Consumer Reports on 2010 4runner not that good?

Hi all, i have a 2006 v8 sport and love it. I was thinking of also getting a 2010/2011 4runner. Just wondered what your take was on the consumer report on it, it got average for reliability and not a very good write up. I am shocked!!!!

Consumer Reports Cars Blog: Test complete: 2010 Toyota 4Runner

And whats up with these edmunds reviews?? You think these are other manufacturers??

http://www.edmunds.com/toyota/4runner/2010/consumer-reviews.html

People who drive 4 runners are not looking for an SUV that drives like a car. When you read reviews like this they want a superior road handling machine. Which in my opinion the 4 runner handles just fine but where it shines is off road and reliability. You know this article is complete crap when they say $39000.00 for an SR5 that goes to show how little research they did on these vehicles. I love my limited and does it have the road manners of Highlander NO but that is not the reason we buy these vehicles. It was bought for adequate road manners and superior off road capability and these reviewers don't know there a@@ from a hole in the ground.

Consumer Reports = Idiots!

The reviews more reflect the negatives of a truck based SUV over a car based CUV than specific issues with the 4Runner, IMO. It rides like a truck. The average joe doesn't need 9"+ of ground clearance and the body on frame architecture does, indeed, kill interior space*. But, if you actually do go offroad, the 4Runner is an excellent tool. If 10 people asked me which is better for them, the 4Runner or Highlander, I'd recommend the Highlander 9 of 10 times. It has more space, rides better on the road, and is probably more efficient in the real world. If you want something that will still be climbing up mountains in 10+ years, I'd recommend the 4Runner. The 4Runner isn't terrible on the highway, BTW. It is compromised just like the Highlander has compromised off-road ability to improve on-road ability.

BTW, the 5th gen is my first T4R and first Toyota. I love it. It has never let me down and the smile I get climbing up some terrible, rocky grade to where we camp reminds me why I love having it.

* My mom's Rav4 has nearly as much interior space as my T4R

quentin said:

if 10 people asked me which is better for them, the 4runner or highlander, i'd recommend the highlander 9 of 10 times.

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+123456. For exactly the reasons you said.

Most people don't really want an SUV, even though they think they do.

As long as they try to compare these things to cars that look like suv's (so called crossovers), T4R is not going to come out on top. But there are so few real SUV's left to compare to. I think, if the reviews were written from the other perspective, where they compare the others to the SUV capabilities of the T4R, you'd see other results. I think the ride and handling is pretty darn good considering it's a real truck. My Dodge RAM doesn't ride or handle like a Chrysler 300M either but, compared to any other half-ton truck I've ever driven, it rides and handles like a dream.

Quentin said:

BTW, the 5th gen is my first T4R and first Toyota. I love it. It has never let me down and the smile I get climbing up some terrible, rocky grade to where we camp reminds me why I love having it.

* My mom's Rav4 has nearly as much interior space as my T4R

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This is my first 4runner and toyota as well. I am happy with it so far, even though it's only been 6 days.

The 4runner has 46 cu. ft. of space behind the second row, rav4 has 36.
With the second row folded the 4runner has 89, the rav4 has 73.
I certainly don't want to compare the truck I just bought to a Rav4.

The highlander certainly meets 90% of people's needs as well or better than the 4runner, but without the capabilities.

I'm still not sure how you compare a unibody to a body on frame vehicle....testing people make no sense, and the more they expose and would have you believe they have even a remote clue what their writing about, the more they reinforce their ignorance of specific vehicles..:spider:

Get what you you want, for the reasons you want to use it for. Pick your vehicle for your reasons...not someone elses.

Bottom line, you can't simply go out and buy anything based on some review. You have do your own due diligence and recognize when the comparisons being done are "apples to oranges" or not. There aren't enough "apples" out there to compare the 4Runner to, so they have to compare it to "oranges".

My wife and I were involved in the Highlander or 4Runner debate too. I agree with Quentin when he says that the Highlander probably rides smoother and handles more like a car. But the primary reason we decided against the Highlander was because of the 2nd row seats. With the 40-20-40 split bucket seats- the 2nd row seating in the Highlander sucked-especially if we wanted to put a child seat on one of the seats. With the 4r's 2nd row seat- it feels like it could seat a child seat and 2 more people without much of an issue.-my 2 cents

I agree with consumers reports. I have test driven 3 5th gen in the last 2 years and left disappointed everytime. They took to much away from the 4th gens and I do not feel that I am getting my moneys worth on the 5th gens. I am in the market now to buy a new vehicle but unless changes are made the new 4runner is not on my list.

Their blog entry includes:

It’s still fairly accomplished for its truck-like duties, but the 4Runner’s ride produces body motions that are almost constant. The soft suspension also contributes to considerable nose dive during even mild braking. Further, the 4Runner’s handling is clumsy, with light, disconnected-feeling steering

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I really can't argue with any of that. It accurately describes my 4th gen and the 5th gen that I test drove. The suspension is soft. It does have a lot of nose dive on braking. The steering is light, with very little feel.

I put up with it because I need the 4Runner's offroad capability. But most of the Consumer Reports readers don't need offroad capability, and for them a crossover will likely be a better fit.

Watching the video, I can't really argue with what they say in the video, either. As they said, the 4Runner has great offroad capability, but that comes at a price. If you don't need that capability, there are other vehicles that might be a better fit.

I came from a Maxima SE and this is my first-ever 4X4 and I couldn't be happier! I haven't even had it out on the beach yet but even if I never did I preferred the *ride* of the 4Runner even better than the Highlander, which to me had zero personality or fun-to-drive-ness... My cousin has one and loves it but it just wasn't for me, even if I were only going to stay on-road.

I'm in publishing. ConsumerReports is great for reliability data and I've successfully trusted them for decades for that kind of info, but their opinions are definitely skewed towards their primary demographic, which is more likely to prefer the characteristics of CUV's than true off-road-worthy vehicles.

That being said they did their readers a HUGE disservice by not also reviewing the Limited~ which certainly WOULD appeal to their primary audience. I know this first-hand because my 70-year old mom LOVES the way mine rides, and her car is a Lexus RX350!!!

All reviews have some true in them, but they all biased by reviewer likes and dislikes. So I wouldn't trust reviews too much but it's always a good idea to note weak point of a reviewed vehicle and test it yourself on test drive. As per 4Runner, I test drove a few midsize SUVs and I found that I liked 4Runner the best. For other people it might be the worst depending of what they are looking in the SUV.

different strokes for different folks. It's a truck, it's not going to ride like a car. If you want a car ride, go buy something else. If you want a truck get a 4runner

The interesting point about the CR review is their reliability score. The 2010 4Runner rates as "excellent" in every category except two (body hardware and audio system; average for both). These ratings are even better than the previous 5 model years. And yet, they add those up and give it an overall "average" rating. Perhaps they're weighting some categories more heavily than others or including other metrics that are shown in the report. But their reliability scores simply don't add up.

This is also coming from the same folks who chose the Chevy Avalanche as their top pick in the pickup truck category. The Avalanche is a decent vehicle, but it's entirely useless as a pickup truck. That is, unless you don't mind the contents of your cargo bed (dirt, gravel, etc.) and the weather (rain, snow, etc.) washing onto your nice leather seats.

They also place emphasis on fuel mileage for the 2010 Lotus Elise saying, "the car gets good fuel economy of 29 mpg overall." Accurate, but unsure how many people who are in the market for a Lotus Elise really care about its fuel economy.

CR's reviews aren't credible to me.

The acid test in truth is owner satisfaction - how many would do it all over again - and the 4Runner continues to score very highly in that area.

Zepjet, those were exactly my thoughts, if it got excellent in everything except 2 how can it just be average overall. Im not going to follow CR anyway i LOVE 4runners, just couldn't understand how a great truck could be just average....

"Consumer Reports on 2010 4runner not that good".

FWIW, my report on CR is not that good either.

They should stick to objective information, and stay away from the subjective.

Everyone buys their vehicles for slightly different reasons.

I owned a 2004 Highlander (without third row seat -- hard to find) for 3 1/2 years. We loved the vehicle -- excellent driver with legendary Toyota reliability, but we wanted a slightly larger SUV. I do NOT wander from the Toyota brand due to reliability and resale, since I buy 1-3 years old, drive for 2-3 years, rinse/repeat, so that limits my choices.

We looked at the new generation of Highlander, since they are larger than the previous gen Highlander, but decided against them for several reasons: 1) you can NOT get them without the third row seat (except I believe the 4 cylinder, which I would not be interested in), and I do NOT want a third row seat, even though they drop into the floor. 2) Also, the second row seat has a gap in the middle when folded down -- unacceptable. And 3) the driver and passenger seats are not quite as large and comfortable as the 4Runner's (not that those are the best around, just better than the newer Highlander).

Personally, I didn't care if my SUV was unibody or body on frame/truck, that wasn't my criteria. But the 4Runner was the right size Toyota SUV, so I bought a 2009 4th Gen, and I like it. My 4Runner definitely rides better and is more comfortable than the Highlander was. I do tow and haul a little bit, and while the Highlander could handle what I do, the 4Runner handles the loads better. The offroad capability is something I will only rarely use, but I did get the 4WD, because I do need it on occasion.

Like someone else mentioned, I find CR very useful for their reliability records, since that is compiled from thousands of reports sent in by car owners. But I mostly ignore the personal opinions they generate from their vehicle road tests.