Observations after 1,000 miles

[dirtwheeler]

good stuff. I appreciate the detailed response. it seems to be hit or miss if people have the whistling or not after taking off the air dam. Some people (like yourself) say there don't notice anything, other people say they get a whistling at highway speeds. From what I understand, there is a way to fix it if you do have the whistling (as the TRD Pro doesn't have the air dam for instance) but it doesn't seem to be happening to everyone. I'm flying up to Maryland in May to get my 4R and driving it down to Texas and I'm torn if I want them to remove the air dam or not. I'm leaning towards no because that drive is all highway driving and if there is a whistling, hearing that for the however many miles the drive is would drive me crazy. but I appreciate your response.

If it helps, it's very easy to take the air dam on and off. I thought about leaving it on most of the time for the ~0.8 mpg improvement, then taking it off for off-roading. But I'm just lazy enough, I'll probably leave it off.

I also wonder if some people can hear the sounds and others can't. Sometimes with higher pitched sounds, people are just tuned differently. When I'm by myself in the 4Runner, I usually have music or news playing. I'll definitely be listening for it more now though.

 

[dirtwheeler]

I have not attempted to use the hands-free feature since my last grocery trip, but I will experiment with it some more. I live to entertain the neighbors across the street as I learn to do everyday things.

Well, I went to a grocery store today walked right up to the 4Runner and the foot thing worked on the first try. This feature is not a big deal to me, but I'm making an effort to at least learn how to use "all" (well maybe most) of the features I paid for. I've owned a lot of vehicles in the past where I didn't make this effort. You get used to doing things one way, even if there are better options available. Eventually, I might decide to never use some of the features on this 4Runner, but I'm trying to at least make it a more informed decision. I can see the foot thing being a convenience (albeit a minor one) when my hands are full and I need to open the back. But I'd be surprised if there was anyone that made a decision on whether to buy or not buy a vehicle based on this feature. I could be wrong.

 

[dirtwheeler]

Another thing that just came to mind...

The remote start from the key fob works fine. You have to push the lock button three time - two times quickly, then hold the button longer on the third press.

My old truck didn't fit in the garage, so I used this feature on my truck all the time. However, my new 4Runner fits in the garage so I only use the remote start when the vehicle happens to be parked outside the garage for some reason. This will not happen too often at home.

I'm also signed up for all the alerts on the Toyota app, so I get notifications when the 4Runner is unlocked, a door is open, or a window is down. This has been remarkably detailed (for example, letting me know that my son left a rear door open when we went shopping). I can see this being useful (for example if I leave the moonroof open and it might rain). I can also remotely lock the doors, which I've done on a at least a couple occasions.

However, I think this app connectivity is a pay-for service with a trial period that will expire. It would have to be pretty cheap for me to consider paying for it. After the trial period expires, I'll just have to remember to roll up the windows and lock the doors!

The alert feature is also a little annoying because I routinely park my 4Runner in my garage, unlocked and sometimes with the windows down. I prefer to leave it unlocked in the garage for convenience. I assume most people that park their vehicles in garages leave them unlocked. Again, not a big deal. But while I'm doing a mind dump on all things 4Runner, I thought I would mention this.

 

[Dumpling]

Is this the Underground color or?

 

[dirtwheeler]

Is this the Underground color or?

Yep, underground

 

[Dumpling]

Yep, underground

Awesome, solid reviews. I have an underground TRD ORP on the way love your pictures and really appreciate the thorough reviews

 

[Nodak]

However, I think this app connectivity is a pay-for service with a trial period that will expire. It would have to be pretty cheap for me to consider paying for it. After the trial period expires, I'll just have to remember to roll up the windows and lock the doors!

The alert feature is also a little annoying because I routinely park my 4Runner in my garage, unlocked and sometimes with the windows down. I prefer to leave it unlocked in the garage for convenience. I assume most people that park their vehicles in garages leave them unlocked. Again, not a big deal. But while I'm doing a mind dump on all things 4Runner, I thought I would mention this.

the app sub is $15 month after 1 yr trial.

you can un-sub during the summer (for us snow states) or winter (for the heat wave states)

 

[Cityzen10]

Another thing that just came to mind...

The remote start from the key fob works fine. You have to push the lock button three time - two times quickly, then hold the button longer on the third press.

My old truck didn't fit in the garage, so I used this feature on my truck all the time. However, my new 4Runner fits in the garage so I only use the remote start when the vehicle happens to be parked outside the garage for some reason. This will not happen too often at home.

I'm also signed up for all the alerts on the Toyota app, so I get notifications when the 4Runner is unlocked, a door is open, or a window is down. This has been remarkably detailed (for example, letting me know that my son left a rear door open when we went shopping). I can see this being useful (for example if I leave the moonroof open and it might rain). I can also remotely lock the doors, which I've done on a at least a couple occasions.

However, I think this app connectivity is a pay-for service with a trial period that will expire. It would have to be pretty cheap for me to consider paying for it. After the trial period expires, I'll just have to remember to roll up the windows and lock the doors!

The alert feature is also a little annoying because I routinely park my 4Runner in my garage, unlocked and sometimes with the windows down. I prefer to leave it unlocked in the garage for convenience. I assume most people that park their vehicles in garages leave them unlocked. Again, not a big deal. But while I'm doing a mind dump on all things 4Runner, I thought I would mention this.

Well, I guess I'm going to have to play around with the back hatch feature. Sorry neighbors, you'll just have to deal with me looking silly pretend kicking my 4Runner till I figure it out. I do love the app, I use it to start my 4R every morning while I'm getting ready for work. This feature works well. I did turn off most notifications. If you don't, your phone gets A LOT of notifications. Apparently these 4Runners are Chatty Cathy's. They certainly have a lot to say.

 

[Cityzen10]

the app sub is $15 month after 1 yr trial.

you can un-sub during the summer (for us snow states) or winter (for the heat wave states)

$15 month isn't that bad. I was looking around the app a bit and it's nice that you can pull up the manuals and everything. Pretty handy.

 

[dirtwheeler]

$15 month isn't that bad. I was looking around the app a bit and it's nice that you can pull up the manuals and everything. Pretty handy.

I agree $15/month isn't bad for what they offer. But the value will vary from person to person, based on how much they think they will use it. This is a little tricky for me to figure out. I generally don't spend that much time in my vehicle because I work from home, but I anticipate spending more time in the vehicle on some long road trips. Will that happen? I hope so, but I've also had life plans re-routed a couple times in the last few years. I think I'm probably like most people and have multiple monthly entertainment service costs (for example, Spotify, Max, etc.). When these start to add up, you start to think about which ones you really want or that you are using enough to justify, even if it's a relatively low additional cost. They all add up together.

I know other people that spend a lot more time in their vehicle than I do. SiriusXM is a much better deal for them.

SiriusXM has all sorts of different package options with different channels, and satellite/vehicle and/or Internet app streaming. I was considering the $10/month basic music option, plus $5/month for news channels ($15/month total).

FWIW, this might be a handy tidbit of information for people on the fence (like me). Yesterday, I got a regular snail mail letter from SiriusXM with the best offer I've seen yet: "$4/month for the all access plan... for your first 12 months". This seems like a good deal for me, and I'll probably take it. The fine print states that this will auto-renew at $24.98/month after the trial period, but you can cancel beforehand. However, my only reluctance is that I had SiriusXM in the past and it was like working a second job to get them to cancel my subscription. This is where I found the dark side of SiriusXM. They have a good product, but they have a sketchy, albeit common, business model IMO. I'm considering getting a separate credit card just for subscriptions with companies like this.

Anyway, if anyone is on the fence, you might hold out to see what kind of offers you get in the mail. I assume everyone gets the same offers on SiriusXM's timeline, getting progressively better the longer you wait, but I don't know. What might be a little different for me is that they know I was a customer in the past that successfully canceled my subscription eventually (as indicated in the mail I got). Knowing this, I assume most folks in my situation are considered a low probability for signing up again. But I also realize I might not be that special and everyone feels special getting the $4/month offer on their account! In any case, I thought I'd share this info in case it helps anyone. You might as well wait until the end of the trial period before signing up to see what offers you get. I don't think there are any downsides to waiting. They will always take your credit card in the future. The trick will be getting them to cancel if you ever wish to stop paying for their service.

 

[Nodak]

remember you can canx the service during off months since its a monthly service.

i as a money cruncher, i would enforce a yearly sub to get people to pay and forget than having higher churn monthly

 

[willb]

Just out of curiosity have you noticed a clunking noise and feel on the steering wheel at idle speed anything under 10 mph just going through a parking lot or any little bump? I’m just over 2000 miles and started noticing it the past few days and wondering if it is normal And part of the truck breaking in or if there’s an issue.

I dropped it by the dealer and they said just to keep an eye on it and if it gets worse, come back, but didn’t really have any insight so curious if others have experienced it.

 

[Rellims]

Just out of curiosity have you noticed a clunking noise and feel on the steering wheel at idle speed anything under 10 mph just going through a parking lot or any little bump? I’m just over 2000 miles and started noticing it the past few days and wondering if it is normal And part of the truck breaking in or if there’s an issue.

I dropped it by the dealer and they said just to keep an eye on it and if it gets worse, come back, but didn’t really have any insight so curious if others have experienced it.

I am just under 3000 miles and haven't noticed anything like that.

 

[Cityzen10]

Just out of curiosity have you noticed a clunking noise and feel on the steering wheel at idle speed anything under 10 mph just going through a parking lot or any little bump? I’m just over 2000 miles and started noticing it the past few days and wondering if it is normal And part of the truck breaking in or if there’s an issue.

I dropped it by the dealer and they said just to keep an eye on it and if it gets worse, come back, but didn’t really have any insight so curious if others have experienced it.

I haven't noticed anything like that. But I will check after work in a couple hours.

 

[Cityzen10]

I agree $15/month isn't bad for what they offer. But the value will vary from person to person, based on how much they think they will use it. This is a little tricky for me to figure out. I generally don't spend that much time in my vehicle because I work from home, but I anticipate spending more time in the vehicle on some long road trips. Will that happen? I hope so, but I've also had life plans re-routed a couple times in the last few years. I think I'm probably like most people and have multiple monthly entertainment service costs (for example, Spotify, Max, etc.). When these start to add up, you start to think about which ones you really want or that you are using enough to justify, even if it's a relatively low additional cost. They all add up together.

I know other people that spend a lot more time in their vehicle than I do. SiriusXM is a much better deal for them.

SiriusXM has all sorts of different package options with different channels, and satellite/vehicle and/or Internet app streaming. I was considering the $10/month basic music option, plus $5/month for news channels ($15/month total).

FWIW, this might be a handy tidbit of information for people on the fence (like me). Yesterday, I got a regular snail mail letter from SiriusXM with the best offer I've seen yet: "$4/month for the all access plan... for your first 12 months". This seems like a good deal for me, and I'll probably take it. The fine print states that this will auto-renew at $24.98/month after the trial period, but you can cancel beforehand. However, my only reluctance is that I had SiriusXM in the past and it was like working a second job to get them to cancel my subscription. This is where I found the dark side of SiriusXM. They have a good product, but they have a sketchy, albeit common, business model IMO. I'm considering getting a separate credit card just for subscriptions with companies like this.

Anyway, if anyone is on the fence, you might hold out to see what kind of offers you get in the mail. I assume everyone gets the same offers on SiriusXM's timeline, getting progressively better the longer you wait, but I don't know. What might be a little different for me is that they know I was a customer in the past that successfully canceled my subscription eventually (as indicated in the mail I got). Knowing this, I assume most folks in my situation are considered a low probability for signing up again. But I also realize I might not be that special and everyone feels special getting the $4/month offer on their account! In any case, I thought I'd share this info in case it helps anyone. You might as well wait until the end of the trial period before signing up to see what offers you get. I don't think there are any downsides to waiting. They will always take your credit card in the future. The trick will be getting them to cancel if you ever wish to stop paying for their service.

I have a letter from SiriusXM that I haven't opened yet. I don't really listen to it so I doubt I will be renewing that. FWIW I have had issues with subscription companies in the past and I found that at the first sign of resistance from them, I just dispute their charge on my banking app. Then the bank just denies any charges by them. Works like a charm. My bank even has an option when filling out the dispute specifically for "subscriptions". I'm assuming that's because it is soo common. The bank has never given me any grief about it, and I've done it 3 or 4 times already.

I got tired of wasting my time with them and just cut them off at the money source.