cloh09
New member
I am sorry to say that I traded in my beloved 4Runner for a 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo X.
I've been looking for a 5th gen runner, but all were out of my price range. I simply couldn't afford another 4runner in my situation.
My runner was great to me. Never left me stranded, never felt in danger on the road. The throttle response was great with the V8, and the off-road capabilities speak for themselves. I had it just the way I wanted it: slightly lifted/leveled, bigger tires, all the bells and whistles.
So why did I get rid of it? It had 228k miles (I know, I KNOW). The shocks needed replacing again. The timing belt was 30k miles overdue and needed to be replaced, again. Rubber bushings and bearings needed replacing. The transmission was NEVER serviced, although still performed fine. Leaking exhaust manifold since the beginning. All in all, it needed $1000s worth of work to get back to great shape. I couldn't afford that, either.
I've searched and searched, and couldn't find a newer runner that was affordable to me. I started looking at Jeeps. They're more affordable. Perhaps due to cheaper parts and not as prestigious of a record as the 4runners (although not bad).
My jeep is a 6 cyl with full-time 4wd much like my v8 runner, but with my jeep there is no 4-low, no diff-lock, no choices. Some have the terrain selector, but not mine.
After this snowstorm, the jeep performed fine, but I just don't have the same piece of mind as I had with the runner. The v6 jeep is under-powered, at least under-torqued, with very little low rpm power. All the power is above 2,500 rpm. The trans shifts quickly, too quickly.
What I like about my new jeep: the fuel mileage (averaging 20 mpg over the runner's 15.5 mpg), the navigation is Garmin, so I think that's better than the Toyota one, it has lots of info on the vehicle (coolant temp, oil temp, oil pressure, trans temp, tire pressure for each tire, even engine hours), the sound system is better, it has a panoramic sunroof!, the tires are the same size as my stock runner (265/60/18), there's more room inside the cabin (headroom, legroom, etc).
I think I had one of the best 4Runners out there. It had almost every option (no 3rd row, which is good, and no rear entertainment, which is good, too). It's hard to find a v8 runner with nav and rear air suspension. I'm going to miss it for a long time. I don't have the confidence that I made the right decision yet. Oh well, such is life.
I want to thank everyone who has helped me over the years. This forum has very informative people who care about helping others and making the 4runner owning experience great.
Thanks for everything,
Chris
I've been looking for a 5th gen runner, but all were out of my price range. I simply couldn't afford another 4runner in my situation.
My runner was great to me. Never left me stranded, never felt in danger on the road. The throttle response was great with the V8, and the off-road capabilities speak for themselves. I had it just the way I wanted it: slightly lifted/leveled, bigger tires, all the bells and whistles.
So why did I get rid of it? It had 228k miles (I know, I KNOW). The shocks needed replacing again. The timing belt was 30k miles overdue and needed to be replaced, again. Rubber bushings and bearings needed replacing. The transmission was NEVER serviced, although still performed fine. Leaking exhaust manifold since the beginning. All in all, it needed $1000s worth of work to get back to great shape. I couldn't afford that, either.
I've searched and searched, and couldn't find a newer runner that was affordable to me. I started looking at Jeeps. They're more affordable. Perhaps due to cheaper parts and not as prestigious of a record as the 4runners (although not bad).
My jeep is a 6 cyl with full-time 4wd much like my v8 runner, but with my jeep there is no 4-low, no diff-lock, no choices. Some have the terrain selector, but not mine.
After this snowstorm, the jeep performed fine, but I just don't have the same piece of mind as I had with the runner. The v6 jeep is under-powered, at least under-torqued, with very little low rpm power. All the power is above 2,500 rpm. The trans shifts quickly, too quickly.
What I like about my new jeep: the fuel mileage (averaging 20 mpg over the runner's 15.5 mpg), the navigation is Garmin, so I think that's better than the Toyota one, it has lots of info on the vehicle (coolant temp, oil temp, oil pressure, trans temp, tire pressure for each tire, even engine hours), the sound system is better, it has a panoramic sunroof!, the tires are the same size as my stock runner (265/60/18), there's more room inside the cabin (headroom, legroom, etc).
I think I had one of the best 4Runners out there. It had almost every option (no 3rd row, which is good, and no rear entertainment, which is good, too). It's hard to find a v8 runner with nav and rear air suspension. I'm going to miss it for a long time. I don't have the confidence that I made the right decision yet. Oh well, such is life.
I want to thank everyone who has helped me over the years. This forum has very informative people who care about helping others and making the 4runner owning experience great.
Thanks for everything,
Chris
Last edited:
R
