4runner gets poor reviews
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Antman
Elite Member
Because they are reviewing on road performance, not off road performance.
Resale value is so high because they are dead-reliable tanks.
gm350reratliff
New member
Because most reviewers are CAR reviewers. They don't understand the 4runner or any of it's benefits. They want a car-like ride and it hurts them to lift their legs so high to get in. Most don't take the 4runner off road or if they do it's pretty tame. They also don't re-compare the vehicles together at 50k, 100k, 150k, etc.
MSinDC
New member
Most reviewers just don't get it plain and simple. 4runners are desirable to a niche crowd and are really in a class of their own. Yeah, if they're compared to other "competitors" for on-road performance and bells and whistles, it loses - but most of us understand the trade-off in the beginning for what you get in reliability and capability.
LandCruiser
New member
My TE has loud road noise at highway cruising, doesn't have the car-like ride, doesn't have the interior space of a Crossover due to the drivetrain tunnel, doesn't have a third row and the 4Runner's third row is pretty lame, has a 5-speed that isn't the best for fuel economy, is heavy and gets bad gas mileage...
If you compare all that to the Explorer or Pathfinder crossovers, that sound pretty bad.
If you drive that thing up Independence pass and then get the Explorer and Pathfinder to follow, then it starts to make sense.
If you compare all that to the Explorer or Pathfinder crossovers, that sound pretty bad.
If you drive that thing up Independence pass and then get the Explorer and Pathfinder to follow, then it starts to make sense.
manofsteele2003
New member
Because society has turned into a bunch of big pussies that want their SUVs to drive like a car not a truck.
LandCruiser
New member
Also people who don't buy them for this niche appeal, start to ***** and moan on their customer satisfaction surveys and that gets back to reviewers.
Ron4RNevada
New member
Some of the urban crowd on this very forum who don't spend enough time in the dirt tend to whine about 80mph highway performance just like the reviewers who are being paid by the word for their write-ups and have to pander to the urban crowd who are after all the 90% of the population.
LandCruiser
New member
It really didn't like 85 in Texas, I think I was getting 10mpg, I could actually watch the miles to empty tick down.
1engineer
Moderator
lol that's because you are covering a mile every 42 seconds or so...
LandCruiser
New member
It usually hangs out on the highway on a full tank at 304 for 15-20 minutes, because that's the city estimate, before it starts to count down with a more accurate number.
Not at 85. It dropped down to 280 and started to plummet
Car magazines give a real SUV bad reviews, no surprise there.
I guess if off-road magazines tested a Camry, the Camry would get a bad review as well.
Who in the hell buys a 4r solely for its on-road performance? Sure, on-road is very important, but common sense says things get compromised in order to have great off-road performance.
These non-SUVs should not be tested against real SUVs, they are different all together. Why they still call things like the new Explorer an SUV is beyond me.
I guess if off-road magazines tested a Camry, the Camry would get a bad review as well.
Who in the hell buys a 4r solely for its on-road performance? Sure, on-road is very important, but common sense says things get compromised in order to have great off-road performance.
These non-SUVs should not be tested against real SUVs, they are different all together. Why they still call things like the new Explorer an SUV is beyond me.
LAB4US
New member
Doesn't matter if 4Runner, car, computer, guitar, etc...reviewers don't own or live with the products they review. When I research something I'm interested in, I find something like this forum and see what people who have actually owned and used the product for more than one 15 minute test drive think...I've seemed to have been successful the majority of the time using this process. Just sayin'
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DesertCanyons
New member
4Runner reviews
I read a lot of reviews before deciding to replace my reliable, capable 1995 Jeep GC with a 4Runner. The reviews for the Jeep GC Overland or Limited don't tell you what real owners think of reliability and ownership costs. You have to read owner reviews to understand how difficult it is to keep all those fancy Jeep GC systems working. And owners pan the dealers for not being able or willing to fix them. And the stock Jeep GC with a 6 cylinder is no better than a T4R in highway performance.
The Jeep GC Limited is a beautiful car, well finished, has leather seats, an 8-speed auto trans and a very capable QuadraTracII drive train. MSRP is also $45k with the leather and a V8. That's about $10k more than I'm paying for my basic T4R TE. If I bought the Jeep GC I'd want the V8 and the gas mileage wouldn't come close to a T4R.
The Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon is a very capable car. Probably better off-road than anything else out there in stock condition. It also rides and handles poorly on the highway, is noisy, has a bulky roll bar inside and the rear view visibility is obstructed by the tire and tail light. It's smaller inside, weighs less (a plus), has less towing capacity but has about the same gas mileage as a T4R. Read the reviews for the Jeep Wrangler and compare it reviews of the T4R. No contest.
I considered these 3 SUVs in my price range. Nothing else comes close in off-road performance - they mostly have all wheel drive. None of the other SUVs have 4 wheel low, engaging both axles simultaneously or a locking rear differential.
The resale value of both the Wrangler and the T4R are about 67% after 5 years. Everything else falls around 50%.
I read a lot of reviews before deciding to replace my reliable, capable 1995 Jeep GC with a 4Runner. The reviews for the Jeep GC Overland or Limited don't tell you what real owners think of reliability and ownership costs. You have to read owner reviews to understand how difficult it is to keep all those fancy Jeep GC systems working. And owners pan the dealers for not being able or willing to fix them. And the stock Jeep GC with a 6 cylinder is no better than a T4R in highway performance.
The Jeep GC Limited is a beautiful car, well finished, has leather seats, an 8-speed auto trans and a very capable QuadraTracII drive train. MSRP is also $45k with the leather and a V8. That's about $10k more than I'm paying for my basic T4R TE. If I bought the Jeep GC I'd want the V8 and the gas mileage wouldn't come close to a T4R.
The Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon is a very capable car. Probably better off-road than anything else out there in stock condition. It also rides and handles poorly on the highway, is noisy, has a bulky roll bar inside and the rear view visibility is obstructed by the tire and tail light. It's smaller inside, weighs less (a plus), has less towing capacity but has about the same gas mileage as a T4R. Read the reviews for the Jeep Wrangler and compare it reviews of the T4R. No contest.
I considered these 3 SUVs in my price range. Nothing else comes close in off-road performance - they mostly have all wheel drive. None of the other SUVs have 4 wheel low, engaging both axles simultaneously or a locking rear differential.
The resale value of both the Wrangler and the T4R are about 67% after 5 years. Everything else falls around 50%.
The 4Runner will be axed before it follows the road of the Mallfinder. Toyota already has the Highlander crossover. For Nissan it didn't make sense to offer both Pathfinder and Xterra as 4x4s.
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Boardmember
New member
My 'urban' wife, for whom I just bought a '15 T4R SR5P 2WD to replace her '10 T4R, wouldn't drive anything else. Well maybe that's an exaggeration, but she wanted this because it's reliable, sporty, attractive, solid, well-appointed and it drives perfectly on our all-too-prevalent potholed roads and parking lots. Oh and it holds its value. Someone mentioned that too I think. We've got two girls, the college kid drives an '09 T4R Sport, the other a senior in HS that drives a CRV. We're all urban, now that I think about it. Even with me in an '11 Tundra w 123k miles. It has leather, so I guess I'm 'urban' too...
We live in hurricane-ville too, so it's nice to be able to scoot out if ever needed.
We live in hurricane-ville too, so it's nice to be able to scoot out if ever needed.
For the vast majority of people, a 4Runner isn't a good choice. Crossovers are a much more pragmatic choice that offer better fuel economy, traction when it is needed and enough ground clearance to get to the mall during snow flurries. BOF is not required.
God bless them.
I love my 4Runner for all the reasons that others have mentioned...
