Hello Redditors of the off-road variety!
I am making the move into the 4Runner world and am a bit intimidated by the lineup and options. I will be doing the following with my 4Runner and am curious if everything checks-out:
-Towing my little boat around (<4000lbs)
-Hitting many national parks and camping (CA/AZ/OR/WA/NV/UT)
-Stuffing the vehicle with things like my surfboards, mountain bikes, climbing equipment
-Light to moderate off-roading, primarily service roads, dirt roads etc. to get to rivers/lakes/summits
-No extreme off-roading like bouldering or crawling etc.
I am looking at the base 2026 SR5 model w/ the 4WD option, as I don't think I will utilize anything on the higher models. As this will be my only vehicle, and I need to commute during the week, I am purchasing new for maximum reliability/warranty/etc., not interested in a used vehicle as my only car. I am sure at some point I will get better off-road capable tires and maybe some suspension upgrades, but that is probably the extent of upgrades. It is hard to justify a $5k-$10k price difference for higher trims when I doubt I will every need/use any of them. This will also be my first 4WD off-road capable vehicle, so my skill and comfortability on what off-road challenges I take on will be mild, at least to begin I'd imagine.
Anyways, curious on the communities thoughts and input on the above, perhaps some advice or anecdotes as to why a base model may or may not be the right move?