t care either way because there are 50 other dealers to work with. Key for me has been to take emotion completely out of it for both parties and be patient. I have also been quite successful with local dealers and have never had to exercise the fly and grab option.

I did this when I bought my 2020 ORP. Sales guy tried the “this is a very sought after car” line. My reply was - great, you should sell it to the other guy but, for now, it is still on the lot and call me if you want to make a deal. He called the next day, we did a deal and I love my truck.

Point being, new vehicles are commodities. Completely remove emotion from the deal and be patient and you can find what you want and not get raked over the coals price wise on it.

Good luck


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The best car deals I’ve gotten were made over the course of several days working with a dealer that had a vehicle of interest. Sometimes it was across town, one time I shopped while out of state on vacation.

Don’t make the trip solely for the purpose of buying, they’ll smell desperation and sunk cost when you arrive. Combine the adventure with a trip you would have taken anyway.

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The demand will probably cool this fall. Unless you can find a reasonable deal, best to wait.

Right now its tough due to all the current factors. I have a friend who is also looking but i told him to wait for a deal on a 19 or older. But if he wanted new and found one he liked just go for it. MSRP is still the same and there are never incredible deals on 4runners anyway.

However if your looking at 4 runners money shouldn't be an issue since these aren't cheap even in a good market.

If you can get it for 10% off sticker you are doing ok.

ErnieArt said:

I’m located in Los Angeles. I have a daily car for me and my wife. Though my wife needs a car as well. It works out because I drive a company vehicle to work and back. But it’s time for us to get another family vehicle to be our pride and joy. Feel the 4Runner will be just that. Have a 2 year old son as well and would love for him to grow up in the 4Runner. Our daily is fine at the moment but does have over 100k miles now. But our growing family needs another vehicle like i said. Maybe now the hope is to wait it out for any 4Runner news hopefully coming in the newer future. Also hope our daily can hang around a while longer.

Also waiting I will be able to save a bit more and have a bigger down payment. Though it sucks as I am ready to buy but won’t let this current market get the best of me.

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That’s a bummer. This market is particularly bad in Southern California. I see a lot of people ditching their “status” cars to get into a 4runner (or Lexus equivalent).

Some people mentioned a new model being around the corner but who knows what the launch vehicle longevity will look like. Maybe you can leverage that news into a deal for the 5th gen.

As for your son growing up in a 4runner, it’s pretty awesome to see a kid driving a 20-30 year old 4runner. We hope the premium we paid stretches that far to our offspring.

Get connected with the most reputable dealers around you. Build a relationship and they might keep an ear to the ground. Maybe consider reaching out of state. Good luck!

Homebrew454 said:

If you have your mind set on getting a 4runner, I have read that some on here have negotiated prices online and then flown to buy it. Then drive it home. It is an option most people won't do (myself included) though but these are different times.

Otherwise, everything else you mentioned seems accurate. Nothing wrong with waiting it out.

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This can be a very good option. You might be able to find a 4Runner at a very good price at a car dealer that’s not near a big city. I bought mine in Denver then drove it to California. I got it at a very good price and was still cheaper than if I bought it at home but you will have to search dealers that are near a airport. If that doesn’t work for you I also think there are some services that will buy the car for you and then have it shipped to you. This my be another option.

Also, consider buying a used car. When I was searching for my car I frequently found used 4Runner for sale with less than 30,000 miles and some as low as 12,000.

If you buy used one thing I would recommend is don’t buy anything in the North East and surrounding areas since they use salt on the roads in the winter.

WE decided on a 4Runner for my wife. We were heading out to look at 2 here in town. I check at the last minute and found a 2019 SR5 in Nautical Blue (I HATE white, which is what the two others were). It had less than 18K miles on it). We went to the dealer Immediately and test drove it. Third row seating, not a mark. Went to lunch to discuss it and decided it was what my wife wanted (I had an FJ40 TLC, I was "resto-moding"). Turned out I couldn't drive the TLC for health reasons (Got it up for sale). Wife gave me the 4Runner and we got her a 2018 RAV4. During our lunch, two other couples came by to look at it and they "went to lunch", also.

Dealer did no dealing. We paid asking price, which retrospect was a good deal. We did pay cash (from my 401(k)) since we didn't want car payments, we felt it was worth it.

No regrets on either the 4Runner or the RAV4 (for around town during the winter snows).

Pics with some modes I've done:



https://i.ibb.co/6BrHGJs/1-33.jpg