Funny things you find in the manual

so i am reading the manual and the funny things you come across in it.....

1. they talk about the noise under the vehicle right off the bat vs previous years being buried deep in the manual. guess they got tired of all the inquiries about that noise. they even say about 5 hrs after the engine is off it happens
2. they really go into detail about all the data collections and what is/not collected right off the bat
3. manual headlight leveling dial
4. trailer hitch light switch (thats new and neat)
5. fuel door switch (i prefer manual doors for snow states)
6. inappropriate pedal operation warning light (thats a new one)
7. PDA indicator (lol military days flashback) (this refers to pro-active driving assist)
8. stop light indicator warning light (This light comes on when the stop lights are illuminated by the operation of the brake pedal or the driving assist system.)
9. there is a traction monitor display now for 4wd vehicles (shows tire direction "duh", wheel spin display "duh") i think we can figure that out already
10. digital key looks to be standard but requires a sub and enrollment (side note, if vehicle is not operated 14+ days, digital key will not connect) (digital key will not illuminate vehicle lights when approached, power back door close & lock cannot be used)
11. surprising there is 5 smart key sensors, drivers/passenger front door, main head unit, center console, rear storage area, rear door passenger side
12. in 4wd models, If the shift lever is moved before the “4HI” (part time 4WD models) or “4LO” indicator turns on/off, the transfer mode may not be shifted completely. The transfer mode disengages both the front and rear driveshafts from the powertrain and allows the vehicle to move regardless of the shift position. (At this time, the indicator blinks and the buzzer sounds.) Therefore, the vehicle is free to roll even if the automatic transmission is in P
13. surprising, you can voice command some functions, like turning the wipers to swipe once
14. interesting aspect of the Start Stop system (A battery not designed for use with a Stop & Start system may have been installed.) which maybe perm disable the SS system ???
15. the parking support brake function can be perm disabled in the settings menu (pita on our 23 tundra as we can only do a temp disable) (for those that know, if you open the drivers door to look out to say backup, the truck wont move due to this system)
16. as someone has mention in another thread, you cannot switch from H4L to H4F unless you are below 62 mph, unlike 5th gen where i can switch out of H4L at any speed
17. "S-Flow" hvac setting ( Directing airflow to the front seats only and to all seats can be switched via switch operation. Unnecessary air conditioning is suppressed, contributing to increased fuel efficiency) (can be negated if someone is sitting in the back seats)
18. windshield washer fluid fill neck is now on the drivers side, thats going to take some time to get use to
19. really hate the trend to move the battery so close to the firewall, pita to get out compared to being up front or trying to trickle charge during the extreme cold winters up here in ND (really easy to put the charger right on the plastic cover and cables within easy reach of the terminals now and i can keep the hood pretty much closed. this new locations is going to be a royal pita to do that now)
20. looks like you can register the tire pressure sensor ID's yourself now per instructions in manual (not sure you could do that before)

 

1. surprising, you can voice command some functions, like turning the wipers to swipeonce

Finally, what's been missing in my life all this time!

 

People will now complain of a whistling noise when driving.

 

For convenience, you can hard mount the charger and run the AC cord out the grille, perhaps even splice it together with the block heater cord.

Alternatively run DC cables like CTek Comfort Connect from the battery terminal to a quick disconnect plug out the grille. I did this in 2023: https://www.4runners.com/posts/519011

This way you can maintain the battery without opening the hood.

Did you count how many warnings of death are present in the 2025 manual vs 2024?

 

this doesnt happen but maybe 1-2 times a year. the 4R sits in the garage from thursday to monday morning, so on very long cold snaps (anything colder than -10F), i have to trickle on sunday to make sure i can start on monday. that dam evap system cycle eats a battery if i dont drive it either every day or other day.

and with all the extra holidays and time off i took during xmas week and new years, the 4R sat in the garage for extended times before being driven (usaf civil service)

yeah its getting worse every year

 

Suggested addendum to the owners manual, for Gen5 owners looking to trade in on the new one:

1.) Lift hood using free hand
2.) While lifting hood, use spare hand to locate and detach prop rod
3.) Extend hood upward with one hand, lift prop rod to a vertical position, and match end to corresponding hole located underneath hood. Secure and release.


4.) Explain to your neighbor that $50.00 hood struts were unnecessary on your $65,000 4Runner Platinum. Do not make direct eye contact.

 

Good one. I think trying to explain to the neighbor your 24’ purchase with a complete lack of modern tech or creature comforts at that price point would have been just as hard. Not to mention the outdated power train.

 

You mean $5? https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=14973509&cc=1445180&pt=1404 $50 is highway robbery

 

I respect your personal opinion on Gen5, but we do seem to agree here that there is some shame associated with the concept of overpaying, and getting less.

Point is, paying a lot more to get walked back on basic features that used to be standard is lame. As improved as the vehicles may be, that’s become an all-too common narrative for Tacoma, LC250, and now 4Runner. It should, and hopefully will be addressed by Toyota.

btw….welcome

 

sub'd

 

The people who are buying these outdated vehicles don't give a shit what their neighbors think.

 

I suspect that many of the users on this site are like me, and they give ZERO FUCKS what their neighbor thinks of the new vehicle they just bought.

 

"Neighbors"

Love it!

 

You guys not see where I was quoting 4hoppers use of the word “neighbors”. I know one thing, I won’t be spending so much time on the 7th gen message board explaining how my 6th gen is better when the time comes.

 

I'm sure my ignorance on this one is over the top, but... "say, what??"
The key requires a subscription?

 

Lol 6th gen

 

My neighbor has a JLU self described "pavement princess". He asked me about my 4runner and tacomas/tundras in general and I told him I was a recent toyota fan but only because the 4runner was a dinosaur (which I like). I told him to hang out on the forums before he buys since i dont know anything about them (other than the redesigns) and he ended up getting one of the new turbo tundras less than a year ago. He's done some cool things to it - looks like sliders, some kind of bed rack and mounted a RTT. It looks nice and seems to get a fair amount of use - don't think he's had any issues because it always seems to be in the driveway or out on an adventure rather than at the dealership. They're hosting saint Patrick's day again this year so I'll ask him how it's going (best time to really talk to the neighbors for me - I'm not a people person).

My brother also got one of the turbo tacomas within the last year - he's had Tacoma, FJ cruiser, and tundra experience before. Haven't heard any complaints yet.

Says the person who jumps in with no message history. I'm proud of my 5th gen being a tech dinosaur, it was actually one of the driving factors for purchasing it. I don't keep up with the joneses so I don't care what the neighbors think - in fact, I'm a bit of a narcissist who thinks most people are morons so why would i?

 

On a more serious note, it appears as if most people don't read manuals anymore. How many turbos do you think will be ruined and lower the reliability scores because they aren't left to idle before shutoff after highway speeds? Think they'll have idiot proof computer programming that forces some idle time before shutoff that people complain about online because they don't understand why?

 

You might.

Imagine owning an "outdated" vehicle, and then the new version rolls in missing features that were standard on yours.

The 6th gen might end up being a fine vehicle. It's just disappointing to see features that I've liked in the current and previous generations go away.

 

It was a huge factor in why I bought my SloRunner. I heard SO many people complain "It doesn't have this or that or this, blah blah blah!" My first thought was "Great, an analog car. Less shit will break on it, and when it does, it will be easy(ish) to fix. I don't want a computer to run everything in my car." I don't care if it has very out dated tech, gets shitty gas mileage and is so slow it can lose a drag race to a school bus.

I bet with minimal maintenance effort I can get this lifted brick to 250k miles. I don't keep up with the Joneses either. I think that ANY vehicle I ride in automatically makes it the coolest car.

 

You would think that it would be pretty easy to tune a timer into the ECU. But, if they did that, they couldn't use it as a reason to deny warranty work.

 

Agree. When I bought in 2019 it was voted most dependable midsized SUV for 10 years running because of the older platform - if I had to guess, it may be 15 years running at this point. I've owned the newer, shiner things and decided a while back what was most important to me personally

 

I had a 2021 Tacoma for 2 1/2yrs. I decided to sell it for a much more economical car. Major mistake. I got a very high price for the 2.5yr old truck with 30k+ miles. I paid cash for a new 2023 Hyundai Sonata.

It was a really nice looking car. Lots of great options. Quiet and easily got 40MPG on the highway. BUT.......it had electronic everything and so many nannies. To shift into gear; I had to press a button. The parking brake would auto-set itself and the lane keep system was always on and trying to push me back into my lane. Even when I was trying to exit the highway. Oh, it only had radar cruise control. I hated it so bad that I sold it after 90 days and bought my current 4Runner.

I sat in it at the dealership and smiled from ear to ear. My first thought was "This truck is basic as fuck it even has the old school foot-emergency brake. SOLD!". I'll never make that mistake again.

 

Wife still drives the '14 JGC and as I stated in a recent post, saved me from a possible collision from someone changing lanes at the same time with no signal (my perception) because of the BSM. But when I bought it 8 years ago, had a lot of electronic issues. The deciding factor for me was it automatically hitting the brakes on an exit ramp because it thought I was going to rear-end the 18-wheeler still in the far right lane of the interstate that I was moving past. I've had the electronics fixed since then (at significant cost) but just don't get the appeal of a vehicle that thinks it knows better than the driver. I get that mistakes happen, and maybe it will catch one of those with the nanny gadgets, but I don't like a vehicle that does things unexpectedly (I was almost rear-ended on that exit ramp).

I thought my father was going to have a heart attack one day when a vehicle took a long time to make a right turn - I knew they would be out of the road before I got there but apparently the vehicle saw an impending collision and hit the brakes against my will.

I'll just say I love the 2019 that doesn't have TSS

 

you mean like a 50.6k OR with manual seats?

Cool.

 

Imagine paying 70k for an Iforce Max hybrid and can't keep up with a 2010 outdated 5th gen.

In 4-5 years we will know more how well the 6th holds up once out of warranty, until then I encourage all the ballers out there to trade in their 5th gen so they can provide the data points, and so the used market can finally soften up a bit for my desert rig build

 

Before tariffs

 

Sure, good thing with only 2.5 percent current tariff, Toyota has refrained from dramatically increasing price of their vehicles, really worked out!