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So I've been driving around a bunch today and put it into ECO drive, which is pretty fantastic. You can still get the power when you need it, but when you're cruising around, it defaults to the battery as much as possible. I think I drove a mile down a side street doing about 35, all on the battery. I know nothing new at all, but in this vehicle, pretty damn cool!
Well, the time came and I finally was able to pick up my brand new TRD Pro on Wednesday. I’ll do a quick summary at the top and then if anyone is interested, I’ll get into more detail. Also, I’m happy to answer any questions, measure things, etc. And, if you happen to be in Northwest Montana, I’d be happy to take you for a spin.
I’ve never owned a 4Runner, driven one or owned a Toyota. I’ve had Jeep Grand Cherokees for the last 11 years and the last 7 have been with a 2018 Overland High Altitude. I loved that car and was a bit sad to see it ago. But, onto the new one…
The TRD Pro is friggin’ awesome! It drives like a dream, looks badass and the hybrid engine is really great. Driving home from the dealer at 70 on the not-so-great Montana roads, it was pretty quiet inside. There is a bit more wind noise than the Jeep, but the acoustic glass works well. The low-end torque is crazy. The thing gets up and goes! The ride is comfortable. Maybe a tad rougher in the backend than the Jeep due to the solid axel, but still really great. Also, coasting down a hill the engine will shut off and just run on electric. Then when the engine kicks back in, you get a little turbo burp, which sounds great. A side note, the turbo in general sounds awesome. Also, when I drove down the driveway, which is about a 1/3 of a mile, it just decided to do it completely electric. Really cool…. I’ve only driven about 25 miles so far, but the initial impression is, it’s a bad ass truck! I’ll follow up with other impressions after the weekend of driving.
A quick shout out to Kalispell Toyota, my sales guy Duc and the business manager Devin. I think I’ve owned 11 cars or so in my time and dealing with Kalispell Toyota has bene the absolute best experience I’ve had. It was crazy easy and they include a lot of free extra’s during the first year of ownership. They also filled up the first tank with 91 octane as well. They rock. More on this below.
The only negative so far is the paint. Maybe because it’s a black car, but the paint is an absolute mess. Scratches everywhere, swirls and potentially some clear coat issues. I’ll get into it more below, but Kalispell Toyota is going to 100% take care of it for me and won’t stop until it is corrected and I’m happy.
Dealership: I’m not sure if it’s just the Kalispell Toyota or maybe because it’s a smart path Toyota dealership, but it was the best experience I’ve ever had in my entire life with purchasing or leasing vehicles. They were super easy to deal with, there was no pressure for any add-ons, and the vehicle didn’t have any surprise dealer add on’s or any bait and switches whatsoever. Included with every purchase at Kalispell Toyota is a one year Collision Deductible Program. If I get into a wreck in the first year of ownership, they will pay $500 towards my deductible. Also included, is a 12 month Appearance Care Warranty. If in the first year the paint has issues, bird dropping, water marks, etc. that won't come out, they will take care of it for free. Probably won't need them, but nice that they offer them. Overall, they were just a pleasure to deal with. If it wasn’t for the insurance issue, I probably would’ve been in and out of there and an hour and a half or two. Once again, my sales guy Duc and the business manager.
The Car: The car is frigging awesome! It might just be one of the best that I’ve had. I love the ride and the torque in the engine is pretty fantastic. As mentioned above, the dealer put 91 octane in it for me, which supposedly gets extra horsepower and torque. It sits up super high, the seats are very comfortable and so far I just really like it. The Hybrid system is pretty interesting, if you’re coasting down a hill, the engine will shut off, which was a little disconcerting at first, but I forgot that it was a hybrid. Also, when you’re pulling into your garage or going slow around the neighborhood, it can operate in full battery mode. You don’t get to select it, it just does it. It will take me a minute to get used to all of the controls, as I’ve had the same Jeep system for the past 8 years, but it all seems great. Not sure I will keep CarPlay going the entire time, as I just don’t like the screen interruption with all the texts and notifications. We’ll see. Still figuring out little things here and there with it, but I find it super comfortable. Second row seats are a little tighter than the Grand Cherokee, but they aren’t bad. The suspension seems awesome. I haven’t gone underneath to adjust the Fox Shocks yet, but will play with it this weekend. I’ve only driven about 25 miles, but I will be getting out later today and over the weekend.
Financing: Toyota Financial will do its best to try to match or beat any other rate. My local credit union was at 5.25% and Toyota financial came back at 5.2%, for a five-year loan. That seemed pretty reasonable to me and I decided just to keep everything with Toyota. I put down $10,000 and financed the rest and I believe my payment is $1,147.97. Luckily, we don’t have tax here in Montana, so the payment price is the payment! I was going in thinking I was maybe going to lease it, but the numbers made absolutely no sense, especially with a higher residual value. The MSRP was the standard $66,900 and with tailgate LED light that the factory put in and the PIO’s I wanted, the total price was $69,953 and that is what I paid. No mark up, no hidden fees and like I said above, no taxes!
Insurance: This was the biggest pain in the ass of them all. I am with Progressive Insurance, and as the car is so new, they didn’t have the Vin number in their system. I was on the phone with them for a hour and 45 minutes, just for them to issue me a provisional insurance card until they can actually get the VIN number in their system and give me a quote of how much the insurance is going to be. That’s right, I have no idea what the premium will be. It will take 3 to 5 business days for them to get back to me. I am covered at the moment, which is great and hopefully I won’t have a big surprise… While I was on hold with them, I checked Geico and they couldn’t recognize the VIN either. So for me, the big takeaway is try to get this done before you go pick up the car. It will save you soooo much time. It was a giant pain in the ass. *EDIT. Just got off the phone with Progressive and the VIN is finally in there system. With $100k/$300k coverage, medical, uninsured/underinsured, etc., my 6 month premium its $436.39. Gotta love Montana.
GAP Insurance: To go along with the above, because my insurance company couldn’t tell me how much gap insurance would cost or if they even offered it, I found out Toyota actually offers it. For $990, which covers the length of the financing, Toyota will pay the GAP if the vehicle is a total loss. I looked into it and spoke to other people the dealership and it actually seemed like a pretty good deal, so I went with it. Also, if you pay off your loan early, you will get a refund for any of the years left.
Windshield Replacement Insurance: I have windshield replacement service with Progressive Insurance, and I believe it’s $100 a year. However, when I looked at the fine print, it only paid for the replacement of the windshield and not the recalibration of all of the sensors and cameras. I believe that can cost $250-$350 every time. Toyota does offers windshield insurance which costs $995 for 5 years. It includes 25 rock chip fixes and that means 25 times coming in to get your windshield fixed, not every Rock chip. It also includes two windshield replacements at no cost. The OEM windshield replacement is I think $1,700 and another $250 or so for the calibration. I decided to go for it. I don’t think I got taken, but we’ll see. Living in Montana, it’s rock chip country, so I think it will work out just fine and maybe I will actually get the chips fixed!
Extended Warranty: They walked me through their extended warranty and I don’t know if it was a good sales pitch or maybe it is just smart, but I decided to go with it. The current warranty is three years 36,000 miles. I went with an extended warranty that is now a total of 10 years and 100,000 miles, with the cost $3,460. It continues the three-year 36,000 full coverage warranty for the full 10 years. With this being a new vehicle and all the new electronics and everything, it seemed like a good idea. The great thing is, the warranty is transferable, if you decide to sell the car it’s a $50 transfer fee. Also, if you sell the car and you don’t want to transfer, Toyota will prorate it and give you money back for any years left. I’ve never done an extended warranty before, but I’ve also only really leased cars and never really have owned a vehicle. I decided to go for this as well. For me, it seems like a great thing, especially with Toyota prorating if I don’t need it anymore.
Paint Quality: I’m not sure if it was just my vehicle, or the color, but the paint quality was absolutely horrible. There were scratches and swirls all over the vehicle, large scratches on the hood and it looks like there are issues with the clearcoat. It wasn’t pretty and doesn’t make me happy, but Kalispell Toyota has been absolutely fantastic to work with. They are going to send the vehicle out for a full high-end paint correction in about a week, which going cost them about $2,000. If for some reason, the paint correction can’t fix the issues and there is serious damage with the clearcoat, then we will cross that bridge, but Kalispell Toyota will 100% make it right, until I am happy. The dealership has been absolutely fantastic with it all. I am definitely disappointed, but I’m happy to have my car to drive it for the next week or so before it goes back in for a few days.
So, after an initial 25 miles of driving, I love the TRD Pro and can’t wait to really get into it. I’ll post updates after driving more, as well as what happens with the paint correction. If you made it this far, you deserve a medal! As I said before, I’m happy to answer any questions, measure things, etc. Thanks! - Zach
