Why a 4th gen?

For me, it was a hand-me-down vehicle, but now I couldn't imagine owning anything else. Was looking at 2015-2020 4Runners the other day out of curiosity and the prices are ridiculous. I'll stick with my '07 with ~125k miles on it until I can't afford to drive it any more. Then, I'll still keep it but it will be a fun/wheeling/camping rig exclusively.
 
Outside of stuff like bluetooth and gadgets, a 4th gen is pretty mechanically similar to the 5th gen except of styling. Oh, and it's like 1/4th the price.
 
4th gens the best!
Got my 2004 in 2004. Ceritfied with 15k miles. I think i saved its life! LOL.
Allways felt like a soccer mom... till mods.

Laughed so hard when a girl in a Prius, at a traffic light looked at me and gave a face like i just farted...in her face. Guess she didnt like my modified 4runner.

I have had 1980 toy pickup 1985 toy pickup, 1986 t4r, 1992 t4r and a mid 1990 tacoma... and a few others.
Moms the one that likes those v8, i cant afford that.
Have driven gx470 v8 4.7
And the gx460 v8 4.6

I like the v6.
I think the v6 drivetrain is superior to the v8, with selectable 2/4wd. Personal preference.
Seems like the v8s get that cross camber power loss when one wheel is off the ground.
The v6 4wd with diff locked is a beast. Stock.



Good for lots of elevation change or towing was really only plus i could see with v8.

Just another side cool thing... auto start. Just have to tap the ignition key once and boom, start.
Seems like every car i get in i forget to hold the ignition till start.
These newer keyless systems i still have not warmed up to.
That 2014 gx460 is kinda anoying with all the nanny features.
 
BackOff said:
I like the v6.
I think the v6 drivetrain is superior to the v8, with selectable 2/4wd. Personal preference.
Seems like the v8s get that cross camber power loss when one wheel is off the ground.
The v6 4wd with diff locked is a beast. Stock.
Click to expand...

What stock diff lock do you have in a V6, that's not a TE? Or do you just mean an aftermarket diff lock?

You can do this exact same thing with V8s just locking the center and rear.
 
+1 for the V8. Also it seems the 4th gen is marginally easier to work on and mod compared to the 5th gen. Example, the blitz bumper on my 4th gen only required 2 straight cuts of the old plastic bumper. The same bumper on 5th gens requires those same 2 cuts as well as a long horizontal cut along the front of the bumper. Just one example...

Also, the V6 in the 5th gen is the same one from the 4th gen (correct me if I'm wrong here), so spending more money just for something that is newer didn't make sense to me. And no V8 option...

Another thing thing for me, though, is that I like older cars in general. I have 3 cars (4runner, WRX, 330i ZHP) and each has higher mileage but I enjoy maintaining them, and my 3 used cars cost the same as 1 new car.
 
Even the v6 oil filter is easier to get at than the v8.
Dipstick on the early 2003-2004 transmissions.
3.90 gears on the 4speeds.

New 5th gens v6 seems like it has that crappy cartridge oil filter, 5th gen guys are always complaining about.

No air pump to fail on the early 4ths because they dont have them.

Seems like they started to go backwards after the first 4th gens. IMO.
 
BackOff said:
Seems like they started to go backwards after the first 4th gens. IMO.
Click to expand...

In some ways maybe, but they got rid of the grey cladding, upgraded headlights and grill, added vvti to the V8, and added another gear for the V6's, which are all big upgrades.
 
My first 'ffroader was an Isuzu Rodeo. I had it for about 18 months, when driving from Salt Lake City to Albuquerque I got caught in what was supposed to be a mild snow fall. Turned into "mountain pass in cuba is closed" snow storm, but I didn't find that out until after I ended up rolling the Rodeo somewhere outside Farmington. The Isuzu did its job, and we all walked away with no injuries.

If Isuzu still sold cars in the U.S., I would have walked into a dealer and bought one given how it held up. Since they didn't, we started trying to figure out what we wanted, and the big things were AWD, 4Lo, and curtain airbags. Turns out, this combo is insanely hard to find. Your choices are a 4th gen 4runner, a Limited 5th gen 4runner, or (I believe) a couple years of Kias. We went with the 4th gen because a family member had one with all the options we wanted, and even better it was a v8!

Given that combo of features, there is one recent addition to the list that I'm sure is in my future somewhere: a new Ford Bronco. That said, if I ever end up with one, I will have a hard time leaving Toyota's fantastic reliability, and dat v8.

TL;DR: AWD, 4Lo, Curtain Airbags, v8.
 
JBend said:
I'm sure this may be somewhere around here but I'm curious.

Did you land on a 4th gen because life happened? Is it aesthetically your favorite generation? Find a killer deal you couldn't turn away from? You're obsessed with Toyota and have 3 runners all of different generations(not pointing fingers but I know you people are out there). Was it a hand-me-down?
WHY?

For me? I think I've come to realize they are my favorite. They're the right size I think. 5th gens to me are too big. Could I afford a 5th gen, ya, but do I need everything that would have costed me an extra 20-30k to get one? No. Leather would be nice but don't need it. Upgraded my navigation and speakers already so don't need all that other fancy stuff. I've got a v6 model so they're basically the same engine. 163.5k miles is a bit but, like the parts guy said to me today while picking up brake fluid, "Oh well you're fine. A 13 year old 4runner with 160k miles on it is just starting to get broke in."

I always thought 3rd gens were my favorite. I could have a manual v6 and I prefer straighter simpler lines, but it seemed a tid bit too small.

A great deal popped up as soon as covid hit this year and i hopped on my 07' silver sr5 4runner. It had boxes i wanted checked. Few owners(3), sunroof, v6, neutral color, clean frame(mid-west here) and it was just clean inside and out.

So there are a couple reasons why I chose my 4th gen. Or maybe, it chose me.
Click to expand...


In one word:
V8
 
Personally like the way the 5th gen TRDs look over the 4th gen, but pick the
4th gen for the V8 & power latch tailgate.
 
I really, REALLY wanted an FJ. But the price on them didn't quite fit my plan. I am vehemently against having a car payment at this point in my life. My wife and I have 4 vehicles, all Toyotas, and they are all paid for. At the time I was looking, I had an 88 YJ and my plan was to sell it and get an FJ with the proceeds from the sale with the understanding that I'd have to put a little cash with it. Well, I soon found out that a little cash wasn't going to cut it. So I started looking at 4runners and Xterras. I really wanted to stick with Toyota and I finally found my 05 SR5 V6 4x4. And I got a killer deal on it. It's got high miles, 263K at the time but it was a mall crawler that had been babied it's whole life. I sold the Jeep for $4600 and bought the T4R for $3000 and had money to spend on getting it the way I want it. Now I couldn't be happier. I rarely even drive my 07 Tundra any more and the only time we drive my Camry is if we're going on a long trip and want to save on gas.
 
Inv4drZm said:
In some ways maybe, but they got rid of the grey cladding, upgraded headlights and grill, added vvti to the V8, and added another gear for the V6's, which are all big upgrades.
Click to expand...

One year of the grey cladding will probably be some kind of future rarity bonus.
I get how you guys love the v8, is nice i dont dispute.

The 4.0 v6 is a good motor even with a few early HG fails.

I grew up around old chevy 1960's v8s.
The toyota and lexus v8 is just a different beast.

I have an old 3-speed chevy that will do 60mph in first gear... gets loud, probably 8mpg.
All a trade off here and there.
Not sure i miss a 5th gear in the t4r.
 
gimlithepirate said:
Since they didn't, we started trying to figure out what we wanted, and the big things were AWD, 4Lo, and curtain airbags. Turns out, this combo is insanely hard to find. Your choices are a 4th gen 4runner, a Limited 5th gen 4runner, or (I believe) a couple years of Kias.

TL;DR: AWD, 4Lo, Curtain Airbags, v8.
Click to expand...

That's so funny, used to own an 07 Kia Sportage that had all that and I was always told that was a big deal. Now I get it
 
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I had an 04 Taco and was moving back to Utah. She just couldn’t pull my trailer with all my stuffs. Found an 04 T4R with the V8 and had zero issues getting everything back home.
 
I recently bought a house and needed a bigger vehicle. I had a GTI at the time and I just outgrew it. My wife and I do a fair bit of camping and we wanted something with more room. This would be my daily driver.

I started looking at 4Runners, Tacoma’s, and Tundras. I didn’t want another payment so it would have to be a used truck. The Taco was the first to get crossed off the list. Back seats are too small. The Tundras are nice but it was hard to find the right configuration (4WD, quad cab, etc...) at a price that I was willing to pay. 4Runner is the right size and seemed to fit the budget the best.

After months of searching, I ended up with 1-owner 2005 V8 Limited 4x4. It had 140k miles and timing belt was done 5k miles prior. It took a while to find one without frame rust or a price that seemed too high.

I plan on keeping this thing for a long time. If 5th gen Trail / TRD Off-road come down under $15k with less than 150k miles in California I’ll look. I don’t see that happening any time soon.


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