Favorite 4runner Generation, why?

Great thread!

My Dad bought a 2nd Gen in 94 that was maroon with a crazy cool 90's pin stripe thing on the side of it. We drove it out to Colorado from Michigan and proceeded to thrash it to hell and back. I had great memories of just tooling around town with him in that thing though. He had a gigantic CD case that was also maroon, and he put a decent sound system in it, so we'd take Sunday morning drives listening to the 1812 Overture with the cannon blast being my favorite part.

Fast forward, I moved to Colorado 8 years ago and knew I had to get a 4Runner. I liked the look of the 2nd gens, but I got a 3rd Gen 97 Limited w/ a factory locker. It's been a hell of a truck, and it's taught me a lot.

Personally I don't like the look of the 4th gens, unless there's been a lot of modding done. I think the 3rd gens look better with less modding required. The recent 5th gens definitely give me the feels too, and I always say that I'll get a 5th gen when my 3rd gen dies. The thing is...it's never going to.

Oh, and the interiors just don't do it for me on the recent gens. Again, it's all personal preference, so it's subjective as hell and I don't blame anyone for liking theirs!

I think we can all agree that we think any 4Runner is a favorite versus anything else!
 
3rd gen

3rd gen, I remember when I sold cars when I was around 21 the old salesman told me that the 3rd gen 4runners were the last true off road ones... this was about 10 years ago.

There was one on the lot and I really liked it... last year I ended up buying one as a camping vehicle.
 
I've had my 3rd gen for the past 8 years now. I bought it used from the original owner who had it serviced at the dealer for everything with all the records. It's been the most reliable vehicle I've owned and never left me stranded. Even being 17 years old and 140k miles it has no squeaks or rattles, the interior fabric has no tears and it has held up very well. The build quality is fantastic.

It did require some maintenance, however I am a little overkill with taking care of my vehicles to begin with. I did a fair amount of work to it including new radiator, trans cooler (to avoid the "milkshake'), all new oem shocks/struts/springs, new steering rack bushings, I rebuilt the front end with all OEM parts, 231mm tundra brake upgrade/new rear brakes. After I did all that, I finally got it where I wanted it and was happy with it for the most part.

The things I didn't like about it were no matter what I did to the suspension, it rode like a dump truck (very rough). Even with a rebuilt front end/new tires there was always a little play in the steering and slight vibration over 70mph. It was hard to keep under control on the highway especially on a very windy day. The rust underneath was also creeping up on it as I replaced the muffler twice already. It worked great for a daily driver short commute/crappy weather vehicle, however it wasn't very comfortable for more than a few hour road trip.

I just picked up a new 2017 Limited 4x4 and am extremely impressed. To summarize it, it is a bigger, more comfortable version of the 3rd gen that still has all of the features I loved about my 3rd gen. It has the extra creature comforts (heated/cooled memory seats, dual zone climate control, etc.) that are nice and it solved all of the things I didn't like about my 3rd gen. For what I use the 4runner for (95% on road/daily driving/road trips/minor dirt trails), the 5th gen is much better than my 3rd gen so far.
 
3rd gen was my first and favorite. Love the lines and overall functionality of it without a ton of electrical nannies. Its a good mix of old school and modern trucks.
 
First Gen by far, I've always loved the looks of them since I was a kid. That and the simplicity. I live in Ohio, so its pretty much impossible to find one that isn't rusted out sadly.
 
coondog704 said:
First Gen by far, I've always loved the looks of them since I was a kid. That and the simplicity. I live in Ohio, so its pretty much impossible to find one that isn't rusted out sadly.
Click to expand...
Look in Texas. They're for sale all over with 0 rust

Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk
 
Hmm hard to say. I like the looks and smaller body of the 3rd gen, but I like the fact that 4th gen has a solid v8 option.
 
it was always the 3rd gen for me, and I've owned 2 of them. But the 5th gen has completely grown on me. Pretty sure I want one some day
 
I'm gonna be the oddball out and say that the 4th gen is my favorite. That is only because I was in love with a girl who drove one, she had a golden retriever and always drove with that rear window down and I fell in love with 4runners then, I wouldn't buy one, I love my 5.5 to death, but if someone gave me a clean 4th gen V8 sport package.... My 5.5 probably would never get driven
 
I'd say the 3rd gen because they seem to be timeless... also the 3.4L engine is an outstanding piece of machinery. They aren't too big nor too small. They can be simple but also modern(ized) depending on what you do with them. Product availability for replacement or whatever the case might be is also very good.
 
I'm split between the two I've driven the most: 5th gen is extremely capable in stock form, and needs very little mods to get through some serious terrain; I've come to consider it a LandCruiser 'lite,' which it is if you consider it's LC Prado underpinnings.

But I also can appreciate a good, well-modified 4th gen, especially one with a 4.7l v8.
 
4th Gen was my choice for 4runners being new to SUV's and coming from the Toyota truck line ('90 22RE, '98 2.7l, '12 4.0, '05 Tundra 4.7) and two Camry wagons.

Sweet 4.7 V8 for the lowend torque for towing, ATRAC, A750F, factory leather in the Limited, decent stock ground clearance, plenty of aftermarket support, and I could find some clean low-miles rust free ones in 2016.

Pricey for a clean one owner, $19k with 100k miles for the '07 last year, $19k for the '08 last month with 97k miles. Both full retail from a dealer and both with a timing belt change done. You have to pay to play when looking for clean low-miles V8's.
 
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My dad bought his 3rd gen new in 1998 and from then on it took us on every family vacation and every single baseball game I ever played until I was 18. We made so many memories thanks to it and that's probably my biggest draw to the 3rd gens, plus I think they look damn good. Now I get to make many more memories with it, like the trip I just made from Indiana out to Wyoming, Idaho and Montana and back!
 
jleffert said:
My dad bought his 3rd gen new in 1998 and from then on it took us on every family vacation and every single baseball game I ever played until I was 18. We made so many memories thanks to it and that's probably my biggest draw to the 3rd gens, plus I think they look damn good. Now I get to make many more memories with it, like the trip I just made from Indiana out to Wyoming, Idaho and Montana and back!
Click to expand...



I'm with you miss the 3rd gen since day I traded it in on a 4th gen since then on second 5th gen haha I may be crazy but I think they have brought back some of the looks from the 3rd gen cause they know we all love them.
237b6732c0fb55595bd75c06502fe93b.jpg



Sent from WV
 
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