After 15 long, loooong years, Toyota is about to overhaul the 4Runner for its sixth generation.
Right off the bat, I have to put my usual disclosure out there that I am a massive Toyota 4Runner fan. Though I love it so, I’ve spent the last several years complaining that Toyota needs to show it some love and redesign it for the current decade — and the automaker is finally about to do just that. For me, this is one of the most exciting debuts coming this year.
With all that out of the way, what exactly are we looking at here? Well, Toyota took to Instagram to sneakily tease its sixth-gen model, behind all the other 4Runners that have come to-date, stretching back to its original N60 model that launched for the 1984 model year. This is strictly a teaser, so all we can actually see is the rear bumper, along with the tow hitch and new, evenly spaced “4RUNNER” script along the bottom end of the tailgate. TFL’s own Andre Smirnov pointed out that the taillights also look a bit like the 250 Series Land Cruiser, so it’s at least somewhat likely the two will share a strong resemblance (though the front end and overall dimensions should be a bit different).
So far, spy shots haven’t given away too much. Even when folks captured the new 2025 Toyota 4Runner testing around the company’s Ann Arbor, Michigan R&D center, it’s been heavily camouflaged. From what we have seen, it appears the 4Runner will remain about the same size as before, which makes sense given its position in Toyota’s modern truck-based SUV lineup. In terms of size and pricing, the new model should sit just below the Land Cruiser, while the Sequoia offers a larger, more family-friendly option.
Technical specs for the 2025 Toyota 4Runner are officially a mystery at this point. However, we shall not be deterred, and we can probably cheat by looking at the new Tacoma (and the Land Cruiser, for that matter). While it’s all but certain the new model will pack a turbocharged 2.4-liter engine in place of the old, dependable 4.0-liter V6, I’m curious whether Toyota plans to launch it with a hybrid option. The automaker has been electrifying its lineup to split the difference between offering more fuel efficient vehicles without making a headlong rush toward EVs…but offering a hybrid option here may, in part, diminish a unique selling point between the 4Runner and the Land Cruiser.
I could be completely wrong and Toyota will offer a hybrid 4Runner option just like they are with the Tacoma — and the TRD Pro model specifically would come as a hybrid-only variant — but we’ll have to wait and see. Fortunately, it doesn’t look like we’ll have to wait much longer to find out, and we should (fingers crossed) know more in the next few weeks.
