Second car help needed

Hey all, not sure if this is the right thread here but would some help!

have had 07, 14, 16, 19 and 22 tundras in the past. Sold my 22 and picked up the 21 TRD pro Seqouia- we are a family of 4 (3.5 and 9mo baby) plus a lab. The truck wasn’t working for us and the Seqouia is perfect. Problem is, wife has a paid for 14 sr5 4Runner…. She doesn’t drive it anymore, always wants to drive the Seqouia which in turn kills our monthly spending- her 4Runner averages about 18mpg around town, Seqouia on 35’s is getting 11-12.

I want to sell her 4Runner and get something that can still haul the kids around town and for errands, gets solid fuel economy 23+ and is fun to drive/ reliable.

budget would be max $18k, that’s what her 4Runner would go for… it’s pretty beat up inside and out. Any ideas? Was looking at used Lexus sedans with the hybrid power trains- comfy, space for car seats, sporty (enough) and Lexus reliability.

 

Sienna. Or get 33 P-rated low rolling resistance tires for Sequoia, you'll be 18 MPG with torque converter locked and 15-16 unlocked.

 

Say, your Sequoia's MPG is 15. Sienna's is 25. If you keep the money and spend it on fuel for the Sequoia, that's $18000 - $1000 for tires / $3.3 per gallon * 10 MPG difference = 50k+ miles you can buy for the 4Runner money.

 

Go look at a used Toyota Avalon. They are a great car with a ton of backseat room and come in various trim packages. Its not a Lexus but should be a better price point also.

 

Trust me I want a minivan but wife won’t allow it. Not going to switch tires/ wheels- on the weekends we need the 35’s.

Seqouia isn’t going anywhere, it’s staying- selling the 4Runner for something else.

interesting, I’ll take a look! Most toyota vehicles seem to hold their value better than Lexus for some reason so have written them off. The old person used Lexus market is amazing, only reason I have entertained it!

 

What are you doing on the weekends that you NEED 35 inch tires?

 

Funny, my wife didn't wanna minivan either lol. Luckily, we got a great deal on the 2015 Sequoia 2WD we have now. We get around 18-21 mpg on the highway. 15ish on local driving.

 

I said use 4Runner money for gas. The cheapest option IMO.

 

If she enjoys driving the Sequoia, then GFL on her being OK with going down to driving a cheaper / smaller vehicle. I am sure it sounds like a great idea, but I will bet you a case of your favorite beverage that I know what she will still want to always be driving.

Signed,
Guy who's wife drives the wheels off his old Tundra

PS - Congrats on "your" new 4R that you now can mod to your liking

 

How about a 3.5 Venza or Rx350? Both are in that price range and get much better mpg’s

 

This may be OPs answer, get a second Sequoia in RWD for local trips and put the gas saver tires on it.

 

Subaru outback yo. Great family car. Great AWD

 

Well here goes an interesting one- found a 2015 Lexus Gs360 f sport in nebula gray, red interior that looks pretty dang clean (online) with 100k on the clock. I’ve always loved the GS’s and would be a fun addition to have and gets decent gas mileage. It’s a Lexus/ toyota so just breaking in. Will need to test drive it then run it by the wife

 

a lot of the places we go to camp and that I like to fish are not easy to get to, I’ve got sliders and skids coming for the Seqouia this month.

2wd won’t work- Idaho

yea that’s why I am looking at something a little sporty and fun for me to drive, that hopefully she’ll like more

Idaho- need 4th/ awd

I just can’t, my wife’s family has 4 Subarus and they are constantly in the shop

 

You want ppl to give you advice then you shoot it all down

 

Who trashed the inside of the 4runner? Maybe your wife doesn't like driving a trashed vehicle.

 

We drive my wife's Lexus RX350 a lot when not using the Sequoia. They have good space, good gas mileage, and available in AWD.

 

Oh that’s too bad. Ours has been solid.

 

Bouncing the thought off others is a good idea: May reveal an option not considered. You wouldn't want my input: I'd steer you to something nostalgic.

My kid recently had a 350 F-Sport he enjoyed much... He said it was quick, plush, comfortable, premium audio optioned and you can get AWD.
I think he turns cars over, too quickly: Should'a kept this or that. This would have been on the keeper list, if he actually wanted my opinion.
To me, it sounds like a lot of $ for an old 4Runner, although 2014 is newer than anything I've owned. It can't be more than just broke in.
You'll pay for the next ride, too... a lot of $.

You know... in Idaho there's a lot of wide open space for driving. Go comfortable, rather than truck-like.

 

Sometimes truck-like is the ONLY way to go in Idaho - comfortable or not..

Depending on what 'around town' is for you, 11-12 mpg in the sequoia isn't bad, especially on 35's. Our stock-tire sequoia doesn't do much better than that in town, but my wife drives lots of short trips. Even so, the tank lasts a lot longer than the tundra's. We went from a trailblazer to the sequoia and it would take A LOT to push me/her/us back in to midsize platform, even for around town. Granted, we do have one extra passenger so kids + friends simply wasn't an option in the trailblazer unless we stacked kids in the cargo area and told them stop plastering "HELP ME!!" signs in the back window..

That said, we had an Avalon for a short while. I would take it as a second car in a heartbeat! One of those 'shouldnt'a sold it' cars since it was reasonably powerful and quick, rode smooooooth and quiet, and had lots of space in the backseat and trunk. It also got 30-35 mpg on the freeway. Unfortunately, I don't recall it coming with an AWD option until '21? Maybe I'm wrong about that...

The Venza, on the other hand, does come with an AWD option and is based on Camry platform; the avalon is a stretched camry but used to be a tad wider if memory serves. Then they widened the Venza like the Avalon but a little shorter like the camry...? I think.. Either way, I've considered a Venza for the AWD alone.

Regarding Subies... I think Stephen Papadakis from Papadakis racing said it best: if you want to learn the in's and out's of racing on the cheap - buy a subaru. You WILL become a very seasoned mechanic if you want to race it more than once. Those subaru guys have a lot of experience swapping complete motors, transmissions, and drive parts in a few hours or less. And that's before they even get serious.

I'm paraphrasing...

 

It wasn’t spotless to start with, but she definitely does keep up with the cleanliness of it and 2 kids plus a dog has taken its toll. It’s been dinged, dented and hit on the front bumper as well outside

I’m brainstorming, looking for the secret unlock… using the power of the group to find something special

 

2015 Pilot AWD


(or 2023 Pilot TrailSport)


or 2016 Siena AWD would be my top choices for a family hauler.

Not much else better that I’m aware of.

Would much prefer the Pilot for the ground clearance where we are as well.

 

What sort of mpg do you see with the pilot?

 

My wife drives a 19 Honda Pilot AWD EXL and we get 18 mpg with city driving and 25 mpg or higher on the highway. No mods and regular all season tires.

 

2015s average 18, 2023s average 20.

Super spacious, deceptively so, great handling for an SUV, and good V6 power. Decent AWD system as well.

 

She has a 2014 4Runner.

You want to spend less than $18k ideally.
For it to have 23+ mpg.
And be newer/nicer/more sporty
And enough to haul family/kids/dog/etc.


I think you may have to axe one of the four requirements to meet the other three.

Price, mileage, fun to drive, family oriented.

Probably realistically won’t be changing the family or budget haha so it’s likely going to be lower gas mileage or not so enticing to drive.

If your problem is the wife isn’t enticed to drive the 4Runner because she prefers to drive the Sequoia you need to get something that’s not just as boring to her.

So keep family, budget, enticing to drive (Pilot is large like Sequoia but way more sporty than 4Runner to drive, even if not a sports car), and axe the mileage requirement (ie something small or something new and expensive).

That’d be my logic. Peace out Girl Scouts

 

I definitely feel this statement. I'm kind of in the same boat (the additional vehicle situation) and didn't want to start a thread of my own as I know different people, different needs would throw suggestions out there that I would find incompatible but at the same time, it's nice to see different perspectives to see if the more malleable parts of my wants would align.

I tend to do research on any major purchases for 2-3 years. Gives me time to see if it's a right fit as people find more and more issues that I wouldn't have initially found on my own. It also gives me time to collect the funds and see how it fits in my budget. What I needed was a commuter that would be taken to the office 3 times a week and an occasional weekender. Just something to take the miles and maintenance off of the Tundra, especially now that I have a camper, since I was using the truck for everything. Our other vehicle is the FJ Cruiser. She uses that as her daily and it only gets used for commuting to keep the miles off of it. I had come to the determination that I wanted a 2023 or newer Lexus LC 500. Not the most practical but it checks off all the main boxes - better MPG than truck, fun to drive, looks good, reliable, and all the comforts I would need for the hour I'm in it. Then... I started thinking what if I remove most of the maintenance from my have to do list and go all electric. Coupled with the fact that I only trust Toyota/Lexus in this dept., turns out that Lexus only makes one all-electric vehicle and it's an SUV and come to find out, very anemic. And, Toyota has a couple of offerings, but they too seem very plain to me. So, now I'm kinda back to square one.

All this to say, I hear ya when it comes to being picky and trying to find that right vehicle for you.

 

Do you guys just have the 4R and the Sequoia or do you have another vehicle that you drive as well?

 

problem is we drive a lot, so one car with good fuel mileage is important, especially m

Just the 4runner and sequoia, looking to swap the 4runner for something else. Perfect world it would be electric since its mostly an around town car- errands, school drop off, etc. But finding something $12-20k thats electric and reliable is pretty much a non starter. I really want this Lexus GS F sport... but it is not super functional for kid hauling and Ill def get worse gas mileage with it than what they state

 

You’ve owned 5 Tundras, spent loads of money building and modding them and selling at a loss, you’ve got even more parts coming for the Sequoia, but your wife is killing your monthly spending by getting 6mpg less in your Sequoia?