4runner looses to Grand Cherokee again

[STX4Runner]

I do have to respond to stx regarding "LandCruiser (sad to say)". Definitely not true as it has all the same off road technology as the trail edition. All the cameras on the LC are for off road and seeing ur surroundings to articulate obstacles. Sure it has luxury but still built with the same solid rear and primary off road vehicle in most country's throughout the world. But it also gets snubbed by magazines as well. I would take my LC or 4R any day over all the other "winner" SUVs that hit the shelves.

I meant no disrespect to the LandCruiser, those things are awesome. The biggest problem I have with them is they have progressivly gotten lower and bulkier over the past few refreshes. Their price is a major turnoff as well, but I know they are a low volume vehicle and the Sequoia is the mid priced full size Toyota SUV. Please don't think I don't respect the hell outta LandCruisers. If you can swing it, more power to you.

 

[NoDak]

This week I am trading my 08 v8 trail Edition for a 2014 limited. 118,000 miles and not one issue. The 08 is just showing its age so going for a new one. mistake? Hope not...In my 30 plus years of buying cars I have NEVER stayed with the same car until now. Reviewers are unreliable. T4R's are reliable beyond any that I have ever owned. A bit scary to trade what has been such a wonderful rig. Toyota now offers a 5 year 120,000 mile warranty for $2100, should I buy it? Probably will. Oh, NEVER, will I be seen driving a Jeep/Dodge/Chrysler product. I was told that with Jeeps, the marketing people decide what technology goes in to new cars unlike Honda and Toyota wher the engineers make these decisions. Anyone confirm this or is it a myth? Cheers!

um i hope your not going to pay that 2100 for that 5/120k. you can get a 8/125 for around 1425 from jerry. search for a thread for ext warranties.

 

[TonyJ124]

The looser the better, I always said!

This thread is waaaay too serious! I'll give them credit for acknowledging that the 4runner is the "Best enthusiast/ builder platform out of the bunch." Which, if you look at the aftermarket and how people use their trucks, the 4unner is head and shoulders above the rest. How many dumbrangos are EVER off road??

My two cents/rant on it;

I shopped new JGCs this fall, and was impressed with the ride and fit and finish of it, but underwhelmed by the v6. The cost of the hemi over the v6 is really what turned me away. The v8 gets similar MPGs to the v6 (IIRC, the V8 had better highway mpgs?) and has much more power. The big lure, for me, of the v8 JGC was the towing capacity (we have a 25' cobalt), but we've got an old powerstroke for the two times I need to tow it a year. If I wanted to go over my $30k budget, I honestly would have bought the JGC v8.

Once I threw the towel in on the V8 price tag (which also eliminated Tahoes/Yukons), I found the 4runner to be the best option. If you're looking for something with plenty of room/comfort and 4x4 ability, and don't need to tow a million pounds or drag race, this is it. I don't need a magazine to tell me that.

The 4runner is absolutely the best combo of size (big without being huge), RELIABILITY, and capability. Not to mention price, I came in well under budget which was awesome. Three months into 4runner ownership and I love it. I don't know why I took so long to test drive one...

Thats all.

-Previous Grand Cherokee (H.O. Overland), Pathfinder, Xterra ProX, and (gasp) Blazer owner.

 

[Orc]

read fine print when buying a ext warranty.

 

[Jeremy556]

This thread is waaaay too serious!

Sorry, I loost my sense of humor. We are a bunch of sore loosers.

 

[LandCruiser]

JGC has a car like ride.

JGC has a nicer interior.

JGC has a V8.

JGC represents the "rebirth" of the American luxury car market after we spent billions of tax payer dollars we will never see again.

The 4Runner is an outdated BOF SUV with average comfort and ergonomics designed for off road use.

No one cares about that anymore.

 

[Fishwerks]

The article does say that the 5th gen is the best "enthusiast/builder platform out of the bunch".

:vader:

Edit: They complain about traction control and "electronic nannies" on the 5th gen, but say it's nice on the Grand Cherokee? I don't get it.

 

[Lolrax]

Hardly a sales race. Three times more Grand Cherokees are sold than 4runners 50k a year.

Yup that goes without saying, my comment was toward Toyota VS. others in general. I should have clarified that, the GC savages the 4Runner for sales.

 

[JeremyB]

So, the new Cherokee gets the highest off road score of the bunch (even though it overheated, twice). I think I'll sell my T4R and get a new Cherokee to get that extra edge out on the trails.

I was going to ask where you found the scores, but now that I've read the article on my desktop (instead of phone), I can see them.

The article states:

During the week long test, our panel of nine judges was required to take detailed notes and score each vehicle in a variety of categories. You can read about those categories and how scoring is accomplished elsewhere in this story. The job of the judges was to identify each SUV's strengths and weaknesses and then score them appropriately, with off-road performance being the most heavily weighted.

And yet "Trail Performance" is only 30% of the total score. "Empirical" is another 25%, but 0-60, 60-0, price, etc aren't directly off-road related.
The Durango, which is roundly abused for its poor off-road prowess, is only 2.5 points behind the 4Runner's overall score.


However, the most absurd statement I read is a little nugget in the tester's comments:

How can you choose anything else over the '14 Range Rover Sport that we tested? It's got more than enough power to smoke my lightweight notchback Mustang that puts out over 400 horsepower. Yeah, it's that fast! The Range Rover Sport would, without question, demolish it in a quarter-mile run with its 510 horsepower supercharged 5.0-liter V-8 that literally pins you to the seat when jumping on the loud pedal!

A 5100lb beast with 510 hp isn't going to smoke a 3200lb 400hp Fox Mustang. Physics is cruel mistress. An extra 100hp isn't going to overcome the 60% more lard the Land Rover is toting around.



On the up side, the 2010 4Runner won 1st place (out of 1)!



Although things have really changed in the last 4 years:

Unlike other Toyota products, we didn't feel that the 4Runner's electronics were overly intrusive.

Finally, almost all judges reiterated their disdain for Toyota's intrusive electronic nannies.

 

[southman_70]

When I was considering buying my 4runner I watched and read the CR review the most important thing I realize was that they tested the SRS model and some of their complaints were irrelevant in the other models. I am not knocking the SRS but when you compare that model to a top of the line model of a competitor then you will not get an overall picture. Sometime revues are helpful and other times they are bias. I for one don't care too much for the JGC or so. All those electronics etc leads to one thing "problems" especially first year models. I am going to be owning 4runner for 2years in a week and no problem what so ever.

 

[03_4x4Runner]

There is a section of the Four Wheeler magazine called "Firing Order". I can not find it online. The is a paragraph that says "If your favorite vehicle didn't win this year, don't be mad at us. We don't build em. We only test them the way we think you would or should use them".

Another paragraph say "People are often blinded by brand, but when you put the vehicles side by side like we do, sit in them, and drive them for a week over the same sections of road and trail for an entire week, it's usually painfully obvious which is the best 4x4.

Also talking about the Cherokee. "As much as I wanted to hate this 4x4 because of the look of the front end, I could not deny it's off road ability. Don't laugh- for a stock 4x4 it traversed some pretty difficult trails with ease.

 

[adam2562]

I don't care, i love my 4runner

 

[Jeff614]

I read the article too. I used to always look forward to both FourWheeler and Peterson's 4wheel & offroad each month but they've both been going down the tubes lately IMO. No longer bother with Peterson's and probably won't be renewing Fourwheeler this time either.

These guys talk about the most hardcore 4wd parts out there all the time and then build and feature dream machines each month, but when it comes to their "of the year" awards they turn into MotorTrend. I certainly understand that they've gotta do what they've gotta do to sell issues each month, but I'm with the other posters in believing advertising bucks is what really wins those contests.

What happened to their golden rule of having to have an "actual transfer case"? New Cherokee certainly doesn't have that.

Oh well, that bathroom reading article certainly hasn't changed which rig I'll be buying


Jeff

 

[Sponge_bob]

I think too often these contests favor vehicles that have all the latest whiz bangs and gadgets while the 4Runner gets left behind be cause it doesn't have these things...which is fine with me. I think these mags need two contests; Real 4Wheeler of the year and 4x4 crossover that rides like a car, has no approach angle, has tires with no sidewalls because its riding on 20s to appeal to urban buyers and will never be taken off road because it costs $$$ of the year. The first category would likely include the 4Runner Trail, Rubicon, Tacoma, Nissan Frontier, Power Wagon and XTerra. The latter would be the various Jeeps, LandCruiser (sad to say), Land Rovers, etc. I know I am seriously biased, but I love every aspect of my 2010 Trail. The simplicity of it and lack of gadgets like adjustable air suspension, auto headlights, auto wipers, auto 4x4 etc. is great. And I love the interior, I actually feel like I am in a real 4x4, but its just refined enough.

Couldn't agree more with this. As soon as I started reading about how great the new Cherokee was off road and seeing a tire hung up in every single photo, I knew Jeep had paid their way into the rankings. Just not enough to overcome the mall crawler range rover.

Cosmetics and on-road handling dominate the scoring, so a unibody is apparently a better choice than body on frame.

 

[Leesburgcapsfan]

Our Take: The vehicle you want if you have to bug out to the backcountry

Best enthusiast/ builder platform out of the bunch.

:humble:

Sounds like a win to me.

 

[alaskaman]

JGC has a car like ride.

JGC has a nicer interior.

JGC has a V8.

JGC represents the "rebirth" of the American luxury car market after we spent billions of tax payer dollars we will never see again.

The 4Runner is an outdated BOF SUV with average comfort and ergonomics designed for off road use.

No one cares about that anymore.

Call me when your JGC POS gets home from the shop:boxing:

 

[scanny]

All those reviews are assuming that you replace your ride in 2-3 years and your off-road driving consist of driving up to your cottage. If you look on SUV comparison from this point of view you'll see that reviewers did a fair job.

But if you are gong to drive further than a gravel road with few potholes in the area with no cell phone coverage and are going to keep your truck for long time then reviews would dramatically change ; )

 

[03_4x4Runner]

All those reviews are assuming that you replace your ride in 2-3 years and your off-road driving consist of driving up to your cottage. If you look on SUV comparison from this point of view you'll see that reviewers did a fair job.

But if you are gong to drive further than a gravel road with few potholes in the area with no cell phone coverage and are going to keep your truck for long time then reviews would dramatically change ; )

Unless you live in a state like Arizona, Utah or several other western states there is not much off roading available anymore unless you own your own rural land. More and more off road places are being closed down and I think the manufacturers are aware of the shrinking off road market. Most of the national forest fire roads do not need a lifted 4x4 on 35 inch tires and a normal crossover type suv works fine. Most people with new 4runners do not want to go off road and get them dirty and pinstriped, they are basically mall crawlers.

 

[RonMAIDEN]

Off roading has and always will be a niche hobby for most SUV buyers no matter how off road capable they may be. On road performance is what sells vehicles.

 

[03_4x4Runner]

People complained when the Nissan pathfinder went from body on frame to a crossover last year but now they sell them in record numbers. It is not for me but the manufacturers are looking for volume sells and not a small market like us.

Also the Four Wheeler magazine hinted that the Nissan Xterra may be dead in 2015. This is a dying market.