awesome, I just noticed it the past few days but imagine driving under 10 mph and you can feel a little clunk in the steering wheel from the front driver side and you can actually hear it as well. Just going over the smallest little parking lot bumps.
Oops I think I quoted the wrong message. I am trying to use the hands-free liftgate feature.
Ahhh yes, so just place your foot maybe 6 to 12 inches under the area right of the rear reflector. Sorry for the bad angle, it’s the only photo I have handy.
This is a follow-up to my posts on observations after 200 miles and 500 miles, posted here:
The last 500 miles since my last post included some freeway miles, some driving in the mountains of Colorado, and some light (but fast) off-roading.
- https://www.4runner6g.com/forum/threads/observations-after-200-miles.2607/
- https://www.4runner6g.com/forum/threads/observations-after-500-miles.2705/
On Interstate freeways, the 4Runner continues to handle great, as expected. No surprises there. It has plenty of power for passing and is an overall smooth vehicle for driving. I took it up past 11,000 feet elevation in the mountains, on fast unpaved county roads, and unmaintained forest service roads with deep ruts and minor obstacles requiring sufficient clearance.
I drove the 4Runner in “normal” mode for the first 500 miles, then mostly “eco” mode for the last 500 miles. The only time I put it into “sport” mode was on some fast off-road trails that I thought would be fun to hit a little harder.
On mountain highways, I have been paying a lot of attention to how the LDA and LTA systems work. I found their descriptions (and names) in the manual a little confusing, but here’s how I would describe their operation now. LDA makes reactive steering corrections (and provides alerts of course) and can’t really be turned on and off on-the-fly, but it can be disabled. I have left LDA on for the first 1,000 miles, but I’ve also gone through the menus ensuring that I can turn it off and on. LTA makes proactive steering adjustments and can easily be turned on and off on-the-fly.
LDA is not always “correct” in its attempts to keep you safe. There have been times when I’ve needed to steer to avoid obstacles and was met with additional resistance from the LDA system. While it’s not perfect, overall, I believe it is a system that adds safety to the vehicle. – most of the time. I think where LDA can be most beneficial is in moments of distraction. While I do strive to be a safe driver and strive to not “need” these additional safety systems, I don’t think that they hurt.
The LDA system reminds me of a time in college when my roommate was driving back from the airport, and I was a passenger in his truck. On the way back, I noticed my roommate looked very tired. I asked if he wanted me to drive (I was wide awake). He declined. A while later he started drifting off the road. I asked again if I could drive, and he declined again. This happened several times more, until he got so far off the road that I insisted that I drive, or he let me out of the vehicle. At first, he resisted, insisting that he was OK and continued to drive. But I was persistent and insisted that he pull over to let me out. Eventually, he gave in and let me drive. He fell asleep on the way back, as a passenger. If he was driving by himself, I assume he would have crashed on the Interstate, possibly killing himself and others. I have since speculated about what would happen in an LDA/LTA equipped vehicle. It is my understanding that if the driver is unresponsive (e.g., asleep or suffering a debilitating medical issue), the vehicle will come to a stop. I hope that it engages emergency signals as well! So, now I’m waiting to read stories about people who stopped on the Interstate asleep in Toyota vehicles.
So, the LDA is reactive, and the LTA is proactive in my observations. That’s how I would have described it in the manual, in reference to mechanical steering adjustments, ignoring other aspects of the system (how the driver is alerted and what the vehicle does when the driver is unresponsive).
I am still trying to decide how much I “like” the LTA system. Right now, I think it’s more useful for roads that are less windy. On windy mountain roads, I’m not sure I like it. I went back and forth to driving with it off and on. It gives you this sense that it’s easier to turn (less resistance) as you go into corners but gives you a sense of unnatural resistance if your instinct for where you think your tires should be deviates from exactly how the vehicle attempts to guide you. So, in some sense LTA is making it “easier” to turn, but you must get used to its nuances. I described this system as a little “creepy” feeling before. I would also say you feel a little less connected to the road, which I’m not sure is always a good thing. So, I’ll continue to use it in some situations and turn it off in other situations.
One thing I have been pleasantly surprised by is the combination of all the cruise control features. While I might prefer to maintain control of steering, it’s nice to give my foot a rest from continuous pedal adjustments. The DRCC keeps a reasonable distance from traffic in front of you. I had mentioned before that I tend to hang back a little more than the DRCC maxed out, but the distance it maintains is still generally safe.
Cruise control will also reduce your speed by applying the brake (e.g., in a downhill situation where you would normally accelerate due to gravity or anticipating the need to slow down for corners). There’s an indicator on the dash (two red bars) corresponding to braking adjustments made by cruise control. I tested this today in a downhill windy section that I drive regularly. My old truck (Ram 1500) had cruise control, but it did not adjust based on vehicles in front of my truck, curve anticipation, or to resist downhill acceleration. In this section of my drive, the truck would accelerate into corners, so it would be very dangerous to leave the vehicle in a cruise control mode. However, the 4Runner maintained a max speed set by cruise control and appropriately reduced speed around corners. What this means from my perspective is that I could more comfortably drive down mountain roads. The main concern being that I was able to quickly move my foot to the brake if there was a deer or some other issue in the road. But there’s also some comfort in knowing that the vehicle will automatically apply brakes in some of these situations.
So, there’s only so much you can say about normal driving. You go forward. You slow down. You stop. And you steer as needed to not kill yourself or others. The 4Runner does all that fine, as do most vehicles, but with some cool new bells and whistles that I have not had before. For the most part, I like all these features for convenience and safety. My “complaints” are just the minor things that I personally think would move these systems a little closer to perfection.
But I got to do some less-normal driving too. While I still haven’t taken my 4Runner on the typical slow, technical trails I’m used to in northern Colorado, I did get to take it on some faster off-road trails. This is where we got to bounce around a little and have some fun.
The suspension on this 4Runner really shines, although I’m comparing it mostly to my old Jeep with crappy suspension that needs to be replaced soon. I still haven’t been on trails with the 4Runner that “require” four-wheel drive or lockers, but I experimented with most of the off-road features while I had it off-pavement. There were no real surprises, but I appreciated how easy it was to switch between two-high, four-high, four-low, and lock/unlock the rear differential. I experimented a little with the MTS modes, but I need to do some more reading and experimenting to determine if/how I’d ever want to take advantage of these settings (versus just drive in a way appropriate to the situation).
IMO, the sound system is OK, not great. I’m trying to reserve judgement on this because I haven’t attempted to adjust anything other than the volume so far, and sound quality can be subjective. I’ve spent a lot of time around people that were very into their sound systems, so I know enough to know that “those people” will be underwhelmed with this system. But I’m happy if the speakers don’t sound like they’re blown, muddy, or distorted. I just listen to SiriusXM, Spotify and Audible (via Android Auto). I’ve tested the normal FM/AM radio stations just to make sure I get reception. It’s annoying that every time I hit the “mode” button, I must cycle through options I’ll never use (e.g., Amazon Music), The only feature I can think of that I’ve had in the past that isn’t included on my 4Runner is rain sensing windshield wipers (which truly isn’t that big of a deal). I know there are plenty of other fancy features that perhaps I would miss if I had ever experienced them.
To touch on your mention of not having rain sensing wipers. I noticed something on the way home from work today. It was raining lightly and I had the wipers on the lowest setting with the longest intervals. I observed the wipers trigger out of turn. So I started paying attention to it.
This is a follow-up to my posts on observations after 200 miles and 500 miles, posted here:
The last 500 miles since my last post included some freeway miles, some driving in the mountains of Colorado, and some light (but fast) off-roading.
- https://www.4runner6g.com/forum/threads/observations-after-200-miles.2607/
- https://www.4runner6g.com/forum/threads/observations-after-500-miles.2705/
On Interstate freeways, the 4Runner continues to handle great, as expected. No surprises there. It has plenty of power for passing and is an overall smooth vehicle for driving. I took it up past 11,000 feet elevation in the mountains, on fast unpaved county roads, and unmaintained forest service roads with deep ruts and minor obstacles requiring sufficient clearance.
I drove the 4Runner in “normal” mode for the first 500 miles, then mostly “eco” mode for the last 500 miles. The only time I put it into “sport” mode was on some fast off-road trails that I thought would be fun to hit a little harder.
On mountain highways, I have been paying a lot of attention to how the LDA and LTA systems work. I found their descriptions (and names) in the manual a little confusing, but here’s how I would describe their operation now. LDA makes reactive steering corrections (and provides alerts of course) and can’t really be turned on and off on-the-fly, but it can be disabled. I have left LDA on for the first 1,000 miles, but I’ve also gone through the menus ensuring that I can turn it off and on. LTA makes proactive steering adjustments and can easily be turned on and off on-the-fly.
LDA is not always “correct” in its attempts to keep you safe. There have been times when I’ve needed to steer to avoid obstacles and was met with additional resistance from the LDA system. While it’s not perfect, overall, I believe it is a system that adds safety to the vehicle. – most of the time. I think where LDA can be most beneficial is in moments of distraction. While I do strive to be a safe driver and strive to not “need” these additional safety systems, I don’t think that they hurt.
The LDA system reminds me of a time in college when my roommate was driving back from the airport, and I was a passenger in his truck. On the way back, I noticed my roommate looked very tired. I asked if he wanted me to drive (I was wide awake). He declined. A while later he started drifting off the road. I asked again if I could drive, and he declined again. This happened several times more, until he got so far off the road that I insisted that I drive, or he let me out of the vehicle. At first, he resisted, insisting that he was OK and continued to drive. But I was persistent and insisted that he pull over to let me out. Eventually, he gave in and let me drive. He fell asleep on the way back, as a passenger. If he was driving by himself, I assume he would have crashed on the Interstate, possibly killing himself and others. I have since speculated about what would happen in an LDA/LTA equipped vehicle. It is my understanding that if the driver is unresponsive (e.g., asleep or suffering a debilitating medical issue), the vehicle will come to a stop. I hope that it engages emergency signals as well! So, now I’m waiting to read stories about people who stopped on the Interstate asleep in Toyota vehicles.
So, the LDA is reactive, and the LTA is proactive in my observations. That’s how I would have described it in the manual, in reference to mechanical steering adjustments, ignoring other aspects of the system (how the driver is alerted and what the vehicle does when the driver is unresponsive).
I am still trying to decide how much I “like” the LTA system. Right now, I think it’s more useful for roads that are less windy. On windy mountain roads, I’m not sure I like it. I went back and forth to driving with it off and on. It gives you this sense that it’s easier to turn (less resistance) as you go into corners but gives you a sense of unnatural resistance if your instinct for where you think your tires should be deviates from exactly how the vehicle attempts to guide you. So, in some sense LTA is making it “easier” to turn, but you must get used to its nuances. I described this system as a little “creepy” feeling before. I would also say you feel a little less connected to the road, which I’m not sure is always a good thing. So, I’ll continue to use it in some situations and turn it off in other situations.
One thing I have been pleasantly surprised by is the combination of all the cruise control features. While I might prefer to maintain control of steering, it’s nice to give my foot a rest from continuous pedal adjustments. The DRCC keeps a reasonable distance from traffic in front of you. I had mentioned before that I tend to hang back a little more than the DRCC maxed out, but the distance it maintains is still generally safe.
Cruise control will also reduce your speed by applying the brake (e.g., in a downhill situation where you would normally accelerate due to gravity or anticipating the need to slow down for corners). There’s an indicator on the dash (two red bars) corresponding to braking adjustments made by cruise control. I tested this today in a downhill windy section that I drive regularly. My old truck (Ram 1500) had cruise control, but it did not adjust based on vehicles in front of my truck, curve anticipation, or to resist downhill acceleration. In this section of my drive, the truck would accelerate into corners, so it would be very dangerous to leave the vehicle in a cruise control mode. However, the 4Runner maintained a max speed set by cruise control and appropriately reduced speed around corners. What this means from my perspective is that I could more comfortably drive down mountain roads. The main concern being that I was able to quickly move my foot to the brake if there was a deer or some other issue in the road. But there’s also some comfort in knowing that the vehicle will automatically apply brakes in some of these situations.
So, there’s only so much you can say about normal driving. You go forward. You slow down. You stop. And you steer as needed to not kill yourself or others. The 4Runner does all that fine, as do most vehicles, but with some cool new bells and whistles that I have not had before. For the most part, I like all these features for convenience and safety. My “complaints” are just the minor things that I personally think would move these systems a little closer to perfection.
But I got to do some less-normal driving too. While I still haven’t taken my 4Runner on the typical slow, technical trails I’m used to in northern Colorado, I did get to take it on some faster off-road trails. This is where we got to bounce around a little and have some fun.
The suspension on this 4Runner really shines, although I’m comparing it mostly to my old Jeep with crappy suspension that needs to be replaced soon. I still haven’t been on trails with the 4Runner that “require” four-wheel drive or lockers, but I experimented with most of the off-road features while I had it off-pavement. There were no real surprises, but I appreciated how easy it was to switch between two-high, four-high, four-low, and lock/unlock the rear differential. I experimented a little with the MTS modes, but I need to do some more reading and experimenting to determine if/how I’d ever want to take advantage of these settings (versus just drive in a way appropriate to the situation).
IMO, the sound system is OK, not great. I’m trying to reserve judgement on this because I haven’t attempted to adjust anything other than the volume so far, and sound quality can be subjective. I’ve spent a lot of time around people that were very into their sound systems, so I know enough to know that “those people” will be underwhelmed with this system. But I’m happy if the speakers don’t sound like they’re blown, muddy, or distorted. I just listen to SiriusXM, Spotify and Audible (via Android Auto). I’ve tested the normal FM/AM radio stations just to make sure I get reception. It’s annoying that every time I hit the “mode” button, I must cycle through options I’ll never use (e.g., Amazon Music), but that’s a minor complaint.
I don’t know yet whether I’ll pay for SiriusXM after the trial period ends. It seems a little overpriced for what it is, especially since I already have Spotify and don’t have to listen to commercials or annoying DJs on Spotify. I do like getting news channel audio on SiriusXM and it’s well integrated into the 4Runner. You just select all your favorite channels, and then you can cycle through them with the arrow buttons on the steering wheel. This works well for skipping through songs in Spotify play lists as well.
The only other annoyance I haven’t figured out yet is that every now and then the rear window will not come back up using the outside button. It just beeps at me, and I end up having to roll it up from the button in the cab. I’m guessing that I’m doing something wrong.
So, I have very few minor “complaints” (some of which I’ll get used to or resolve in some way). Overall, I am very happy with this 4Runner. What stands out most to me is the acceleration power, especially compared to similar SUVs I’ve driven, and how comfortable it is to drive (ergonomics, suspension, and various driving features). I realize that it isn’t a luxury vehicle, but there’s nothing more I can really think of that I really want. The only feature I can think of that I’ve had in the past that isn’t included on my 4Runner is rain sensing windshield wipers (which truly isn’t that big of a deal). I know there are plenty of other fancy features that perhaps I would miss if I had ever experienced them. For off-road capability, it lacks some features that my heavily modified Jeep has, but I would be making other compromises to have those features on my 4Runner.
Strangely, I’ve driven 1,000 miles in Colorado in the winter and haven’t had the opportunity to drive in any real icy or heavy snow conditions yet (I’m not complaining about this). But I’m sure that will change. I’m very curious to see how these stock tires do in ice and hard packed snow. I’m hoping to get through the rest of this winter, take advantage of the new stock tires this summer for some road trips, then get some better tires installed by next winter. I’ve got KO3s on my Jeep that I’ve been happy with, so I might get the same tires for the 4Runner.
As far as next plans for this 4Runner, I have one Moab trip planned soon, and we’ll start getting it out on more road trips and more off-roading in the summer. At least now we’re past the 1,000 mile break in period!
I'm in Fort Collins. I've been around the state a bunch recently, but not through Boulder yet. Nederland is probably the closest I've been so far.
Nope. I think I would have noticed something like that. Did the dealer have a mechanic look at it. If it's a steering linkage issue, I'd check it out myself and/or have a mechanic look at it just in case there's a safety issue.
Maintenance person and I took it for a test drive, but they said to keep an eye on it and they will check it more thoroughly at the 5000 mile maintenance
There were two sold in Fort Collins when I purchased mine (I think I was second). The other one was a Sport Premium Underground. The Fort Collins dealership also had two '25 4Runners not-for-sale, for test driving only - a Sport Premium Heritage Blue and an Off-Road Premium Everest. I drove both of the one's they had available for test drive before purchasing mine. So, there's at least four in Fort Collins - probably more by now. I still haven't seen another one in the wild. They've got to start rolling these out soon before they have to start working on the 2026 models.Nice! So there are more of us out there
