2025 4Runner Trailhunter 1300 miles in.. (check before buying)

[sixfourgarage]

Allllrighty then.. after looking for 4 months with to replace my 2012 Highlander Hybrid Limited (which was an awesome car for all of its 13 years) I narrowed it down to 4Runner Trailhunter & Tacoma Trailhunter... ultimately though went with the 4Runner.. thanks to this website and other online reviews. Quality of the components seem to be better, made in Japan.. I did test drive in several Tacomas and noticed QC (or lack there of)... glue residue in door handles.. some parts/accessories were listed on the sticker but were not in the car.. somewhat unfortunate.

But back to the 4Runner... I think I knew this was it when first photos were released. Trailhunter trim was pretty much the way to go since it was fully loaded and had no sunroof — #tallpeopleproblems. Picked it up, two months after pre-purchasing, the day 4Runner QC hold went into effect.

Initial impressions : this car felt pretty unique.. on the road presence.. Interior / exterior design — pictures really don't do it justice. Up close this thing feels huge. At first I was a bit concerned that front windshield was tiny but that feeling went away fairly quick.. like wearing sunglasses. Cameras - game changer, although rear camera calibration — to compensate for the lift on the Trailhunter, went overlooked.

Excitement was a bit short lived — because within a week I started to notice things. First was an alignment issue, the car was pulling to the left. (picture below) was driving straight on FWY.. Took it to dealer, toe was off by 1.30. Even after readjustment though it feels off a bit sometimes.

Then (Y) letter from my grill fell off after mini heatwave and strong winds.. Glue did reattach though after holding it w. blue tape. Then when looking closer I saw that some of my front letter overlays had damaged plastic on the edges... also why have bronze overlays over bronze letters??? — dealer is replacing the grill after Toyota field rep inspected it.

About a week after that there was a glitch in my Navigation system. Streets and names disappeared couple of times. Normally I wouldn't care but during wildfires and mudslides when cell signal is down I heavily rely on it. To no surprise though dealer couldn't find what was causing it.. so I just have to hope it doesn't happen again.

Don't remember where I saw about gaps in fender flares.. but sure enough my car has it on the right rear. Checked another Trailhunter and that car didn't have it. However according to Toyota rep, this is "normal characteristic" and dealer tech tried comparing my car to a Tacoma.. it's not even the same part. Shortly after that I found damage on my roof rack. Luckily I have pictures from my salesperson before I picked up my car that showed the damage.. Pain the butt though I have to wait until another appt w. toyota rep to get it handled..

Week or so ago ended up buying film to protect the very scratchable black shiny parts.. and gauge cluster.. when I was wiping down interior came across defect in plastic (4H 2H drive selector).. two pinhole dings.. — dealer is replacing that part as well.. (it's inside the 4 in 4L - in the pic) and (below 4H)

I did notice rear camera distortion early on but thought it was normal until I started to watch reviews of people test driving OR-premium trims.. and that distortion wasnt there. I think when the new suspension was put on the car that lifted it.. they recalibrated the front cam but not the rear. Someone was in the rush to get these cars out.

In some ways I feel like I bought a prototype. I keep finding new things almost every other day... It's only been 40 days. Toyota is still figuring out manufacturing process and QC in these models is just not up to par with my previous Toyotas and I had 3rd & 4th gen + highlander.. Another observation - Trailhuhter center armrest - is delicate AF. Unlike Tacoma it's not easy to replace, there is small rectangular foam pad on top but ZERO cushion on sides and easily scuffed. I almost wish it was SR5 / ORP armrest. For a car designed to be going off-road it's ridiculously delicate.

When reading another users Trailhunter post re. bright screen - just switch that thing to always dark (uncheck auto brightness). Did that on day 1. To protect screen I used Spigen screen protector and blue painters tape to align protector to top of the screen — makes install super easy.

Don't get me wrong.. I still feel like this is a great car.. hopefully everything gets fixed & hopefully Toyota gets its QC sht together. It's just a pain to spend so much damn money and already be on the first name with dealer service and parts dept.

I definitely recommend looking over every part of the car pre-delivery. Because all this stuff was there from the beginning.

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[OnePunchPan]

Glad you took the time to look over and check for these issues. I think most people would say "suck it up, it's a car" but shietttt after the money you spent? I'd expect everything to be perfect

 

[HVLA]

This is what happens when you buy an early build of a total redesign. Sucks but that is reality. Has been the case with every model by every manufacturer since the beginning of time.

 

[lonewolfga]

This is awesome info. Wife and I are going to pickup our 2025 TRD Off Road Premium today. I will be doing a thorough look see.

 

[kekecarioca]

When was yours Manufactured if you know? I picked up my TH in mid May. (build was early April aprox. ). I do not have any of the issues you have at all. I do wonder if you somehow got a really early build, borderline pre-production...
Hope Toyota AND the dealer do it right..

Yes the piano black in the center dash is a big miss.... it scratches with breathing on it. Got film on them now, but in the week of ownership and delivery of film I got a few minuscule scratches after being super careful...

 

[sixfourgarage]

my window sticker was generated on 3/31, it was done being built around end of March / early April. picked up my car from dealer on 5/16 (it arrived 5/15)

 

[AmericanGI]

Thank you for sharing story and pictures. Greatly appreciated.

 

[kekecarioca]

my window sticker was generated on 3/31, it was done being built around end of March / early April. picked up my car from dealer on 5/16 (it arrived 5/15)

SO pretty much same as mine give or take a few days....

 

[kekecarioca]

2 things I did notice but were also (after later checking at the dealer ) on other units were :
-Rear spoiler has quite a bit of play. TRD ORP had it too.
-Air intake has some play as well. TH tacoma had it too.

I DO have the reverse brake squeal.... there is another thread on that subject...

 

[Fine_Shrine]

Making a checklist based on other threads, and via the actual delivery checklist...

AREA	ITEM	LOOK FOR
Exterior	Tires	Check PSI for over/under inflation
Exterior (body)	Fender flares	Gaps
Exterior (front)	Air dam	Missing or loose bolts
Exterior (front)	Letter overlays	Peeling edges
Exterior (top)	Roof rack	Gaps in edge joints, scratches, dents
Exterior (top)	Rear spoiler	Loose/jiggly
Exterior (under)	Suspension	Check for delivery blocks
Interior	Memory seat setup	Memory not primed; loses setting
Interior center console	Piano black buttons	Pinhole dings
Technology	Navigation system	Disappearing street names/map sections
Technology	Back-up camera display	Distortion behind bumper
While driving	Pull to one side	Alignment of toe off
While driving	Rear brakes	Noticeable squeal while in reverse

 

[youngolf]

Allllrighty then.. after looking for 4 months with to replace my 2012 Highlander Hybrid Limited (which was an awesome car for all of its 13 years) I narrowed it down to 4Runner Trailhunter & Tacoma Trailhunter... ultimately though went with the 4Runner.. thanks to this website and other online reviews. Quality of the components seem to be better, made in Japan.. I did test drive in several Tacomas and noticed QC (or lack there of)... glue residue in door handles.. some parts/accessories were listed on the sticker but were not in the car.. somewhat unfortunate.

But back to the 4Runner... I think I knew this was it when first photos were released. Trailhunter trim was pretty much the way to go since it was fully loaded and had no sunroof — #tallpeopleproblems. Picked it up, two months after pre-purchasing, the day 4Runner QC hold went into effect.

Initial impressions : this car felt pretty unique.. on the road presence.. Interior / exterior design — pictures really don't do it justice. Up close this thing feels huge. At first I was a bit concerned that front windshield was tiny but that feeling went away fairly quick.. like wearing sunglasses. Cameras - game changer, although rear camera calibration — to compensate for the lift on the Trailhunter, went overlooked.

Excitement was a bit short lived — because within a week I started to notice things. First was an alignment issue, the car was pulling to the left. (picture below) was driving straight on FWY.. Took it to dealer, toe was off by 1.30. Even after readjustment though it feels off a bit sometimes.

Then (Y) letter from my grill fell off after mini heatwave and strong winds.. Glue did reattach though after holding it w. blue tape. Then when looking closer I saw that some of my front letter overlays had damaged plastic on the edges... also why have bronze overlays over bronze letters??? — dealer is replacing the grill after Toyota field rep inspected it.

About a week after that there was a glitch in my Navigation system. Streets and names disappeared couple of times. Normally I wouldn't care but during wildfires and mudslides when cell signal is down I heavily rely on it. To no surprise though dealer couldn't find what was causing it.. so I just have to hope it doesn't happen again.

Don't remember where I saw about gaps in fender flares.. but sure enough my car has it on the right rear. Checked another Trailhunter and that car didn't have it. However according to Toyota rep, this is "normal characteristic" and dealer tech tried comparing my car to a Tacoma.. it's not even the same part. Shortly after that I found damage on my roof rack. Luckily I have pictures from my salesperson before I picked up my car that showed the damage.. Pain the butt though I have to wait until another appt w. toyota rep to get it handled..

Week or so ago ended up buying film to protect the very scratchable black shiny parts.. and gauge cluster.. when I was wiping down interior came across defect in plastic (4H 2H drive selector).. two pinhole dings.. — dealer is replacing that part as well.. (it's inside the 4 in 4L - in the pic) and (below 4H)

I did notice rear camera distortion early on but thought it was normal until I started to watch reviews of people test driving OR-premium trims.. and that distortion wasnt there. I think when the new suspension was put on the car that lifted it.. they recalibrated the front cam but not the rear. Someone was in the rush to get these cars out.

In some ways I feel like I bought a prototype. I keep finding new things almost every other day... It's only been 40 days. Toyota is still figuring out manufacturing process and QC in these models is just not up to par with my previous Toyotas and I had 3rd & 4th gen + highlander.. Another observation - Trailhuhter center armrest - is delicate AF. Unlike Tacoma it's not easy to replace, there is small rectangular foam pad on top but ZERO cushion on sides and easily scuffed. I almost wish it was SR5 / ORP armrest. For a car designed to be going off-road it's ridiculously delicate.

When reading another users Trailhunter post re. bright screen - just switch that thing to always dark (uncheck auto brightness). Did that on day 1. To protect screen I used Spigen screen protector and blue painters tape to align protector to top of the screen — makes install super easy.

Don't get me wrong.. I still feel like this is a great car.. hopefully everything gets fixed & hopefully Toyota gets its QC sht together. It's just a pain to spend so much damn money and already be on the first name with dealer service and parts dept.

I definitely recommend looking over every part of the car pre-delivery. Because all this stuff was there from the beginning.

No doubt, while the going is good, they are rushing production.....IMAGINE the QC issues if these were made in 'Merica thanks to dumps 'Make America Great Again' scam coupled with the standard 'greed over quality' of 'Merican executives, despite the famous Japanese QC standards.....they'd find a way to screw it over.

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