#toyota4runner
#2024toyota4runner
#toyota4runnertrdpro

The #4runner is the oldest brand-new #toyota you can buy today, by far—at least until it's replaced later this year. Its ladder frame and powertrain trace back to 2004, when the now-two-generations-removed Tacoma it was mechanically related to first appeared. This fifth-gen 4Runner arrived in 2009, but if you don't look too closely at it or poke around its interior, you might not realize it's old enough for a learner's permit. Its live rear axle, separate body and frame, and obvious off-road focus are very much still in vogue, having been copied by the resurrected Ford Bronco, not to mention the newest Toyota Land Cruiserand Lexus GX SUVs. But damn, the 4Runner is ancient, and before its more modern replacement arrives, we took one last spin with a TRD Pro example for a proper send-off.

"Charming" is an overused term to excuse or sugarcoat otherwise bad vehicles and their shortcomings, but it's apt here. The 4Runner is charming, gruff, and straightforward. It's a 4x4 that acts like one, while delivering a right-sized, roomy, two-row interior with an actual roof (take that, Jeep and Ford), a nimble footprint, and a refreshingly analog control interface. It looks cool with a roof rack, too, even if few buyers ever will climb the TRD Pro's tiny ladder to reach it. Oh, and there's no price you can put on the sense that this invincible-feeling 4Runner will outlive your kids, nuclear-war-grizzled cockroaches, and the concept of time itself. If you're eyeing a new SUV with an old-school flair, the #2024Toyota4Runner remains competitive, at least against roofless, less comfortable alternatives like the Wrangler and Bronco.

Where Toyota will take the next one remains a mystery, at least for the next little while, not least because the brand's showrooms are overflowing with similar product: The aforementioned 2024 Land Cruiser shares its platform and mechanicals with the newest Tacoma pickup—the same expected donor vehicle for the new 4Runner—and is a two-row SUV with arguably 4Runner-esque squared-off bodywork.

Shift the 2024 Toyota 4Runner's long shifter into drive, and there's a noticeable lurch as the torque converter loads up. The transmission sports a mere five forward speeds; that was so-so two decades ago and at least three gears shy of what's typical today. Full thrust from the 270-hp V-6, which makes its power way up high in the rev range, therefore requires a deeper-than-expected push of the gas pedal. The rest of the time, however, the lack of gear choices means fewer shifts; the six-cylinder engine mostly lopes along at lower revs, though hills and passing maneuvers necessitate one of those big gas-pedal stomps. Fuel economy is a topic best not discussed; in average driving, the Toyota barely managed double-digit mpg.