Toyota 4Runner
Hacker ApprovedRanked 2 of 5 off-road SUVs by recommenders
Owners report very long life with routine fluid changes and few smart features. Common caveat: some parts can fail.
Owners report very long life with routine fluid changes and few smart features. Common caveat: some parts can fail.
14 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 11
- criticize it
- 3
- approval share
- 79%
Recommended in 8 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Owned for 2 years
Median of the 5 owners who said how long they have had it.
Each square is one year.
Why it carries the badge
- 11 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 3.7 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 8 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Reliable, long-lasting, low maintenance
“our 4runner has 260k miles and hasn't ever had anything done but engine oil, trans oil, and differential oil”
Comment from 19 Jul 2026 in “REO Trucks I4 4WD Pickup Truck Starts at $21,500” “I've spent less on it than anything I could buy new, and it will probably outlast us all.”
Comment from 12 Sep 2026 in “How to buy a good car for $1000” “Stuff like this makes me hope more and more that my 4Runner actually lasts forever.”
Comment from 16 Nov 2025 in “Hyundai Paywalls Brake Pads replacement on Ioniq 5 N” - Comment from 20 May 2026 in “Nobody understands the point of hybrid cars [video]”
Simple to fix, few smart features
“The engineering of my Toyota is so much simpler and easier to work on than his BMW.”
Comment from 27 Nov 2025 in “The Tesla Model Y Just Scored the Worst Reliability Rating in a Decade” “absolutely huge and clear labeled knobs and buttons all over the place”
Comment from 3 May 2026 in “Mercedes-Benz commits to bringing back physical buttons” “have been absolutely loving the car with least amount of smart tech”
Comment from 7 Sep 2026 in “The car industry A/B tested selling a car with and without CarPlay”
Other off-road SUVs people recommend
The four most recommended other off-road SUVs, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toyota Land Cruiser | 15 | 2 | 88% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Toyota 4RunnerThis page | 11 | 3 | 79% | 8 | 2 yrs5 owners | Approved |
| Jeep Wrangler | 5 | 10 | 33% | 5 | — | — |
| Toyota Land Cruiser 70 | 5 | 0 | 100% | 4 | — | — |
| Ford Bronco | 5 | 1 | 83% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
15 of the 17 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“My beloved 4Runner was made in Japan, as is the rest of them”
“It's not merely automatic, is a "learning" automatic, so it's behavior is always changing and never predictable.”
“You're probably looking for a 4th gen 4Runner with the 2UZ-FE”
“I've spent less on it than anything I could buy new, and it will probably outlast us all.”
“have been absolutely loving the car with least amount of smart tech”
“our 4runner has 260k miles and hasn't ever had anything done but engine oil, trans oil, and differential oil”
“were also already known for being fuel efficient and reliable cars”
“telemetry is enabled by default. You get warning stickers but other than that, it's just on.”
“absolutely huge and clear labeled knobs and buttons all over the place”
“all that does is disable the useful functions for you”
“I’m still very happy with my 2024 4Runner”
“they overstrain them, and put huge turbos on the engines”
“even the 4runner has annoying garbage which can fail.”
“The engineering of my Toyota is so much simpler and easier to work on than his BMW.”
“Stuff like this makes me hope more and more that my 4Runner actually lasts forever.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.