5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.
Happy 4-Runner Anniversary!
Date of Review: Mar 18, 2001
The Bottom Line: Safe, runs well, mostly comfortable, highly reliable.
The Toyota 4Runner has been around since the late 80's, and Toyota has had enough time to get it right. For the most part they do. It's comfortable, safe, and has lots of nifty design things built into it.
We bought our SR5 in late February of 2000. It has 25,000 miles on it, and has performed flawlessly in every situation. We have adhered religiously to the maintenance schedule.
I am 6' tall, my wife 5'2", and yet once inside it is comfortable to drive for both of us; access and exit is cumbersome for her and our four 4-year-old. We have the towing package, so it sits a little higher than 4Runners that do not.
There's no two ways around it, though , the truck suspension is stiff. If the road is rough, you feel it. (AUTHOR'S NOTE: 6 months after this was written, this definitely still holds true.) Also, after driving a passenger car for so long, it is tough to parallel park this beast in the city.
It seats 5, with plenty of luggage room; If you're looking to haul 7 people, this is not your car. Get an Expedition-sized vehicle instead.
After driving a 4-cylinder for so long, the 6-cylinder engine is nice on the power side, but it does drink the fuel. I tend to drive it like a barge rather than a speed boat. At 20-25 mpg or so, the 15 gallon tank is too small, so we do have to fill up more often.
My Celica stayed healthy for 160,000 miles, and I've no reason to expect less from the 4Runner.
