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Originally Posted by spazzyfry123
At this point I'm leaning pretty heavily towards a Toyota 4Runner TRD Off Road Premium or a used TRD Pro. The lack of depreciation, utterly proven reliability, and still some cool factor checks a few boxes.
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Back in college, my wife had a 87 Toyota 4X4 that she loved dearly. She had Subaru wagons since 1999. She started paddle boarding in 2017 and grew tired of constantly strapping the board to the roof. Back in July 2020, we bought her a new 4runner TRD ORP with/moonroof (no other options). She can simply flip the back seat down, roll down the rear window, and slide the board in and drive to the lake. It's perfect and she absolutely loves having the 4runner.
List was $44K and we got it for $39K. She REALLY wanted the Pro because of the looks. I convinced that we could save a mountain of money by getting the ORP and when doing the Pro mods ourselves. She loved the idea of modding the truck with her own hands. Short of the Pro suspension, her ORP looks exactly like a Pro. We'll be adding Bilstein shocks all around which will give it close to the Pro ride and ride height. All in, we'll have spent around $45K on her ORP to make it look, drive, and sound like a Pro, which sells for around $50-51K and dealers don't budge on MSRP.
If you're going to get a 1 to 3 y/o 4runner, buy new. The resale is simply to high to justify spending so much on a used one.
As others noted, the 4runner is archaic compared to other SUVs in the same price range. The interior is full of hard plastic, the seats are fake leather (only the Limited and Night Shade get real leather), there is no auto climate control on ORP and below, there are no memory seats, there are no auto headlights, not until the 2021 did non-halogen headlights become available, the stereo speakers are mediocre, the thing handles and steers like the body on frame truck it is, it has high wind and tire noise, it has an ancient 5 speed LONG geared auto that is resistant to downshift, you have manually shift it into 4WD/LO, and it gets terrible mpgs (16-17 in the city, 19-20 highway at best). It is HUGE departure from my M235 and most any SUV/car I've rented in the past 5 years more in terms of amenities and materials.
With the negatives out of the way, I'm in love with it and drive it any chance I get. It looks the business. It's very well built and has legendary reliability. It rides surprisingly well. I'm almost 6' 2" and fit in it fine including the rear seat which does recline. There is WAY more rear cargo space than the 2015 Outback she formerly drove. I have a wife and two teenagers and we all fit in it fine with all our camping gear. I love the 4runner's simplicity. The aftermarket is endless. Parts are cheap and repairs/maintenance extremely easy. Everything comes a part and goes back together easily. Although it's largely plastic inside, the plastic doesn't scratch easily which is rare for a Japanese make. Other than a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon or greater, there is no other 4X4s available with the off road capability. The amount of 4WD modes and equipment is a bit overwhelming, but it's all tried and true and useful. I'll be doing new speakers and throttle enhancer to improve throttle/transmission response.
If you want something reliable, good looking, back to basics, and with real off road capability, the 4runner is a good choice. Otherwise, most may find it "cheap", old, and out classed compared to most other SUVs out there. After all, the current gen 4runner body and chassis has been around since 2010 and Toyota has only done minor exterior and interior updates.