5th Gen thoughts after a little over a year,..

probos

probos

New member
So I bought my '11 LE at the end of May 2011. Traded in my '03 T4R Sport which incidentally, I loved. It's been a little over a year now and want to share some of my impressions of the 5th Gen with a full year of driving it under my belt.

First off, the first week or so I had it I'll be honest,...I had buyers remorse and actually missed my 4th Gen. I was just so used to it and the new one was,..well, very new and it took me a while to settle in with it. After a few months (and a few payments) it finally started to feel like mine.

I think my 5th Gen LE is a mighty fine vehicle. Things I like most about it:

- The full-time 4WD is awesome. Love it.
- Contrary to a lot of others around here I happen to like the seats. Love the leather.
- The updated body styling is killer vs the 4th Gen,..but I will say I still do love they way my black 4th Gen Sport looked.
- Like the slightly high stance and slightly firmer ride.
- It's a 4Runner,...they're just F'ing cool.

Now, things I don't like so much. Remember, my vehicle is stock with the exception of the tires. I put on Continental CrossContact LX20's - 275/55/20 on the stock LE wheels:

- Navi is poopoo. I like the Sirius/XM radio but the interface is clunky and not up to par for a "Limited Edition" version of one of Toyota's flagship models IMO.
- Steering is kind of disconnected w/little road feel. The new tires did help a bit. My 4th Gen's steering had a better feel.
- The engine to me doesn't feel as gutsy/powerful, especially when having to accelerate passed someone on the highway. I think it has more to do with the gearing ratio with this transmission but I'm not 100% sure.
- The oil filter deal. Hate it -- was so easy to change the oil in my 4th gen. Took me all of 20 mins. Now I don't even want to F with it.
- And lastly, I personally think the overall built quality is a bit lacking when compared to my 4th Gen. From the interior materials to the sheet metal,..seems Toyota cheaped out a bit. Oh, and even though I have a full-sized spare the wheel itself isn't an actual aluminum rim (I know most of you know this already). I think that F'ing cheap.

Overall I'm satisfied with my 5th Gen and plan to keep it a long while. I only have 12,300K on her (I'm lucky to have a short commute) and at this point am very used to the ride and feel.

If I had it to do again I would probably have still ended up with a 4Runner but may have looked at the TE's a little closer (w/KDSS and no NAV). I actually didn't like the looks of the TE's at first, but they've grown on me over time.

Anyway,......
 
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Interesting observation. I come in with a different perspective having not owned a 4Runner before.

I had been driving Jeep Grand Cherokees for the last decade and I see the 12 TE as an improvement over my last Jeep, a top of the line Overland model with 4.7HO V8 with Quadra Drive.

I have only had my TE since April and have over 13 thousand miles already, I like the interior space, leg room, shoulder room and cargo room. I like the way it holds the road in corners with the KDSS, I am satisfied with the power of the V6 although it is not quite as fast as the Jeep, it is much more smooth and the transmission seems to shift at just the right times.

Since I bought mine in April, (in California) I have not even had a chance to drive in rain yet, so I am not sure how I will like giving up the all wheel drive of the Jeep. But I like the idea of not spinning the front drive shaft all the time.

It took me weeks to get used to the touchy brakes and nose dive, I still do not like the nose dive especially at night with the headlight beams dipping all over the place.

The oil change is kind of a pain especially since I do it every 5k miles witch is about every six weeks.

But overall I like the 4Runner a lot and could not think of another current production mid size SUV that I would consider.
 
vicpick58 said:
Interesting observation. I come in with a different perspective having not owned a 4Runner before.

I had been driving Jeep Grand Cherokees for the last decade and I see the 12 TE as an improvement over my last Jeep, a top of the line Overland model with 4.7HO V8 with Quadra Drive.

I have only had my TE since April and have over 13 thousand miles already, I like the interior space, leg room, shoulder room and cargo room. I like the way it holds the road in corners with the KDSS, I am satisfied with the power of the V6 although it is not quite as fast as the Jeep, it is much more smooth and the transmission seems to shift at just the right times.

Since I bought mine in April, (in California) I have not even had a chance to drive in rain yet, so I am not sure how I will like giving up the all wheel drive of the Jeep. But I like the idea of not spinning the front drive shaft all the time.

It took me weeks to get used to the touchy brakes and nose dive, I still do not like the nose dive especially at night with the headlight beams dipping all over the place.

The oil change is kind of a pain especially since I do it every 5k miles witch is about every six weeks.

But overall I like the 4Runner a lot and could not think of another current production mid size SUV that I would consider.
Click to expand...

Well, coming from a Jeep I can see why you would think the 5th Gen is an upgrade.

Yeah, the brakes don't bug me but the "squishing" sound is odd,..and slightly annoying. But after some time you don't even notice it anymore.

Like I said,...my 5th Gen LE is a fine vehicle that I have come to love.
 
obviously we're late to this overdone topic but feels good to talk about it anyway. if any other t4r owners are passionate like me, they have a long list of minor complaints.

antiquated antenna - cannibalized from the junkyard?

design: 1st - 3rd gen went from boxy to nicely smoothed out. 4th gen - as someone said it was douchy soft - haha. 5th gen - riot assault vehicle. It's so wide now. I can't comfortably place my left elbow but i can almost shove my entire right arm into the middle console. Maybe us north americans need to go on a diet.

a lot of the exterior metal appears wobbly, but on the plus side, it probably helps with gas mileage.

concur on the nav but i would say most navs suck across the board, hence some of the nice mods people have done.

i like the TE for its capabilities but not feeling the hood scoop as i think that design belongs on sports cars. i think the crawl control/terrain management sys is overrated. for the TE, why not make it more manual based like rear and front lockers, stick shift, etc. anyway, had to get the LTD for its creature comforts while still wanting to feel somewhat manly.

LTD oem wheels. there are so many threads about this. thanks to the advice of some members, i'm gonna swap it out with the 17" TRDs. i'll keep the rest stock as i'm loving it now. it took me some time too but it eventually won me over. better than the 4th gen that i chose to pass.

lame running board - only suitable for a ballerina.

no gas cap lock. i know the 4th gens had it. lame cost cutting.

some positive note:

something we all love and that is the sliding rear window. it's great when my dog farts in the back and i can quickly air out the runner.

tiny led light that shines down on the center control panel. nice small touch.

if Toyota wants to continue making t4r with cost-benefit in mind (i hope they do), try the following:

ditch the 2wd options and simplify the 4wd options. no need for gimmicks like crawl control and terrain management. i think the LTD 4wd knob is fine, but make it more manual in SR5 and TE. how about a KDSS option for everybody starting from the nose diving base suspension.

keep it one motor across the board. the v6 isn't sexy but sufficient even for hardcore off road enthusiasts.

lose the prison-comfort 3rd row permanently.
 
49runners said:
.....
something we all love and that is the sliding rear window. it's great when my dog farts in the back and i can quickly air out the runner.
.......
Click to expand...

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:


Plus, if you stomp the gas, you'll get a completely different fragrance.
 
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