Rival Reviewed: 2025 4Runner First Drive Reviews Are In

[Administrator]

2025 4Runner Reviews (6th Gen) Are Here! — Full List via 4Runner6g

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[Kevin Scarbel]

I would humbly suggests that Toyota's 4Runner is not a rival to the Ford Bronco.

The Bronco is unique in design. Worldwide, the Bronco has no rivals.

The 4Runner's rivals are the Ford Everest and Toyota Fortuner. The Everest is the best of the three, thanks to superb engineering by Ford Australia engineers.

 

[dinglehead]

They look nice but the pricing is absolutely whack.

69k for a TRD Pro? Absolutely not.

 

[jofer]

I would humbly suggests that Toyota's 4Runner is not a rival to the Ford Bronco.

The Bronco is unique in design. Worldwide, the Bronco has no rivals.

The 4Runner's rivals are the Ford Everest and Toyota Fortuner. The Everest is the best of the three, thanks to superb engineering by Ford Australia engineers.

That may be true in many places, but at least within the US, where the Everest and several other things aren't available, they very squarely complete with each other. A lot of folks decide between a 4-door bronco and a 4Runner for a fairly large off-road focused SUV. Perhaps more so that between a Wrangler and a Bronco. That's especially true for the overland/etc community.

The IFS design factors more into it than a removable roof/doors for some folks. A lot of the rock crawling crowd won't consider anything without solid axels (for good reason, though I'd still argue IFS is better in most other off-road scenarios). That means that not as many folks in the US are choosing between a Wrangler and a Bronco as you might think. The Wrangler and the bronco definitely are competing with each other, but the 4Runner is squarely in the mix as well.

I'd even argue the Bronco copied/was inspired by Toyota more than Jeep in many ways. The modern FJ cruiser (which is also no longer available in the US) has more functional design in common with a Bronco than a Wrangler does, styling aside, in my opinion.

Either way, I definitely know people cross shopping Broncos and 4Runners here in the US. They're as direct a competitor as a Wrangler is here.

 

[604Bronco]

I would humbly suggests that Toyota's 4Runner is not a rival to the Ford Bronco.

The Bronco is unique in design. Worldwide, the Bronco has no rivals.

The 4Runner's rivals are the Ford Everest and Toyota Fortuner. The Everest is the best of the three, thanks to superb engineering by Ford Australia engineers.

They're all off-road vehicles at the end of the day. But based off your logic, the Jeep would be a direct rival... As we've seen throughout B6G.

Regardless, the new 4Runner looks awesome and will be great to see some real-world reviews as they get out into the real world. I love the new design, especially the TRD Pro trim.

 

[Kdk12]

Are the top and doors easily removable?
No?

NEXT.

 

[GoHawks63]

When I was shopping, I was torn between the new 4Runner and the Bronco, and truth be told I was leaning heavily towards the 4Runner. I have owned two Land Cruisers ('98 bought used and an '04 purchased new). We put over 160K miles on the '04 and all it ever asked of me was oil changes, brakes and tires. When we gave it up it still ran like the day I drove it off the lot, everything worked and it still looked great despite practically raising my kids in that vehicle. Many vacations, snowstorms, towing a boat and driving multiple states and Canada for kids' travel hockey tournaments. To this day I still regret giving up that vehicle and am often tempted to pull the trigger on used ones that occasionally shows up on Bring a Trailer.

When the new redesigned Land Cruiser was announced I was excited, but it did nothing for me after seeing it and my biggest disappointment is that it is a hybrid powertrain.

I really liked the 4Runner styling better, but you can only get a 4 cyl turbo on the lower trims or move up to the hybrid in the upper trim levels. The hybrid powertrain is the same one going into the Land Cruiser.

Jason Camissa (Hagerty) just did a piece on the history of the Land Cruiser and towards the end he compared the new model to it's predecessors. In short, he acknowledged that it still had decent off-road chops, but he absolutely hated the engine and on-road driving characteristics. Not to mention it has lower ground clearance.

He went on to say that the Lexus GX is a better Land Cruiser, than the Land Cruiser even though they are the same platform.

I am also leery of buying the first year of a redesigned model even though it's a Toyota as recent history has shown that their reputation for bullet-proof reliability has taken a bit of a hit.

So obviously I went with the Bronco. Not that I think I'll get better reliability, hence why I purchased an extended warranty, but I got the V6 I wanted and just as much ability. The only disadvantage (compared to the 4Runner) is towing capacity, but I don't anticipate having the need to tow anything really heavy since I no longer have a boat.

 

[Kevin Scarbel]

They're all off-road vehicles at the end of the day. But based off your logic, the Jeep would be a direct rival... As we've seen throughout B6G.

Regardless, the new 4Runner looks awesome and will be great to see some real-world reviews as they get out into the real world. I love the new design, especially the TRD Pro trim.

No, I don't consider the Jeep to be a direct rival of the Bronco.

I myself don't care for the redesigned 4Runner or Tacoma. After leaving loyalists to wait years and years for an update, I feel Toyota disappointed (particularly with the NA LC250).

 

[Lowcountry Bronco]

Funny how we always get that these aren't competitors for the Bronco when most concur that only a few actually use what makes them superior. Your standard best selling 4 door Bronco (BB, OBX) non-squatch with a hardtop is probably sub-par to a standard 4Runner in 99% of what's important to those that purchase them for daily driving. They're louder, get worse mileage, dubious quality, really aren't spacious and once you option them up to match trim to trim they are priced pretty close to the same.

I get it that the tops/doors aren't removable and 35"/37" tires aren't available, etc, etc. but how much real difference is there for those looking for something to haul the family with the ability to not bottom out getting to the soccer field or the green space park while still looking rugged enough at the Harris Teeter or Lowes parking lot???

I've never hid the fact that my Bronco has never been off road, never had the top off and is a daily driver and probably always will be; in my use case a Toyota Corolla is actually a superior competitor but I have no desire to own one!

I do 100% applaud all those that do the things you do in your Broncos that give them the credibility they have and to you they're not direct competitors (and I concur) but for the rest of the world that rolls up to a Toyota/Ford dealership looking to replace whatever family mobile they're currently in they will be 100% shopped together.

 

[bassist]

I applaud Toyota.

Their decisions, combined with healthy cash on the hood of my 2024 Bronco, made it easy to trade in my 4Runner for close to what I paid for it and drive off in a Bronco.

 

[11811]

Funny how we always get that these aren't competitors for the Bronco when most concur that only a few actually use what makes them superior. Your standard best selling 4 door Bronco (BB, OBX) non-squatch with a hardtop is probably sub-par to a standard 4Runner in 99% of what's important to those that purchase them for daily driving. They're louder, get worse mileage, dubious quality, really aren't spacious and once you option them up to match trim to trim they are priced pretty close to the same.

I get it that the tops/doors aren't removable and 35"/37" tires aren't available, etc, etc. but how much real difference is there for those looking for something to haul the family with the ability to not bottom out getting to the soccer field or the green space park while still looking rugged enough at the Harris Teeter or Lowes parking lot???

I've never hid the fact that my Bronco has never been off road, never had the top off and is a daily driver and probably always will be; in my use case a Toyota Corolla is actually a superior competitor but I have no desire to own one!

I do 100% applaud all those that do the things you do in your Broncos that give them the credibility they have and to you they're not direct competitors (and I concur) but for the rest of the world that rolls up to a Toyota/Ford dealership looking to replace whatever family mobile they're currently in they will be 100% shopped together.

Yes, but do you find your Bronco fun to drive?

 

[CMillBronco]

I have both and I would say they're completely different but a 4 dr Bronco is a competitor IMO and 2 dr isn't. When we bought our 2nd 2 dr Bronco last month I toyed with the idea of getting a 4 dr for more room and gas tank size. After thinking about it and having a 4Runner it didn't make sense to have 2 4 dr's.

 

[Lowcountry Bronco]

Yes, but do you find your Bronco fun to drive?

Honestly ... it's a truck, it drives like a truck, handles like a truck. Now it's probably one of the few "fun" trucks to drive, manual, quick enough, roomy enough and it is a convertible but my background was always something sporty and quick with good handling. Is the Bronco any funner to drive than my Toyota FJC??? eh ... not really, it definitely doesn't handle on the road as well (and it's 15 years older).

I'm not lost on the fact that these things are fun to use as designed, which means off road, finding a trail or just getting out there. Not saying that I'll never use this for what it was designed for but as a percentage it's going to be slim ... just like most that own any of these competitors. There's tradeoffs in lots of things, how Ford/Toyota designed these to cover most of the bases explains why there's so many options/trims for each so you can pick what's more important.

 

[broncobase1]

The 4Runner does not have the distinctive design of the Bronco, looks like everything else. For me the fact Bronco does not have god awful plastic everywhere especially on the front and its simple design is what sold me, and I'm not into retro and know little about old Broncos. What is with the giant contrived plastic fake air scopes you see on the front and back of every vehicle made today, or whatever all the crap is. I'm sure this will get a lot of takers from Toyota faithful, although honestly I trust the 2.3L Ford before these new Toyota turbo engines which are having problems. Toyota's aren't what they used to be. I just rented a new Corolla and its NOT what I would buy. Even the lowly Corolla used to be distinctive with a touch of class. This new one is just cheesy (inside and out) and feels cramped inside despite being larger than they used to be. And pushing the start button sounds like the Chevy Cavaliers I used to rent years ago -- what's up with that? Toyotas used to have a refined "quality" sound. I enjoyed the Malibu I rented way more than this new Corolla.

 

[HarmCityHammer]

They look nice but the pricing is absolutely whack.

69k for a TRD Pro? Absolutely not.

How much is a Badlands Sasquatch now? My 22 was 60k.

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