2006 Toyota 4Runner Review

Very clean

Very clean

Plenty of power

Lots of room

Well worth the money we paid for the car

Very clean

minimal scratches for a 12+ year old vehicle

drives like a newer vehicle

Lot's of interior room

Larger tires and engine does use a little more fuel than expected

The interior is very functional, and while it is definitely no-frills and no-nonsense, the quality of materials and workmanship is superlative. I like the heavy duty feel of the fabrics and foams used in the cushions. I also like the layout of the dashboard and controls. All controls are exactly where you expect them, and feel great, not over or underdamped, giving them a quality feel that stays with you and forces comparisons with lesser vehicles. I rode with my sister in law in her ….. (another SUV which prides itself on being heavy duty and capable of trekking in rough terrain), and could not help comparing the cheap quality of the plastics in that SUV with the high quality of the plastics and other materials used in the 4th gen 4Runner. The 4Runner spoils its occupants in ways that the other SUV could not even start to do.

Not a spec of rust, very pleasing design, I get many compliments about how the car looks wayyyy younger than it really is. People do not believe that this is a 13-year old car owing to the quality of the paint and its outstanding shine even after years of use and outdoors parking (I do not have a garage). All handles work. The only little problem is the fading clear plastic of the headlamp assembly. The keyword is "plastic" and these assemblies fade due to the use of plastic instead of glass, which seems to be an industry-wide practice. Still, there are remedies, but I confess to being a little lazy and have not done anything to keep these headlight assemblies from fading, which admittedly if not corrected can become a safety issue because it reduces the strength of the headlight beam. That said, despite years of use, and the usual minor dings resulting from city traffic, the body has held up remarkably well. The only false note is the presence of significant rust on the frame (which is otherwise very beefy) and on the undercarriage parts, live axle, suspension parts, etc. I am told that the rust is only surface-deep on my particular car, but have read reviews where the problem has become structural and actually caused some of these otherwise great cars to become unusable. Toyota needs to live up to its great reputation, bite the bullet and offer to replace rusty frame as part of a voluntary warranty repair, in recognition of the problem. This would solidify an otherwise stellar reputation and increase 4runner owners' confidence in Toyota even more. Hopefully someone is listening at Toyota, as they have done just this type of program for their bigger trucks of the same vintage (Sequoias, Tundras, etc.) Toyota please take note: 4Runners are no different and the rust issue should be fixed if it appears.

The engine is basically bullet-proof. The transmission... ditto. All electrical items are generally very reliable. The electronics are excellent. The only false note was the electronic selector for the 4 wheel drive which uses a combination of electric motor and vacuum lines. It failed and this was something that rendered the 4 wheel drive inoperable until the electric motor/vacuum line were replace. Toyota should replace these items for free. They did not in my case, causing me to spend over $1500 in repairs. It worked flawlessly afterwards, but I was not happy about the problem. I see that Toyota does not use this switch selector on the base SR5 5th generation, but a regular old-school selector that looks like a gear selector. I suspect this will be much more reliable... I heard though that this hand selector signifies that the 5gen does not have full-time 4-wheel drive as a result. Maybe someone can research that and post an answer.

Excellent for carrying lots of people. No ands, ifs, or buts. This is an uber family hauler.

I gave this a medium rating. Gas economy is not bad. Not great either. But then this is a truck-based SUV, with a V6, and mucho towing capacity. So pick your poison. If this is what you want, 18 city/22 highway is fine. Obviously, if you are deadest on economizing fuel, then maybe the 4Runner is not for you... Then you should be looking at something like a Prius. Repair bills are not frequent, but Toyota parts can be expensive so if you are hit with a repair, then you can be looking at a significant expense. Maybe this can be mitigated with an extended warranty... more cost now, less later... Everyone can balance this according to their own preferences and aversion to being surprised with big bills.

Very comfortable. Easy controls.

Beautiful! Sleek and utilitarian. No gaudy extra chrome. Headlights and tail lights incorporated into the body shape, not protruding and looking like an afterthought.

Absolutely powerful and responsive.

Can fit 5 people comfortably.

With the exception of things like tires, brakes, batteries, or other things that are simply maintenance, I spend NO money on repairs! It seems Toyotas never break.

Looks as if came right off and from the showroom floor.

Only a few very minor rubs at rear corner and these are hard to see.

With only 48k miles on it it is still very tight and firm.

The V8 seems to use very little more has than the V6 I had had.