Originally Posted By: hypervish
Originally Posted By: SatinSilver
It sure rides like a truck, herky jerky. For that reason I'd go with a Highlander. Same size if not bigger, better mileage etc. Not to mention looks better from the front. Whew, that thing is ugly. Probably has good character though.
The 4Runner is a truck, it's intended to ride like such. It's far more capable than any Highlander could hope to be.
Agreed. Though I've driven a 2015, and its light years ahead of the truck ride on my 1990 4Runner.
It's a question of what you want the vehicle to do. If you want it to drive through the sand on the Outer Banks, or go remote 4 wheeling in Colorado, or slog down old logging roads in the back woods of Vermont and Pennsylvania (which my 4Runner has done), then get a 4Runner. The ground clearance, low range transfer case and body/frame construction will help in all of those endeavors.
If you want AWD for climbing hills when it snows, then buy a Highlander. (And please put snow tires on it so that you can stop when you come back down).
But if you're buying it for looks, well, you're still paying for everything that the 4Runner is. It's more expensive because it's built more expensively; with extra cooling, frame, bigger axles, skid plates and the like that cost money. It rides like a truck because it is a truck underneath. That comes at a much higher cost than a comparable crossover SUV, like the Highlander, or the Acura MDX, both of which are fine vehicles if you instead to stay on paved roads, as 99% of drivers do.