Thinking about trading Sequoia TRD Pro for 4Runner TRD Pro

As the title states, I currently own a ‘22 Sequoia TRD Pro in Lunar Rock. Bought it new at MSRP ($65K) and have put about 6k miles on it.

My local dealer has a ‘23 4Runner TRD Pro in Solar Octane incoming in a couple of weeks. They are offering me a trade value of $72K on the Sequoia (which is $7k above what I paid).

The purchase price of the 4R is MSRP of $56,234 plus $392 doc fee and $692 DMV/licensing fee, no BS dealer add ons.

Basically if I trade in the Sequoia, they’d give me the new 4R TRD Pro and a check for almost $15K.

Seems like a good deal to me, and it’s hard to refuse. My concern is that the 4R won’t be the right vehicle for our family of four. It’s me, my wife, 3 year old son and 4 month old son.

The upside of the Sequoia is the massive interior space and usable third row. The V8 is also glorious and performs well on long road trips. The downside is the massive size of the truck. We live in NYC and park in a garage, but it’s literally a game of inches getting the Sequoia in and out the garage. My wife doesn’t feel comfortable driving it at all in the city.

So I figure the 4R might be more manageable, but with the obvious interior space trade off.

What do you guys think? Should I jump on this deal and just adjust to the smaller size of the 4R?

Here’s a photo of the Sequoia when I picked it up earlier this year…

 

Go drive a 4runner. Take a long test drive to see if you want to switch to a V6. It doesn't matter what trim, they are all the same.

I'm really curious how this dealership can sell you a 4Runner at MSRP while offering $7K over the original purchase price of the Sequoia. Who the hell is going to buy it?

 

It's going to be much smaller for sure. Honestly I'd keep what you have.

 

If I were in your shoes, I’d jump on it. Not sure what your financial situation is like, but I’m assuming with living in NYC and having a garage, you might be okay.

 

I have a wife and kids(11 and 7) and am fine with the 4R with space, plenty of room. My wife has an Odyssey though for the third row for other kids friends or if traveling with great grandparents or mother-in-law etc. So, that kind of makes up for it in our case.

 

Thanks for the quick replies. Honestly I’m also surprised at the high trade value. Another dealer only offered me $64K for the Sequoia.

I did test drive the 4R. Just some backroads and a quick stint on the highway. The V6 doesn’t compare to the Sequoia’s V8 but it does the job. Definitely feels like a smaller vehicle, and also more agile.

 

Sounds like yours is paid off and if you want to downsize, cool.

 

Definitely a hard one to pass up. Putting 15K back in the bank and driving off in a 23 Runner, crazy. Solar Octane is an awesome color. Would be like going from a Tundra to a Tacoma though. I would think you’re going to notice how MUCH smaller it is.

 

That Sequoia looks bad-@$$

 

Yeah I’m really torn. The Sequoia is fantastic in a lot of ways. However this is probably the last year of the V6 4Runner, so it would be cool to snag one of those before it gets a turbo.

Just to paint a clearer picture, I do have a couple of other vehicles that I park out of state in NJ. One is a ‘17 F350 which is my work truck. The other is a ‘21 Land Cruiser Heritage, which I mostly just keep garaged and use occasionally.

I guess the LC could sort of fill the gap left behind by the Sequoia. But I’d rather not use it as a primary family vehicle, since it would just get beaten to crap by the kiddos.

 

Have you considered 4Runner Limited with 3rd row seat & automatic running boards? Would be nice if you could get it with 17in wheels as tires or in my case I changed my self. On road in winter conditions its full time 4wd system is little better than TRD Pro part time 4wd system. Little easy on turns and lot more easy in tight turns / parking lots. with 50:50 3rd road split you can even put down 1 side down and use it for cargo space and have the other seat up when needed. Or in my case I some times take my kiddos friends and I really appreciate the 3rd row seat. Just a thought with my experience.

Edit -
Forgot to mention Limited is much more comfortable than TRD Pro. But I admit Limited has some Limitations if you want to lift cheaper or fix rock sliders. With my automatic running boards it will be too much trouble to go sliders route.

Here's a pic of mine with Ironman lift and relatively bigger 285/70R17 tires.

 

Great looking rig! Haven’t considered the Limited trim.

I figured this was a good opportunity to jump on the hard to find TRD Pro in the exclusive color. So in theory it would hold its value better if one day I decide to sell or trade.

 

My wife and I drove our 3 kids around in 4th gen 4runners from the time the older ones were 7 years old til they were 15. This included long trips to go camping all over the state and trips to Florida, New Mexico etc.. Never a space problem.

Funny story, we rented an Expedition for a trip to New Mexico one year. Halfway there and they all refused to sit in the 3rd row. They sat shoulder to shoulder for the rest of the trip. No one wanted to be in the back and left out of the conversation.

Plenty of room in the 4runner for 3 kids in the back. Would have moved to something w 3 rows if we had one more kid though.

 

I vote for the big vehicle. That's just me.

 

I own both a Sequoia and a 4Runner. If you’re mainly interested in a comfortable family hauler than the Sequoia is the way to go. If you’re desire is to off road, get a 4R. Mileage on the 4R is probably 3-4 mpg better. The third row on the sequoia is usable even for adults. Third row on a 4R is only usable for very small kids for a very short distance.

The 5.7 is a powerhouse but as you already know, you can’t pass a gas station without stopping.

 

I would measure height of your garage door. The 4R pro has a much higher roof rack. You don’t want to buy it only to hit the roof rack pulling it in the garage.

I don’t have kids so I can’t speak to the room issue. But considering my Mom drove my sister and I around in a Tbird growing up I’d say the kids come second drive what you want.

 

Do you have the 7k above MSRP in written contract. Could be a bait and catch.

I have received offers like that in the past.

On trade-in day. They will find all sort of reasons to devalue the Sequoia
Secondly, how do they plan to sell your used Sequoia above MSRP

Gone are those days of dealer addons for savvy buyers.

 

I too was contemplating the Sequoia, however, tight mountain roads and trails prompted me to go with the 4R. We're able to get down to other areas of the property, something we wouldn't be able to do without a shit ton of clearing. With that said, I couldn't imagine driving that hulk around NYC.. I'd trade and put a couple dollars back in the bank

 

I'm a kid..
(Screen caps from my video)

 

The dealer emailed me an offer sheet after I brought the Sequoia in to show it to them. Granted it’s not a binding contract, but all the numbers are in writing.

They initially offered $71K and I was shocked at even that offer. So I replied $72k and they said “deal.” I have no idea how they’ll sell a used Sequoia for more than 72k, but that’s their problem.

I’m a repeat customer since I bought my Land Cruiser from them a couple years ago. I don’t think they’ll change the price on me now, but I guess anything can happen.

 

My understanding is the height of the TRD Pro with roof rack is 78”. If that’s accurate it should fit in the garage.

 

Sounds like a great deal. 4Runner has good interior space and should be perfectly adequate for a family of four. If you' have a dog or two it might get tight, but otherwise I would imagine it would be good.

I think the biggest question is: can you live with the V6? Biggest complaint about the 4Runner is always the V6 and 5-speed transmission. Like you said, it does the job. The times you notice that it seems lacking is when you're trying to merge onto the highway, or maintain speed on steeper grade hills. If you have anything like that near you, I'd highly recommend making sure you incorporate that into a test drive.

I'm kinda shocked they're offering you that much, with the new Sequoia out I can't imagine the old one maintaining high resale for that much longer. 5th gen 4R Pro will arguably hold it's resale for longer, as it's a more popular platform.

I wonder if they have another customer looking for a Sequoia just like yours.

 

I asked some other ls on here and I thought someone said 84 or 85 inches which for me was too tight. I know the specs online are incorrect.

Honestly, if you can afford it based on the other vehicles you said you had I would keep the sequoia park it with the LC and F350 if room and keep the 4R at home.

The days of buying these great engines is nearing an end in my opinion with the green push as everything changes. I would get in if I could financially and keep some of them

As a smaller example my local lawn/snow shop told me Honda will cease making lawn mowers and snow blowers after this season. Who would think that would ever happen.

That’s why I would keep the V8s and get the legendary 4.0 in a 4R

 

I imagine your Sequoia will hold value because it’s the last year for the V8.

 

I will definitely miss the V8. I’ve set my expectations low for the V6/5 speed drivetrain and would just accept it for what it is.

I’m also wondering if they have a customer lined up to buy the Sequoia. Otherwise why on earth would they offer more than sticker.

I guess I’ll believe it once I sign the contract and they hand over the check and the new 4Runner.

 

The only thing lacking in the 4R, imho, is the transmission.. the l thing is always hunting around for gears even in the slightest grade. Regarding power getting up to speed on the highways, I just put my foot in it, though I am considering a throttling device (pedal monster or sprint booster)

 

Transmission hunts because the engine doesn't make enough power to pull the grade without downshifting. Peak torque comes on very high in the RPM range.

I have a throttle controller on mine, it does help a bit. It still hunts while using cruise control, otherwise it lets throttle input trigger downshifts quicker, so they happen with less drama.

Another thing that helps if it's hunting in hilly or mountainous terrain is to click the shifter over into sequential mode, which will immediately cause it to shift down into 4th gear, which usually is sufficient. Once I'm past the uphill I'll pop it back over into D and it'll shift back into 5th on the way down. Sometimes it's better to control the shifting yourself than to keep pressing on the gas waiting for it to happen.

 

I know it's less than that, as I'm lifted 1.5" and have a Yakima Megawarrior basket and come in under 84".

 

Trail Runnah, I completely agree and do in fact slap it down into 4th and... but usually on decent. I'm very forgetful and hard of hearing, so I don't wanna blow anything up, lol.

 

This is because of gearing more than anything.

But, it doesn't help that they're heavy as fuck and not even a little bit aerodynamic. You'll actually notice that It downshifts less at lower speed due to reduced wind resistance.