Rumor of no 4Runner for 2018.
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FourEyedWilly
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By the time it gets here, it will be neutered. I'll have my eye out for the production model Bronco. Ultimate tuff guy off road vehicle? No.
I have a 69 CJ5 with four wheel drum brakes, locked front and rear, no power steering, a heater, vinyl seats, no A/C, 4:88 gears in Dana 44s, a mild lift and 32 inch tires. Maybe what I consider tough wheeling is different. After taking that thing through the Rubi, not only are you constipated, but your thighs ache and arms are sore. It's pretty awesome.
jwkilgore
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True, but at significant loss. Anyone old enough to remember the automotive malaise era will agree... muscle cars with 4-bangers standard and a V6 as an option on a limited-production model?
LandCruiser
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And yet the bottom dropped out of the small car, hybrid, and electric market.
No one wants the damn things.
The only people who want us in small cars are .gov.
Im at a dealer but I have one of my guys who has been with us for over 30 years that works for our regional office here in Aurora and I trust him. Hes never steered me wrong
You do know that the Ford Range is highly respected and sought after in the overseas markets, especially the 4wd market in Australia, right? It's basically a direct competitor to the venerable Hilux.
PWD4R
New member
Yes, I do. And I know you won't get it here without paying out the butt for it either. The American fords are junk. If you don't know that then... research. All I can say. Their truck engines are decent but they can't do a modern reliable car to save their lives. I wouldn't have a ford in my driveway.
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Dude, grow up. Not all Ford vehicles are POS.
Also, your post was commenting specifically on the Ford Ranger. FYI, the Ranger Ford is rumored to be introducing to America will be based on the same platform as the Ranger that is sold in Australia and other markets. So if you think that the Aussie Ranger is half decent, then you shouldn't have any reason to complain about what they are bringing to the US market.
JeffMerr
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Perfect. Run the 6th gen v8 4runner from 2018-2024 :thumb:
GangsterOfLove
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I'm plenty old enough to remember the malaise era and I don't miss it one bit.
Those were some really awful trucks.
4R1unner
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funny, my last car was an '05 G35 coupe (6MT Black Obsidian)... damn do I miss her!! It also wasn't the best daily driver when I was stuck on the fwy in rush hour traffic with a heavy clutch
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CoolMax
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I live in Dallas and work in Allen, which is near Plano, home to ToyotaUSA's new headquarters.
Tomorrow I'll go, knock, and let y'all know what I find out.:der:
gm350reratliff
New member
While you're there, let them know it would be ok with us if they drop a v8 in the next gen.
CoolMax
New member
Well, crap...I didn't know I'd be taking requests!
Anybody else, maybe an update on the 5th gen s/c?:wacko:
LandCruiser
New member
Would it be an international Toyota design, or would they source an American small block because those are already Commiefornia approved? Is there even a current diesel production Japanese vehicle that isn't using an American sourced disesel?
Tractors and heavy equipment don't count.
mikey's2010SR5
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I heard the V8 is coming back to the 4Runner!!!!
gm350reratliff
New member
No thanks. With all the EPA crap, DEF, etc., I wouldn't want a Diesel engine anymore. 95% of the problems with our fleet of diesel trucks come from the emissions system and the problems are much more frequent than the older diesels without all the EPA crap. With the premium price for the diesel, plus higher fuel costs, and only marginally better mpg, it's really hard to justify the cost of owning one. It also doesn't make sense for Toyota cost wise, to jump through hoops to get a diesel certified in the US either.
Warpkor
New member
The idea was to trade my G35 in for the 4runner. The dealership came in well below trade in value based in the interwebs research. I gave the dealership my best FO face, handed the keys to my father-in-law and he drove it home. So I still have my G35. It's got the 6 speed manual, too (pearl ivory). I now have family members lining up for it. As it turns out, they now have to fight through my wife who wants to keep it!
BlackWorksInc
New member
The problem is that if they do bring a Ranger here, it will have to be made in the US and that's where the reliability issues will come into play. I remember seeing the older "Geo" badged Prisms, which were almost exactly like a Corolla, when I did used vehicle inspection; almost every single one without fail was falling apart exterior and interior wise at lower miles compared to a corolla. I would see one at 100~150k that was just broken and had bits and pieces crumbling compared to a 200k Corolla that looked worn, but usable. These are two vehicle produced on the exact same assembly line at the now defunct NUMMI plant, the only difference I assume is that GM had their set of "Geo" interior components and parts (mainly because they were different colours/stain than the Toyota stuff) and it must have been of a more "sub-par" quality to meet costs.
The same was evident with the Pontiac Vibe (aka Toyota Matrix), aside from a facelift and a sub-par audio compared to the Matrix the vehicle was for all intents and purposes a Toyota. Yet they seemed to have more issues than the Toyota Matrix from what I heard. My guess is that whatever GM did to their version to cut costs affected the quality because the drivetrains lasted longer than the vehicle typically.
The reason most of the non-US Fords hold up well is because ironically they tend to be German-designed and European built; which at first glance should make you cringe in anticipation of overly-engineered and needlessly overcomplicated stuff to break down for expensively constant repairs. But in this case it seems to actually work out for mostly reliable vehicles, my grandfather had a hatchback version of the Taurus in Sweden for over a decade with over 300k miles (roughly converted from memory) before he sold it and it held up amazingly well. For those of you who don't remember the US Taurus was a laughing stock of reliability and cooling issues, so that's impressive to me.
Also ever since NUMMI closed down, the quality control of the Corolla and the Tacoma seem to have suffered significantly. I don't recall the NUMMI built Corollas ever creaking and clicking as much as the old ones did, the fit and finish on some vehicles seems very sub-par in my opinion and some of the TSBs out there to fix parts of the Unibody to prevent creaking and popping because of bad spot welds and such is just surprising to me. It seems like most anything in this bracket touched by US or North American factory hands affects the overall quality and reliability just by geographic assembly point.
I'm gonna say that will most likely never happen. Between an article or two I read regarding the new Prius line-up overseas, the new C-HR losing it's diesel engine and being offered as a hybrid, and a couple discussions I've had with various members of Toyota closer to the factory than I am. It's looking like Toyota is starting to wind-down their diesel production in favor of GDI and hybrid drivetrains as well as focusing on jumping into the small-displacement, GDI, forced induction "trifecta" engine game like everyone else in the next 5~10yrs. The combination of slipping diesel sales world-wide, increased scrutiny since VW-Gate (an on-going thing that now Fiat among others is being exposed for), and over all expensive cost to produce and sell a diesel vehicle; makes it look like Toyota is jumping ship like other brands are/will be in the near future.
Granted, that's the feel I'm getting from what I've read/heard; it' entirely possible that Toyota may go 180 on this, but it's unlikely. They seem to have a plan for squeezing the hybrid as dry as they can to boost their EPA numbers all the while it seems they are slowly switching to GDI engines and probably some forced induction (I wouldn't hold my breath for performance engines, think the over-boosted, barely held together small displacement engines we see now that have a tendency to essentially explode when hit with too much detonation from how light and on the edge they are built) in the future.
Post Note-
I haven't heard anything about the 4Runner being axed, seems like a stupid idea to me. I've mentioned a couple times before that if they really thought it through and took advantage of the fact that they have the only BoF mid-sized SUV left in the market they could retain a useful (albeit small) section of a niche market that will only grow as time goes on. They could stretch the 4Runner out and slot it better for a wider market within the niche seeking a BoF SUV and keep it going easily until 2025 if not beyond if they played their cards right.
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