My honest 2011 Toyota 4runner review

[maxama10]

The new 1GR-FE will put out "285 hp (213 kW) and 289 lb·ft (392 N·m) on 91 octane" vs the 4.7V8 of the 4th gen runners "260 hp (194 kW) and 306 lb·f".

Yeah it's still lacking 17 ft lbs but wouldn't take much I'd expect to get that number even closer and you'd still have more HP.

That's still way over the VVT-I 1GR-FE in the Tacoma, which did quite well IMO when it was stock and the new 4runners are only around 500lbs heavier.

 

[teotwaki]

I'm not offended that the OP is unhappy with his 5th gen but neither am I very sympathetic. Maybe he should have done more homework??? No one made him buy the vehicle from the dealer. Why not wait and shop more??? What was the rush?? Just why didn't the OP buy a Tahoe or Durango or Sequoia with a V8? Is this unfounded Buyer's Remorse or the fault of Toyota?

The 5th gens are heavier than a V6 4th Gen but the Off-road options are nice and the newer engine has a little more oomph. They are defintely much more expensive. I bought my 2005 SR5 4x4 for $27.5K out the door. I've added better suspension but I knew that I would do that well before going into the purchase. It is a frighteningly easy modification to add new components! My 4Runner tows my trailer quite well but I still plan to add a (used) load distributing hitch from a V-8. I've got over 130K miles in 6.3 years and only two weepy seals in the front diff to whine about. :sombrero:
In this photo I have a ton of crap in the truck as well as the trailer including over 20gallons of water and 25 gallons of gas. It ain't lightly loaded folks but neither is it overloaded.

Now look at the OP's pictures and you see a LOT of camping gear AND a trailer. Gas cans. Tables. Coolers. Chairs. Food. Passengers.

The truck is obviously sagging in this photo so who is at fault for overloading any vehicle? Ford? Chevy? Land Rover? Toyota? Nissan????

My original radio was pretty weak and even had a cassete deck in it! :Wow1: I bought a 160W Scion radio on eBay for $50 and it plugs right in and talks to my ipod with the right cable.

Interior lighting deficient? So again no detailed test drive of the vehicle? Did Toyota misrepresent the lighting to the OP before buying the SUV?

How could the towing harness plug be ripped off if it is mounted higher than the spare tire? On a forest road?? Any pictures showing the plug location? Mine is mounted right next to the towing loop on the left and we have pretty much the same frames. Mine has never been scratched, even before the suspension mods. This is a Toyota.Com photo of a 5th Gen.

So honestly, how detailed was the decision process to purchase the 5th Gen?
What other vehicles was it compared to and in what sort of detail?
What was the process of elimination that left the 4Runner as the best choice?
If towing was planned why not look into trailer weight and tow recepticle layout?
If a vehicle is so disappointing do we blame the manufacturer or do we look in the mirror and ask what we did wrong to make the selection?

 

[Deleted member 13060]

OK Jim, that's enuf outta you. Stop clouding the issue with common sense......

 

[JJMAC]

This is a review to help other prospective buyers with an insight on things perhaps they wont see while riding in a test drive on highway roads with a dealer representative in the passenger seat. I blame toyota only on the fact that this is a 5th generation vehicle and all the toyota lovers on here keep saying that thousands of dollars of upgrades are necessary on basic things that all stock vehicles should have. All that I am saying is that the lighting, radio and rear sag are all horrible in this vehicle. All of which are difficult things to test during the day on a dealer test drive. You are not towing up 4-5 thousand foot inclines in Colorado or Arizona with 2 kids at night in the back during a test drive. Research? You do a search on the web and see if you have come up with ANYTHING even close to this review.

For the record. All the weight of the camping gear is located over the axle IN THE CAMPER. The only thing in the 4runner is a cooler and clothes. Thats it. A tongue weight of only 175 pounds from the trailer.

That is pretty weak if you as me. We have towed the camper cross county in our Sienna and didnt have as much sag.

I have had 4 Toyotas in my life all of which were awesome. This vehicle is a 7.5 at best. Disappointing for someone who has owned 4 toyo's in the past.

 

[RR1]

For the record. All the weight of the camping gear is located over the axle IN THE CAMPER. The only thing in the 4runner is a cooler and clothes. Thats it. A tongue weight of only 175 pounds from the trailer.

That is pretty weak if you as me. We have towed the camper cross county in our Sienna and didnt have as much sag.
.

That is pretty bad, isn't the tow rating 5000 lbs.? There is no way that your trailer weighs that much, I am guessing around 1300 lbs. dry, you might be at 1700 lbs. with gear maybe. I couldn't find the payload rating on the Toyota website, I guessing around 1000 lbs. Anyone have the correct number?

Jim: You're being a little harsh, it isn't like it is a Ford F650 with a ton of money thrown at it, and still manages to over load to unsafe proportions...:ylsmoke:

My rule of thumb is always get a vehicle with the double the tow rating of the weight you're going to tow, which looks like what JJMAC has done.

 

[Redline]

snip...

For the record. All the weight of the camping gear is located over the axle IN THE CAMPER. The only thing in the 4runner is a cooler and clothes. Thats it. A tongue weight of only 175 pounds from the trailer.

That is pretty weak if you as me. We have towed the camper cross county in our Sienna and didnt have as much sag.

snip...

If you are not going to change the suspension/lift it, a simple and relatively easy solution for the rear is air-spring overloads. I've run them for years on my 4th Gen. I had a couple failures with the Firestone coil-bags, and would recommend Air-Lift. I purchased them online for around $100.00, installed myself.

 

[Deleted member 13060]

For the record. All the weight of the camping gear is located over the axle IN THE CAMPER. The only thing in the 4runner is a cooler and clothes. Thats it. A tongue weight of only 175 pounds from the trailer.

That is pretty weak if you as me. We have towed the camper cross county in our Sienna and didnt have as much sag.

I have had 4 Toyotas in my life all of which were awesome. This vehicle is a 7.5 at best. Disappointing for someone who has owned 4 toyo's in the past.

2 adults - 300lbs
2 kids - age unknown - 100lbs
26 gallons of gas @ 7lbs a gallon - 182lbs yes the fuel in the tank is considered "payload" as are the occupants
2 fuel cells on the roof - 60lbs
big ice chest and clothes - 100lbs
175lbs of tongue weight on an extended hitch so we'll almost double that due to extra leverage - 300lbs (way behind the axle)

I come up with 1042lbs (remember, my #s are guess work but probably pretty close) of payload. I think the rig did pretty good for what it is. "Stuff" adds up in a hurry....

But like Jim, I think your expectations were/are a bit high for a semi luxury sport ute. Toyota doesn't build cars for fun, they build cars for money and for 98% of the buyers your car is MORE than adequate. I can't see Toyota spending money on extra equipment for 2% of their customers....

Throw a set of OME springs and shocks (fairly inexpensive) under the back and go for it....

YMMV RON

 

[Mechanical]

Load Capacity = GVWR - Curb Weight
-for an SR5-
Load Capacity = 6300 lb - 4675 lb
Load Capacity = 1625 lb

-so-
if -- People + cooler + clothes + Tongue Weight > 1625 lbs -- you are in trouble.

 

[teotwaki]

OK Jim, that's enuf outta you. Stop clouding the issue with common sense......

Yeah, I don't get it when incomplete decision making leads to blaming the manufacturer. If that is "harsh" then so be it. I can show you pictures where I had obviously overloaded my 4Runner. So I took some things out and left them behind. What is so hard about that?

In that OP picture that I reposted the 4Runner is sheavily agging and there aren't even any passengers in it!! These are the kinds of poor decisions that lead to frivolous lawsuits.

 

[RR1]

In that OP picture that I reposted the 4Runner is sheavily agging and there aren't even any passengers in it!! These are the kinds of poor decisions that lead to frivolous lawsuits.

I dunno, what is the point of buying a SUV if you can't put anything in it? I can't see how he is overloaded without passengers, unless there are 6 bags of concrete in the back.:snorkel:

The OP stated that there is only a cooler at maybe 60-70 lbs(?) and clothes in the vehicle. He might be with 200 lbs. of gear, I doubt if the fuel tank is full, since he traveled back on the North Rim. He might be at 1/4 of the payload capacity. I can see it sagging near or at capacity.

 

[teotwaki]

SNIP------> All that I am saying is that the lighting, radio and rear sag are all horrible in this vehicle. All of which are difficult things to test during the day on a dealer test drive. You are not towing up 4-5 thousand foot inclines in Colorado or Arizona with 2 kids at night in the back during a test drive. Research? You do a search on the web and see if you have come up with ANYTHING even close to this review. <----SNIP

Couldn't test the radio? C'mon.

Couldn't test the interior lights? C'mon.

Research? This discussion is from LAST year and it was the first hit in the Google list.
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/69422-towing-experiences-your-5th-generation.html

 

[teotwaki]

I dunno, what is the point of buying a SUV if you can't put anything in it? I can't see how he is overloaded without passengers, unless there are 6 bags of concrete in the back.:snorkel: .

In the picture you'll not see anybody in the front seats and the back seats look empty but maybe the kids are small. The rear wheel well (small) opening shows that the truck is practically riding on the bump stops.

There are lots of "SUV" models out there and putting "anything" in them is limited by the payload abilities. We are free to ignore the payload limits all we want but shouldn't bash the OEM based on our obvious ignorance.

The OP stated that there is only a cooler at maybe 60-70 lbs(?) and clothes in the vehicle. He might be with 200 lbs. of gear, I doubt if the fuel tank is full, since he traveled back on the North Rim. He might be at 1/4 of the payload capacity.

I don't think that anyone should blindly buy any vehicle and then be unhappy when they have no rational decision process to point to. So far only a bunch of assumptions and a short test drive have been used to bash the OEM. No personal accountability at all.

 

[RR1]

You are correct on making a purchase decision.

I just don't see where the OP is anywhere close to overloading it, especially from the picture with the front seats empty, his trailer is maybe 1500-1700 lbs...far from the towing capacity, his tongue weight is a measly 175 lbs.

I will agree that Toyota suspension is luckluster from the factory, as I have upgraded my TRD so-called "Off Road" to OME Dakar Heavies in the rear and Camburg coilovers in the front. I hate the OME when unloaded, but when loaded (heck over loaded even!) they are a dream. Still I may swap them out for some custom Deavers, as I am not 100% happy with them.

 

[BIGdaddy]

In the picture you'll not see anybody in the front seats and the back seats look empty but maybe the kids are small. The rear wheel well (small) opening shows that the truck is practically riding on the bump stops.

There are lots of "SUV" models out there and putting "anything" in them is limited by the payload abilities. We are free to ignore the payload limits all we want but shouldn't bash the OEM based on our obvious ignorance.



I don't think that anyone should blindly buy any vehicle and then be unhappy when they have no rational decision process to point to. So far only a bunch of assumptions and a short test drive have been used to bash the OEM. No personal accountability at all.

Wow. Why are you taking this so personally?

The OP bought the car, gathered his thoughts and put them down for others take or leave.

You can bet anyone reading this and considering a 4runner is going to take a GOOD hard look at the things he mentioned in his first post.

 

[teotwaki]

Wow. Why are you taking this so personally?

The OP bought the car, gathered his thoughts and put them down for others take or leave.

You can bet anyone reading this and considering a 4runner is going to take a GOOD hard look at the things he mentioned in his first post.

No not personal and since he put out his honest review I've given my honest review of his total lack of facts. He can take it or leave it too. I don't own a 5th gen and you could just imagine the hand wringing if this was Rover review posted in that area... :bike_rider:

If others take a GOOD hard look at the 4Runner they will be achieving something that the OP didn't. :ylsmoke: