Wife shot down my dream

I joined this site because I thought my next vehicle would be a Tacoma (and I guess it might still be) when my trusty Subaru finally gives up. I really thought my wife would be on-board because both of her brothers had Tacomas and loved them and she generally thinks Toyota makes the best cars. Over the weekend we were out driving to the store in her Highlander and out of nowhere she said "what are you going to get to replace the Subaru, it's not going to last forever". I was stoked because I thought she was giving me the green light to pick out a new truck so I said, "one of the new Tacomas, I'm just waiting to get the first model year bugs worked out". She replies with a truck is a bad decision.

Well after a minute of silence she says too bad 4Runners are so expensive cause that would be a good choice and I tell her the dealership has a new 4Runner SR5 4x4 for $36k, which is 5k less than we paid for her Highlander Limited. She was pretty shocked at that price and said "since the Tacoma has a small backseat and not much interior room for the family, I really think it would be a bad choice, but if you can find a 4Runner for that we should get it".

So now my questions becomes:
1 do I try to reason with her and use arguments like we take the Highlander for family trips so who cares about interior space / makes sense to have a truck with an open bed and an enclosed vehicle instead of both a crossover and an SUV?

or 2 just forget about getting a truck and focus on a 4Runner, like happy wife, happy life as they say?

I've always liked both vehicles and honestly I'm somewhat torn between the 2. Maybe this was what I needed to push me one way or the other. As far as my intended purpose, just looking for a daily driver but my work does require me to travel off paved roads. No rock crawling or anything serious, just muddy fields.

 

Have you thought of buying a certified pre-owned/used 4R or Taco? I bought my 2000 in 2008 w/ 140k for 1/3 the retail price. Other than scheduled maint' (so far a timing belt 3 yrs ago & a new clutch @ 238k), I haven't had any problems.

 

this...

 

time for a new wife?

 

If you don't need a pickup bed, get the 4-Runner. It's a tried and true product that Toyota still makes in Japan. JMO.

 

Happy Wife, Happy Life. Plus the 4runner is sick! I rarely miss my tacoma for reasons other than nostalgia.

 

agreed, made the switch and haven't looked back.

 

In a way I did too, I went from a 4th Gen HiLux (Marty McFly's Pickup) to a 2nd Gen & now a 3rd Gen 4R & don't miss the pickup at all.

 

Depends on what the OP will use it for, in my case there's no way I could be without a truck. Looks like hes been OK without one so it will be hard to convince his wife to buy a truck.

OP perhaps you should point out that the highlander could be used for family trips, the Tacoma isn't bad but agree that a 4runner is a better choice for the rear seats.

 

Thanks for the confirmation guys, that's what I needed. I had a Silverado in high school and college but that was 15 years ago. I feel like a truck would come in handy but I've made it the last 15 years without one. I was undecided between the two but I think this pushed me over to the 4Runner. One thing she was really surprised about was the similar price between them.

 

Get a good roof rack. I haven't come across anything I hauled in my tacoma that I couldn't fit either inside or on the roof.

 

How big is your family? A double cab has more than enough room in the backseat for kids if you aren't trying to put three car seats in there. Having a pickup bed comes in handy, especially for messy stuff you don't want to clean out of the truck later.

 

I'm fine with the unhappy wife.

 

I have to go with Tacoma. Back seat of 2nd and 3rd gens are more than spacious enough for kids. If you're worried about covered storage, get a topper! Then you'll still have the bed. From the sound of the title of your post, the tacoma is your "dream". Don't end up regretting not getting one.

 

this or hand us your man card

 

buy the 4runner man!

she has good taste BUT the real question is will she let you mod it?

 

Both are good options. Both will be fun rigs. In my opinion, the Tacoma is a better wheeling rig and the 4runner is a better overland rig.

 

Y'all are killing me, I was good with the 4Runner and now I'm back to thinking I need a truck bed and not to give up on my first choice. I guess I'll see what I'm in the mood for in another month or two when the 17s really start rolling in. I'll probably flip back and forth a couple times by then.

 

Make a pro and con list. Are you going to use it to offroad and such? Modifications?

 

Yup me too. Although she has the V8 4Runner.

Just can't live without a truck.