Keeping my 5th Gen 4Runner for now despite the 2025 4Runner redesign
 

I read an article on MotorTrend comparing the Tacoma (which the 2025 4Runner is based on for the most part) to the Ford Ranger and it pointed out a lot of flaws in the new Tacoma.

Loud when driving, wandering/hunting 8 speed transmission, numb steering feel to name a few things in the article. I’ve done a massive amount of updates to my 2015 4Runner Trail Premium to where it now actually feels like a premium vehicle, so while I was looking forward to the redesign I think this is putting the brakes on me buying the new model. I also kind of like the boxier look of the 5th gen but that one is minor.

Just wondering if my logic checks here with you guys? I’m kind of thinking the 5th gen 4Runner is going to be a sought after classic for a long time to come.

I'll start by saying I do not own a single Toyota currently but I have owned a couple Tacomas, 1 Tundra and 1 4runner (3rd Gen). My Son has an early 5th gen with 240K that runs solid.

I haven't heard the same issues with the new Taco about it being loud or having gear hunting like this MT article claims. All the groups I follow, owners are quite the opposite screaming of how much better it is than the 3rd G Taco, particularly with road noise, drivetrain etc...

I do agree that the 5th gen 4R will still hold value similar to how it does today. It's basically the landcruiser now that we no longer have it (not counting the new TNGA landcruiser). Many of the things that made the Landcruiser so sought after are to be found in the 5th gen 4runner. I think the more recent 4R with push button start and the better tech will be more sought after, especially the pro or unique color (calvary blue, army green, underground, lunar rock etc...)

I was super close to buying a TRDORP in underground last month but I walked. That one sold a week later and there isn't a single one like it still within 50 miles. It had some special regional package that I like a lot. Maybe Toyota is scaling back already.

I'd watch the beta testers do their work for the first 2 to 3 model years. The 2022 Tundra rollout was a disaster for Toyota. Turbo wastegate failures galore, bad fit and finish, rattles, etc with a hefty price hike to boot. That seems to have quieted down significantly two years later, even though they're still drastically overpriced.

Now we have a new turbo and turbo/hybrid 4-banger powertrain in the sibling Tacoma/4Runners for 24/25 respectively. We also have one of the largest YouTube enthusiast channels TFL with an embarrassing catastrophic front axle failure on their 2024 Tacoma when it was simply spinning wheels on a snowy incline.

Patience, patience. Let Toyota get the platform unscrewed before you plunk down $50K+ to beta test for them. As the saying goes, they don't build 'em like they used to.

biggest turn off for me is a big as s screen in a middle of dashboard. So cheap.

i had a 2008 tacoma and absolutely loved it, how it drove, how it sounded, the power, the trans shifting, it was literally a perfect truck for the entire 275,000 miles i drove it

i bought the wife a 2012 4runner and fixed it up, absolutely amazing vehicle. JBL stereo system in the limited, which had the big screen like the LEXUS, rear view camera was spot on, trans didnt do anything whacky, drove perfect, shifted perfect, did everything we asked for the 140,000 miles we owned it

She wanted something with rear AC and we got a 2017 limited platinum Highlander with redrock interior. Boy that things interior was nice, it looked good and drove good but the interior noise was WAY louder than i ever expected for the highest trim level Highlander. She hated how it drove, and the sliding center console thing and she only kept it 9 months before she wanted out of it.

She bounced around getting a new vehicle basically every 11 months and every time she pulled the
"i really miss my 4runner"
"i sure wish i had another 4runner"
So i started looking in 2020 for a white limited 4wd with auto running boards with the red interior... I literally looked nation wide until October 2021 when the TRD Sport was released and my search instantly changed to a white TRD Sport 4wd with auto running boards. It took me almost 2 years to find one, i paid for the moroney page and a vin decoder to search vins as toyota did allocations. Since you couldnt order, i had to search for vins with the options i wanted after they were allocated. In the 20 months it took me to find the one i bought, i only found 9 that matched my options. Either dealers were asking +$5000 over sticker, it was pre-sold, or they just wouldnt come down off their mark-up. I eventually got a dealer to sell me one and waited in anticipation.

During this time i also drove a new Tacoma, in anticipation that i might buy another one. My daily driver 4runner is getting close to 250,000, my 92 pickup started knocking from pinging from bad gas, so i was looking to replace my 92 pickup with a new tacoma. NO SIR....
They are right, the interior cab noise is CRAZY loud in the new tacoma, not sure how or why but the interior noise sounds like a honda civic with no interior, the road noise sounds like a unibody with no interior. The trans does hunt like a fuggin beagle chasing a racoon if you put it on cruise control. Totally not usable, even on flat ground no load, no hills, the trans is downshifting to maintain speed in cruise. NO SIR i wont own a new tacoma unless those two points get fixed

So.... I made a deal with the dealer i bought my 4runner thru, that i was going to fly out to Long Beach and pick the 4runner up myself. No PDI, i didnt want the dealer touching it, i didnt want it loaded up on a car hauler, i wanted to pick it up myself and drive it home. I wanted to be the only person who sits in the seat, peeled the plastic off the front end myself, no scratches from anyone. The dealer let me pick the 4runner up without them taking possession, i flew out, caught an uber to the port, showed some paper work to a guy, got the keys and headed home. I was so happy, it was so pretty, it was exactly what i wanted. I filled it up at a gas station up the road and figured the mileage and figured i could make it to Tuscon on the first tank of fuel so i set the GPS to a DelTaco in Tuscon and headed east. First thing, it drives nice, smooth, feels tight, doors are sealed WAY differently than in the past. If you dont slam the door its not closing, a soft nudge and the door wont close, the seals are stiff and you gotta really tell the door to close or it aint closing. It smells good, feels good, drives smooth, nearly silent inside, AND the first problem arises when i set the cruise control on the highway. FUGGIN HUNTING. The trans WILL NOT stay in a gear in cruise control FUGG ME... On i-10 from LA to Phoenix its minimal elevation change, long straight highway and the trans is constantly downshifting, upshifting, downshifting, literally 5 miles and 13 gear changes later i cut the cruise control off. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO what is wrong with the freaking trans tuning............................... Well.... I get over it and ponder how i am going to make this 2000 mile trip back home without cruise control...... Meh i guess its ok i can live without cruise i guess.... I watch my mileage, and speed, and make it to north Tuscon before i gotta fill up again, then head to that DelTaco i have been wanting for so long. I pull into the DelTaco and click it in reverse for the first time to back up and HOLY CRAP.... I think there is a sticker over the rear camera i cant see crap. I put it in park and walk around back to see if i forgot a sticker over the rear view camera and nope, its clean, i wiped it off anyway and got back in and put it in reverse and :WTF i simply cant see crap on the screen, its the worst backup camera image i have ever experienced and i remember when the first backup cameras were introduced. My 2008 tacoma had the backup camera pictured in the rear view mirror and it was better than this, huge screen 2023 4runner. BOY i was tasting the sour taste of those grapes in my mouth right about now. The "technology package" which comes with the 360 degree cameras is an absolute waste of money, under no circumstance should this be allowed on a current model vehicle. The image quality was below sub par, its unacceptable.

Aside from these two gripes, i have not found anything about the 2023 TRD Sport that i dont like. It looks good, it drives great, it feels great, it is a great vehicle other than the trans cant stay in a gear under any sort of load, even driving with your foot, on an incline that would normally just bog a little, drop 5mph, this thing downshifts in an instant. You may as well just tip into the throttle at the beginning of a hill and speed up on your own, cause if you keep you foot level, and the engine starts to bog, that puppy is downshifting and its REAL quick to downshift 2 gears and get to 4500RPM with a quickness for absolutely no reason. My Tundra doesnt downshift at all, sure it bogs a little on hill climbs, so what it loses 200rpm and 5mph or so, yeah on a big hill climb it might lose 6-8mph, so what it speeds back up without downshifting and nobody notices anyting. The new trans tuning in the current tacoma and current 4runner wont do that. If it bogs slightly, loses RPM a little, its downshifting. IT WILL NOT maintain overdrive with the cruise control on. It downshifts constantly EVEN ON FLAT GROUND. IT sucks.

Hope you can get past those two slight imperfections, other than that i absolutely love the 4runner.

I'm a 4th gen owner and not in the market for a replacement, but I didn't see anything in the TFL test drive that would cause me to want to run out and buy a new 4Runner "just because". If I were in the market, I would certainly take a closer look at it and it would get a "mental" advantage over Jeep and Bronco just because it's a Toyota.

Three months ago I purchased a new 2024 TRD Off Road, I fully looked into the new 2025 4 Runner and decided it would not be for me. Being 79 and "old school" it was the vehicle for me and this could be my last new vehicle purchase, who knows. I don't feel you can go wrong with a Gen 5 model, too much good history on these vehicles, they will be around for a long time and have good value.

I do not like the way toyota has gone with their new 4runner, tacomas, Landcruisers (gross) and tundras. even sequoias. I don't think I will buy newer toyota truck. the old v8 tundras, sequoias and v6 5th gen 4runners I would definitely consider

although at this point an f150 I think is the best bang for the buck for me. 5.0L v8. sure it's not perfect, but for the money it's now a top choice for me

my 4runner is a 2012 and has 165k miles now and I hope to drive it much longer

The 2025 4Runner wasn't revealed 3 months ago tho? But ya definitely can't go wrong with the last model year of the 5th Gen, congrats!

I never buy a first model year anyway after a couple bad experiences. I replaced my 4th gen with a newer 4th gen in 2012 rather than jumping to a 5th gen and waited for the facelift before jumping to a 5th gen. I'm planning to do the same and wait a couple years to see how the 6th gen pans out. I like some things about the 6th and dislike others, it was a long time coming and I feel like a lot of purists are not happy

I feel the same way as you. I will be turning 69 later this summer. This past November, I bought my first ever 4RUNNER- a 2022 SR5 Premium 4WD, from our local Toyota dealer, a certified / pre-owned unit.

I had sold, privately, my trusty 2006 Tundra SR5 4WD Double Cab, TRD Off Road, that I had bought new for myself back in '06.

I had been wanting to get in to a 5th gen T4R for well over a couple of years. I first started looking at T4Rs during the scamdemic / plandemic, but I quickly learned that then was a very bad time to try to buy a vehicle. (Incidentally neither my wife or I have ever yet come down with covid. We went ahead and got the first two covid shots early on, but have had no additional "boosters"(?) since then. Call me skeptical, but I quickly became suspicious and untrusting of them trying to railroad people into getting so many repeat "boosters" SO FREQUENTLY!

But anyways, I digress- By the time last November, 2023 came around, I found that things had "calmed down" some price wise, and I found I was able to negotiate a very satisfying deal on my certified / pre-owned '22 model.

So even though this 5th gen was getting long-in-the-tooth, having been the same basic design for so many years, it was still plenty new and fresh to me, having just come out of my "antique" '06 Tundra.

Now that we've learned some about the 6th gen T4R, from what I've seen and read about it, I'm confident that it is NOT going to tempt me in the slightest. I kept my '06 Tundra for 17 some years. I have every intention of holding on to my '22 T4R for just as long, and maybe beyond, hopefully if it doesn't get wrecked or stolen. And if something does ever happen to mine, I'll be in search of another 5th gen, I'll tell you that.

Who knows what the future holds. I'll be 86 in 17 years. I don't know what my health will be like by then, if I'm even still alive by then. Will we still have gasoline for purchase in 17 years? Another unknown.

For now, I cannot wrap my head around the idea of a 4RUNNER with a little piss ant 2.5L 4 cylinder in it- Turbo not withstanding. I am concerned about their longevity. I'm going to hang on to this 4.0L V-6 for as long as I can. Thus far, I am finding it laughable that the new T4R is being "degraded"(?) down to such a small engine. Maybe I'll be proven wrong.

Likewise, I am skeptical about these new transmissions with 8, 9, and 10 speeds. I am perfectly happy the way my bullet proof 5 speed trans shifts out thank you very much. The current 4.0 V-6 and 5 speed trans has plenty of zip for this old man. I realize I'm not going to win any stop light drag races off the line, and so I drive accordingly. I don't have to hammer on my vehicle every time I step on the gas. If some idiot wants to blow by me, go ahead.

I too am old school- and I tend to subscribe to the theory of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

My other issue with these newer vehicles is they have become way too expensive. Who the h_ll can afford these new pickup trucks and SUVs? These prices on new pickup trucks for example, from the big three, and even Toyota- 70K, and up through north of 100K? Totally ludicrous. These car companies are of of their effing minds with their outrageous prices! :mad: I think the new 2024 Tacoma is over priced. So too will be the 6th gen T4R. No thanks.

I'm going to be doing everything within my power to keep my '22 looking like new and mechanically sound. I'll be interested and watching to see how things pan out with the 6th gen. I believe it will have a hard time living up to the reputation of the iconic 5th gen.

2025 4Runner: Length 194.8 in, Height, 70.8 in, Width 77.8 in
2024 4Runner: Length 190.7 in, Height, 71.5 in, Width 75.8 in

One thing that I'm not the biggest fan of is the new 4Runner is longer, lower, and wider than the old one which to some extent loses the boxy shape that I really liked.

I guess for now I'm in the wait and see category and definitely would not buy in the first year or even the second year. Meanwhile I've just been modernizing my Barcelona Red 2015 Trail Premium (a tune, Blisten 5100 shocks, updated navigation, remote start, better speakers, etc...) and I am actually getting more compliments on it than any other vehicle I've owned.

I'm one who doesn't understand why so many people clamor for more and more gears in their transmissions - and not just Toyota owners. They want 8 or 10 speeds (for better acceleration, I presume), then gripe when it hunts for gears. I would expect hunting with 10 speeds. I don't know if any automaker has figured that out. I can't think of a time when I wished for additional gears in my 4R.

Best full size truck bang for the buck right now is the final year of the Nissan Titan. Last V8 left without cylinder deactivation, a hybrid assist, or auto start/stop. Most underrated/under the radar truck out there, and also the most discounted.

The manufactures are forced to put more speeds in the transmission for MPG reasons. The more speeds you have the easier it is to keep the engine RPM at the optimal level for economy.