FinntheT4R
New member
Beating a dead horse
WARNING: This review IS just beating a dead horse. There is a wealth of experiences and good knowledge on here but because I have had a Grand Cherokee, Wrangler and most recently a 4runner, I felt like throwing my experience into the ring (and in part to selfishly meet my post minimum).
My previous two cars were a 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee (Limited with hemi) and a heavily modded 2011 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited (35 inch tires, 3.5 inch fox/teraflex lift, interior roll bars, 5 point harnesses, bumpers, winch, etc.).
To start, my Jeep Wrangler Unlimited was probably the most fun car I have owned prior to my 4runner. It is what got me into offroading, wrenching on my own car and generally being in the outdoors more. That being said though...like others have said, the interior is very sparse. And for how much you pay for one, you'd expect a little bit more. It was a very analog truck with everything being so easy to take apart and I definitely get the draw for that. But you don't drive one of those for the comfort factor. Then my steering issues started. I blew a power steering pump and that usually wouldn't pose the biggest issue, but after it was replaced, I had chronic steering issues. My power steering pump would randomly go out so the steering wheel would go from light to super heavy to light at random moments. I had it replaced FOUR times. Then they replaced the entire steering column after it kept happening. The last problem with it is how horribly under powered it is. I did have 35s and I did not regear so that's my own problem but still, it was incredibly sluggish to where if I had one or two other people in the car, the power was noticeably different.
Then I had the Jeep Grand Cherokee. I live 2 blocks from my office and the only driving this thing ever saw was fairly easy highway miles. Before I started having any issues with the car I had a litany of safety recalls. It was some ridiculous number and even for things as stupid as the headliner occasionally can catch fire. Outside of this, random issues occurred. The power lift gate which you can't really operate without it using the motor, started malfunctioning. The button wouldn't get it to close and usually just didn't work on cold mornings. So I'd have to force this thing closed against the motor power. Then the shift timing on the 8-speed transmission would slowly become out of sync and would downshift at weird times, not downshift at all while flooring it (at extremely low RPMs), and generally be a pain. I had to have them re-set the electronics that managed this transmission 3 separate times. Then came the U-connect. Don't get me wrong, this was probably the most user friendly system there is and the backup camera was incredible. But randomly dropping calls, the system shutting off while I was driving, and the navigation input randomly taking up to 15 minutes to load was insane. Long story long, this car had an enormous amount of problems.
Finally after being very disenchanted with the Jeep brand and being frustrated with reliability issues, I made the switch over to the 4runner. I don't need to tell anybody here because we all know how great they are but it is just such a great balance between luxury and offroad capability. AND you have the ability to modify these extensively having the great aftermarket that it does. I only have an SR5P but have taken it to Moab and living in Denver and I am beyond impressed with it in it's stock form. Not that it'll stay stock for long (especially perusing this forum) but it is the best daily driver/weekend warrior combo I have ever owned. The v6 although not the most powerful, has a ton of top end torque. Despite what most people seem to think here, I really like the Entune system. It has the interior space of a full sized, while not being obnoxiously large. It is a great all around, do-everything SUV and the reliability is unparalleled.
I'll end my rant there but there is nothing that compares to the reliability and build quality (except for the cheap plastic in these haha) of Toyotas and the 4runner.
WARNING: This review IS just beating a dead horse. There is a wealth of experiences and good knowledge on here but because I have had a Grand Cherokee, Wrangler and most recently a 4runner, I felt like throwing my experience into the ring (and in part to selfishly meet my post minimum).
My previous two cars were a 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee (Limited with hemi) and a heavily modded 2011 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited (35 inch tires, 3.5 inch fox/teraflex lift, interior roll bars, 5 point harnesses, bumpers, winch, etc.).
To start, my Jeep Wrangler Unlimited was probably the most fun car I have owned prior to my 4runner. It is what got me into offroading, wrenching on my own car and generally being in the outdoors more. That being said though...like others have said, the interior is very sparse. And for how much you pay for one, you'd expect a little bit more. It was a very analog truck with everything being so easy to take apart and I definitely get the draw for that. But you don't drive one of those for the comfort factor. Then my steering issues started. I blew a power steering pump and that usually wouldn't pose the biggest issue, but after it was replaced, I had chronic steering issues. My power steering pump would randomly go out so the steering wheel would go from light to super heavy to light at random moments. I had it replaced FOUR times. Then they replaced the entire steering column after it kept happening. The last problem with it is how horribly under powered it is. I did have 35s and I did not regear so that's my own problem but still, it was incredibly sluggish to where if I had one or two other people in the car, the power was noticeably different.
Then I had the Jeep Grand Cherokee. I live 2 blocks from my office and the only driving this thing ever saw was fairly easy highway miles. Before I started having any issues with the car I had a litany of safety recalls. It was some ridiculous number and even for things as stupid as the headliner occasionally can catch fire. Outside of this, random issues occurred. The power lift gate which you can't really operate without it using the motor, started malfunctioning. The button wouldn't get it to close and usually just didn't work on cold mornings. So I'd have to force this thing closed against the motor power. Then the shift timing on the 8-speed transmission would slowly become out of sync and would downshift at weird times, not downshift at all while flooring it (at extremely low RPMs), and generally be a pain. I had to have them re-set the electronics that managed this transmission 3 separate times. Then came the U-connect. Don't get me wrong, this was probably the most user friendly system there is and the backup camera was incredible. But randomly dropping calls, the system shutting off while I was driving, and the navigation input randomly taking up to 15 minutes to load was insane. Long story long, this car had an enormous amount of problems.
Finally after being very disenchanted with the Jeep brand and being frustrated with reliability issues, I made the switch over to the 4runner. I don't need to tell anybody here because we all know how great they are but it is just such a great balance between luxury and offroad capability. AND you have the ability to modify these extensively having the great aftermarket that it does. I only have an SR5P but have taken it to Moab and living in Denver and I am beyond impressed with it in it's stock form. Not that it'll stay stock for long (especially perusing this forum) but it is the best daily driver/weekend warrior combo I have ever owned. The v6 although not the most powerful, has a ton of top end torque. Despite what most people seem to think here, I really like the Entune system. It has the interior space of a full sized, while not being obnoxiously large. It is a great all around, do-everything SUV and the reliability is unparalleled.
I'll end my rant there but there is nothing that compares to the reliability and build quality (except for the cheap plastic in these haha) of Toyotas and the 4runner.
