I bought this 4Runner last June and it's been one of the best vehicles I've owned! It's reliable, capable, and it does everything without any drama. It's roomy enough for me to sleep in on long trips and comfortable enough that it doesn't kill my back when driving for hours to these remote destinations. It's really a great little SUV!
All through college and for about 5 years before that, I drove an '89 Honda Civic. It was a great car! But I wanted to treat myself to something nice as a graduation & "got a job" gift. And so began my "trading up cars" era as I could never find something that fit me just right.
I bought a '08 BMW X3 to start - it was really nice and fun. But I got annoyed that it required premium fuel and had less cargo capacity than my wife's Cr-V. I kept thinking about how happy I was with the old Civic, so I figured I'd sell the X3 and go back.
After about four months with the X3, I traded it for a '13 Civic Hybrid. That was a great car! I loved seeing how high I could get the MPGs. We lived in Norfolk, VA at the time and would visit family in NJ. I could almost get the NJ and back on a single tank of gas! It flooded a few times in Norfolk due to heavy rains and I convinced myself that I needed an SUV to get to work since the Civic could really drive down flooded streets.
So, I went all in and got a '12 Range Rover Sport Autobiography. It had 510hp so it was plenty sporty, it had off road cred (or so I thought at the time), and it was super comfy. I loved it! The plan was to buy different sets of tires so I could off road with it or track it. But I was finding that certain track companies didn't allow SUVs and I was learning that doing anything more than beach driving or fire roads wasn't really going to work in the RRS. I eventually blew up the rear diff somehow and was quoted almost $5k to repair it, so I decided to trade it.
My wife had just traded her Cr-V for a Crosstrek, so I jumped on the bandwagon and traded the RRS for a '17 Outback. Again, I was learning what off road was, so I thought this Subaru "adventure car" would get me where I wanted to go. It was super comfy for long trips and it did fine on the beach and on fire roads, but anything more than that wasn't what it was made for. I actually ran into the "cutting power" problem on the backside of an out-and-back and almost got stuck on a dirt road because the road was too steep! So, as much as I loved the car, I decided to trade up.
I traded to an '08 Wrangler. I didn't know a lot about Wranglers at the time, so I got a Sport. It was fine for what I was doing. The brake lock diff was good enough to get me where I wanted to go. I loved the convertible top. I loved having a two-speed transfer case. But I started getting into longer trips - more like overlanding - and the Wrangler wasn't the best choice. It was harsh to ride in and it see-sawed a lot at the steering wheel when driving down roads. My wife hated riding in it because it was so rough. I eventually got some death wobble and chased that for a while and just gave up and traded it.
After the Wrangler I bought a Grand Cherokee Trailhawk with the EcoDiesel. Whoo boy! That was a mistake. I thought it would be perfect for long trips and for legit off road. But that EcoDiesel was probably the worst purchase on this list! I bought it brand new, but it was in the shop 4 times for engine problems in the first six months! It's a shame too, because it was pretty comfortable and got great MPG! But that engine... I eventually traded it for this 4Runner.
And here I am today! I love the 4Runner. I think it's pretty much perfect. It gets me where I want to go, it's reliable, it's comfortable, and it does it all without a lot of dramas. I can take it to off-road parks just as easily as I can take it on a 500 mile overlanding trip. It doesn't get the best MPGs, but I'm willing to pay a little more at the pump if it means checking all the boxes.
My only gripe is how little I drive it now. I ended up buying a third car to get my "sport driving" on and I drive that a lot now (including daily driving). So, the 4Runner just kinda sits in the driveway most of the time. I take it out about once every other week to go hiking or something, but other than that - it doesn't do much. I've found that it's much easier to go for a back road drive in my Challenger than it is to chase mountain trails that are often locked by gates or impassible from snow. I still want to overland some this Summer, but for now it looks like the 4Runner will just be there when I need it. :)