The 4runner is a great rig, but it has a similar struggle that the Wranglers and most of the other domestically available SUVs have - Payload. It seems capped out at around 1300 lbs, if what I've read still rings true. Everybody's needs are different, but when we were a couple that would have been enough. Add a kid and dogs, and we'd be over maxed out; we're already on the edge with nearly 1600 lbs payload and are keen to get into the Gren with 1900+ lbs as that should be plenty for our whole family.
Like I said above, everyone's travel needs are different, but when it comes to car seats not working in mid-size trucks -- well, nobody told me that and so I've been running a car seat in the back of my Canyon for my son for 2.5 years now
. Rear facing to start, now forward facing. The majority of miles this way have been done with me, my wife, two German Shepherds (one recently passed
), and him in his seat. We've found it works fine - it's not palatial, but it works. The lack of spaciousness is for sure a compromise, but it was a more palatable compromise than the others we faced. For example, going from mid-size to full-size trucks adds at least a thousand pounds of curb weight (and more weight = harder time off-road) for what is usually only a couple of hundred extra pounds of payload. And the exterior physical dimensions of a full sized rig are tricky enough in North American cities, as you've identified with your comments about full size trucks, and as MileHigh mentioned about the Escalade in the parking garage -- and that's saying something, because NA cities are quite literally designed around these massive vehicles. Anywhere outside of North America they are nearly impossible to use effectively (and travel outside of NA is one of our use cases) though I fully admit for North American adventuring, there are very few places worth going to that a midsize can get to, but a fullsize can't albeit with a greater risk of damage. And, a full size truck will typically get better fuel economy than a loaded mid-sizer; the engines are better mated to the weight of the rig as the mid-sized engines tend to be set up to give their best performance with a near-empty vehicle. But as DaveB said, most of the world uses 'mid size trucks' for all the things North Americans use our full size or even HD trucks for -- tradesman rigs, custom service trucks, adventure vehicles, and daily drivers -- and they get on just fine (though overseas, they are often rated for more capacity and capability than they are in North America)
That's what makes cross-shopping the Grenadier so tricky. Every other vehicle on the market represents a different compromise -- a less appealing compromise to me -- than the Grenadier. With the Defender, the compromise is field serviceability, reliability, and general complexity. With the Wrangler, it's payload and on-road handling/driver experience. With mid-sized trucks, it's cabin space. With the 4-runner, it's almost perfect but the compromise is that it's just a little bit short on everything -- a little short on capability, a little short on simplicity, a little short on approach/departure/breakover, a little short on payload, a little short on "reasonably priced" -- but it is so close to being legendarily perfect for Overland applications; honestly if it was a little short on
being a little short on so many things I'd probably be driving one, but being "a little short" on so many things rules it out for me. The Lexus (Lexi?) offerings are ugly as can be, I think, but they are otherwise great performance wise -- but they are expensive, and way too fancy to be kicking the crap out of new ones off-road unless someone lights their cigars with $100 bills. I've also never driven a Lexus that had "character"; the little something that makes a Land Cruiser a Land Cruiser is missing with the ultra-luxe Lexus, as it is with the new 300 series in my opinion.
Since the Grenadier was announced, we've had a new Defender, a new Bronco, a new Frontier, a new Grand Wagoneer, and more - and all of them compromise in ways that are more impactful to my use case than the Grenadier. Not many companies seem willing to be content with a 25,000/year production and sales target, so they water down their offering to appeal to more people, which makes them less useful for me -- but that's all the more reason to hang tight to my reservation for a grenadier!
. But you're prob right, those days may be ending.
