Softex is fantastic. I'll take it over leather without a doubt. Much more durable and it looks great after 8 years of hard use on mine. It literally looks new. Any leather will be well worn by now.

The drivetrain is significantly better than prior gens. The 8.2 is bulletproof and the front diff and CV set are impressively durable.

KDSS is great. For me it was a must have. Drive one with and without back to back.

The week spots IMO are:

Needle bearing in front diff. Common problem. Toyota needs to redesign the diff with a proper bearing.

Some hardware has poor corrosion protection. Lower control arm cam bolts probably come seized from the factory. They're notoriously bad. Skid plate hardware is also very prone to early rust issues.

OEM windshield glass is fragile and cracks really easy. Mine failed when I turned on the wiper heater.

The front suspension is highly prone to harmonic cyclical frequency feedback. Toyota calls this steering flutter. The steering system needs more dynamic damping/stability. Was never an issue for me, but it's a known issue and has been for a lot of years. Toyota needs to fix it.

The body mount at the firewall is too far forward and has to be modified for larger tires.

KDSS is asymmetric. Would be better if it were symmetric like the lc300.

Really needs an engine/transmission update. It's 10 years overdue.

Power locks, but thats not specific to 5th gen. Its an easy and cheap fix, but the dealer wants big bucks for the repair. Ive done all four of my doors.

Toyota knows their windshields are too thin. Otherwise why would they have to point out that the last generation Land Cruiser’s windshield was “2mm thicker”?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I had forgotten about this one. I have replaced the motor in the door lock actuator in the front doors 3 times now. It's easy and cheap, but annoying.

I'll add another annoyance - the TPMS sensor system can only read 4 or 5 at a time so if you use two wheel sets you have to have techstream or something similar just to re-connect every time. And even slightly more annoying is that there is a break in the TMPS sensor frequency range around MY 2017 so later year TPMS don't work with earlier versions. Kind of a head scratcher for me. Why not make things like this super easy? It should be free and take very little effort from Toyota to program the software to do this.

While we're at this annoyance - why not make the battery replaceable? It's just a basic coin battery, but it's encased in epoxy so it's nearly impossible to replace and the sensors are $100 each or something in that range. I never had a dead battery in one, but it'll eventually happen. And it shouldn't cost $100 to swap a $1 battery.

Windshields crack if you hit a bug at freeway speeds

Paint is about as good a budget interior latex

Taping a couple of free LED flashlights from Harbor Freight to the hood is better than using the craptastic halogen headlights that come on the truck

The frame rusts like a 1972 Camaro fenders did unless you spray lanolin all over it and inside of it.

If you dont drive like an 84 year old grandmother you get to visit every gas station on your trip.

It sounds like your are very pleased with your purchase lol

Lol bro, you are scaring me, I'm picking up a new 2022 next week.

The lift gate is manual and not motorized. Had to be careful on curves and freeway exits because of body roll. No leds, dynamic cruise control and blind spot monitoring on earlier models, thats why Im getting the 2022 limited edition.
Just arrived at my dealer but I noticed there were no step boards. And for 5'6"and shorter folks, its a struggle in getting in and out of the vehicle.
The dealer said its back ordered and should be coming soon(nobody actually knows when).

The 4Runner has very short windows due to a low roof in relation to the seating. This helps in the bright sun as it’s kind of like always having a “hat” on, the roof is your visor.

The drawback to all this is if you’re a long waisted person and over 6’ tall your head will touch the headliner. I have heard on this forum that the models with a sunroof add extra thickness to the roof, and that thickness all comes out of the cabin space. So 2” less headroom on those models.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The biggest weakness with this vehicle is Toyota itself.
(I currently own three toyota vehicles (Tacoma, 4runner and Sienna)

With my 4runner I had a problem where the vehicles radio and climate control were restarting while driving. This started happening after I brought the vehicle in the first time for service. Fuel pump recall. (it only had 9k on it and 2 oil changes I did at home)

Dealer said they didnt know why it was happening and couldnt duplicate it. I get it... cant fix a problem when its not a problem.

Ok a few days later I make a turn and sure enough, radio/ac restarts. This time I get my phone out to record it happening. Go around the block and it happens again and this time the engine dies too. Oh no. Even better I smell electrical and see a bit of smoke from the hood. Hello fire!

So I found the problem now....

The front jhook that holds down the battery is gone. Nut to it is on the bottom of the battery try. WTF? The battery slid around when driving and the top metal bracket was shorting out on the positive side of the battery.
This arcing caused the other j hook to be arc welded and eventually cause a bit of fire on the battery when it shorted out hard.

Dealership said not their problem, we can walk you to the parts department.

Got Toyota corp involved, dont want to fix it either. This is after letting me sit and wait for 35 days (didnt drive the vehicle for that time)
I cant say the dealer did it (they said they dont touch the battery or even open the hood when doing fuel pump recall) and when service was done on checking electrical issue, they didnt check under the hood either.

So for about 40 bucks in parts, Dealership and Toyota corp doesnt care about it. Well with that being the case, I was looking at a Tundra to replace my tacoma but since Toyota doesnt seems to give a poop, I think i am going to look at Nissan or domestic.

This is why I dont trust Toyota anymore.
I really do like their products but when a problem (minor really) nobody wants to step up and correct it. BTW still under factory warranty too!

Ugh

2+ years and 30K miles, mostly highway, live near the city dump and follow lots of dump trucks on the highways near our house, and no cracked windshields.

At last count, I've touched up 5 chips after 2 years. Definitely far better than most cars I've owned.

True. I added stronger halogens for $30.

No frame rust after three salty winters in Kansas City. We haven't treated the frame either. There is some rust on the cast iron suspension components though, but that's to be expected.

True. ~17mpg in the city and 19-20mpg on the highway. Worse if it's windy and hilly.

You should work in sales!! They call you the sales prevention manager!! ehhehe all the same your post is largely bang on. The paint though is comparable to any low VOC on the market from most suppliers. The new enviro friendly garbage paint most use now is just soft and weak compared to the old solvent based good stuff... I wish we could have a nice paint blended from chrome, cadmium, lead and maybe alittle isocyanate to lock up those free OH groups.. like a rock man.

I also suggest you drive slower than an 84 year old grandmother or you sure as shit wont even make it to the fill station!!!

Just bought a 2022 Runner. Wrecked my old on with 160K miles. The only issue I had was the GPS stopped working at about 150K miles. The newer models have so much more safety features and electronic creature comfort items. Minor gripe-sun visors in Toyotas are inferior to American car sun visors.

Also the visors themselves are made of the more modern morzine (mesh) headliner; and the main headliner is made from the classic felt. Just do the whole thing in morzine.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk