Toyota 4Runner - 2003

toyotaken

DRL's are not normally something that can be installed by a dealer. There may be some aftermarket places that can, but it's normally not a very inexpensive option. DK is a "preferred owner portfolio" and is a "wallet" for lack of a better term to hold all of your manuals, regristration and insurance cards.

placid1

need to know if anyone has any comments on if the body cladding on the sr5 and sport vehicles will hold up after a few years or if they will look beat up, scratched, etc and need to be replaced.

i can just imagine after two years the need replace portions of the cladding.

jbwh

placid1, two days ago i was rear-ended in my 03 Sport (with the grey cladding): the car that hit me hit at an angle - grinding across the center and passenger-side cladding sections that make up the rear bumper & lower fender. The actual damage was very minor for me, but the car that hit me (Dodge sedan) was in rather bad ($$$) shape: needed a new hood, driver's side fender and front light set. Because my vehicle is so new i am getting the two pieces of cladding replaced - but they are just slightly scratched; in fact if my 4Runner had been clean (lots of road grime around here in winter) i don't think it would have even been visibly scratched (the dirt got ground into the plastic, but the plastic was not deformed or damaged). The appraiser took the panels off to inspect for damage under the panels but there was nothing.

So overall, the cladding seems quite robust to me - like i said: if it had been clean there wouldn't have been any damage. And relatively cheap - $310 Canadian for the two pieces + under an hour's labor to swap them. The guy that hit me had over $2500 damage to his car.

passthegravy

We've all heard that the body-colored cladding will be available soon as a $300 option on the SR5 model (but not the Sport). Does anyone know if it will include not only the fender flares and side cladding, but also the front and rear bumpers? It would look really odd to have matching cladding on the sides, but still have the gray plastic front and rear.

khaug

Placid1: The cladding on our '98 Limited looked virtually new when we traded it in a month ago.

Gravy: I agree that gray bumpers with otherwise color-matched cladding would look odd, but don't forget, the center section of the front and rear bumpers is going to be Titanium-colored regardless - even the Limited model doesn't get fully color-matched bumpers. This looks odd, IMHO, and is one big reason we chose Titanium for our '03. Everything matches.

-Karl

morry

Does anyone know if there will be any special purcase incentives offered in January on the 4Runner?

toyotaken

I would not expect to see any incentives on the 4Runner for the first year at least, and depending on sales, possibly for a couple of years. Wait to see what sales look like, however, as I don't have a crystal ball. Hope everyone has a great new year!

Ken

troyy2k

Has anybody actually seen the 4runner Nav System in person? I live on the West Coast, and could not locate a dealer with any in stock; the dealers that I asked all said that they have not seen any come in at all.

toddgreen

Bought (well, leased) one last Fri. They do exist. NOTE: Contrary to what any uninformed sleavy salesperson deserving of a slow and painful death might tell you, the Nav System has a single CD capability, not a 6-CD capability. Not that I'm bitter.

Nav system is very nice. Can compare to my '01 Acura. New Toyota version is much faster, bigger screen, nicer graphics. Has more features and the software (not the hardware) is better from an ergonomic standpoint. However, many of the touchscreen "buttons" are located very near to off-screen hardware buttons, so, e.g., half the time you go to hit the soft button to increase the map scale you instead hit the OPEN hard button, flipping the screen out of place completely so you have access to the CD and cassette ports.

Also, have had the occasional software glitch where some of the soft buttons were not accessible (wouldn't "press") when they should be. Tapping back and forth between screens usually frees them up. If the problem continues, I'll bring it in for service.

Stay safe ...

dtuthill

I just picked up my Limited 03 4Runner on Saturday and I absolutely love it! We waited for about a month to get one with the X-Reas system, drove them both and couldn't live with out it. I live in DC and we are getting close to 17 MPG even with our horrible stop and go traffic. As for the cladding, I agree it is ugly and that is why I selected the Limited over the SR5, although my previous was a 1999 SR5. I want to say thanks to all of you that reported the titanium paint problem because mine as well as every other one I saw had the problem. But Toyota is on the ball and they fixed it in no time.

jkmfromla

and neither one had a v8 limited 4X4 with nav and x reas suspension. the closest thing was a v8 limited 4X4 with x reas and no nav, but it was being purchased as i drove onto the lot. only saw one v8 ltd 4X4 with nav system, but the dealer wanted a $3,000 mark-up. i guess i'll just have to wait for the v8-ltd-4X4-x reas combo. salesman's comment was "it could take upto 6 months..." yeah, right. it's a toyota, not a lamborghini...they'll make as many as they can sell. just have to be willing to wait.

toddgreen

The setup you want is exactly what I got about a week ago in Maryland. LTD V8 4WD w/self-leveling & XREAS suspension and nav system. At least in this region, all the LTD come with the side/curtain air bags and moonroof. Though I would be happy to see the dealership go up in flames after the way they've treated us, I have to say the 4Runner itself has been outstanding. It'll be worth the wait.

Stay safe ...

nippononly

the old system of badging where you could tell what trim it was and whether it was 4WD or not just by looking at the back.

Now those items are only on the front doors, and if you want to know if it is a V-6 or V-8, the only way to tell is the tiny badge in the grille up front. (or lack thereof - the only badge is "V-8")

I guess it is good for the V-6 2WD drivers - their trucks look just like Sport V-8 4WDs...

nippononly

has anyone seen a new Runner with the steel wheels yet, or are these merely myth?

Kirstie_H

Well, since this vehicle is now available just about everywhere, it's time to retire the "future" topic. Let's continue the conversation with other 4Runner enthusiasts over on the SUVs board in the Toyota 4Runner topic.

Thanks for your contributions!