Had my '18 Limited 10 days ... not enough power for me...

Lol....good thinking but it actually worked out for the better. Body shop at the dealership had a hard time with the paint color (Magnetic Gray) and clear coat. After two unsuccessful tries, they decided to cut me a deal on a 2018 TRD ORP KDSS XP Predator package (signing the papers tonight).
 
Lol....good thinking but it actually worked out for the better. Body shop at the dealership had a hard time with the paint color (Magnetic Gray) and clear coat. After two unsuccessful tries, they decided to cut me a deal on a 2018 TRD ORP KDSS XP Predator package (signing the papers tonight).

What is an XP Predator package?
 
More to do with gearing than HP. The HP/torque is fine. I tow a travel trailer just fine(dry about 4k, packed and with water etc around 4500-4800lbs), but wouldn't some different gears in the back up the grades around here.
 
Glad it worked out well, exit-wise.
your position is legitimate. I had one hell of a time finding a 4runner to test drive before I purchased.
Too bad you're going to miss out on this band of misfits though. :D

There's always the GX :banana:

GX is actually a nice suggestion, provided it tows well. It has the V8, but still key fob issues...
 
Absolutely. Me too. Sound system was good. Ride was tight. Quiet. Seats were comfortable. Interior trim was very nice, far better than a new Tahoe. I loved many, many things about it. Again, if it had 340hp it'd still be in my driveway. Probably alongside my Z71 that I would have likely kept because the 4Runner was just too nice!

Sometimes you need a rebound car to transition to your next set of wheels
 
Lol....good thinking but it actually worked out for the better. Body shop at the dealership had a hard time with the paint color (Magnetic Gray) and clear coat. After two unsuccessful tries, they decided to cut me a deal on a 2018 TRD ORP KDSS XP Predator package (signing the papers tonight).

I've never understood this--do colors fade this much with time (even short amounts of time?)

It's not like they can't find the matching color.
 
I've never understood this--do colors fade this much with time (even short amounts of time?)

It's not like they can't find the matching color.

Sounds to me like the dealer got some easily moved preowned inventory while adding to their new sales numbers ;)
 
I've never understood this--do colors fade this much with time (even short amounts of time?)

It's not like they can't find the matching color.

That is what baffled me but the first paint job ended up being blue compared to the magnetic gray. The second time around, the paint color was much better but the clear coat finish was really bad. The painter put too much clear on it leaving it wavy with runs in it.
 
Sounds to me like the dealer got some easily moved preowned inventory while adding to their new sales numbers ;)

"Easily moved" pre-owned inventory....not hardly...they will have to repaint and blend half the vehicle for the third time before they can even think about selling it. It was pretty bad...and hey, they gave me all my money back on the trade in.
 
That is what baffled me but the first paint job ended up being blue compared to the magnetic gray. The second time around, the paint color was much better but the clear coat finish was really bad. The painter put too much clear on it leaving it wavy with runs in it.

hah, so then it was more an issue with "I had trouble matching the color" than it was "I had trouble matching the color" ?
 
OP - people are sensitive. I love my 4runner but am definitely highly aware of its noise and annoying shifting habits when I head up I-70 through Georgetown. The thing is though, I am capable of accelerating up the hill whereas in my previous truck (2004 v6 tacoma), if I lost any momentum whatsoever I wasn't clearing 60mph up the hill..... I'll never forget the day I test drove my tacoma and thought "WHY IS THIS SO EFFING LOUD" - but I bought it and drove it for 10 years and loved it to death. Time came to sell the truck and get into an SUV, so I sold the truck and bought a 2016 4runner and thought "wow so much power and so much quieter"

So my point is it's all relative lololol. I am sure if I was towing stuff regularly, I'd be more bothered as you were. Driving with 4 adults brings back memories of my gutless tacoma, and not in a good way. Still works for me and I love the 4runner overall but I can completely understand the disappointment on your end.
 
Last edited:
In all fairness, I think I've been pretty focused with respect to the "why" question. The reasons are fairly succinct.

Look, very few vehicles check every box. We should all come to grips with that. I just came out of a 2014 C63 that had tons of the available power I crave and require, but go to a Mercedes forum and you'll see plenty of discussion about how the transmission sucked, how the interior was low dij, blah blah blah. It's the nature of the forums. But I didn't get butt hurt about it. Yeah, the trans was lacking. It did look like a C250 inside. But the car did so much well that its shortcomings didn't matter to me. It checked my boxes.

It was time for me to recognize my errors and cut my losses. Life goes on. Hopefully someone else can benefit from my mistake.

The C63 is a nice ride, I had an E55 AMG and that thing was a straight out dragster! Other than my 70 Chevelle SS I had awhile back, the coolest car I've ever owned. I totaled it out when a tire blew on a semi in front of me on the interstate while I was rolling at about a 90mph (ok, maybe a 100ish, it was impossible not to drive it fast).

I have 2017 TRDOR and love it, but it's definitely not fast car. I have an 04 V8 4Runner (best 4runner ever IMHO) and it's significantly faster, outstanding torque. Maybe you should try to find an older V8 4th Gen?
 
The C63 is a nice ride, I had an E55 AMG and that thing was a straight out dragster! Other than my 70 Chevelle SS I had awhile back, the coolest car I've ever owned. I totaled it out when a tire blew on a semi in front of me on the interstate while I was rolling at about a 90mph (ok, maybe a 100ish, it was impossible not to drive it fast).

I have 2017 TRDOR and love it, but it's definitely not fast car. I have an 04 V8 4Runner (best 4runner ever IMHO) and it's significantly faster, outstanding torque. Maybe you should try to find an older V8 4th Gen?

I just got my daughter a clean, one owner 2000 4Runner Limited. I guess, again, I should have done the homework. That V8 would have been nice!
 
Well I don't tow anything but I pack the heck out of it for camping and what not. I personally love the way the motor sounds from the exhaust resonance to the change in tones from the motor as well when the VVTi is changing cam profile under load... music to my ears but I guess some folks hear things differently, to each their own. We had an auto 2000 Jeep Cherokee before our purchase last year, the Jeep shifted very similarly, just like butter even with 250K on it so I suppose you have to be accustomed to this type of transmission as well.

The only thing that really pi$$es me off is these damn windows freeze up solid way to easily, and the OEM wiper blades suck in snow and ice conditions too. Eagerly awaiting spring again...
 
I towed a medium-sized U-HAUL packed to the ceiling with stuff and a motorcycle, plus my 4Runner packed to the ceiling with more stuff and two adults from Utah to Texas last year. I thought it did pretty well considering how much crap we stuffed into it. But, to each his own. I can see why someone would hate the 4Runner if they were used to towing with a V8. I wish I could steal the V8 from my dad's 4th gen and stuff it into my 5th gen somehow.

As a bus driver in a previous life, nothing is worse than pushing up a long hill in a fully loaded down MCI J-4500 with a gutless Caterpillar engine in the back. Drive one of those once and the 4Runner will feel like a race car!
 
I had an 89 4Runner 3.slow and 31x10.50's that I towed 2 SeaDoos to the River up the Chiriaco grade on the I-10. Over 100 degrees with the A/C on and you just had to drop out of O/D and spin that sucker at 4K for 20 miles. The rest of the time it was just fine. When I replaced it I got a 360 Magnum Durango and towed over that hill like it wasn't there but at 10 MPG! Pick your poison. My 16 Runner falls in the middle of those 2 and is just fine, and I could re-gear if I wanted more power.
 
One thing I didn't see mentioned was that a lot of folks change their gearing. Lifestyle Overland documented it.

can't remember if it was a 4.5x or 4.88 or something, but he said that it made the car peppier in all gears, without a real loss of mpg.

This could be a good idea for anyone in the same situation as OP.

Keep in mind the perspective:

A lifted, big-tired 3rd gen has 190 hp. And is rated to tow the same 5,000 lbs.

The 5th gen has almost 50% more hp, and almost 30% more torque. It can thus tow the same 5,000 lbs even more easily.

It's just a matter of how fast you really HAVE to go. But I sorta think that slowing down for the outdoors is a good thing. I mean, I could drive 95mph in highway traffic all night long on my commute home in my modified sportscar, and I get home still mad as hell and ready to have a coronary.

When I stepped into my 3rd gen, though, my wife and I would laugh as we got stuck going 55mph with just the two of us and a few hundred pounds of luggage going up the 395 to Mammoth.

The scenery is a lot easier to look at at 55mph than 80mph, though...

Food for thought.
 
I too thought that the 4runner lacked decent acceleration and no power.
On my second test drive I asked to take it out for a couple hours without a salesman and they let me do it. This is when I realized you gotta push the accelerator harder than one normally would.
I recently installed a Pedal Commander and it has made a world of difference.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk
 

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
278,317
Messages
3,554,129
Members
248,016
Latest member
Advally Service

Trending content

Back
Top