2025 Toyota 4Runner Review: Time for Some Soul Searching
The verdict: The first all-new Toyota 4Runner in 15 model years is a welcome and predictable iteration of the popular off-road SUV and offers enough capability, refinement and variety to satisfy even the most zealous of 4Runner super fans. Just make sure the heavy, heavy pricing works in your favor.
Versus the competition: Surprisingly, the only true competition for the Toyota 4Runner can be found in the Ford Bronco and Jeep Wrangler, both of which offer less refinement and on-road manners but are counterbalanced by stronger off-road capability. The 4Runner cuts the perfect middle ground between the two — but you’re gonna pay dearly for it.
Reviewing the all-new 2025 Toyota 4Runner seems a bit silly to me — or maybe just an exercise in frustration. First, the 4Runner fan base remains one of the most fervently loyal and change-resistant folk in all autodom, and despite 15 model years under the tires of the last-gen 4Runner, that old warhorse still had an alarming number of fans lining up at dealers. Those die-hards have already made up their mind as to whether or not they like this newest generation.
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Then there are the most casual 4Runner buyers, those who have either held out for a new generation of SUV or are ready to upgrade their ancient one in search of modern tech and refinement. To y’all, I say run, don’t walk, to your local dealer and nab a 2025 in your preferred flavor and color.
Both parties should already basically know what to expect from a dynamic and hands-on perspective. As it has been since the dawn of this SUV, the new sixth-gen 4Runner is, for the most part, an SUV version of the Tacoma mid-size pickup truck. There are trim differences between the two, and the cabin offers a marked step up in refinement and general rigidity, but from an aesthetic, technologic, mechanical and materials perspective, the smart 4Runner enthusiasts test-drove the current-gen Tacoma to get a sneak peek.
The Tacoma Tango
Those expectations would be dead on the money. It steers, stops, starts and sounds like a Tacoma thanks to a shared platform, drivetrain and dash structure. I had my first glug in the TRD Off-Road, the mid-spec trim level I consider the baseline in the lineup for your average 4×4 enthusiast. It adds Bilstein off-road shocks, multiple terrain driving modes, crawl control, a locking rear differential, all-terrain tires and underbody skid plates.
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For the dirty, dusty stuff, each off-road 4Runner trim was gated to a specific area of the venue where Toyota hosted journalists. (Per our ethics policy, Cars.com pays for its own travel and lodging when attending such manufacturer-sponsored events.) The TRD Off-Road was tasked with a sprawling dirt trail reminiscent of your standard four-wheelin’ fire road, only this one swelled with hills and blind-crest corners sharp and steep enough to necessitate low range. Both the standard i-Force turbocharged 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine and its i-Force Max hybrid sibling proved more than torquey enough for mid-hill starts, especially with the hybrid’s icky-sticky 465 pounds-feet of torque.
Off-Road Oligarch
As dramatic as the landscape proved, the TRD Off-Road wasn’t even breaking a sweat. It was fairly point-and-shoot in this environment, made that much easier with the 4Runner’s rather helpful exterior camera suite that popped on under a certain speed and turned blind crests into … well, just crests.
Ride composure and body control while on this jostling track were impressive, and I would say the closed cabin imparted a “feel” that’s modestly more cohesive than the Tacoma’s. The same can absolutely be said for the hardest-of-hardcore Trailhunter, the newest top-spec off-road trim for the 4Runner that shares pricing and capability with the ever-popular TRD Pro. Just like the Taco, Toyota shifted the focus of the TRD Pro to that of a pseudo-desert runner, with Fox remote-reservoir shocks and floating rear bump-stops to iron out big Baja whoops. The Trailhunter is designed for slower technical stuff and features 2.5-inch Old Man Emu shocks, a full underbody skid-plate set, an intake snorkel, a roof rack and an onboard air compressor.
Toyota positions the Trailhunter as the overlander’s favorite, excelling at (reasonable) rock crawling and articulation that would stymie lesser trims. I drove it on the tight, slow and technical off-road trail, encountering no obstacle that necessitated either locking the rear diff or disconnecting the stabilizer bar, implying that even in the face of a fairly steep cobble climb, there was plenty of capability left in the tank.
Priorities, Priorities
This is all to say the off-road, overlanding 4Runner enthusiast will be right at home in the new generation, but I would highly suggest some soul searching to determine if you really need to append “Pro” to your “TRD.” The average occasional off-roader can and should save the extra $18,000 for a TRD Pro or Trailhunter by choosing a TRD Off-Road version, especially if all you ever plan to do is some local wheelin’ at the off-highway vehicle park.
But even if you don’t, the answer of “I just think it’s damn cool” is perfectly acceptable — because it is damn cool. The Trailhunter is mighty fine on-road, as well, with the squishy all-terrains and crawl-focused Old Man Emu shocks not extracting too much penalty in the ride-and-handling department.
Of course, it’s the Platinum trim you’ll want if you’re focused on finery. Leather upholstery and all bells, whistles, kit and caboodle are standard at this grade, including heated and ventilated front seats, heated rear seats, a power moonroof, head-up display, 14-inch touchscreen infotainment screen and 14-speaker JBL premium sound system. It’s observably upmarket for something with a Toyota badge, though it should be, seeing as it’s priced at $64,310 (prices include $1,450 destination fee). That’s shockingly still less than the TRD Pro/Trailhunter duo, which each start at an identical $68,350.
Pricing Pains
That’s where it starts to get a little wacky. For the most part, there’s no concern if you stick to trims up to the TRD Off-Road, which starts at $50,640. The TRD Off-Road Premium pushes the price to $56,420, which is less than two grand short of the base Land Cruiser 1958’s starting price.
Keep in mind the Land Cruiser is fundamentally positioned as a premium Toyota off-road SUV while sharing near-identical powertrains, platform and dimensions with this new-gen 4Runner. The lines get even blurrier if you jump to the 4Runner TRD Pro and Trailhunter, which are roughly the same price as a well-equipped Land Cruiser and almost $12,000 more than the last-gen 4Runner TRD Pro.
Back to the 4Runner Platinum: That matches both a mid-level Land Cruiser and comes within roughly $1,000 of the Land Cruiser-based Lexus GX 550’s starting price.
Speaking of that, the nicer, more powerful and better-equipped GX 550 Overtrail — which is the GX’s most off-road-focused trim — barely scoots ahead of both a loaded Land Cruiser and the 4Runner TRD Pro/Trailhunter with a base price of roughly $73,000. This is long before we even get to the Jeep Wrangler and Ford Bronco, both of which can be remarkably well equipped for under $60,000, including the Wrangler’s Rubicon trim and the Bronco’s Badlands variant. Of course, the 4Runner is more refined than these dedicated off-roaders, but the pricing structure for these 4Runners is nutso.
More From Cars.com:
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- Off-Road Toyotas Compared: 2024 Land Cruiser Vs. 2025 4Runner
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- Run 4 the Trails: All-New 2025 Toyota 4Runner Gains Turbo and Hybrid Power, Trailhunter Trim
- 2024 Toyota Land Cruiser Review: Readjust Your Expectations
Generational Turnover
That said, you certainly are getting a whole heck of a lot more “car” in the redesigned 4Runner compared with the outgoing fifth-gen SUV. From a refinement and comfort perspective, it ain’t even close; the old 4.0-liter V-6 and five-speed automatic transmission are beloved for their robustness and reliability, but the new hybridized turbo four-cylinder is a fair moonshot away in efficiency and capability. Compare the 2025 TRD Pro’s 23/24 mpg city/highway ratings to the last-gen TRD Pro’s 16/19 mpg estimates, and the 2025’s 1,000-pound towing capacity increase to 6,000 pounds.
It also handles, rides and presents as a modern vehicle, something that couldn’t be said for the prior 4Runner, which was a full two generations behind the Tacoma. That remains part of the older 4Runner’s charm for sure, but there is something to be said for fresh tech and (more) modern engineering — even if it means the added complexity of forced-induction engine technology and hybridization.
But 4Runner faithful, this is your come-to-Jesus moment; Toyota is never — and I mean never — going to return to a naturally aspirated V-6 setup in the 4Runner. If that’s your primary concern, either make peace with the fact that you’ll never again purchase a new 4Runner, or hold your nose and realize the new turbo four ain’t all that bad.
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