The Toyota 4Runner is a car some may hail as the second coming of god. Most enthusiasts would agree with this. The 4Runner has a long and storied history of being capable while also being a great throw-your-family-in-for-a-trip-to-Disney vehicle. However, most of that is surface stuff. After driving one, specifically a 2019 5th gen, I got to understand just how the beast FEELS.

To put it simply, it’s as if Power-wheels made a full size, gas powered, adult vehicle. Everything is made of plastic, because Toyota, but it also feels durable. Every interior trim piece feels like it can be sat on without it breaking. All the buttons and knobs are oversized and simplified to the point a toddler could understand. Normally, this sounds like a negative. All the new cars are all about how much you can stuff down the consumer’s throat until they puke, but the 4Runner is one of the last few vehicles still built that feels like it will last. And honestly, that’s what it’s always been, glad to see nothing changed.

Does this mean everything about this car is good? God no. One of the biggest complaints I found was the brakes. Yes, this could be from poor maintenance, no I don’t care. It was like shoving my foot into a pile of mashed potatoes. Like stepping into quick sand. They worked fine, but I don’t want to feel like I’m driving a goddamn school bus. Talking about driving a school bus, taking corners in the 4Runner is exactly that. Every left or right requires the driver to also hang on for dear life. How close is the car from tipping over in reality? Probably not close, but goddamn does it feel like it.

Power? Sure, it has an amount. It doesn’t matter in this car, it’s not overwhelming and not underwhelming, just simply adequate. It doesn’t need to be anything more. Now, the real question is how it performs OFF ROAD YEAHHHHH!!!! Great, you want to go off road, this will perform just as well as any other random 4WD SUV on the market. Its a basic trim with street tires, if you want to do anything try the TRD PRO or whatever they have now. 80 percent of these will never see the world outside of asphalt and if they do, it because the mom understeered into a snow bank and needs to reverse out. Don’t kid yourself.

The best part about the 4Runner is how it feels as a vehicle. I don’t mean the driving dynamics, I mean the physical feeling of using the car. It a great vehicle to move large objects or people from one place to another while remaining durable and idiot-friendly. It should be the cover car for “Driving for Dummies” because it just functions exactly how it should. No surprises, nothing confusing. No hidden pockets or advanced head-units. Simply just a physically solid car, which is what a 4Runner should be.