Today Mrs. Parallel and I celebrated 30 years of married bliss. I had wanted to get her a new wedding band set (even discussed the possibilities with our resident jeweler) but she found me out and put the kibosh on that. One of the things I fell in love with is that Mrs. Parallel is the opposite of high maintenance. Hell... she's been driving my Dad's 2005 highlander ever since he passed and any time I tried to discuss buying a new one she would point out that there's "nothing wrong with it."

So I finally came out and asked her what she wanted for an anniversary gift... a new Toyota 4Runner. Well Hell yeah!





I was hoping to get one in "Blizzard Pearl" paint (pearls being the traditional gift for 30th anniversary) but that apparently only comes in the "limited" which doesn't have the off road goodies that we wanted (crawl control, KBSS, ect.) so we went with the TRD Off Road. Before we take this on the muddy trails of South Louisiana we MUST get rid of the anemic tires at the very least.

EDITED FOR TYPOS

This message has been edited. Last edited by: parallel,

Nice !!

My 2013 4Runner is my wife’s daily driver and just clicked 70k and I’ve been trying to convince her if she wants an upgrade, either trade it now while it has significant trade value (it’s paid for) or drive to till the wheels fall off.

Nice! Mrs Highlander picked up the TRD Off Road last September and it has been great. You guys will love it.

Congratulations on 30 years and that is a fitting gift!

Excellent! And congrats on your Anniversary!

Great choice! The TRD Offroad trim is what I bought this year, too. 2019 is the last year you can get one of these without the lane-departure and braking software. That's what spurred me to make the decision this year.

Very solid SUV with a 4.0 V-6 that burns regular gas, body-on-frame construction and made in Japan.


...

Good choice, especially the woman. Congratulations.

Congratulations! I too have a very practical wife, which can at times make things like this harder. My 25th is coming up in a bit. I think we're going to do a small trip.

Congratulations! I picked up a black 2018 Off-Road Premium brand new in May of last year. It's my weekend car. I love the damned thing. I like it as it is, but I have to really restrain myself from trying to customize it. Lots of stuff to change out if that's your thing. So far, I've only changed out all the lights to LEDs....a huge improvement.

Thanks y'all.

quote:

Originally posted by Drew136:
Congratulations! I picked up a black 2018 Off-Road Premium brand new in May of last year. It's my weekend car. I love the damned thing. I like it as it is, but I have to really restrain myself from trying to customize it. Lots of stuff to change out if that's your thing. So far, I've only changed out all the lights to LEDs....a huge improvement.

The very first thing that has to be changed are those ridiculous tires. It is beyond me why Toyota would build such a bad ass off road capable machine, CALL IT OFF ROAD, and then put tires that are worthless on anything but pavement and gravel roads.

After that, the next thing is to put some true rock sliders on it. Then a full length roof rack that can handle real off road driving while packed with gear. Beyond that a 10,000 lb. winch and recovery gear. I could go crazy with an Icon Stage Seven suspension upgrade, CBI bumpers and all that jazz... and maybe one day I will. For now though I'm just looking to get it ready for some non-hardcore off roading.

Congratulations on the Anniversary. I replaced my 2012 Trail with Nokian Rotiiva AT tires, and my brother went with the Falken Wildpeak A/T3.

The best package/ trim level for the 4runner.


It will likely be our next family car.

Congratulations on your milestone. Here's to at least 30 more!

quote:

Originally posted by parallel:
Thanks y'all.

quote:

Originally posted by Drew136:
Congratulations! I picked up a black 2018 Off-Road Premium brand new in May of last year. It's my weekend car. I love the damned thing. I like it as it is, but I have to really restrain myself from trying to customize it. Lots of stuff to change out if that's your thing. So far, I've only changed out all the lights to LEDs....a huge improvement.

The very first thing that has to be changed are those ridiculous tires. It is beyond me why Toyota would build such a bad ass off road capable machine, CALL IT OFF ROAD, and then put tires that are worthless on anything but pavement and gravel roads.

After that, the next thing is to put some true rock sliders on it. Then a full length roof rack that can handle real off road driving while packed with gear. Beyond that a 10,000 lb. winch and recovery gear. I could go crazy with an Icon Stage Seven suspension upgrade, CBI bumpers and all that jazz... and maybe one day I will. For now though I'm just looking to get it ready for some non-hardcore off roading.

Two reasons: Gas mileage ratings and highway test drives for the average Joe who doesn't off-road.

Are you sure it’s her gift?

Happy Anniversary!

quote:

Originally posted by Oz_Shadow:
Are you sure it’s her gift?

Happy Anniversary!

Yep... that doesn't mean I won't be taking advantage of the situation. My son and I are planning an expedition across the US right after he graduates high school. By then my Tundra will be my son's, her 4Runner will be mine and she'll get a new... whatever.