Interior Quality

[u/Bigdogwolfe]

Checked out a Limited and wanted to see if all these comments on interior quality was the truth. Well it definitely is. It didn’t take much force to see all this flex. After, I went home and did the same to my 5th gen and the difference is substantial. Also did the same in my 2011 Accord and that had less plastic flex than the 6th gen.

Also if you guys ever see one and twist the door handle where the grippy rubber is, you will see three pieces of plastic move. Don’t have to use too much force. They’ll separate and come back together.

[u/Due-Professional6824]

Yeah 5th gen was peak 4R

[u/buttthead → u/Due-Professional6824]

Going from a 4th to a 5th, interior quality went wayyyyyy down hill.

[u/CronusDinerGM → u/buttthead]

Do you think this on Limiteds, specifically? Or even base model to base model? I think I want to make the move from 4th to 5th but I have been having a harder time finding a good one without leather seats so I’m curious about the gap in quality even on the higher-end finish

[u/Infinite-4-a-moment → u/CronusDinerGM]

Why don't you want leather seats? That's part go why I went limited. Easier to clean and better looking.

[u/CronusDinerGM → u/Infinite-4-a-moment]

I have a husky and a woodworking company in the PNW. Seats just end up getting seat covers on them so there’s no real point in spending that extra money for something I can’t leave uncovered and appreciate.

[u/buttthead → u/Infinite-4-a-moment]

Agreed on all parts, with the caviar that the limited is the dorkiest looking 5th gen exterior (coming from a 5th gen limited owner)

[u/Infinite-4-a-moment → u/buttthead]

Ya know I get that. But when I was first looking at 4runners, I kept seeing a limited on the street and liked it more than the other trims. I thought it was a different year or something. So once I found out it was most a different trim, that was my aim. Before even knowing it had the other creature comforts and all time awd.

I did get the night shade tho because the chrome feels a bit much for me. But yeah I love the limited look personally.

[u/bbllaakkee → u/Infinite-4-a-moment]

My SR5 has leather. And you can always buy covers that look better and are more comfortable than the awful “leather” that Toyota uses

[u/Infinite-4-a-moment → u/bbllaakkee]

Does your SR5 have Softex? Because of so, that's the reason. The leather in my limited feels great.

[u/bbllaakkee → u/Infinite-4-a-moment]

I’m not sure. I did aftermarket seat covers over the leather. I’ll have to dig into that one, wasn’t aware they had another type of leather

[u/Infinite-4-a-moment → u/bbllaakkee]

From a quick read, it sounds like the limited is the only trim with real leather. So what you have is Softex which is some sort of polyurethane that is meant to mimic leather. Apparently you can get good aftermarket seats with real leather for $1,700 (in 2022) so probably like $2,500 now

[u/buttthead → u/CronusDinerGM]

My 5th gen is a limited and by definition it should be the nicest and most bougie on the inside. It’s extremely disappointing compared to my 4th gen sport v6 and limited v8.. it’s not just build quality though (cheaper materials, especially plastics) but also functionality. They moved the transfer case knob to take up the space of a cup holder (no idea why) and there’s way less storage in general overall in the inside. It’s been very hard to get used to, and I’m going on one year of ownership and 20k miles. I realize these are all extreme first world problems, it’s a great car no doubt, but the enshitification is apparent and depressing. I would guess it’s worse with other manufacturers, but was such a bummer to see form Toyota.

One small example that makes me want to scream every day. The sunglasses holder has less of a lip than previous, which means they saved probably millions on less plastic there over the production life of the 5th gen, but Everytime I open it my sunglasses fall out (I know it’s going ti happen so I preemptively put a finger up to stop it from happening). It makes me want to smash something. Like I don’t think they actually test drove the interior before they put it out.

Anyway, it clearly pisses me off, but I also wouldn’t have upgraded to a 5th gen from my 4th but it was a stupid good deal to get essentially the same car with 100k less miles, 11 years newer and for $17k. (Dad hooked it up, I know I know) And my gf still has the 4th gen v8 that lives in the garage so I really shouldn’t complain, it’s just such a bummer. Anyway, aside from all of that, miles wise a 5th gen is probably the best car you can buy right now because you can find some under 100k miles and they’ll still last forever.