The fifth-generation 4Runner’s been around since 2009, by far the longest-running of any other. It’s been around so long that if it were a person, it’d be a high school freshman this year. But that does have one crucial advantage. You’re effectively buying the same truck from the used market as you would from new. Sure, it might not have a new-car smell or the most up-to-date firmware. But a 2017 TRD Pro looks, sounds, and feels like any other TRD Pro. Which for all intents and purposes, means you can buy a very similar 4Runner to dealer new, for half the price. Couple that with Toyota’s famously reliable truck powertrains. That plus the price point alone puts the first-year TRD Pro as our top pick.
I've been an automotive aficionado since I had baby teeth. My path was set when I first leaned on my grandfather's classic Porsche as I learned how to walk. One of my first memories was my mother sitting me behind the wheel of her Pontiac and talking me through the instrumentation and controls. Even though I was a mere three or four years old, I was instantly sold, and filled notebooks with technical drawings, sketches, and collections of manuals of all sorts of cars. I've actively tracked developments in automotive and motorsport technology for well over 20 years, and pride myself on being intimately familiar with the functions and history of a wide range of vehicles.
My primary goal as a writer and enthusiast is to equally learn and share what I've learned in a constructive and interesting way. I maintain connections with people from around the world and can read technical manuals in Italian, Japanese, and Spanish, granting me access to a wide array of resources. My primary focuses are deep-dives into historical topics, motorsport discussion, and learning about the complex mechanical elements of such vehicles. As such, my research is never perfect; as anyone into cars will attest, the more you learn about cars, the more you realize how little you actually know. Therefore, I always welcome fresh knowledge and corrections to help me better my work in the future.
