Silvy said:

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A 4Runner is the only rental car I've turned in early and exchanged it for something else. They are absolute turds below the curve.

The 270 HP figure is measured from the butthole

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To each their own I guess. Hasn't been my experience at all.

Crude and archaic but decent looking and run forever with very little maintenance


The third row works but as kids get older it is cramped and also can be hot as there are no dedicated ac vents to it.


Have had a 2013,2017 and 2018 with third row

When third row is up very little cargo room behind the seat

Have never regretted at least having the option to carry 7 if needed. Took a 1 week vacation to 30A with a family of 5 and it took some engineered luggage packing but we made it work.

Moved from the 2018 4runner to a grand highlander back in December


Pros

More room in all aspects
Can carry 8 and the third row works with much more room
All rows have dedicated ac vents
Lot better gas mileage

Cons

Lower ground clearance

For those complaining about speed, get one of these:

Banks Pedal Monster

It makes a world of difference in how the car drives.

A cheaper alternative is to just depress the pedal more, those things don't add power lol

Well, yes that works as well.

The car has plenty of power for what it is, but the pedal response sucks. This helps with that.

Plenty of power for what it is? The curb weight is on par with a crew cab F150 lol

It's not the hp/tq numbers in and of them selves. It's how that power gets to the wheels. The power band is too high in the rpm's and I hate the transmission. I drove 385 from Dalhart to Littlefield a ton in mine and with the cruise at the speed limit it wouldn't be in the same gear for more than 2 minutes on that whole stretch. And it isn't really that hilly. Wind also will make it downshift lol.

meggy09 said:

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It's not the hp/tq numbers in and of them selves. It's how that power gets to the wheels. The power band is too high in the rpm's and I hate the transmission. I drove 385 from Dalhart to Littlefield a ton in mine and with the cruise at the speed limit it wouldn't be in the same gear for more than 2 minutes on that whole stretch. And it isn't really that hilly. Wind also will make it downshift lol.

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What year is yours? I drive back and forth from Bastrop to Houston every couple of weeks at around 80-85 mph and only notice it downshifting a couple of times between Bastrop and Columbus, which is decently hilly on 71. I am not trying to be deliberately obtuse about this, I am genuinely wondering if you guys are getting lemons or nerfed vehicles as rentals, because I have a bit of a lead foot and feel like the 4Runner has plenty of power for what I would want and expect.

I also have a 16 Tacoma 4x4 V6 and that engine transmission combo really is a turd. But the 4Runner is nothing like that, at least to me. Are y'all driving trucks with V8s or muscle cars as your daily driver? I can see if you are driving another vehicle with a lot of low end torque you could hop in a 4Runner and feel like it didn't have a lot of power low in the rpm range. But I can think of a half dozen rental vehicles I have had recently that I would say had significantly less power than the 4R.

People, a 4Runner is just fine and it isn't supposed to be like this:

I was on the fence about a 4Runner for years, and hesitated about buying one because of the archaic engine/transmission and the complaints about being underpowered. I finally pulled the trigger in September and bought one, and have been nothing but happy with it. It does great on the highway, yea, it is a bit slower than what I was used to. We even did a bit of off-roading at BigBend a few weeks ago, and performed great. My advice is if you're on the fence, go for it. It really is a mix of old and new and that is what makes it unique.

Apologies for being unable to post until now. My week ban, which I did not protest despite some disagreement, was lifted 5 and a half hours ago.

I bought a 2016 Limited 3 years ago. Blizzard Pearl.

Would do so again.

meggy09 said:

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It's not the hp/tq numbers in and of them selves. It's how that power gets to the wheels. The power band is too high in the rpm's and I hate the transmission. I drove 385 from Dalhart to Littlefield a ton in mine and with the cruise at the speed limit it wouldn't be in the same gear for more than 2 minutes on that whole stretch. And it isn't really that hilly. Wind also will make it downshift lol.

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Funny, just went on ski trip to New Mexico with my in laws. We rented a cabin and they recommended a 4x4 for accessing it in the winter. I took my LX, but my FIL rented a 4Runner for the trip.

Asked him how it was and the first thing he complained about was all the shifting on the hwy.

I've put 8K miles on my 4Runner between Thanksgiving and today. Mostly highway.

I'd say it's been in 5th for 95% of that time set between 75 and 80. If anything I feel like I get annoyed that it waits too long going up hill to downshift.