Why is the Toyota 4runner "behind?"

[Incognito]

Toyota is, as a general rule of thumb, 5-10, even 15 years behind the competition in terms of cutting edge technology offered on bread and butter vehicles.

It's not hard, expensive or even difficult to be reliable, when you're badly dated.

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[siggy]

Toyota is, as a general rule of thumb, 5-10, even 15 years behind the competition in terms of cutting edge technology offered on bread and butter vehicles.

It's not hard, expensive or even difficult to be reliable, when you're badly dated.

Would much rather have a reliable vehicle than “cutting edge” technology. Looking at Toyota’s resale value compared to Ford’s, it seems others agree.

 

[Norville]

Because they need to insure their quality above and beyond domestics ... It's not a perfect equation, but it has some basis in reality. Domestics tend to throw sh!t on the wall and see what sticks.

 

[Raz4back]

Toyota is, as a general rule of thumb, 5-10, even 15 years behind the competition in terms of cutting edge technology offered on bread and butter vehicles.

It's not hard, expensive or even difficult to be reliable, when you're badly dated.

Who wants a vehicle that you can realistically drive for 300k miles with little more than routine maintenance.

Toyota should have stuck with the “badly dated” 4.0 in the Tacoma

 

[Hkak45]

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” -probably some head designer for Toyota.

 

[Bronco4lyfe85]

We looked at 4 runners and they’re 40K+ and I just couldn’t justify the cost. Toyota is boring, I’ll never own another one again, the 1 year I had a Corolla was enough.

Look at the Challenger. Beloved design, slowly updated over the past 12-13 years to LEDs, wide body’s etc and the interiors are nice and keep getting updated to be modern. Toyota doesn’t really do that to their vehicles.

 

[John B+9]

Toyota is, as a general rule of thumb, 5-10, even 15 years behind the competition in terms of cutting edge technology offered on bread and butter vehicles.

It's not hard, expensive or even difficult to be reliable, when you're badly dated.

I hear you, but strongly disagree. These guys wrote the book on hybrid power trains, and the rest of the industry is playing catch up. Many are paying Toyota royalties on their tech.

 

[edgeflyer]

So, just to be clear, reliability does not include excessive recalls?

 

[elmystico]

So, just to be clear, reliability does not include excessive recalls?

Ok, maybe I'm stupid to wade into this. And I have owned an 2014 FJ, a 2007 4Runner, a 1990 Toyota Pickup and the wife has a Toyota-built Lexus, so you'll call me ridiculously biased.

But I have also owned a '66 Mustang, '73 Charger, Xterra, Jeep Grand Cherokee, S-10 Blazer (3 of them) and a 2011 Equinox (which was an unrivaled P.O.S.). Let's remove the classics because they were labors of lust and above reproach.

Of all those cars, the Toyotas all had the fewest recalls or work needed, even though I have owned them the longest (other than my first car, and '86 S-10). The Xterra drove like a wobbly radio flyer put together by a 4-year-old with a hammer. T Jeep had the worst transmission of any car I have ever owned. Absolute $h!t. The Equinox was an unmitigated abomination. Trash. Got rid of it after pistons and rings were replaced under warranty before 18K miles and the contents of the transfer case exploded at 21K.

Sure, Toyota had to issue many brutal recalls for airbags manufactured by a third party, damaging their reputation. And there's no doubt Toyota has had more than its fair share of recall programs overall in the past decade. The minute Toyota moved some of its trucks out of Japan was the minute they started losing the same top-shelf quality control and fit and finish I love about their vehicles. One of the best things about my FJ is that it was built at the Hino truck factory in Japan, before they handed off Tacomas to the US.

But there is a damned good reason people talk about their reliability, and unless you have owned them for long periods, you aren't in a position to thrown them out like yesterday's stanky baby diapers just because you have seen the list of recalls. All of my Toyotas have run over 100K miles flawlessly. The '90 pickup is running beautifully at 160K. My FJ just hit 102K and I plan to keep it until the zombies eat my hands off to steal the key.

I completely agree with folks who say Toyota is light years behind in tech. It is frustrating at times. That made the Bronco instantly attractive to me, no doubt. But you can either deal with that or you can't, and I can. I quickly replaced/upgraded the few basic things I could, like NAV and audio, in both my 4Runner and FJ. (My dad had an Avalon that I sold when he died, and while it had a lesser degree of outdated tech, it was still built to run for 250K+.)

Maybe you owned a $h!tty Toyota and if so, then I get it. But they have a reputation that is based on tens of thousands -- maybe hundreds -- of owners who have driven them long past 200K miles. And the proof to me is in the offers from people right off the street that I get for not only the FJ ($32K at 100K miles), but the '90 pickup. Last one I got was $10K cash for it, and all it has added to it is cheap JVC stereo and an OME suspension. People believe, even if others are rightly skeptical due to recall reports.

Just my two cents.

 

[Dads_bronze_bronco]

Had a Limited before my JL. I don't think I ever once turned around as I was walking away to check it out. Capable. Dependable. And so, so, so, sooooooo boring. It's easily 5 years past a major upgrade or discontinuation.

Nate

Isn’t that the definition of Toyota: boring, dependable transportation?

 

[elmystico]

Isn’t that the definition of Toyota: boring, dependable transportation?

I think it is, and I think my kid might describe me in the exact terms.

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