A young officer’s commissioning is a special time. There’s the oath, the first salute, and (apparently) a shiny new Toyota 4Runner in desert tan paint. Toyota must have missed the memo when I took my commission, but they seem to have remembered to send a new 4Runner to just about everyone else.
Toyota does offer a military discount, but so do many other auto manufacturers. There has to be a different reason so many company-grade officers are drawn to an SUV that has remained largely unchanged since 2009. Is there something officers have to do that requires an aging 4x4 platform? Is there a shadowy cabal that connects Toyota’s truck designers and the future leaders of America’s military?
I’m not afraid to ask hard questions to get the answers we deserve. So why do so many fresh-face lieutenants gravitate to the Toyoto 4Runner? Let’s investigate together.
Why Do Lieutenants Love the 4Runner?
It doesn’t take a board-certified psychiatrist to see that the Toyota 4Runner embodies everything a young U.S. military officer strives to be. It’s rugged, it’s respected, and it’s whatever tactical happens to mean these days.If you squint really hard and use your imagination, a tan 4Runner kind of looks like Jack Carr’s 1988 Land Cruiser. In a young officer’s mind, they’re not that dissimilar from Carr – acclaimed author and retired Navy SEAL – so the pairing is only natural.
That explains the aspirational element of officers’ 4Runner obsession. But here’s a cynical component that’s worth pointing out.
Perhaps the most enduring stereotype of lieutenants (and ensigns, you’re not off the hook) is that they cannot, for the life of them, find their way from one end of a land navigation course to the other. If that were you, wouldn’t you want a vehicle that can get you out of sticky situations far from the road you should have been on in the first place? I certainly would.
It seems like there’s a bit of delusion mixed with some refreshing self-awareness. That butter bar in your unit might have an inflated view of how cool he looks with his high-and-tight, Oakley sunglasses, and sticker-bombed Yeti bottle, but at least he came prepared to bushwhack back to civilization if he gets lost on the way to the Officers Club.
Deep Down, Most of Us Think We’re 4Runner People
The military naturally attracts people who crave adventure. Recruiters draw us in with fighter jets, dragons, and subtle threats that you’ll end up driving a minivan if you don’t enlist this very second. Even if we don’t end up riding inflatable boats out of helicopters as often as we hoped, the desire for excitement doesn’t go away. We might just have to find it ourselves on the weekends.
Fortunately, every permanent change of station move provides a fresh batch of parks, wilderness areas, trails, and rural roads to explore. You’d probably like to have the option to drive down a fire road and find a secluded camping spot even if most of your driving involves paved roads between parking lots.
It’s easy to poke fun at the 4Runner with knobby all-terrain tires parked alongside compact cars and crossover SUVs in your command’s parking lot, but I bet there’s a piece of all of us that wishes we could take that rig to the far corners of the earth, just like the Toyota die-hards at Expedition Overland. We wouldn’t have joined the military if we didn’t have a penchant for adventure.
The Toyota 4Runner Is Objectively Excellent for Military Life
Tragically, Toyota no longer offers the 4Runner TRD Pro in Quicksand, the official color of the Global War on Terror (that’s Toyota paint code 4V6, if you’re interested in a custom paint job). The closest thing on the menu right now is Terra, a rich brown that admittedly looks very good.
Regardless of which color you choose, there are legitimate reasons why you should consider making a 4Runner your next vehicle whether you have gold bars on your collar or not.
Above all else, Toyota has a sterling record for building reliable vehicles. The fifth-generation 4Runner is long in the tooth, but that also means you know what you’re getting. The engine, drivetrain, and major electrical systems have been racking up hundreds of thousands of miles in 4Runners around the world so if they had a weak point, we’d know about it by now.
Buying one of these trucks means that you’ll likely be able to move coast to coast for the military, store it for months at a time while you’re deployed, and explore the world around you at every duty station along the way.
The 4Runner’s interior is nothing special – there’s an awful lot of hard plastic and an infotainment system that’s retro at best. At the same time, you aren’t going to feel bad about hopping into the driver’s seat with muddy boots and a wet uniform.
The back seat has plenty of room for friends or kids, and the cargo area adds up to 47 cubic feet of storage (up to 89 cubic feet with the second-row seats folded down), according to Toyota. If you have to pack a barracks room or apartment worth of personal items into your car and move across the country for a PCS move, this is a good way to do it. The 4Runner also has a towing capacity of 5,000 pounds – enough to add a rental trailer for the rest of your belongings.
So yes, we can tease the lieutenants for marching in lock-step to the nearest Toyota dealership to hold hands and pick out matching 4Runners. Then, when they’re not listening, we should acknowledge that they’re on to something. The 4Runner is a virtually bomb-proof daily driver and no, you don’t have to be a company-grade officer to buy one.
Making Sense of the Toyota 4Runner Lineup
For 2024, Toyota offers the 4Runner in seven trim levels. Some are available in either two-wheel drive or four-wheel drive; don’t bother with a two-wheel drive 4Runner. All of these vehicles use the same 4.0-liter V6 that makes 270 horsepower and 278 pound-feet of torque.
Aside from that, here’s what you need to know about each trim level’s standard features (pay special attention to the TRD Sport, TRD Off-Road Premium, and TRD Pro).
SR5
The SR5 is Toyota’s base trim level for the 4Runner. You can get it with four-wheel drive, skid plates, and basic amenities like an eight-inch touchscreen display, a backup camera, Apple CarPlay, and Android Auto.
SR5 Premium
The SR5 Premium package adds a few upgrades like silver roof rails (instead of black), heated front seats, an auto-dimming rearview mirror, and a Homelink garage door opener.
TRD Sport
We’ve been conditioned to covet any Toyota with a Toyota Racing Development badge, but TRD Sport is an appearance package. You’ll get a few more color-matched exterior pieces, a hood scoop, 20-inch wheels, and X-REAS suspension that improves on-road handling. Oh, and TRD floor mats. Don’t forget those.
If you want a stylish daily driver with the ability to tackle mild off-roading, this is a great choice. The X-REAS suspension will improve the 4Runner’s cornering manners on paved roads.
TRD Off-Road
The 4Runner TRD Off-Road is where things start to get really good. This package comes with 17-inch wheels (smaller wheels are better for off-road driving) and an overhead console with dials for off-road traction control modes and Crawl Control.
TRD Off-Road Premium
Premium upgrades to the TRD Off-Road package include a sunroof, heated front seats, an auto-dimming rearview mirror, and HomeLink.
This is probably the best value proposition in the 4Runner lineup. It’s got legitimate off-roading potential and enough interior niceties to make long road trips relatively enjoyable.
TRD Pro
The apex predator of the 4Runner family is the TRD Pro. These outstanding trucks get a 2.5-inch lift courtesy of excellent Fox suspension, a more aggressive exhaust, an upgraded front skid plate, retro “TOYOTA” grille lettering instead of a Toyota badge, and a JBL audio system.
The Toyota TRD Pro starts at more than $55,000 in 2024, and I’ll be the first to admit that is a huge sum of money to pay for a 4Runner. I’d also be lying if I said it wasn’t one of the best press vehicles I’ve ever driven.
TRD Limited
For the 4Runner TRD Limited, Toyota goes back to 20-inch wheels, lots of chrome, dual-zone climate control, heated and ventilated front seats, and premium JBL audio.
This is the closest you can get to a luxury vehicle in a 4Runner. It puts comfort first and off-roading second.
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