1st gen 4runner or 1st gen Sequoia? Passion vs. practicality?

[itgogitrev]

It seems that my 2nd gen 4Runner is getting close to its useful life cycle with me and it's time to replace it with something else. This won't be a daily driver, it'll be more of a second car that will be used for light trailing, hardware store runs, partial winter car, etc. It will most likely see less than 5000 miles a year. And I'm stuck between 2 vehicles.


Passion:

I found a VERY clean 1st gen 4runner that I would love to get my hands on. Unfortunately, it's too far for me to see it in person, so I'd have to buy it sight-unseen. It would also have to be shipped, so there's the extra cost in that. I'm willing to trust the current owner since he's be extremely helpful with providing pics and info about it.


Practicality

A 1st Gen Sequoia has popped up locally for the same price. I'll admit that I'm not smitten with the idea of having a Sequoia, at least not as much as the idea of having a 1st gen 4Runner. But it does have the perks of keeping the wife happy (we're expecting our first baby in October) in terms of safety and being a much newer vehicle. It does have high miles, but I'll be checking to see what maintenance has been done on it.


Battle

The 4Runner is basically everything I want. It'll do everything on my checklist and if it does have an issue, I'm knowledgeable enough with the platform to diagnose and fix it myself. 22RE, manual transmission, crank down windows, not really much to go wrong with it to begin with.

The Sequoia will also do everything I need, but probably with worse gas mileage and a lot less fun. Also, if something goes wrong with it, I won't be able to wrench on it like the 4Runner. I feel that the Sequoia should be a step up, but I'm not convinced that 'bigger and newer is better'. I guess I'll find out on Monday when I take it out for a test drive.


So the big question is should I go with my head or my heart?

 

[ChaseR9]

1st gen!!! Keep a clean classic build. Can still make the wife happy!

 

[fourwd1]

Comparing those two is like comparing apples and bowling balls.
And I'm surprised the price for them would be the same.
Do you want an old small vehicle or a newer large vehicle?

 

[JBurt]

I really wanted a 1st gen 4runner, but we were planning on having kids soon. That reasoning made me decide on 4 doors.

We now have 2 kids and I'm really happy I have 4 doors. Putting car seats into the back of a 2 door sucks. Have you thought about 3rd gens?

 

[UnderFire]

This won't be a daily driver, it'll be more of a second car that will be used for light trailing, hardware store runs, partial winter car, etc. It will most likely see less than 5000 miles a year.

If it's not a daily driver, why should practicality be any major concern? I'd say accept the few drawbacks of the 1st gen 4Runner and live with it. Some day your kid will love it, not sure I can say the same about the Sequoia.

 

[itgogitrev]

Comparing those two is like comparing apples and bowling balls.
And I'm surprised the price for them would be the same.
Do you want an old small vehicle or a newer large vehicle?

Yeah, the pricing is a little weird. The 4Runner is clean and the Sequoia's owners are moving to a place where they don't have the room to store the extra car, so the prices even out. Personally, I think the 4Runner has enough room for me and I like older trucks... but the Sequoia always struck me as a 4Runner XXL. I'll have a better idea of what it's like after driving it.

Have you thought about 3rd gens?

I have, but the odd part of the Sequoia is that it's on par with a lot of average 3rd gens in terms of pricing. The bad part is that if I wanted to find something with an OEM e-locker and a manual, they start falling out of my price range.

If it's not a daily driver, why should practicality be any major concern? I'd say accept the few drawbacks of the 1st gen 4Runner and live with it. Some day your kid will love it, not sure I can say the same about the Sequoia.

For practicality, it would be nice to use it on vacations. But the more I think about it, we'd probably fly anywhere we'd want to go. Hmmm...

The funny thing is when I was typing out the original post, I kept thinking "is my kid going to appreciate cars?" If I was a kid, I'd want the 4Runner, hands down.

 

[UnderFire]

For practicality, it would be nice to use it on vacations. But the more I think about it, we'd probably fly anywhere we'd want to go. Hmmm...

The funny thing is when I was typing out the original post, I kept thinking "is my kid going to appreciate cars?" If I was a kid, I'd want the 4Runner, hands down.

But the 4Runner's still an SUV, it has plenty of room for luggage, and if you need more space, you could always go for a roof rack or hitch mounted luggage rack, and getting in and out of the back is easy for a small child, it may not be the best road trip car out there today, but I'd imagine 30 years ago when it was introduced, the 1st gen was road tripping all over the country.

 

[Quatre Coureur]

They're the same price now. In ten years which will be worth more?

 

[itgogitrev]

They're the same price now. In ten years which will be worth more?

Nail on the head. Sequoia owner wasn't available today, but I'm thinking that it's probably better that way. The kid in me wants the 4Runner anyways.