my moms looking at a trail edition

[jhebert9]

I think $40K is too much for a TE. Is that a Limited? I looked at a Limited but did not like the leather or the 20" wheels. I thought I couldn't afford a TE, but found that the loaded TE was about the same price as a Limited. I bought a 2010 TE in October 2010 for $36K. I LOVE this vehicle! We don't get snow here in Louisiana, but I drive it to Colorado 2 or 3 times each year. It is awsome off-road and has done well the few times I have driven in snow (never used the 4WD in snow). My wife loves the way it looks, drives and handles. She likes sitting up high and has enjoyed the comments from other people (a lot of 4WD pickups, but rarely see a 4WD SUV in S. Louisiana). On the milage, we average 21 mpg in everyday driving.

We love our TE, but if your mom drives on pavement she may be better off with a Limited with all wheel drive than a vehicle with 4WD.

 

[1engineer]

Geez get a Subaru and call it a day. Snow in Richmond? Give me a break. Maybe a few inches a year if you guys are lucky. If you measure your snowfall in feet then you need something with decent ground clearance. Otherwise, buy an AWD for the mom and KEVIN save up money and buy what you want when you can afford it yourself.

 

[philsey]

..... and KEVIN save up money and buy what you want when you can afford it yourself.

Bingo!

 

[kevinpt]

Geez get a Subaru and call it a day. Snow in Richmond? Give me a break. Maybe a few inches a year if you guys are lucky. If you measure your snowfall in feet then you need something with decent ground clearance. Otherwise, buy an AWD for the mom and KEVIN save up money and buy what you want when you can afford it yourself.

I got a nice 4th gen so I think I'm set, going to make mine more capable offroad soon.

She is wanting to stay away from the AWD so we are not looking into limiteds. A trail is not a must for had but she came to me showing me a trail that she liked

 

[Canazes9]

so i was at work today and my mom shows up saying she wants a trail edition 4runner. here is a link to the website
New 2013 Toyota 4Runner For Sale | Henrico VA

as a nurse she has to get to work no matter the weather so i can not disagree with her wanting a trail edition. the reason for me making this thread is because i dont have a lot of time to compare 5th gens and figured i would ask those with a trail edition what they like about their trucks and how this would be a good choice.
i do know about the trail editions having the different lights, roof rack, rear diff, and traction control system but what are some other big differences between the models.

:becky:

she had a 4runner back in the 80's-90's and wants one again, she shows me a picture on her phone of the one she wanted and its a trail so i was not complaining.

so shh no negative comments

I think ya'll are being a little ridiculous. His mom picked out the 4Runner, not him. He's not unhappy about it, but that doesn't mean he's trying to push her into buying a 4Runner. He came here looking for a little information about the different models, not asking ya'll to pick out the perfect car for his mother.

By the way, my wife picked out her own 4Runner, insisted it be a 4wd and traded in the only car we've ever gotten rid of prematurely 'cause she just didn't like it - a 2010 Subaru Outback 3.6. Some ladies dig having a 4wd just as much as we do. My wife knows how to use the 4wd, air up/down her tires and is getting pretty good at driving off road. We have ZERO NEED for 4wd for her vehicle - she wanted it, just like I did on my Tacoma....

David

 

[kowski49]

so anyone going to say anything about what they like about their trail ?

Haha, no kidding. What's with all the TE party poopers in here? Need? Come on fellas. I don't need the 50" plasma that I'm watching football on right now, (my old 27" Sony Wega could get the job done) but its awesome. I don't need a swimming pool (there are a couple of ponds near the house) but its pretty sweet. I also didn't need my TE but I bought it and I love it.

There were two main reasons I went with the TE over the other trims:
1. KDSS- Its awesome; especially on-road where I do 99.9% of my driving.
2. The look. Put all three trims next to each other, and I think the TE's look better. Nothing at all wrong with the SR5 and Limited. They look great. TE looks better in my opinion.

The one thing I don't like is the factory navigation. In the gulf states in 2010, if you wanted KDSS you had to get navigation as well. I used it for a few months, but its pretty lame. Now I use my phone almost exclusively for navigation.
I think the KDSS/nav option changed after 2010 so if moms can get a TE with KDSS and no nav, I say go for it. If moms can only find a TE with KDSS and factory nav, I still say go for it. There are plenty of threads on here showing replacement of the factory nav screen.

I see nothing at all wrong with buying a product which surpasses your needs if you have the means to do so.

 

[1engineer]

I think ya'll are being a little ridiculous. His mom picked out the 4Runner, not him. He's not unhappy about it, but that doesn't mean he's trying to push her into buying a 4Runner. He came here looking for a little information about the different models, not asking ya'll to pick out the perfect car for his mother.

By the way, my wife picked out her own 4Runner, insisted it be a 4wd and traded in the only car we've ever gotten rid of prematurely 'cause she just didn't like it - a 2010 Subaru Outback 3.6. Some ladies dig having a 4wd just as much as we do. My wife knows how to use the 4wd, air up/down her tires and is getting pretty good at driving off road. We have ZERO NEED for 4wd for her vehicle - she wanted it, just like I did on my Tacoma....

David

Haha, no kidding. What's with all the TE party poopers in here? Need? Come on fellas. I don't need the 50" plasma that I'm watching football on right now, (my old 27" Sony Wega could get the job done) but its awesome. I don't need a swimming pool (there are a couple of ponds near the house) but its pretty sweet. I also didn't need my TE but I bought it and I love it.

There were two main reasons I went with the TE over the other trims:
1. KDSS- Its awesome; especially on-road where I do 99.9% of my driving.
2. The look. Put all three trims next to each other, and I think the TE's look better. Nothing at all wrong with the SR5 and Limited. They look great. TE looks better in my opinion.

The one thing I don't like is the factory navigation. In the gulf states in 2010, if you wanted KDSS you had to get navigation as well. I used it for a few months, but its pretty lame. Now I use my phone almost exclusively for navigation.
I think the KDSS/nav option changed after 2010 so if moms can get a TE with KDSS and no nav, I say go for it. If moms can only find a TE with KDSS and factory nav, I still say go for it. There are plenty of threads on here showing replacement of the factory nav screen.

I see nothing at all wrong with buying a product which surpasses your needs if you have the means to do so.

If the OP had came here and stated in his 1st post "My Mom has absolutely no need for a TE but she wants one" instead of the BS "gotta get to work no matter the weather" then I would have told him in a nice long post the differences of the models. Richmond is 4 hours from me. I go there to get OUT of the snow in the winter! Yes there is a huge difference between want vs need. None of us NEED the 4Runner but we all wanted one. Don't pretend otherwise.

 

[vicpick58]

Kevin, if your mom wants the Trail Edition, my advice as a TE owner that does not use it as an off road vehicle, would be go ahead and get it. She will love it.

I bought mine primarily as an on highway all weather utility vehicle for my work as a field technician and construction inspector of medical gas systems. I haul around a fair amount of weight of tools and test equipment. I travel all around northern CA including an occasional trips into the mountains in the winter time.

I could probably get by without a 4x4 and just chain up when needed, but I like having the 4x4 for piece on mind.

My last two vehicles were all wheel drive full time 4x4 Jeep Grand Cherokees, before those I drove part time 4x4 Dodge and Chevy trucks.

I don't think the added wear and maintenance of the all wheel drive systems is worth it in my case and wanted to get back to a part time system.

I absolutely love the trail edition, has plenty of room inside for my stuff, is still small enough to park fairly easy in big city parking garages, and is fairly comfortable for those long hours behind the wheel.

The KDSS is awesome for cornering on twisty mountain roads, and I get a good 20mpg average.

The only thing negative I have to say about it is the so called "brake assist" system and the windshield angle is steep making it a little more subject to catching rocks and getting chips and stars. But all 5th gen 4Runners have both these issues.

The brake assist system is something new to me and takes some getting used to, still scares me once in a while.

I am on my third windshield in a year and a half of ownership.

You don't have to drive it off road if you don't want to, although it is nice to know you can if you DO want to.

 

[Canazes9]

If the OP had came here and stated in his 1st post "My Mom has absolutely no need for a TE but she wants one" instead of the BS "gotta get to work no matter the weather" then I would have told him in a nice long post the differences of the models. Richmond is 4 hours from me. I go there to get OUT of the snow in the winter! Yes there is a huge difference between want vs need. None of us NEED the 4Runner but we all wanted one. Don't pretend otherwise.

Fair enough.

Its established - she has no need.

Now about that nice long post detailing differences?

David

 

[kevinpt]

No its not a need but a want, those that have trails and like them thanks for the comments . yes I'm sure she would never Need the trail edition options. we do go on a farm or two and trips to the mountains in the winter every year and I still font think its a need. I will see what she thinks of the sr5 vs trail tomorrow. One of the things I like in the trail other than exterior and diff is the seats in the trail edition.

We will see how this goes tomorrow. I was expecting negative comments but not as much as are here, some are valid points and I will keep them in mind when going to look at 4runners tomorrow .


One last question, having both the 2013 and 2014 at the dealer what do you think would be a better option?

 

[Canazes9]

No its not a need but a want, those that have trails and like them thanks for the comments . yes I'm sure she would never Need the trail edition options. we do go on a farm or two and trips to the mountains in the winter every year and I still font think its a need. I will see what she thinks of the sr5 vs trail tomorrow. One of the things I like in the trail other than exterior and diff is the seats in the trail edition.

We will see how this goes tomorrow. I was expecting negative comments but not as much as are here, some are valid points and I will keep them in mind when going to look at 4runners tomorrow .


One last question, having both the 2013 and 2014 at the dealer what do you think would be a better option?

For my wife, the best choice was the SR5. She knew she had no use for the multi-mode traction set-ups on the TE - not really a negative, but not a plus either. She didn't trust the KDSS - I would say now, that we have reversed our opinion on that, but at the time she wasn't sure. Finally the e-locker is nice to have, but we have wheeled our two Tacoma's a lot and never needed it. I have used it on my '12 Tacoma OR because I have it, but the ATRAC has proven capable of pulling through everything we have attempted. The e-locker needs to be exercised regularly or they have a tendency to not work properly - she didn't want the responsibility of having to keep it exercised properly.

David

 

[1engineer]

Following Dave's example:
I had an '11 SR5 that I put around 66K miles on it. I traded for a '12 TE for two reasons.
1) KDSS specifically for on road handling
2) I got a very favorable trade
3) Looks pretty cool.
4) My Nav unit works well
5) Did I mention I traded Black for Silver? No brainer there.
6) I like the TE sliding cargo tray. Have used it several times as a table

 

[Tengu]

If mom is looking at their stock picture of a limited and is basing that on her "trail" choice, then she is misguided.

Trail, overkill. Does look better though. Having had sr5, and trail, sr5 is more than adequate for most anything you can throw at it.

 

[kevinpt]

Well we went looking today and we might be picking up a 2014 trail tomorrow. Every sr5 we saw was leather and around 41k

The trail the are looking at we got to around 34k

One thing I noticed is that the roof rack is different from 2013

 

[JohnJerk]

Well we went looking today and we might be picking up a 2014 trail tomorrow. Every sr5 we saw was leather and around 41k

The trail the are looking at we got to around 34k

One thing I noticed is that the roof rack is different from 2013

34k seems too low for a trail. Is it a 13 or something. Shocking that SR5's are in the 40k range - wow.

 

[kevinpt]

34k seems too low for a trail. Is it a 13 or something. Shocking that SR5's are in the 40k range - wow.

its non kdss and has no sunroof. she has not purchased it yet but we put down $500 until my dad goes and looks at it. we got the cost to around 34,500

 

[vicpick58]

Wish I could have found one with out the stupid sunroof that I never open. I love the KDSS though. I think the 2012 came with the sunroof, no choice in the matter.

 

[Nervo19]

Hi. I live in Richmond too. I've saved that great pic of your mom's first 4Runner at Oregon Inlet. I originally got my '88 4Runner new because I too had to be at work no matter what. I laugh about the time we had a surprise snow during the night and I was the only one out of 24 people who showed up on time. It does snow here but there is very little road clearing. We have been lucky in the last couple of years though. I don't have an opinion on the model but she deserves to get what she wants. I just wanted to tell you to tread carefully with McGeorge. Their prices are inflated. I've had 5 4Runners and two minivans and have looked there during every vehicle search. The last three vehicles I've purchased have been from Northern VA. I've generally saved $4-6k.

 

[kevinpt]

Hi. I live in Richmond too. I've saved that great pic of your mom's first 4Runner at Oregon Inlet. I originally got my '88 4Runner new because I too had to be at work no matter what. I laugh about the time we had a surprise snow during the night and I was the only one out of 24 people who showed up on time. It does snow here but there is very little road clearing. We have been lucky in the last couple of years though. I don't have an opinion on the model but she deserves to get what she wants. I just wanted to tell you to tread carefully with McGeorge. Their prices are inflated. I've had 5 4Runners and two minivans and have looked there during every vehicle search. The last three vehicles I've purchased have been from Northern VA. I've generally saved $4-6k.

the 5th gen we are looking at is at mechanicsville toyota and cheaper then the one in the first post

 

[kevinpt]

its in the driveway now and looks amazing. just one more toyota in the family

so now we have a 2001 sequoia, 2009 4runner, 2010 tundra rock warrior, and 2014 4runner trail