Yes, The 2025 Toyota 4Runner Will Keep This Fan-Favorite Feature
Toyota's sixth-generation 4Runner may not be ready for its full reveal, but the automaker's latest teaser makes it clear that one fan-favorite feature of the existing SUV is being carried over to the new model. The 2025 4Runner will offer the drop-down rear glass in its tailgate, a popular talent that both allows for improved air circulation in the cabin, and easier carrying of longer items in the trunk.
It's been a mainstay of 4Runner design for years, though Toyota isn't the only company to offer such a feature. Pop-up tailgate glass — which allows for cargo loading or unloading without having to open the trunk fully — is more readily available, but Toyota's approach means the glass panel itself is protected while opened. With a full redesign of the 4Runner on the cards, there was unsurprisingly some concern by long-time fans that this particular feature might not make it to the new SUV.
Even with a number of high-profile updates over the past year, the 2025 4Runner is shaping up to be a huge deal for Toyota. That's not least because it's been so long since the fifth-generation SUV launched, all the way back in 2009. While it has been polished and tweaked in the intervening years, there's only so much refinement possible with an increasingly aged platform.
A secret 2025 4Runner cabin teaser, too
For the 2025 4Runner, Toyota is expected to look to the same architecture that underpins the newest Tacoma — another important recent upgrade — for the basis of its SUV. That'll likely have the same improvement in on-road refinement as we observed with the 2024 Tacoma, as well as pave the wavy for a number of new engines. Toyota is likely to include both its regular turbocharged gas engines and its gas-electric hybrids under the new 4Runner's hood.
While the focus of this latest teaser image is undoubtedly on the 2025 4Runner's tailgate, that's not to say the drop-down rear glass is the only part worth noting. Peer through the wide-open hatch and you can clearly see what will probably make an even bigger difference to the day-to-day usability of the new SUV, a completely revamped infotainment touchscreen.
That's righting a longstanding wrong of the current 4Runner, which has a particularly dated dashboard. Even at a distance, and not quite in focus, Toyota's latest infotainment UI is clear in this tease shot, with its row of shortcut icons down the left side of the screen. It seems likely to be the same 14-inch touchscreen that we've seen dominate the dashboard in the newest 2024 Tacoma and 2024 Tundra, a considerable upgrade over the 8-inch panel in the current 4Runner, and be paired with a digital instrument cluster along with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto support.