The new Toyota 4Runner is coming in hot, and while we already shared with you Toyota’s cryptic photo of the rear liftgate, we now have a photo of the top of the 4Runner’s lower rear end, and together these two teasers form an almost-complete view of the hotly-anticipated Toyota SUV’s butt. So here’s what you should prepare to see ahead of you in traffic for the next 50 years. Because 4Runners never die.
OK, so last time in my article “Get Ready To See This Tailgate For The Next 50 Years, Because It’s The New Toyota 4Runner And 4Runners Don’t Die,” I showed the teaser image below of the lower part of the new 2025 Toyota 4Runner’s rear.
There’s not a whole bunch to it, but you can see the lower fascia, the shape of the liftgate, and a bit of lighting:
Toyota actually snuck this shot into an Instagram album commemorating the 4Runner’s incredible history:
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Today, though, Toyota did things the old-school way: It published a press release. The document is titled “Fresh Air for Your Wild Side in the Next Generation 4Runner,” and it includes this shot:
Not only to we get a much clearer look at the new 4Runner’s taillights, we also see the new infotainment screen. And hey, are those window up-down arrows on the right side of the liftgate handle?
Anyway, with this new teaser, and the old one, we figured we’d try to stitch the two together to form a more cohesive rear end. Here’s what Jason came up with after just a few minutes:
OK, so it’s not a perfect stitch-job, but I bet it’s close. What are your initial thoughts on the rear-end of the new 4Runner, which will be built on the TNGA-F platform (which already underpins the new Tundra, the big-but-competent Sequoia, the handsome new Lexus GX, the excellent new Tacoma, and the surprisingly reasonably-priced Toyota Land Cruiser) and which is expected to share the same 2.4-liter turbocharged inline-four (in standard and hybrid form) as the new Tacoma?
I think it looks decent, though I am curious what the new, cheaper-than-the-last-model Land Cruiser will do to 4Runner sales. I guess if the 4Runner can remain significantly cheaper and also a bit larger inside, Toyota having two bangers on its hands.
Thats a nice looking Tesla!
The giant screen seems out of place in a 4Runner, but I’d expect it to only be featured on the Limited or its next-gen equivalent for the more affluent technophiles and YT/non-auto enthusiast reviewers to fawn over.
Doesn’t matter what the interior looks like with that stupid screen dominating everything like a 75 inch flat screen over a fireplace
Yeah, I hate it too…I happen to know someone who did that example: They love huge TV’s and have put them right above a fireplace- I’ll never understand that, it ruins the aesthetics…but yeah, these huge screens and “plop a screen on the dashboard right in the way of seeing” is horrible and makes me cringe
When I worked in advertising, clients were always asking, “Can we make the logo bigger?” Or we’d get the command, “Make the logo 20% bigger.” In this mockup it looks like that type of order came down from the bosses. I would scale it back considerably and make it body color.
Those D pillar blind spots look epic.
The bottom sags like it has full diapers
So you got a kit-PR kit?
Not a fan of the black faux-window spacers that fool nobody between the window that lowers and the colored body panels of the hatch.
Actually, I’m not fan of a window that drops down in a flip-up rear hatch either.
Nor am I a fan of the up-down buttons.
What was wrong with the simple old tailgate with the frameless window that dropped down? And the window dropping with either a key in a lock or a button on the fob (like every other car on the planet)
And thanks for the handle – that’s mounted up around chest height.
That will come in handy for T-Rex people.
I’m mainly curious about how they’re going to position this within the Toyota/Lexus lineup. Between shaking up the size/price points in North America and building every BOF vehicle on variations of the same platform, there doesn’t seem to be a logical place for this and the LandCruiser. I guess they’ll just give it inferior headroom and lower the price a little?
The last 4 runner we got here was the 90’s version,awesome cars but they are rusted out now. I would love to get the newest one.
Ugh that center screen looks terrible lol.
While I think I like the design language of this new one, I’m more excited about what this will do to pricing of the current generation. I can almost guarantee this will follow suit of Tacoma/Tundra on being more tech heavy and also contain aluminum body panels in areas, which have been paint reliability nightmares for many companies (looking at you Jeep with the bubbly Wrangler hinges etc). I’d prefer less tech and tried and true materials vs the newer stuff.
We have a pair of 5th Gen 4Runners. I really hope that the new ones are awesome, because I adore 4Runners, but I’m also hoping that all the new tech in the 6th gen makes the old ones more desirable.
Another thing…. what’s with the reflectors in the bumper. Peeve of mine, reflectors that are not in the tail lights scream ‘lazy design’, being cheap, and cluttering up the design of the bumper (and what about aftermarket bumpers?). It looks 1998 Buick to me. We gotta get Torch on this, is there a reason or methodology as to why reflectors are not in the tail lights as they were before? ……. Am guessing regulations between Europe and here but still.
It’s for safety reasons. Retroreflectors work best when placed down, especially in taller cars. Headlight low beams are aimed down, usually illuminating only a few yards in front of the vehicle. The higher the retroreflectors are placed, the less time you have to react once you notice them shining back at you (or never at all if your car is too low). The trend started in the late 90s and early 00s. The first car I remember doing this was the BMW E46, but surely there were others before.
As far as I know this was standardized across most manufacturers without the need for regulations.
Hey thanks for the insights Eric! Design wise I still think the reflectors, even if low for the reasons you stated, could have been done better.
I like separate reflectors if only because it makes them easier to swap out/black out. Rears usually don’t bother me but the orange ones up front are an affront to every car design. The automakers who separate them from the headlight housing make it a non-issue.
Those arrows are tailgate up/down for the trims equipped w/ power tailgate, not related to the window. Based on the hardpoints for lighting and stuff is there any possibility that this is a facelift of the existing platform? I have a 2018 4Runner, and the structural layout looks very similar. Only notable difference is that this new version has a hideous RAV4-style awkward-aesthetics-but-high-utility low load floor.
The arrow buttons control window up and down for the current 4Runner. I’d imagine they’d carry-over that feature here as well.
Yup – I was totally wrong. I have a “TRD Offroad” without the power tailgate, but with the power window. The next trim up has the power tailgate, and the buttons, so I always equated the two – incorreclty, which is obvious in retrospect!
What would be the point of a down button on the outside of the tailgate? There’s no way you’d ever reach it once the tailgate is up. I think they are right and those will control the window.
OOof yeah, definite facepalm here.
Great to see Toyota isn’t stupid and kept the roll-down rear window. I personally think it’s one of the coolest features in any modern car.
There’s a lot of gigantic liftgates out there. More should have this window feature.
My theory is, in addition to probably not wanting to put forth the extra engineering for safety/rollover standards, the rise (pun?) of power liftgates have caused separate opening rear windows to fade away. Once the swing-up tailgate was more the norm, the separate glass was usually pitched as a convenience when you don’t to haul the whole liftgate open and closed, but with a power liftgate it’s kind of moot. Especially if it’s a motion activated one, assuming that works. I’d rather have a separate opening glass myself, and get a tinge of longing when I see a 4Runner cruise by with the rear glass rolled down.
While my van has the typical liftgate, it would be extremely convenient to not have to open the entire thing every single time. That liftgate is massive. It takes a bit for it to open. It’d be practical for it to be a hinged window to quickly toss things in.
But what I really want is the entire thing to roll down so I can get a breeze going straight through the van.
My old ’99 WJ Grand Cherokee had the flip up glass in the tailgate – it was a favorite feature that is sorely missed on my current MDX.
The dashboard shape is nearly identical to the 24 Tacoma.
An an owner of a 3rd gen and a 5th gen. The photos so far are ‘meh’. My concern is that it will be Tacoma based and decontented versus the last generation. I’m sure it will sell well. But in my gut the new Land Cruiser is really what is replacing the current generation 4Runner.
I think it looks nice on the exterior, the rear looks to keep most of the traditional body shape .
But then I saw that infotainment screen. WHY TOYOTA, WHYYYYYYY
If the buttons are gone, I’ll wail, but I’ll reserve judgement until then. I don’t hate screens outright. Just hate when the buttons are gone.
I just hate them, when they rise above the dash line.
Me too. It looks like the designers forgot about it then slapped it on moments before having to present to an executive audience.
Fair point. I don’t necessarily hate them, but then again, in an off-road 4×4 truck, it seems having it poke up that high might be distracting.
sharp point to bash your head on! I mean you’d have to hit quite the bump, but some people are bad decision makers ha.
I get the feeling it’ll be jumbo sized like every freaking thing these days. Probably with a front like a semi truck.
Yikes
We’ve seen Toyota *can* integrate the infotainment into the dash normally with the Land Cruiser, it’s disappointing they’re not doing that with this and the Tacoma.
My biggest hope is that these are wildly popular and make it easier to find a Land Cruiser at MSRP in a year or so.
The biggest reason I won’t buy a new 4Runner (I own a 2018) is that I’m only at 110k miles on mine and I have no car payments
Me too, almost exactly, except mine only has about 52K. Plus I already have “redneck racing stripes” from off-roading so I don’t have to go through the slightly painful experience of scratching up a new one.
Man, I bought my ZR2 in July ’22 and I’m about to hit 42k miles…
Same boat here. 4th gen ’07. Just rolled 130k. “Colorado pinstripes” aplenty.
Same. 170K on mine, quite frankly I’m kind of sick of driving it, but it’s paid off. I bought it at 6 years old/80K for low 20’s, I imagine it will be a decade before we see the newer ones in the 20’s.
Same with my mom, hers is a 2008 but hasn’t had any issues yet (touch wood).
No roll-down rear window would have assured that a number of 4Runner owners would never buy a new one.
I’m particularly intrigued if, as part of its closer alignment with the Tacoma, they offer the manual powertrain.
It’s still a travesty that in Black Panther the bad guys broke the rear window of the 4Runner to shoot out of instead of rolling it down first.
Because “Action Movie” needs broken things and fast action.
Can you imagine the scene if he took 20 seconds in the middle of everything going on if he had calmly reached down to push a button?
*Pew-Pew!*
*Fast Driving – swerving in and out of traffic*
*Driver puts down gun*
*20 seconds of Jeopardy jingle while Driver pushes button and window lowers*
*Man picks up gun and resumes shooting while swerving through traffic – Pew-Pew!
I’m trying not to get my hopes up, but I would have a sudden, great interest in one of these if they offered a manual transmission. With so many others going away I’d like to think they might see the need to offer it on a few new things.
Great to see the rear window coming back. The interior looks like an exact replica of the Tacoma with the same seats.
But what is the real difference between this and the new Land Cruiser?
One has a 30K dealer mark up.
The other will only have a 40K dealer mark up.
America! What a country!
Toyota understands what makes this brand popular in the US more than anyone else. even off just a pair of teasers, this thing will be an absolute smash hit, no question, and a very nice upgrade over the very old outgoing generation