I have a 03 4-Runner now.. 212,000 miles. I have had great luck with it. Very little in the way of repairs, comfortable ride, and never stuck!! (knock on wood.)
I am thinking of retiring it in the next year or so.
A possible replacement would be a Tacoma crew cab with the short bed, and a shell on the back.
My question is does anyone know how the tacoma is going down the highway? I have driven a Tundra it seemed very smooth. Is the tacoma similar?
(I put 50,00 miles on per year, and I'm a old geezer that does not want to get beat to death bouncing down the 4 lane.)
I know, I should go test ride one, and I will, but I am curious what you all think.
Also, any issues with the 05+ Tacoma?? I think I'll stay with the V-6. I have been very impressed with it.

Thanks,
Jeff

 

Go to a dealer and test drive one.

 

I personally think the ride is nice in the new Tacos. Good highway manners, though mine is now modified and some of the highway comfort has been sacrificed, it's still nicer driving down the highway than my '99 4runner was.
Some people have had some problems with mainly '05 Tacoma's (which I have), guys who wheel their trucks hard have had the frame under the motor mount, cave in. Others have complained of soft paint that is prone to chipping. I have had none of these problems, while I don't jump my truck off cliffs or run in into boulders, I do wheel it on some pretty technical trails, and it's holding up just fine so far with 62k on it.

 

My '06 has done just fine. The only issue was the weak rear springs, which I replaced when I installed my lift. The ride is just fine, although it is still a truck and has some truck ride characteristics. I don't know how it compares to a Tundra, but I do know that my Tacoma suits me just fine.

 

I'm pretty sure the rear seats a bit more cramped in a tacoma than a runner, keep that in mind. Also the pickups designed to have the best ride with a moderate load in the bed so it's gonna ride rougher empty. In short, if you love the ride of your 4 runner, you're gonna have to get used to the tacoma, but it's not that bad.

 

I have an 06 trd taco 4x4 double cab and my wife has an 08 sr5 runner 4x4, both v-6's, but mine's a 6 speed. The ride difference isn't that drastic. Mine actually handles quick drops better(i.e. railroad tracks) and I think my seats are more comfortable even though we had leather put in her's. flashkl is right about the rear seats. I have a lot less room than my wife's runner, but it's still big enough for a car seat and some buddies in the back, which suits me just fine. One more thing to consider, at least to me, is that my taco's ABS activates way faster than my wife's, which is very annoying to me.

 

I wonder if it's possible that you have a tire traction issue or a problem with the ABS that is causing that, or maybe it's an issue with the type of pavement you drive on. The reason I'm wondering is that my ABS rarely activates, and many times I hear the tires starting to squeal before the ABS does activate.

Mine seems to work just fine, and works better than any other car/truck ABS system I've ever had, except maybe the '92 Ford Taurus I once had.

 

Thanks ohioyotaguy, that type of info is exactly what I was looking for. I will probably end up getting one off of fleabay, or craigslist. Very seldom see them traded in. (that's a good sign.) I need the 4 wheel drive more for muddy fields when I'm hunting, I take a bike when I'm just having fun off road.
So I don't think I need to worry about paint hardness or motor support..
Maybe a few extra punds in the bed will smooth it out also.

 

Indeed, the taco is a better 4x4 in my opinion, especially with the factory e-locker. I'm also a bigger fan of the 6 speed than ANY automatic I've ever had. What other stock truck can you zip up to 83mph and only be in 3rd gear?! I love my taco and will probably never have anything but... unless I upgrade to a Tundra... if I can ever shell out the $47,000 for the limited crewmax. For now, taco's are #1!!!!

 

Nice to see you have 200,000+ trouble-free miles on your 4.0 V6. Hopefully its a good sign that these engines will have similar quality to the 3.4 V6.

My folks have an 03 4Runner, and I think it gives a better on-pavement ride than the Tacoma. With coil springs front and rear on the 4Runner, I would expect that. The Tacoma is a truck, and it has leaf springs, and you can feel this difference with all else being equal. But you gain a bed, more storage and a lighter back side with this design - if any of these things are important to you.

And sometimes you just need to have a truck to mix things up a little. That's what I did after having 2 4Runners, and its been good. I definitely miss the wheelbase of the Runner though....

 

I'd also look into getting 06+ as the 05's (and a few 06's, too) had problems with the rear diff.