Am I crazy for considering this?
 

I have been pretty seriously kicking around the idea of getting rid of my 2018 TRD Pro. It's a great vehicle that does well off-road and fits 90% of my daily driving needs. The aftermarket is great, it's super reliable, it holds its value well, and it's a nice middle of the road in size (easy around town and when parking). I can car camp in it (rear seats laid down) and I haven't found a better vehicle in the sand while at the beach. I love the roll down rear window, the long flat roof (with matching rack), and the manual t-case shifter and locker. All in all it checks most boxes.

I hate that they are so popular, I see them everywhere (4Runners in general, not TRD Pros). The motor is just meh and it sucks as a tow vehicle for anything more than 3,000lbs. The interior is dated, the seats aren't very comfortable, and it lacks soul and personality. At the end of the day it'll never be a truck and I prefer a straight axle over IFS (easier to lift and fit bigger tires with less drawbacks).

Getting back into a nicely equipped 3/4-ton diesel will cost another $20K+ over the value of my 4Runner. It'll cost more to insure, fill up, maintain, and it'll never retain it's value like the 4Runner or a Toyota in general. But it'll have gobs of power, it'll tow everything I want/need like a dream, and have plenty of room for people and gear. I like keeping dirty, stinky, wet things out of the cabin, trucks allow for this. That said, they are a dime a dozen and 90% of the time I have no use/need for it's strongest merits (diesel power and interior space/size).

This might be a case of "the grass is greener" and for now I don't "need" the towing capabilities of the truck but I will in the future, that's not debatable. I don't want any of the current mid-size trucks so going that route isn't an option (the same can be said for the half-tons). I worry that if I keep the 4Runner it'll only continue to lose value (most do) and I'll be tempted to keep building it only further increasing the delta between my investment and its depreciation lol.

Do any of you feel the same way about your 4Runner, am I alone here? I find it to be the most polarizing vehicle I have ever owned. On one hand it's fantastic in so many ways and on the other I can't even stand looking at it at times lol (a little over exaggerated lol).

Talk some sense into me or talk me out of keeping it, either way I'd love to hear your thoughts on this and on your own struggle with owning this vehicle.

If you want a truck, you want a truck. I can't talk you out of that.

But buying a truck now because you are certain you'll want one in the future is a bit foolish. And trading in a 4R, which holds value very well, for a truck you aren't going to use yet, but will begin depreciating immediately is, well I'll be blunt--it's stupid.*

But a man's car isn't only head, heart comes into play too. Good luck.

*we can do the math if you want the full exercise, but let's just go with the conclusion for now

Why is having a popular vehicle bad? Parts availability is great. Go anywhere when something breaks. Owning a unique vehicle usually means long expensive wait times for parts. One time I was on the trail with a hybrid Jeep of sorts that needed front Chevy Chevette calipers for his rear axle. No fun. Break a standard part from a high production vehicle, no problem.

I have a 5th Gen Offroad and a Diesel truck. I typically avoid driving the Diesel. Short trips are not good on a diesel truck. My Diesel truck is also difficult in tight parking lots. 4Runner fits everywhere.

I would say you need to take inventory of what it is you really want here. If you like the 4Runner keep it for a bit longer then make the switch. They do hold value well and keeping it isn't a massive loss imo. You currently own a decent vehicle wait and see if a better diesel comes a long that makes you gotta to have it. Wouldn't switch if I wasn't excited about the vehicle I'm switching to.

If the numbers make sense to you and it doesn't hurt anything switch whenever you want. I can't honestly say I would ever convince someone to keep a vehicle unless it affected me in some way. Truth is I think you already know what your gonna do. Why else would you post here. :)

Wife and I drive a lot and we agreed that we may as well enjoy the ride. I like the interior. It's modern enough for me and while I miss my old automatic climate controls I also enjoy the big knobs of the 5th gen. Let's me mess with it and know exactly what setting I'm at without looking. While there are certainly more modern interiors I have yet to find someone who gets in and think it dated.

2020 f250 6.7 tremor. DO EET. i enjoy the wife's 4runner but the f250 is AMAZING. if cali parking didn't suck i would've taken the f250 in a heartbeat to San Diego this past week.

I understand completely. I love trucks. Like you said about value, shop shop shop, buy low, sell high. the trade sticker shock isn't as bad that way!
Why did I go to the runner. As much as I love trucks, living in my area its hard to park about anywhere! Saw a parking garage in the city said 7' clearance. lucky I looked as they lied and would have lopped the roof off! they had the nerve to ***** me out when I had to back out and block traffic. Trucks are awesome and the runner to me was as truck-like to drive in a smaller package. Can't go wrong whatever you decide unless its the upcoming Tesla truck then you would have to hide in shame

Do both.

Too many 4runners and wants a truck? lol

Am I crazy for considering this?
 

Stop wasting your hard earned money and buy what you NEED,not what you desire.


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I get it. Everyone has 5th Gen 4Runner so it's not unique.
I agree with most of the other comments that if you need a truck (or just really want one) and need to tow with more comfort there's no getting around it with the 4Runner.

It comes down to $$.
If you can afford to make the switch and it doesn't pose a hardship on the family then do it. You only live once and you will never be younger than you are today.
It's just a car and it doesn't define who you are.

Oh, before I forget. Often I've bought something else because I see a ton of what I'm driving on the road... move onto vehicle "B" and next thing you know is there's a lot of them also, hell if your in Texas look around! I'm guessing same number if not more than 4runners? I think its common to see more of what you're driving. I saw a 4runner last fall and knew then I wanted one. From then till June when I bought I didn't see many more in Chicago area. now I see them all over the place!

Thanks for all of the posts so far. I agree with everyone to some degree or another.

I have owned three new Super Duty's in the past decade and I have loved them all. Each was replaced for different reasons but the last one was due to us selling the off-shore boat and a major health scare pushed us into a cheaper vehicle to help off-set costs and needs at that time.

While I don't currently need the diesel to tow, I will when we buy another off-shore boat next year or the following (hence the definite need in the future). Maybe some see that as jumping the gun, while I tend to agree, I also see it on the other hand as being prepared. I can understand how keeping the 4Runner up until the time comes could be a more sound financial choice as I will likely lose less in the 4Runner than I would in the truck over that time frame.

I am not against having a popular vehicle, they are popular for a multitude of reasons, but I also enjoy not seeing one at every stop light too. I don't keep vehicles for 10+ years like some, I don't have the commitment or interest in any one object to even attempt to do so lol. That said, the 4Runner is one that you could easily do that with.

I agree that life is too short to be unhappy with how you spend your time and money and having had a major health scare once already in my short life I tend to agree with that notion more than most. I'd like to do both but that isn't feasible at the moment with mommas LX570 also taking money from the till.

Maybe it's best to wait until the need for said truck draws closer?! I don't foresee a new 4Runner for a few more years and even then I think it'll still retain its value quite well once the 6th Gen hits.

Life is short - drive what you want to drive. I’d imagine you already took the big depreciation hit on the 4R. Keeping it a few more months or even a year isn’t going to change the value of the 4R that much. Seems more important to time the purchase of the domestic diesel right as the depreciation hit will be pretty staggering the first couple years. I priced out the Dodge and GMC diesels when I bought my Tundra. Ended up right about $70,000 depending on extras for a super crew cab 4X4 in 2017. They’re beasts. That said, they’re not all that unique either. I see CC 3/4 ton trucks all the time. The Tundra is a rarer sight in my neck of the woods.

Having said all that.. if you want very unique and additional towing capacity in addition to being great off road, why not get a new Land Cruiser or LX570? You’ll be lucky if you see one a week and you’ll probably never see one off road. It’ll cost you about the same, maybe even less, than a 3/4 ton diesel. Resale will be a lot better with the LC. No DEF fluid to worry about, no emission system codes, no exhaust complexities, no 30,000PSI injector systems that fail and are repairable only by a dealer with thousands of dollars in specialized tools and computers. Food for thought anyway.

Edit: just saw your post re: offshore boat and wife’s LX570. Get the diesel then. Lol

Haha, yea, the diesel will be necessary at some point in the future for those reasons.

We love the LX, she pushed us into the LX when we were all but certain about the LC, the interior appointments of the LX won her over in the end. That said, if I were to buy a 200 to build, it would undoubtedly be the LC for obvious reasons.

We live in Texas, this has to be one of the top three states for LC sales as they are everywhere, even in the small town of 20,000 people that we live in. While the LC would increase my towing capacity 3,000lbs over the 4Runner as well as the power and comfort, it would also increase my mod costs and the overall vehicle costs would double. We have explored that avenue, it was heavily considered at one time.

https://i.imgur.com/NaD3JFR.jpg

Lol, valid point. That said, there are lots of different trims and packages in the domestic truck world. This is more or less a preemptive purchase than attempting to own something not as common. Here in south Texas there is nothing more common than HD trucks and Tahoes lol so that isn't the driving factor.

lol i'm the opposite. I take the f250 anytime i can:rockon: