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Toyota 4Runner vs Toyota Highlander
Looking to purchase a reliable SUV. Seems that Toyota is pushing the 2001 4 Runners with incentives, and according to Edmunds, one can be had for about $500 over invoice. The Highlander on the other hand is going around $2000 over invoice. Drove the Highlander and didn't care for the captain's chairs, will be driving a 4 Runner today. The "obvious" choice would seem to be 4 Runner. Any thoughts?
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Let us know what you think of the Runner and what you have decided to purchase.
HP
If you are gonna have ppl in the back seats, I think HL. The rear of the 4R is most un-comfy!
Had never driven a 4-Runner. Read the reports. Found a clean '97 SR5. Drove it. Loved it. Bought it.
This replaces a 1990 Carry wagon with 165,000 miles in mint condition - not a speck of rust - new brakes, shocks, paint. Mint. In case you know anyone looking.
...well, except that right now, 4Runners are being sold $5-8K below sticker, because in two months plus the 2003 will be here, and with the dramatic improvements they are apparently making, no-one will look twice at the 2002 again!
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
customer_satisfaction_inquiries@lexus.com
The responses are usually so cryptic as to need translation, but by who?
"the description of the VC on the Lexus web page is from the dictionary, and may not reflect the actual implementation."
Some of them are posted on the RX300 thread.
But in just a couple of weeks, the new 4Runner is going to be here, with WAY more power and lots of new luxury amenities and techno gizmos oriented to offroading, without much of a price increase. Of course, the HL is cheaper. And now, with the new Runner upsized, HL will probably be a little smaller too.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
It is impossible for Toyota to maintain prices at 2002 levels or even with a slight price increase.
Price increase, imo, will be proportionally to the incorporation of new equipment and other techno gizmos.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
MSRP on this one is $34,xxx, it has a sunroof, all the airbags, the aluminum wheels, roof rack, mats, and the dual cargo area.
Ed
But in that case, you do not get the sport suspension in the Runner, and the mileage is 15/19 Runner vs 18/22 HL. As soon as you option in the JBL sound system in the Runner, the price gap widens again.
It remains to be seen (and varies widely around the country) whether good deals can be had on the Runner right now, given its newness, whereas dealers are bargaining on HLs.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
HL V6 SR5 + AG + CQ + HE + VD +BE = 26688 (invoice)
In order to get the VSC and Side Airbag in HL, you probably have to order all those other things. And 4 runner does offer more standard features like privacy glass, remote keyless and stuff.
The issues I have, and what I'm looking for advice on:
1. My key considerations for the new vehicle: storage space (I've been driving a Civic for 7 years) and enhanced handling in inclement weather - is the AWD a better option, or 4WD? I am not a hardcore off roader.
2. On the 4Runner - can you stay in 4WD with the SR5 V8? If I stick with the V6, are the 4WD modes easy to understand, and get into while driving?
Any help here is appreciated.
Thanks!
The HL was a little more comfortable (for me anyway--definitely more car-like), had better gas mileage, and I thought was a little more fun to drive. It was also cheaper to insure and had lower property taxes. I didn't notice a whole lot of difference in interior room between the two, but you can check the exact measurements in the specs. If space is your main concern you might also check out the Honda Pilot. The HL did just fine in inclement weather, even ice and snow (but doesn't have the ground clearance or locking differential for really deep snow). If you want/need a truck based SUV the Runner would probably fit your need better. If you want/need a car based SUV look at the HL. Except reasons mentioned above I would probably rather have my HL back. However, for a truck the Runner is VERY nice and you don't give up much comfort (for highway cruising) at all.
2. On the V-8 Runner, you are in 4WD all the time. On the V-6, you go to 2WD (rear drive) by pressing a button on the dash - it is very easy and you will not even notice it.
Runner is much heavier, will drive as such, and will get worse gas mileage. BUT if interior space is your number one priority, it does have an advantage over HL.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Well, it really is, but only with good traction.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Still trying to head off Bush's war, even today.
Loved that post about the asphalt/concrete comparison...even though no-one has laid concrete around here in 50 years due to the cost, so that what there is left is cracked and buckling, causing that rough ride that highlander owner posted about....
Of course, concrete doesn't last as long.
And some AWD is better than no AWD, even in mid-priced Toyota crossovers! LOL
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
That "AWD" has to be good for something! : )
"concrete doesn't last as long..."
IMMHO concrete will last a lot longer than asphalt provided the under-layment is properly prepared.
Soon you will need a hummer just to traverse the supposedly-paved roads of California...
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Surcharge would be dedicated to repairing the roadbed damage by stud useage.
If the HL is as comfortable and reliable as my 01 AWD RX (it is, close anyway) then you made the right choice for a fair-weather drive.
I wasn't all that impressed with the Highlander, either, and my hubby and I agreed that we needed a bit more cargo room. With two dogs and plans for me to do a bit of travel nursing in Phoenix and Seattle, we knew we'd need AWD or 4WD and a NAV.
I'd taken a few peeks on-line at the 4Runner, and my brother (a mechanic back home) couldn't praise it enough. Decided to take a V6 out for a spin...and LOVED it. My chest was pushed back into the seat when I gave the accelerator a less-than-gentle nudge, the cargo room was just what we needed, and though the 'Runner's turning radius will never beat my Accord's on-a-dime nimbleness, it still hung a u-turn in less space than I expected.
Four and a half hours (and much negotiation 'tween me, the sales manager, and my brother on my cell phone) later, I was taking my new "baby" home. By the way, the NAV's been a Godsend; I'm not afraid of getting lost anymore.
Our "not AWD" Highlander made it all the way through 5-6 in deep sand out to the water near where that truck was without much of a problem. Our "not AWD" Highlander also made it all the way up the 2-3 mile sand road which also had some deep stuff to cut through as well without much of a problem.
Our "not AWD" Highlander also made it through the DC blizzards this past winter which had schools shut down for over a week. It got my fiance to and from the hospital she works at everyday without a problem. It also made it through a blizzard from the DC area up to Pennsylvania and back over Christmas. When the HL started slipping and sliding a bit, the VSC/TRAC system did its thing and kept it on the road when other vehicles were sitting in ditches.
Here's my car....
It took almost two hours to dig that sucker out of nearly 2 FEET of snow.
Now here's our "not AWD" Highlander...
We used our rear bumper and the "not AWD" system in combination as a "shovel" and I had that thing out and ready to get my fiance to the hospital in about 2 minutes. You see how clear it is around it? Thats all thanks to our "not AWD" system working. :-)
By the way, there was a 2WD Rodeo stuck in the middle of a halfway plowed road on the way back from dropping my fiance off at the hospital she works at. To get around them, I drove our "not AWD" Highlander around them THROUGH A SNOWBANK without a problem. After I parked in our parking spot which was only shoveled with our "rear bumper" and only somebody with a AWD system could get into it, I went back and helped PUSH the people with the stuck 2WD Rodeo to get them going.
And whereas I have to be extremely careful and light-foot it in my Maxima during wet/rainy weather when pulling out, especially on an incline, you can simply stomp on it in our "not AWD" Highlander without a care in the world and there is always plenty of traction.
Yeah, the HL doesn't have any locking differentials. We don't need one. It doesn't even have a limited slip besides the center diff - VSC/TRAC replaces that and then some. And no, it doesn't have a low-range transfer case. We don't need that either. But for a "not AWD" AWD system, the HL sure does do a pretty damn good job of doing things and going places where 2WD's can't get!
Thank you, drive through.
- Steve
:-)
Rear bumper as snow shovel, definitely a RWD capability.
Look, I survived too many years in north central MT with only RWD to question the extra advantage and capability of the HL and/or RX AWD system. I would certainly expect an HL or RX to be able, even more capable, of doing the same.
Where I am coming from:
Two Jeeps, and 85 and a 92, both with the "deluxe" AWD/4WD system. If you're shopping, or looking, for capability close to those, as was/am I, then the HL nor the RX will not be even a close match.
I was hoping the RX330, with the new brake modulation AWD system, would bring it closer to the Jeep drivetrain standard, but now I have learned of a firmware "time-out", maybe as little as 45 seconds, to protect the ABS/VSC/Trac/AWD/BD/BA pump motor from being overtaxed and thereby over-heating.
At this point I will probably still buy an RX330, but will devise a ciruit so the pump motor can be more directly and but still automatically activated.
I will be buying the air suspension model and WILL be adding wheel spacers all around so snowchains can be safely used, if ever required.
Oh, my 78 911 Targa has been out on the west coast sandy beaches quite often, it's a [non-permissible content removed] cleaning out the sand afterwards from the wheelies...
Never bothered with tire pressures either.
Here in the DC area the climate is a bit different. There could be 6 inches of snow to plow through one day, and completely dry the next. Nobody uses chains around here. Nobody uses winter tires either. You'll just rip them to shreds as soon as the roads are plowed in a day or so and then it's back to dry pavement. That's why AWD is useful around here. You can run a single set of tires that will work "okay" in all conditions and AWD gives you the extra traction when you need it.
But comments like these..... ...are pretty misleading, IMHO.
The HL/RX do "not have useful AWD systems"? Not useful to whom? Someobdy that needs to go boulder hopping??!
A snow/ice storm of the decade (not century) just rolled through the mid-atlantic / northeast corridor this past winter, and my fiance was able to make it from the DC area to Pennsylvania WHILE IT WAS SNOWING/ICING just fine. Tons of 2WD cars were off the road and in fact I was begging and pleading for her to NOT make the trip but she insisted. AWD + VSC/TRAC worked just fine. And while my parents had their 2WD cars parked at the bottom of the hill-top development they live on, our AWD Highlander made it just fine all the way up the hill.
Now, could a 2WD with snow tires and possibly snow chains have done all this? Sure, I don't see why not. But we don't live in a climate where there is a regular and severe enough snowy season to actually warrant buying and planning for this equipment. Montana is a bit different. So is Finland.
If you're to the point where you're hitting this 45 second timeout on the VSC/TRAC, then you're already in it deep enough that you probably need a better AWD/4WD system anyways with either locking or limited slip diffs both front and rear. In that case, buy a Jeep.
As for your Porsche on the beach...
My Maxima has 6.1in of ground clearance, performance biased tires, and an open-diff FWD setup. I could have made it out on the beach just fine too. After a rainstorm packing it all down.
So anyways, maybe the HL/RX AWD system is "not useful" to you. But that doesn't mean that you can make a blanket statement about it claiming that it is in general "not useful" to all people. It's certainly been VERY useful to us both in getting my fiance to work through snow/ice when the entire city is shut down, and in having a little fun on the weekend also.
- Steve
And even I can tell you that a RWD RX or HL would have done all you asked.
Beach sand WAS dry and grainy, that's why so much of it ended up inside the car.
Grew up in NE Arkansas, mostly, fifth grade in Philly. Other than tractor and mules learned to drive in NH (and Goose Bay) in the USAF. Lots of experience negotiating in and around B47s and KC97s on an ice and snow covered ramp.
Then off to MT (and ND) for Boeing on the Minuteman project. Met my wife in MT and stayed over for a bit.
Settled in Seattle in 65.
My core feeling is that the AWD RX and HL are a waste of money over the FWD with VSC and Trac.
If you expect to encounter this type of condition in an HL or RX then get the RX330 with air suspension (it has more rear tire/strut clearance) and add 1" wheel spacers all around so you can use snowchains safely.
The 4runner AWD/4WD system will not give up and leave you stranded on a snowy mountain pass some dark and stormy night.
The HL or RX might very well.
The Highlander, imo, is like the Subaru Outback. AWD or FWD (both capable of good traction in incliment weather) and good cargo capacity. Designed for the, as Nissan would say, "On-road adventures".
The 4Runner is designed to be what the 4Runner always has been- legendary off-road. DSC, VDC, TC, XREAS, locking diff, 4hi, 4lo...I mean this ain't designed just for a snowy day to grandma's house!
The 4Runner is on a truck chassis. Rugged, tough frame for off-roading, live axle for articulation, more ground clearance, full array of skid plates, humongus 4 wheel disc brakes. The features are designed for things other than what the Highlander is. The 4Runner is a LEV vehicle and I assume the Highlander is too.
Fortunately, the brilliant minds at Toyota also made the 03 4Runner so good ON-road that it's really a "do it all and do it all WELL" suv. That's what an suv should be right? Do everything. The 4Runner can do that.
BUT, you don't do "everything" and don't want to. The Highlander fills the bill. Car body, car ride and plenty of room. It gets great reviews and I'm sure they will continue with a new-improved generation Highlander to keep the success rolling.
Designed for two different markets. Both perfectly happy to do what they were designed to.
I am wondering if anyone here test drive or own both 2004 4Runner v6 sport edition and 2004 Highlander v6? If so, which one is punchier (more responsive) when passing other cars on the highway and which one is quieter?
Advance thanks for your feedback.
Paul
4Runner is significantly quieter at highway speeds than the HL.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)