Ancient Toyota 4Runner Still Selling Strong Even Though a New One Is Coming

Toyota released its first-quarter sales report for 2024 and wouldn't you know it, people still love the 4Runner. They love the age-old SUV, its slow V6, and its borderline prehistoric five-speed automatic so much that sales were up 60.2% compared to the same period last year. You see, while those attributes I just rattled off may deter some folks, that simplicity is what draws so many people to the rig. And on the eve of the first new 4Runner in 15 years, buyers are scooping them up while they still can.

There were 33,823 4Runners sold during the first three months of this year, while in Q1 2023, Toyota moved just 21,116 of them. The contrast is stark, then, but it's worth noting that the 4Runner got off to a seriously tough start last year. If anything, it was the outlier as what we're seeing now in 2024 is more in line with the model's usual sales.