If you could do it all over...

I am a residential real estate appraiser and the housing market is so tough for buyers - especially first time buyers. There simply are not enough homes in this country. I have read that this country has a shortage of 4.5 million homes. We are supposed to be in a soft market due to the high interest rates - not happening on the East Coast! Every sales transaction I am working on is selling above list price. The inventory for sale remains incredibly low! Rental prices have increased more than sale prices! I feel for you!

 

I would have bought a LandCruiser or a Sequoia. I like bigger vehicles and carry a lot of stuff when we travel to east or west coast. I like the 4R don't get me wrong, but one of the issues is that we get carry away with the mods and upgrades and next thing you know, you have spent more than the next best alternative which is something different. All in all, I have learned a ton of "car" stuff and DIY, i would have not learned all of this stuff had I know embarked myself in learning what the stock vehicle is capable versus the MADMAX thing I have now. Good luck!

 

I'd definitely would have gone with the red over the white. Also had I didn't need to purchase when I did, I would have waited on the new Tundra.

 

There's a whole bunch of (previous) homeowners across the south and midwest, who, due to tornadoes and floods, and in the west due to wildfires, who would love to still have a house to go home to. Theirs were pretty much taken away in an instant also...not to mention their cars also.

 

Only thing I'd do differently is, I would of left it stock. maybe just swap out the shocks and stock sized all terrains.

In stock form its more then capable for me.

 

Yeah, I basically have to leave New England. I have some friends that sold their house last month, even now they got multiple above asking offers. I don't think it was even on the market a whole week.

 

Great to hear such honesty!

 

True, but still a rarity for most homeowners across the country. Fortunately natural disasters are not a big factor in my neck of the woods. My wife would like to retire near the ocean - no way in my book! I'd rather visit the ocean from time to time!

 

Coming from an island my advice is be prepared for corrosion (both vehicle and house) & dangerous weather. May be things are different in this country.

 

The salt air and saltwater is very corrosive! More concerned about hurricanes, flooding and northeaster storms that hit the east coast. The weather's effect on vehicles would not weigh on my decision about where I live - it's just a car! Geographically I just prefer the mountains for my activities! Being around the water no longer captivates me.

 

I live right on the ocean, if you don't sail or surf, it's kind of overrated. Just makes everything more expensive, haha. It is nice to look at though, and now that the weather is getting warm and I can sleep with my windows open, I can hear fog horns and noise from sailboats which is nice.

The town I'm actually from is also on the ocean, about 45 minutes away. That's much more industrial, that waterfront is mostly commercial with fishing boats and industry.

I much prefer the mountains or even the desert.

 

I would have bought a GX and done the same mods I have now.

the other day my wife asked what I would get next if something happened to the 4Runner. I said GX. Now she wants me to get one. Like right now. That’s not gonna happen because I have my 4R set up just how I want it, and I’m rather fond of not having a payment. And we already have an RX so she can get her luxury thrills in that.

 

I would’ve looked into a used Lexus GX, or a new Jeep Gladiator Rubicon. I was originally trying to get the Jeep (Jan 2022) but local dealers wanted crazy money and a crappy interest rate. I got lucky with a friend family contact at Toyota (part owner of dealership) and put order in for a TRD Off Road, and got $2K off MSRP, just had to wait 4 months. Problem now is I’ve spent enough on mods/add ons to equal the Jeep I couldn’t afford, lol.

 

But then you'd have a Jeep ...

 

A Runner set up just how I want it, paid off, used to be a dream

 

congrats on that dude - just mailed the check in last week to pay mine off. Cheers..clink..

 

IMO there's nothing else that exists that checks the boxes I want in a or 4x4 rig primarily reliability. And not that I'll ever really need it but from what little videos I could find on it, seems like Toyota might have some of the best crawl control out there. I hadn't had a 4 wheel'd vehicle I could modify for some time and really missed that. I've gotten as much as I could bare (in terms of projects and mods) with the 4runner and so far it's the best car I've owned in terms of practicality and enjoyability. I mean, you could get a fast car but you can't really use it and then can't really haul anything or anyone. The 4runner I get to drive over curbs all the time then take it camping on hundreds of miles of dirt roads. Got to winch a truck out of some mud last month. That was cool. It's just an all around fun toy. When ever I park it I always look back and take it in. Love it. Gets a shit ton of compliments. Lot of guys say they wish they could build a rig like it but their wives wont let them or other excuses.

Been thinking long and hard about the original question. Yeah I have my raptor lights on a relay. They don't need that. I would not put those on a relay if I had to do it again. That was silly. Also if instead of buying a 4runner I had invested the down payment in the stock I would have bought it would be worth 548k right now. I do think about that form time to time. Probably would have done that differently.

 

Had a 4 door. It was fun. One thing I didn't really think about with the Jeep was that doing the fun stuff like going topless, doorless, etc, all took some amount of work. <-- Sounds like a trivial thing, but it was a thousand paper cut situation. Having no removable top to not take off is a different story .

 

I had multiple Jeeps over a 30-year span, and never could bring myself to like the 4-door version. I'm pretty sure the 4R rear seat is far superior in terms of room and comfort over the rear seat in the Unlimited. The top and doors off scenario was pretty rare in my case, as, like you say, it sounds cool, but does involve a decent amount of time and effort. Then you have to scramble to put it all back on if a storm rolls in...I like the get-in-and-drive of the 4R.

 

I wanted a 4 door Wrangler SO bad before I got my 4Runner. Still do, really.

When I was honest with myself, I came to the conclusion above. I live in an apartment, where am I going to store a roof and doors?? Plus, I don't really like being in the sun, on hot, humid days I prefer AC. Even in my T-TOP Firebird, the tops only come off when it's cool or at night.

I have a friend with a JLU, she's got a 2 car garage and Jeep parts live in there. If she doesn't feel like putting stuff back on she just pulls the whole thing into the garage. That's the way to do it!

I settled on a 4Runner because it was a better fit for my needs, even though I've never been a Toyota enthusiast.

I still feel a little envy when I see a nicely set up Wrangler or Gladiator though.

 

I had a 2006 Rubicon Unlimited (last year of the two door). It was a second vehicle for me, so I took the top off (soft top) in May and put it back on in November - garage kept! Fun vehicle for sure! I did not like the doors being off - I felt very exposed and a Jeep is not a very safe vehicle to begin with. I was scared to death of having an accident in it with my kids in it (3 boys). I wish I had kept it - I only put 22,000 miles on it in seven years. A very fun second vehicle, but with three boys soon to be entering driving years having a Jeep around would be nothing but trouble!

 

A Jeep is a better rugged 4WD vehicle than a 4R. A 4R is a very capable 4WD that is better than a Jeep at everything else! I would own another beater Jeep, I would never own a daily driver Jeep.

 

Jeep owner for many, many years. Still have my 2006 Rubicon in addition to the 4Runner. Living in the desert, the only Jeeps I see with doors and top off are the mall crawlers. Those who try driving dusty dirt roads with no doors and no top soon find out that's a bad idea when they drive down a rough silty road where they can't go over 10 mph....but there's a 20 mph tailwind. Or, when there's a group of vehicles, everyone behind the leader is dusted out. Doors and top on my Jeeps have NEVER been off.

Do you enjoy breathing dust??

 

That was another big part of my decision. I do at least 20k pavement miles a year, and not many places to challenge a Jeep in RI.

Even the Jeep guys told me to go 4Runner.

If I lived out west I'd most likely have gotten the Jeep though.

And I agree, roof and doors on for dust. In fact one of my favorite EJS concept Jeeps was one with a fixed roof. I'd take a steel roof Bronco as well.

 

This was my 2004 Rubicon I sold in 2019 with 25k on the odo:

 

I’ve always driven trucks as daily drivers (ranch family and even when I was in navy, kept a beater ranch truck). A few years ago my wife and I got a Jeep for our family as a fun rig as we spend a lot of time in Colorado (Silverton/Ouray/alpine loop) every summer. We got rid of a 4dr rubicon a few years ago as I really wanted a LC or 4R. Ended up buying a ‘23 TRD ORP with the off road upgrade package (happened to find it while in transit and it wasn’t spoken for yet).

while I love reading about all the cool mods so many do here, I’ll end up being able to do everything on the alpine loop with this as I bought it. The only mod I can really see doing is a better roof rack. Sure, I’d LOVE to do a full icon stage 3, etc. but we really don’t overland as much as we hit the trails around SW CO. I may also do an awning when we do the rack. But a stock TRD ORP with the slightly larger AT tires will do anything I’d throw at it on Engineer Pass, Ophir, etc.

PS - this is my first Toyota and I love it. Still drive my F250 most often, but I really dig this 4R!

 

Tires and armor will get you pretty far in a 4Runner. The OEM tires (the Dunlops) are trash.

 

Truly. Mine came with the Nitto Terragrapplers. Like them so far, but I only have 700 miles on it, so it won’t see the rockier stuff until this summer. The ranch roads here are mostly dirt and I’m in the truck then anyway.

 

I'm not sure how those Nittos are, but they're probably better than the Dunlops. Actually, even the Dunlops would have probably been ok if I weren't in a snowy climate. After nearly losing it in a snow storm like 2 weeks into owning it, I got rid of them ASAP.

 

My only regret might be not buying a 2nd 5th Gen before it’s done. As crazy as it sounds I thought of buying one more as an everyday and retirement trip vehicle. I keep saying though do I want to take that cash out now when I already own a 2021 and two other cars. Maybe I need a wife or girlfriend instead.

I want to head out to the East coast of Canada for a month or so and then head west on a leisurely trip. I keep thinking another 4R would be great for those trips. Maybe I should see if I can just rent one and keep my 21 in the garage and keep the knicks off it. First world problems i know