I just had a look at the 2025 Toyota 4Runner, and decided to crawl around both inside and underneath. And while I’ll show you the hardware later, for now, let’s have a look at all the interior storage cubbies. Because storage, especially in an overland vehicle, is crucial.
As much as I want to discuss how the 4Runner and Land Cruiser are basically the same vehicle, it’s time to focus on what matters: storage. And the 4Runner has…an OK amount of that. Though it’s also limited, in a way.
Let’s get into it.
First things first: The second-row seats tumble; they do not fold flat. This means I, a 5’8″ dude, had to lay down at an angle and use a little cutout in the rear cargo area side trim for my feet; only then could I lay down outstretched.
As I understand, this is different than the current 4Runner, whose rear seat-backs do indeed fold flat, with only the bottom cushion leaning up against the front seats. This leaves plenty of room to sleep:
Sleeping in the new 4Runner without removing the rear seats just isn’t going to work. For me to fit, I had to lay down diagonally:
Here’s the cutout where my seat fit, barely:
On the hybrid model, things become a bit dire if you want to lay down, as there’s a large step in the floor due to the Nickel-Metal Hydride battery under the rear (you can see the cooling vents there on the C-pillar trim):
The hybrid battery also makes the load height rather high, so if you need to lift something heavy into the new 4Runner hybrid: Gird your loins:
As you can see, the non-hybrid isn’t as bad:
Overall, there’s tons of space behind the second row, and there’s storage on each side; on these two-row models this seems a bit randomly placed, but I suppose on three-row 4Runners those will be nice for passengers in the wayback.
The second row has the standard fold-down cupholders in the center armrest that you tend to see in pretty much every car, and there’s storage in each door, with the cupholder being my favorite bin in the whole vehicle:
Here’s a look at that deep cupholder under the JBL speaker and just ahead of a nice horizontally-oriented storage bin:
Let’s look closer at this masterpiece:
I love a nice, deep, cylindrical cupholder. Anyway, let’s move on. Check out the pockets behind the seats:
Up front, each door has three cupholders, along with a shallow, flat storage cubby on the outboard lower corner of the door:
In the center between the seats, we have two cupholders, a grab handle for the passenger to hold onto while off-roading (below the grab handle is a grid that you could theoretically clip things to, plus there’s a little plastic hook for grocery bags), a glovebox, and a bin above the glovebox:
Here’s the center console, which is a little on the shallower side:
To the right of the steering wheel is a small cubic storage bin, likely where some switch (perhaps a keyed ignition switch on lower-trim models?) might sit on other 4Runners:
And there’s an overhead glasses holder:
So the 4Runner has some limitations. No fold-flat seats, a tall rear cargo floor, and not too many novel storage solutions. Still, it does have 12 cupholders and it has this:
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Would a lift-up glass window be faster and less prone to failure? Definitely. But there’s just something about a power sliding rear window; it’s just awesome.
I imagine this is because the market has shifted somewhat. The Land Cruiser has come down (and I’m pretty sure it’s a different Land Cruiser than we’ve had in the past rather than the full fat version), and the 4Runner has stepped sideways. I don’t know what every market is like, but here in the Denver area, EVERY soccer mom and soccer dad drives a white TRD 4Runner. When I drop my daughter off for pre-school, there are seriously 4 or 5 of them (hard to keep track, because they are literally all identical). 99.99% of soccer moms aren’t sleeping in the backs of their white TRD 4Runners. The Land Cruiser is the one that needs to sleep.
The real question, is how does the 4Runner fit over on the other side of Toyota’s catalog now with the Highlander, Seqoia, Sienna, etc. My guess is that it’s the Highlander’s Action Mom alternative, and that model may be sunsetted soon.
This is what happens when MBAs get a hold of product. Designing an interior architecture that can fold flat requires a great deal of planning, design, and engineering forethought, activities that don’t neatly fit with a business majors “line go up” timeline. A spreadsheet doesn’t meaningfully compare the value of fold flat seats to the number of cup holders, but increasing that number is good enough because “bigger number is better” is all that their brains have space for.
WTAF!! They should have designed it for someone 6ft to sleep in the back and or have hardpoints for drawers and a deck, at least on the trailhunter trim. I cannot sleep strait in my JKU and cannot get a 4ft wide board in it either and I was going to look at the new trailhunter but without the flat floor and a a way a 6tf’er can sleep NOPE.
Ugh. Toyota design has really taken a dump lately, IMO. So much ugly plastic inside and out. Looks cheap-ass from every angle.
That’s the idea… cheap. Well, cheaper than the Pra–(sorry) the North American Land Cruiser. But not cheap.
First their minivan seats quit folding flat, now their SUV… Is Toyota buying up cheap hotel chains or what?
This article is a game changer. My wife and I were thankful to be able to sleep in our 4Runner (2023 purchased new) whilst outmaneuvering the weather forecast to be able to view the eclipse. With the sliding cargo deck I have a perfectly flat/smooth sleeping area in a pinch. I also sleep in it multiple times a year for outdoor pursuits. Hotels and Airbnb aren’t worth it when the target is remote and you need to start your activity at 3am.
If I were currently in the market, this version of the 4Runner would be crossed off my list.
It would be interesting to learn what the compromises were that led to this packaging decision. It seems the interior space shrank while the truck grew larger. Thanks David it’s a breath of fresh air to read automotive articles that don’t always sugarcoat the pretty new shiny things.
California Starbucks hauler finally embracing its best life
Excuse me while two of my 6-foot-tall selves go stretch out flat in the back of my dramatically smaller Saab 900.
I know my Pontiac Vibe (Toyota Matrix) is ancient but also…. hello as well. Back seats flat and front passenger seat too.
Is it REALLY that hard to design fold-flat seats in a giant SUV or minivan?!?
My in-laws last minivan (Odyssey) has second row seats that don’t fold flat and don’t even lock. It’s sooo much fun trying to wrangle those out when hauling stuff. Moronic design that is worse than the previous one by leaps and bounds.
The new Sequoia has similar interior space issues, just on a larger scale. A flat load floor is way more useful for hauling items than a non flat or angled floor.
My 88 suburban had a power rear window that dropped into the tailgate. Why do we hate tailgates on SUVs now? The rear seats were removable and for the second row the seat bottom folded forward while the seat back folded flat to make a space larger than 4’x8′ with a completely flat load floor.
On my ’87 burb (which, if it had the ambulance doors, I would still drive today), the rear quit working and I could never get it to work. Even when I took off the panel and jumped the wires, I couldn’t consistently get the window to drop. I goofed with the motor (took it out and it worked fine on the bench) and I DID know I had a bad switch on the side, which proved hard to get.
This was years back before I was really comfortable with wiring. It might have been something easy…but “dudes I know” couldn’t get it to work consistently, either. Ruined the whole thing…so soon after I sold it and went to a 2006 with ambulance doors.
That cupholder on the rear left door looks like broken plastic. Was it cracked? The other one does not look like that.
I think you are right!
I can’t disagree, but as someone whose power sliding rear window quit working recently it’s a bummer when it gets stuck in the open position on your bad weather vehicle.
The lack of fold flat seats is pretty surprising to me too, given the demographics for this vehicle. Heck, I can sleep in my Prius, but I wouldn’t be close to fitting in one of these. I guess everyone has gone to stupid rooftop tents instead of sleeping in their vehicle these days?
Also, and I may get a lot of hate for this, but I’m going to defend the proliferation of cupholders. Things I like having cupholders for in my car:
Cupholders are super useful storage spaces and while there may be such a thing as too many, I don’t think we’re there yet. Maybe the 4Runner will be the tipping point, but I doubt it.
The Rivian R2 is what Toyota should have really tried to chase. Sure, it’s not production but if Rivian gets the seats to all fold flat then adds so much more flexibility. Toyota should have packaged it so that they seats are flat, the hybrid battery sits lower and offers additional storage on the ICE only versions instead of intruding into the rear like that. Really though is there much need for people to sleep in the back of their 4runner or is that an edge case.
Where I live, tons of people do it for hiking purposes. Drive to trailhead, sleep in back of vehicle, wake up at 3:00 am and start hiking. Trees and overcrowding make finding a campsite for an actual tent very difficult.
Are we neighbors? Haha
Not the same audience, but the Crown Signia has 6.5″ of flat cargo space and is AWD. With some meaty tires (and maybe smaller rims) it could likely do fine on light dirt trails. I saw one yesterday in Coronado at the press driving event. I think the R2 is going be in the same price range as the Crown Signia.
6.5″?!? Your name isn’t Nigel Tufnel, is it?
Lol, I meant 6.5′
I really prefer the R2 styling, inside and out. It’s just cleaner…the visual clutter on so many cars these days…yuck.
I feel like sleeping in it would be better with the ability to manage the temperature the whole time.