6th gen worth it?

[Orlyg1521]

I own a 2011 4runner and love it. Increased MPG would be my biggest reason to upgrade to a 6th gen. At 16-17 mpg with my current 5th gen (terrible), my dilemma would be wether the $50-60K for a 6th gen is worth a small mpg (<25 mpg) gain or spend $30K for a newer 5th gen with low miles? Any thoughts?

 

[jluff007]

I did a quick side by side comparison of a 2024 land cruiser and 2024 4rnr, it looks like you would save about $500/yr in gas if you go with a hybrid model. Which i would think would be fairly comparable to what we'll see in the 2025 4rnr.

https://fueleconomy.gov/feg/Find.do?action=sbs&id=47762&id=47438

It would take years for the return on investment to even out if you got a 6th gen over a used 5th gen.

I think, if savings and MPG are your only concern, the 5th gen is the way to go. Even going from 5th gen from 2011 to 5th gen from 2022-24, you're going to be big improvements overall.

If you want the latest and (subjectively) "greatest" that Toyota has to offer and can afford to spend more, the 6th gen may be your answer.

 

[tomter]

I did a quick side by side comparison of a 2024 land cruiser and 2024 4rnr, it looks like you would save about $500/yr in gas if you go with a hybrid model. Which i would think would be fairly comparable to what we'll see in the 2025 4rnr.

https://fueleconomy.gov/feg/Find.do?action=sbs&id=47762&id=47438

It would take years for the return on investment to even out if you got a 6th gen over a used 5th gen.

I think, if savings and MPG are your only concern, the 5th gen is the way to go. Even going from 5th gen from 2011 to 5th gen from 2022-24, you're going to be big improvements overall.

If you want the latest and (subjectively) "greatest" that Toyota has to offer and can afford to spend more, the 6th gen may be your answer.

The problem with the 24/25 LC is the actual mileage is around 20mpg for most people. They are perplexed. On top of that, the LC has a small gas tank which means more fill ups which is another issue people are having esp if they are doing off-roading.

 

[Orlyg1521]

I am still perplexed and angry that Toyota has not been able to give better gas mileage for these suvs. The technology is there. The hybrid was my hope but not as great of an increase I thought. I thought this Jen was the opportunity for them to really step up and show what they could do.

 

[qtb007]

It really depends what you are looking for out of the vehicle. A $30k 5th gen is going to be a high mileage (100k+) 2020 or 2021 truck or a low mileage (80k+) 2016 truck. So, you're spending $30k on a vehicle that has 1/3-1/2 of its really useful daily driver life consumed. Depreciation will be 10-12% / yr on a vehicle like that.

A new 4Runner will probably be more in the 8-10% depreciation range until you hit 80k miles or so, and then move into that 10-12%. Back of the napkin calculations would put the 5 year deprecation on a $50k 6th gen at $20k and a $30k 5th gen at $14k. You'd save 500 gallons of fuel over those 5 years. Locally, I expect that would be around $1700 savings. Property tax, sales tax, etc all favor the older truck, so it will more or less wipe the fuel savings advantage.

So, we're looking at roughly $1000-1200 more per year to drive a new truck versus an old one. That's not including the value of being under warranty or anything like that.

I have a lot of miles and a lot of years ownership of 5th gen 4Runners. I had a 2016 4Runner Trail Premium that was kind of the last of the bare bones 4Runners. Backup camera and bluetooth streaming was about the only tech thing that truck had. I also had a 2023 4Runner Pro with blind spot monitoring, 360 camera, radar cruise control, auto climate control, push button start, etc, etc. There were a LOT of changes between 2016 and 2023. That said, it was very clear that this new tech was grafted onto the old platform. The radar cruise was only higher speed and was very clunky in operation. I almost never used it due to that. It only has lane departure warning; no lane tracing. I use the lane tracing on my wife's Lexus all the time and it is great. I drove from FL to WV in one day in the Lexus and it was really nice to have those driver aid systems. The 4Runner's lane departure warning basically just beeped at me when I was driving on back roads; it didn't carry any burden on long drives. The 4Runner's 360 camera was very low resolution. It worked, but it definitely reminded me how old the trucks bones were. The old engine and transmission didn't really bother me until I drove a new Tacoma with the 2.4T and 8AT. The drivability was night and day difference. The road manners were much, much better. Then I rode in my brother's '24 Land Cruiser. I truly loved my '16 TEP. I liked the '23 Pro, but didn't have it long enough to get attached. After driving the new models, I was OK letting my 5th gen go when the lease was up. I'm currently "between 4Runners", but when the time comes to decide if I'm getting another one, I won't regret not buying out the '23 Pro; the 6th gen will be a better fit for me.

So, it ultimately comes down to what you value. If cost is the biggest priority, the 5th gen will deliver better. If you are OK paying an extra $1100/yr for a better driving experience, I think the 6th gen will be better.

 

[tomter]

It really depends what you are looking for out of the vehicle. A $30k 5th gen is going to be a high mileage (100k+) 2020 or 2021 truck or a low mileage (80k+) 2016 truck. So, you're spending $30k on a vehicle that has 1/3-1/2 of its really useful daily driver life consumed. Depreciation will be 10-12% / yr on a vehicle like that.

A new 4Runner will probably be more in the 8-10% depreciation range until you hit 80k miles or so, and then move into that 10-12%. Back of the napkin calculations would put the 5 year deprecation on a $50k 6th gen at $20k and a $30k 5th gen at $14k. You'd save 500 gallons of fuel over those 5 years. Locally, I expect that would be around $1700 savings. Property tax, sales tax, etc all favor the older truck, so it will more or less wipe the fuel savings advantage.

So, we're looking at roughly $1000-1200 more per year to drive a new truck versus an old one. That's not including the value of being under warranty or anything like that.

I have a lot of miles and a lot of years ownership of 5th gen 4Runners. I had a 2016 4Runner Trail Premium that was kind of the last of the bare bones 4Runners. Backup camera and bluetooth streaming was about the only tech thing that truck had. I also had a 2023 4Runner Pro with blind spot monitoring, 360 camera, radar cruise control, auto climate control, push button start, etc, etc. There were a LOT of changes between 2016 and 2023. That said, it was very clear that this new tech was grafted onto the old platform. The radar cruise was only higher speed and was very clunky in operation. I almost never used it due to that. It only has lane departure warning; no lane tracing. I use the lane tracing on my wife's Lexus all the time and it is great. I drove from FL to WV in one day in the Lexus and it was really nice to have those driver aid systems. The 4Runner's lane departure warning basically just beeped at me when I was driving on back roads; it didn't carry any burden on long drives. The 4Runner's 360 camera was very low resolution. It worked, but it definitely reminded me how old the trucks bones were. The old engine and transmission didn't really bother me until I drove a new Tacoma with the 2.4T and 8AT. The drivability was night and day difference. The road manners were much, much better. Then I rode in my brother's '24 Land Cruiser. I truly loved my '16 TEP. I liked the '23 Pro, but didn't have it long enough to get attached. After driving the new models, I was OK letting my 5th gen go when the lease was up. I'm currently "between 4Runners", but when the time comes to decide if I'm getting another one, I won't regret not buying out the '23 Pro; the 6th gen will be a better fit for me.

So, it ultimately comes down to what you value. If cost is the biggest priority, the 5th gen will deliver better. If you are OK paying an extra $1100/yr for a better driving experience, I think the 6th gen will be better.

What model Lexus does your wife have? Can you give me feedback on your bros LC? What does he think about the motor and cargo space with that 4" lift in the back for the battery? Any gripes from him on filling the tank up often?

 

[qtb007]

What model Lexus does your wife have? Can you give me feedback on your bros LC? What does he think about the motor and cargo space with that 4" lift in the back for the battery? Any gripes from him on filling the tank up often?

She has a '25 UX300h. It's a THS hybrid, so it is very aggressive with the engine off electric mode and regen. It also has the latest Toyota Safety Sense 3.0.

Love the LC. Honestly no question what I'd buy if I were willing to shell out $70k. It's a fantastic machine. The cargo area does feel higher than my 5th gen, but it's pretty small tradeoff for the performance and drivability that comes with the hybrid, IMO. He hasn't mentioned filling up frequently. My GR Corolla is the same way... only 330 mi of range but it really isn't that big of a deal. My 4Runner was only 370mi range or so typically, so it doesn't seem that different. Just filling up 1 day earlier.

 

[MJE]

It really depends what you are looking for out of the vehicle. A $30k 5th gen is going to be a high mileage (100k+) 2020 or 2021 truck or a low mileage (80k+) 2016 truck. So, you're spending $30k on a vehicle that has 1/3-1/2 of its really useful daily driver life consumed. Depreciation will be 10-12% / yr on a vehicle like that.

A new 4Runner will probably be more in the 8-10% depreciation range until you hit 80k miles or so, and then move into that 10-12%. Back of the napkin calculations would put the 5 year deprecation on a $50k 6th gen at $20k and a $30k 5th gen at $14k. You'd save 500 gallons of fuel over those 5 years. Locally, I expect that would be around $1700 savings. Property tax, sales tax, etc all favor the older truck, so it will more or less wipe the fuel savings advantage.

So, we're looking at roughly $1000-1200 more per year to drive a new truck versus an old one. That's not including the value of being under warranty or anything like that.

If you are OK paying an extra $1100/yr for a better driving experience, I think the 6th gen will be better.

This is something I’ve seen with Toyota. Overall no car seems to be as close to approaching linear depreciation. Compared to just about anything else on the road, a new one can minimize risk of loss if you wind up trading earlier than you might anticipate.