Episode 421: 2025 Toyota 4Runner Trailhunter, 2026 Audi Q3, Benjamin Bought A New Car
Unnamed Automotive Podcast
Episode 421: 2025 Toyota 4Runner Trailhunter, 2026 Audi Q3, Benjamin Bought A New Car
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73:59
Term
hybrid
A hybrid car uses both a gas engine and an electric motor to run. This helps save fuel and produce less pollution than regular cars that only use gas.
Car
Toyota 4Runner Trail Hunter
The Toyota 4Runner Trail Hunter is a special version of the 4Runner that is made for driving off-road. It has features that help it handle rough and tough terrains.
Term
TRD
TRD means Toyota Racing Development. It's a part of Toyota that makes special versions of their cars to make them better for racing and off-road driving.
Company
Old Man Emu
Old Man Emu is a brand that makes parts to improve the suspension of off-road vehicles, helping them handle rough terrains better.
Part
Fox shocks
Fox shocks are special parts that help vehicles handle bumps and rough surfaces better, making them great for off-roading.
Term
trim levels
Trim levels are like different versions of the same car. Each version can have different features and options, so you can pick one that has what you want.
Term
33 inch tires
33 inch tires are tires that are 33 inches in diameter. They are often used on trucks and SUVs for better off-road performance.
Part
aftermarket suspension
Aftermarket suspension parts are upgrades that you can add to your vehicle to improve how it handles and rides. They are made by companies other than the car maker.
Company
ARB
ARB is a company that makes accessories for off-road vehicles, like roof racks and bumpers. They are popular among people who like to go off-roading.
Part
light bar
A light bar is a type of light that you can attach to your vehicle to help you see better at night, especially when driving off-road.
Part
fog lights
Fog lights are special lights on cars that help you see better when it's foggy or snowy. They shine light close to the ground to avoid bouncing back into your eyes.
Term
LED
LEDs are a type of light that uses less energy and lasts a long time. They are often used in car lights because they are very bright and save power.
Term
yellow light
Yellow light is a type of light that helps you see better in fog or snow. It doesn't bounce back into your eyes as much as white light does, making it easier to see the road.
Term
white light
White light is the kind of light we see during the day. It's bright and helps you see clearly when driving.
Concept
fog driving
Fog driving is when you drive in fog, which makes it hard to see. It's important to use special lights and drive slowly to stay safe.
Term
chassis
The chassis is the main frame of a car that holds everything together, like the engine and wheels. It's important for how the car drives and feels on the road.
Car
Toyota Land Cruiser
The Toyota Land Cruiser is a large SUV that can handle rough roads and off-road conditions. It's known for being very reliable and tough.
Car
Lexus GX
The Lexus GX is a fancy version of an SUV that can drive well on rough roads. It has a lot of luxury features and is built to be strong and reliable, similar to the Toyota Land Cruiser.
Term
2.4 liter turbo four
A 2.4 liter turbo four is a type of engine that is both small and powerful. It has a turbocharger that helps it produce more power than a regular engine of the same size.
Term
horsepower
Horsepower is a way to measure how powerful an engine is. The higher the horsepower, the more powerful the engine.
Term
kilowatt hour
A kilowatt hour is a way to measure how much energy a battery can store. It tells you how long you can use the battery before it runs out.
Term
torque
Torque is a way to measure how strong an engine is when it comes to moving things. More torque means the vehicle can pull heavier loads more easily.
Term
V6 engine
A V6 engine has six cylinders arranged in a V shape. It's a common type of engine that provides a good mix of power and fuel efficiency.
Term
five-speed automatic transmission
A five-speed automatic transmission helps your car change gears automatically without you having to do anything. It has five different settings to help the car go faster or save fuel.
Term
eight-speed automatic transmission
An eight-speed automatic transmission helps your car change gears smoothly and quickly. It has eight different settings, which can make driving easier and help save fuel.
Term
drivetrain
The drivetrain is the system in a car that helps move it forward by transferring power from the engine to the wheels. If something is wrong with it, the car might not drive smoothly.
Car
Toyota Tacomas
The Toyota Tacoma is a smaller truck that people use for work or outdoor activities. It's known for being tough and reliable, which is why many people like to buy it.
Car
Lucid Air
The Lucid Air is a new electric car that looks really nice and can drive a long way on a single charge. It's made for people who want a stylish and high-tech vehicle without using gas.
Term
PKS
PKS is a system that helps you park your car by warning you if you're getting too close to something, like another car or a wall.
Term
TTRS
TTRS is a system that helps your car stay stable and not skid when the road is slippery, like in rain or snow.
Term
CKB
CKB is a safety feature that can automatically brake your car if it thinks you're about to hit something.
Term
adaptive cruise control
Adaptive cruise control helps your car keep a safe distance from the car in front of you by automatically speeding up or slowing down. It makes driving easier, especially on long trips.
Car
Ford Bronco Sport
The Ford Bronco Sport is a smaller SUV that looks tough and can go off-road. It's great for people who want a car that can handle adventures but is still easy to drive around town.
Car
Suzuki Samurai
The Suzuki Samurai is a small, boxy SUV that people used to love for going off-road. It's a fun car for those who like adventure and want something different.
Car
Audi Q3
The Audi Q3 is a small SUV that combines comfort and style. The 2026 version has new features and improvements that make it a good choice for those looking for a compact vehicle.
Car
Mercedes-Benz GLB
The Mercedes-Benz GLB is a small luxury SUV that has a lot of room inside and fancy features. It's a great choice for people who want a nice car that can also carry their family and stuff.
Car
Bmw X1
The BMW X1 is a small luxury SUV that drives well and has a nice inside. It's a good pick for people who want a fancy car that can also be used for daily errands.
Car
Mini Countryman
The Mini Countryman is a small SUV that has a fun and quirky look. It's great for people who want a car that's different and still has room for friends and gear.
Car
Lincoln Navigator
The Lincoln Navigator is a big, fancy SUV that has a lot of room inside and comes with many luxury features. It's a popular choice for people who want a comfortable ride and plenty of space for passengers.
Car
Audi SQ5
The Audi SQ5 is a sporty SUV that goes fast and feels fun to drive. It's a great choice for people who want a fancy car that can also be exciting on the road.
Car
Nissan Pathfinder
The Nissan Pathfinder is a larger vehicle that can carry families and their gear. It's good for road trips and has a lot of room inside for passengers and luggage.
Car
Hyundai Kona
The Hyundai Kona is a small SUV that's easy to drive and has a cool design. It's a good option for people who want a car that can fit in tight spaces but still has room for passengers and stuff.
Car
Subaru Outback
The Subaru Outback is a car that looks like a wagon but is built to handle rough roads and bad weather. It's popular with people who like to go hiking or camping because it has a lot of space for gear.
Car
Volkswagen Golf
The Volkswagen Golf is a small car that many people enjoy driving because it's comfortable and fun. It's a good choice for everyday use and can handle different types of roads well.
Car
Dodge Journey
The Dodge Journey is a bigger car that can fit a lot of people and their stuff. It's a good choice for families who need extra room for trips or daily activities.
Car
Hyundai Genesis
The Hyundai Genesis is a nice car that feels luxurious and has a lot of cool features. It's a good option for people who want a fancy car without spending too much money.
Car
Buick Regal
The Buick Regal is a comfortable car that feels nice to drive. It's a good choice for people who want something a bit fancier without being too flashy.
Car
Jaguar Xf
The Jaguar XF is a fancy car that looks really nice and drives smoothly. It's a good choice for people who want a stylish car that feels special.
Car
Dodge Avenger
The Dodge Avenger is a car that looks cool and is usually cheaper to buy. It's a good option for people looking for a nice car without spending too much money.
LIVE
Hello, and welcome to the Unnamed Automotive Podcast. My name is Sammy Hajesad, and with me, as always, is my good friend and fellow automotive journalist, Benjamin Hunting. Say hi to the people, man. Greetings, human listeners. Greetings to everyone. I'd like to send a special thank to all of our new listeners this week. We appreciate you trying something new, and we hope you'll stick around because we've got a ton of podcasts. We've got a ton of episodes on this podcast every single week. There's something new going on.
We also have a ton of podcasts, which is, I wish you'd just gone with that. We have a ton of podcasts. That was a slip, of course. But you know who is doing a lot of podcasting? Ben, Ben, you're doing so much podcast. I can't even keep up with you. Sammy, I'm doing minimum three podcasts a week because of my comic book that's coming out, Model UN, www.modeluncomic.com. By the time this goes live, it will be two days away from the Kickstarter, which is October 7th at 8 AM.
And I've been doing all these Kickstarter interviews with a very wide range of people, people who are kind of on the hobby side, people who are straight up professionals, people who are maybe pop culture oriented, people who are comic book oriented. So I've been experiencing some very different podcasts. I guess, I don't know if it's styles or formats or whatnot. I'm not used to being a guest on a podcast. I guess that's what I'm saying. Right. But none of them are about cars, which is always my favorite thing about what
you do is that well, first of all, I love listening to your thoughts on cars. We talk about cars all the time, but it's always so important that here on this show, you are listening to someone to get like one glimpse of you, although I think that's enough. I don't think anyone needs more. I think actually you do give them more of a well-rounded view of yourself than I give anybody, but it's because you're a mysterious person who's very withdrawn. You have a rich interior life that few have ever glimpsed. That's right. And I try to keep it that way. And you on the
other hand are out there in all these different podcasts, platforms, and talking about everything other than cars. And now all the people who have listened to you talk about about comics are like, oh, this guy knows
the stuff about cars as well. And then all the people who are listening to you talk about cars like right now are going to these comic podcasts. And they're like, oh, yeah, this is all, this one's all about.
So anyway, this show is going to be about cars. Are you sure?
episode? I'm very sure. Mostly. I think we're going to center all of our conversation around cars. But if we go in a different direction, you're not
allowed to turn things around. Honestly, Sammy, I'm not sure because this is the fourth podcast in a row that I've done this week. So it could
literally be about anything at this point.
That was absolutely. Yeah, it's absolutely on like a CBC podcast about like climate change or something. And I would have no idea.
Well, speaking of which, isn't the car you're driving some kind of hybrid of some sort?
It is a hybrid, but it's one of those hybrids by default, you know, like when a company decides that everything's going to be hybrid.
No, it's not a hybrid by default. There are worse hybrid by default. Those are like the mild mild hybrid 48 volt mild hybrids. And we're like, I don't know if that's really a hybrid.
Well, you know, if you walk, if you walk into a Toyota dealership these days, it's pretty much oops all hybrids. Like that's just how they're doing things.
And I spent a week with the 2025 Toyota four runner trail hunter, Sammy.
Um, four runner trail hunter.
You remember how there used to be TRD and then TRD off road and then TRD off road pro will get ready for trail hunter, which costs the same in the United States.
Trail hunter is the same price as TRD pro for the four runner. And that makes it 67,000 I think right around there.
It's, uh, King Canada. It's a little bit different. It's like an $86,000 vehicle, which is $3,000 more than TRD pro.
And let me tell you what the difference is. I don't know if you're out there thinking, why does Toyota need three off road versions of a vehicle that's always supposed to be off road capable, right?
Like, yeah, the, the whole deal is TRD pro has kind of gone in a dune bashing direction.
They're chasing raptors and whatnot.
While trail hunter is more of a traditional off roader in the sense that you can climb rocks and go through mud and what and that kind of thing.
Without the same type of suspension, like the suspension on the trail hunter is from source from the aftermarket.
It's old band emu, which is a company that has long been involved in off roading, particularly with land rovers.
The suspension on the TRD pro is Fox shocks, which is what you would find.
Excuse me. I'm not sure where like use that kind of language on our podcast.
It's well, they're using it in Ford showrooms too, because that's the same suspension pretty much that you would find on a raptor art.
But Fox, Fox like the animal.
Yeah, Fox like the animal.
Exactly. Or, or Fox like Mulder.
Yes. I love it.
The, I resisted the temptation for an X file sting there. You're very welcome.
Well, yeah, you've got the soundboard that you keep playing during the pre show.
I only played during the pre show.
I'm sure about licensing. Yeah, it kills me so much.
Okay. So this is a lot of discussion about trim levels and equipment.
Well, trim levels before you've been getting into the equipment.
I appreciate getting into the equipment now. Fox, old man, emu, what else we got?
Well, other visually they're, they're very similar.
But the TRD pro and the trail hunter both have kind of the wider fenders and the bigger tires.
And I believe the trail hunters on 33 inch tires.
The one I had featured a bunch of aftermarket stuff that you can see in addition to the aftermarket suspension.
So it has a roof rack from ARBI believe it's like a roof platform and it can hold 700 pounds static load.
So you can, you can be up there.
You can be camping.
You can, you can pitch tent.
You're going to have two or three people depending on how, you know,
how well things go with the campground.
And then at the front of the truck, there's a whole bunch of lights.
Let's say there's a light bar that goes across the bottom that's integrated into the bumper.
And then there's two fog lights. They're all from rigid.
They're all LED.
What I thought was neat is the fog lights themselves have two colors.
You can do like a white light or you can do a yellow light.
And yeah, because yellow light is a filter or is it, I believe it's different colored LEDs.
Wow, that's where your money's going, baby.
Now, I want to say that this is a good idea because white light is great for when it's clear outside.
But if it's snowing or if it's foggy, I know you're thinking, I know what you're thinking.
Why are you driving with fog lights on if it's clear outside?
But when it's foggy and it's snowing, you get a lot of reflections from white light.
Yellow light is better at undercutting that and not having as much glare come back at you.
So I think it's a neat implementation that we haven't seen really on very many if any factory vehicles.
Okay, yeah, I agree with that.
Good point.
It's a shame we aren't not testing this vehicle in the snow right now.
But I do have fog out here because it's the temperature differentials are starting to get pretty extreme at night.
And with the moisture that's in the air, I'm sorry to get fog.
And we have a lot of deer out here.
So bright lights are always crucial.
Okay.
So man, you've talked to me all about these bits and bobs here.
What about the tires and these rugged off-roady tires?
Or yeah, I can't remember the brand.
But they're, you know, Navi 33 inch really big.
They came on like a bronzish rim.
My car, my truck was finished in a paint called Everest, which was kind of an aquamarine slash turquoise slash dark bluish green.
It's hard to describe, but it looked really good.
And I want to stress, this is the first time I've driven the 25 floor runner.
And it's been completely redesigned.
I mean, for the most part, it's the same as the Tacoma, which I drove last year underneath.
Like it's got the chassis and whatnot.
But the same platform as the Land Cruiser too.
Yeah, it's the TNG F.
I don't remember exactly TNG.
A it's some variation of TNG as are all platforms to the point where calling it TNG feels pretty meaningless.
That's right.
I agree with you.
At this juncture, but I think it looks really good.
I think it's a handsome truck.
And I was fully prepared to not like this vehicle, because we talked about it from the exterior design or everything.
Just from the fact that I'm tired of off road vehicles.
Yeah, yeah, I think that the trend is just out of control.
And only a tiny number of people are going to take this vehicle off road.
Even if they are spending nearly $90,000 Canadian to own it.
The pricing for this vehicle is super strange because it puts it in a position where it costs more than a Land Cruiser.
It costs almost the same as a GX, which are based on the same platform and are ostensibly aimed at the same customer.
So who wants to go off road question mark, but also wants an SUV.
They also have hybrid drive trains, just like this.
Well, not exactly the same, but very similar to the one in this vehicle.
And at a certain point, it's like, when you're in a Toyota showroom and there's a Lexus store nearby,
you have like four or five different options.
I think more than that, man, I think you've got way more than that.
I mean, the same price, you know, it's, it's, it's odd in Toyota's showroom.
You've got the four runner in Land Cruiser and you've got, I mean, there's also the pickup trucks, right?
Yeah.
And then when you go to Lexus, you've got GX and Alex and it's, I don't know,
you're going off road on a TX or an RX, but it just feels like, and each one of those trim levels,
as you're pointing out with the four runner, changes the direction of the, or the, the target,
you know, off road environment that is, that is being, like dealt with, right?
Yeah, yeah.
So it feels like it's too much.
It's definitely too much.
I also, there used to be a time when one off road vehicle could do it all.
Why are we know, man, Sammy, there used to be a child, but like a four runner used to be
able to handle both the dunes and the rocks, like down, down over there on that stump.
And I'm going to tell you about when you could go on the dunes and the rocks with the same vehicle.
Am I, I'm not, come on, I'm not totally off base here.
Now, hey, specializing it.
I do think the accent you were using was a little offensive,
but I agree to all of the old, old guy, the old folks, sorry, apologize.
I'll work on it.
Am I wrong? Come on.
You can still do that.
You can still, you could take a TRD, bro, wherever you want.
You don't have to lie into the marketing that you need the trail hunter, right?
But I think it's probably more comfortable.
I think the trail hunter, and you can probably go over landing at any car, like that.
Wait, you mean sleeping in your car?
You mean the current economy, making everyone into overlanders?
Yeah, I think that, but the, I think that the idea with the trail hunter is it's more comfortable
on the road and isn't going to be as jostly off road as well, because it doesn't have
that like long, I guess the longer travel suspension in the, in the pro, don't quote me on
that though.
I, but remember, I said it was prepared to hate it.
I really liked how it looked, and then I really liked how it drove it was comfortable.
It does, it does feel like a well put together vehicle.
The engine is the 2.4 liter turbo four.
It's hybridized.
You can get the non hybridized version in pretty much every model of the four runner,
except for the special one.
So like, bro and trail hunter come with the hybrid model.
That means you get a single electric motor that gives you another 48 horsepower.
There's a 0.9 kilowatt hour battery, which means you can't really drive around on electric
power for very long, although I was able to tow an empty trailer around my driveway
under electric power, like just the battery.
But once you're on the road, forget it.
Like it's, you're very much kicking in the gas engine.
And in total, you get 326 horsepower, 465 pound feet of torque.
This is important because the last engine in the four runner last year's four runner was garbage.
It was the four liter thick cylinder, the four liter V6 270 horsepower,
278 pound feet of the noisiest, clatteriest torque you can possibly imagine.
Being shifted through a five speed automatic transmission,
perhaps the last five speed auto on the entire market.
Did it have the five speed all the way to this new generation?
All the way to the end.
And you had a five speed for a long time.
I didn't realize they didn't pull a new sound and incorporate the new transmission.
Or rentlessly inefficient.
Yeah.
So you have tons more power with this engine.
You have a, I can't remember how much that how many speeds in the transmission eight speed.
Yeah.
It's a good transmission for the most part.
Yes, I had some situations at lower throttle,
where it did not necessarily shift as clean or as smoothly as I expected.
Now this isn't improvement last year.
I don't know if you people listening might remember.
I drove the Tacoma and I towed with it.
I towed with this vehicle as well and I had a constant shake at low throttle
from the same drivetrain in the Tacoma where to the point where it was distracting
and it was at all times, there was just something that was not right with the tune of that engine.
So fast flash forward a year to now, almost exactly a year later, that issue was gone.
So there was just the occasional roughness from the transmission while shifting,
but the engine itself felt relatively smooth.
And when I put the vehicle into tow haul mode,
the transmission shifting issues disappeared.
Okay.
So I think it's just a programming thing.
I'm sure they can dial it out.
I don't know why it's there.
It's important to point out that there is a turbocharged four cylinder non-hybrid in the lineup.
That means I did point that out.
Sorry, I did mention that.
I know we mentioned every vehicle except the Trail Hunter and the Tearity Pro.
This model, we mentioned the oops all hybrids.
This is the one area where you can be like, oops, I got a, I got a naturally,
I got a gas powered vehicle, I guess.
So why would you want to go with the gas power vehicle?
There are two reasons.
I mean, obviously you can't get the Trail Hunter with that package,
but the hybrid system in the Toyota, it has some issues.
The first is fuel mileage is not super great.
Do you want to guess what the combined mileage is for the Trail Hunter?
Let's go with 28, 23.
Oh my goodness.
That is, that's four miles per gallon, that's four miles per gallon better than last year.
That's rough.
Okay.
I could not beat 18 miles per gallon.
No way.
No, couldn't do it.
The other thing despite the, despite the on paper improvement,
it got the same mileage you got last year in the real world.
I saw that I saw not so great mileage, but the other issues are the battery.
So the hybrid system is heavy to the point where a Trail Hunter has 300 or any
actually hybrid version of the four runner has 350 pounds less cargo capacity
than the non-turbo, than the non hybrid.
300 pounds less than 350 pounds, like towing capacity.
No, hauling capacity in the inside the vehicle.
Oh, man, okay.
Yeah, that's not good.
No, not useful.
The other issue is, even though that you've got like this hilarious roof rack
like rating for static loads and all that, yeah, that's funny.
Okay.
The other issue is the battery takes up a lot of space in the worst possible place.
They put it under the cargo floor in the back, which means you have a four-inch bump
versus a non-turbo for runner.
So you have four extra inches to lift over way.
And the rear seats do not fold completely flat.
So how low do they go?
I can't remember.
Good enough.
I mean, good enough, I guess, but it's, it's just that combination of factors that
really kind of put the hybrid version at a disadvantage to other similarly sized SUVs.
The thing that I don't understand is they knew this was going to be a hybrid right
from the start.
So why was this design flaw kept in the mix?
Like, is it because they prioritized the Tacoma and the battery placement for the Tacoma?
And they just didn't want, they, they know they're going to sell twice.
Is it two and a half times the Tacomas that they are for runners?
It's, it's an odd choice.
Do you mind if I ask, I'm sorry to sound ridiculous here, but when you say the battery,
you don't mean the 12 volt battery.
You mean the, I mean, the 0.9 kilowatt hour hybrid battery, the hybrid battery,
because both vehicles have a 12 volt battery.
Yeah.
So I would just want to relocate it, but yeah, that's nonsense.
Okay, that, that, that is a strange question.
I'm starting to get worried about you.
I haven't been thinking straight lately.
And I'm glad that somebody's paid attention.
Well, I only pay attention for the hour.
So that we record it.
I just connect this is, that is infuriating.
Because I think an SUV is also meant to be practical and have some utility.
And when you're diminishing that utility for a supposed improvement in either
fuel efficiency or performance or just for like, yeah, efficiency in general,
all you're getting in this car is a more powerful vehicle.
But it weighs over 6,000 pounds now.
No, I don't think it's that much.
I think it's 55 500.
Oh, yeah, 55 hundred.
Sorry.
It can tow 6,000.
It can, it can tow 6,500.
Oh, sorry, it can, it can tow.
I'm looking at 6,000 only on the limited.
They can tow 6,000 trust brilliant.
And I told with it, I told my race car with it.
Okay, the, the, I want to stress, I do like this vehicle.
I think it's a really great effort from Toyota.
I think it's cool.
It looks cool.
It drives nice, even with the weird cargo thing at the back, it is useful.
There are two things about it that drive me crazy that are not necessarily
something that these might be deal breakers for some people.
The first is this vehicle comes with a snorkel on the side of the,
on the passenger side going up the A pillar.
It is not a waterproof snorkel.
It is not for driving through water.
All it does is grab non dusty air in theory from up high as opposed to like a
more mid-mounted air intake for an SUV.
The problem with it is it is the loudest thing you can possibly imagine
because the intake is directly beside the passenger window.
So every time you hit the gas, it goes, it is very loud.
You cannot have the window down while you're driving.
It's brutal.
Okay.
It's like a blow off valve inside the cabin.
Yeah.
And people might like that.
No, no one likes this.
And also it makes a ton of noise at highway speeds, even if you're not on the
throttle because it's a big bump on the side of the vehicle that disrupts air flow.
Does it, does it get in the way of visibility as well over there?
No, no, you can't see it.
All you can do is hear it.
It's like a, it's like a sonic boom.
It like you don't see the missile that kills you.
You just eat anyway.
The other thing about the, I don't know why I went with missile there.
The other thing that's weird about the Toyota is it has this pretty big
infotainment screen in the middle of the dashboard.
It works well.
It's fine.
It has almost no functionality.
All it does is show you Android Auto and Apple CarPlay and like a few settings
mostly for the infotainment system.
All the other vehicle settings in which means every single safety system,
all the towing stuff, when you're setting up trailer profiles, et cetera, et cetera,
is stuffed into this tiny screen on the gauge cluster between the
tack and the speedometer.
And you can only access it using like the toggle button on the steering wheel.
Now this makes no sense whatsoever.
I, I, I'm a professional automotive reviewer.
I went into the safety systems to try and turn various things on and off
because the refuse systems that were bothering me.
They don't explain what the systems are.
It's just acronyms, PKS, CKB, TTRS.
And it's like, what is any of this?
I can't, I had to open the owner's manual and look all of it up.
You know, all they had to do was put it on the gigantic infotainment screen
like every other car company so that you can explain what each of these
features are as you're turning them on and off.
I don't know, maybe that's a safety issue that they should have considered.
Like this is not a trivial thing here.
I also almost, I was saying 95% of the trucks I tow with have the
towing data and information on the center infotainment screen.
Why does Toyota have a beautiful screen that they do not use?
Yeah, it's baffling that they just don't have any like apps for
information on it's nothing for it.
It's that's really strange.
Like not even vehicle settings basics.
The safety stuff is basic stuff.
That's crazy, believe, I mean, it is hard to believe.
I can't figure that out.
I was looking at their feature list.
There's all sorts of really strange gimmicks.
Let me see if I can find some of them.
The worst fun was they have like an active driving assist,
which like automatically breaks from the vehicle in front of you breaks.
And it tries to intervene in corners.
It basically tries to drive for you without being an actual self driving
system.
And it's it was annoying.
I had to turn it off.
That's what the adaptive cruise control without adaptive cruise control.
That's on all the time.
That's so annoying.
Yeah.
So I had to turn it off and it's just not subtle, right?
I couldn't figure out what it was called because it was just accident.
I started turning off various things trying to get it to stop.
But it just slowly accelerating to cars in front of you to see if it'll
turn off and you're like, no, I eventually just opened the manual.
Okay.
So the one thing that four runners have had for a really long time is a rear
window that goes up and down.
This one still has it, right?
Yes.
Is where does the button for this?
Is it an inch?
No, it's not hidden.
No, it's not on the dashboard.
I believe it's on the overhead console, like where you would,
where if you had a sunroof, you would, you would find a sunroof control.
Okay.
The other thing I was curious about is that there apparently is an onboard
air compressor.
Is that a trim level thing or a, or a accessory thing?
I'm assuming it's part of the trail hunter package.
So you can air down at the wherever you're going off road.
How cool is that?
Is that useful?
I think that's kind of useful.
Sure.
It's different.
It's not that different.
It's, you know, I think it's cool.
I think a lot of off-roaders already have one.
So you can just leave yours at home, I guess.
And then the other thing is it has what they describe our pre-wired
auxiliary switches.
Yeah.
The old one had this too, right?
Almost every off-road truck has it.
Yeah.
And that's it for like, this is the cool things that a new forerunner or trail hunter
has also, I mean, it looks really aggressive.
It has the bulging fenders and stuff that you don't find on the normal forerunner.
Like it is, it is a visually compelling package, I think.
Those bronze wheels are pretty sweet.
Yeah, look, they look really good.
And I guess, you know, what they did to the roof rack in comparison to the
DRU Pro is also a neat touch.
The exterior, I think it looks pretty, it looks essentially like a, like a taco, I
think, with a, with a, with a, with a, with a trunk.
Like it looks like the Tacoma, sorry.
I don't know.
I, I think it's pretty much differentiated from the Tacoma.
I don't know.
And then I think the rear end looks very similar to the outgoing one as well.
Yeah.
So I don't know, we talked about this, we talked about this before the podcast.
When you have that, that rear window that drops it to the table, you're,
you're limited as to how things can look.
I'm looking at all the time.
You have to accommodate that mechanism and you have to make it so it's stable
and not going to break and all that stuff.
There's, there's like this neat slider on the website that lets you look at
all of the side profiles of four runners from 1984 to the current one.
It's pretty neat.
Okay.
Anything else on the podcasting was a visual medium.
Well, I would encourage people to go to the Toyota.com website and are you in the
pockets of big Toyota?
Absolutely not because I don't want this, this to be out there really.
I want something that's less, I want some that's more fuel efficient.
I want some that's more practical.
I want something that is cheaper.
That's what I'm looking for.
And when Toyota starts offering those kinds of cars, then we can start talking.
But so you want like a year is true.
Yeah, I want in Europe, they have a year is crossed.
What I need is a, is a, it's like a four on average cross.
Yeah, I need is a, is a boxier version.
Basically take the, the, the body of the Bronco sport shrink it down by like 30%
and then you're done.
That would be hilarious.
Don't be lining up for that.
We used to have those funny little, yeah, I know here we go again.
There used to be these really weird boxy offer.
Like the Suzuki like Samurai or sidekick, the sidekick and the geotron.
Perfectly dangerous cubes.
Yeah, because they were made with like tin foil rather than real bass.
The wheel based the length of a skateboard.
They were so good.
Let's all get one.
Anything else you want to tell me about your four runner experience?
No, that's it.
I'm good.
I'm sure I am sure.
All right.
So in addition to your four runner, I have another car that we need to talk about this week.
And that is the 2026 Audi Q3.
Audi sent me all the way to Scotland to test drive this new subcompact crossover.
Although I think some people call it a compact.
Sammy, was it your first time in Scotland?
No, I've been to Edinburgh before we were in Glasgow.
It was an interesting event.
They flew us over there.
They put us on the wrong side of the road, but with continental European like vehicles,
like German vehicles, I suppose.
And that means that the steering wheel was on the wrong side for that sort,
that side of the road.
And it was all disorienting.
They also had a night drive program because the Q3 has some pretty cool headlights
that Americans will not yet, but Canadians will.
So we got to experience that.
And quick question on the night drive.
Were you actually smuggling stuff?
Yeah, no.
I mean, I smuggled some stuff back, just a lot of chips and chocolate for my Irish wife
who misses the good stuff from back home.
And yeah, we had a good time.
It is interesting to talk about the Q3.
I originally found the Q3, I think this announced third or fourth generation.
I think third, actually.
And I've driven the first two generations obviously and found them to be really,
really difficult cars to talk about.
Things I don't love just recommending to people because I found them to be too small
for practical usage, too expensive for even for the size profile.
And then not luxurious enough to either justify the cost or the branding of the car.
Yeah, it really does seem like the Q3 has fallen through the cracks.
And you're talking about like a small premium vehicle.
And I was already, you know, going into this program, being like, here we go.
Another, you know, attempt to justify what this product is.
And I actually think that they pulled it off because for starters,
it looks much more refined and more like an SUV, I guess, in which they,
which the only way I can describe it is they've got more horizontal lines.
It makes it look bigger, wider, even though it really isn't.
So I think the exterior design, like redesign has really gone a long way
in making the Audi feel a lot, like significantly different,
like in terms of product placement.
And I guess if you discuss the other vehicles in its class,
I think a Q3 would go up against something like the, maybe the Lexus NX or even the UX,
it would sit somewhere between those two.
GLB from Mercedes.
GLB, which is a very like, it can feel a lot like a family vehicle,
mainly because it even offers a third row of seats in a small vehicle.
That's absolutely wild.
It is wild, absolutely.
And then the other one is the out, the BMW X1 and X2,
which are okay vehicles, but sometimes they're interior,
it can feel a little like empty.
I want to throw a wild card at you.
Hit me.
What about something like the Mini Countryman?
Yeah, that's a great, that's a great idea.
I think the Countryman, I got to double check the pricing on it,
but I do think the Countryman is cheaper.
It is cheaper, I think you're right.
But it is, it's one of the few vehicles that offers a lot of personality
in the subcompact, compact crossover segment,
the premium one especially.
So I think that's a wild card.
I think we can talk about that later,
but for now, let me just talk about this Q3.
Exeter design, I think they've done a pretty good job.
They've incorporated these OLED headlights and tail lights
that blend into the bodywork when they're off
and then kind of like illuminate.
So there's like this just hidden, however you want to describe it,
a hidden light bar that just illuminates
whenever you hit the brakes.
There's also an illuminated Audi emblem on the back
which I'm not sure I really love.
It looks kind of cheap.
Also makes people think that maybe you're driving an EV,
because that's been the calling card
for many of these electric vehicles.
Yeah, like a light bar.
It's a type of illuminated logo though.
Yeah, remember when the Lincoln navigator
had that gigantic illuminated logo?
It was almost like a third headlight.
Yeah, yeah.
It's insane to me the idea of illuminated emblems.
I used to think that was really tacky
and then now like everyone has one of them.
But at least on the Audi's, as far as I can tell,
it's only on the rear.
So it's not too gaudy.
What they've done instead, if they've put the front emblem
in the grille, they've like blacked it out,
at least on the model that I drove.
And then they put all these sensors
for the safety features.
They've kind of like embedded them around
in and around that area.
So the front emblem is blacked out and invisible
and the rear emblem is illuminated.
Yeah, yeah, okay.
They probably had two different teams working on it.
This was the compromise.
Inside is probably my favorite element to talk about
with the Q3.
It actually feels like,
I used to think that the Q3 felt like an elevated golf
in terms of its interior design.
Now I can truly say that it feels actually
like a smaller Q5.
Would you say elevated golf?
Do you mean like riding on a higher suspension
or do you mean like trying to be luxurious?
Trying to be luxurious.
And the golf, I think, already tries really hard sometimes
to justify being a little bit more premium
than other compact cars with their interiors.
But I just felt like the Q3 just couldn't pull it off
and it did feel like just a Volkswagen auto group product
just with more like stitching and leather.
And now you've got some of that feels a little bit nicer.
They emphasize a lot of sustainable materials now
in the premium class.
This one is loaded with them.
I don't know.
Me and you had a discussion about fake plastics
before the show started and that fake plastics are just
just as bad as like real plastics.
For the most part, yeah.
And I don't know how biodegradable
you really want your interior to be
when you're spending like $45,000 on a car.
Well, you certainly don't want insects
and squirrels eating your wiring harnesses.
I think that's something we've established
with these biodegradable products.
You don't even need, sometimes you don't even need
biodegradable products to get the insects in there.
I mean, do you remember these Mazdas
with all the spider webs going on with them?
It's a beautiful home for a spider web
in that gas tank exhaust valve.
But one of the things I do appreciate about the Q3
is that they've really tried to make it
a flagship for technology.
They've introduced the new generation
infotainment system on it.
It's an Android automotive OS
based infotainment system.
It does not feel as janky as the Volvo ones
that we've been talking about lately.
I really like the responsiveness of it.
It had all the same features
that you expect in an Audi product,
including a Google Maps satellite view
and really responsive.
And it also has Android Auto, Apple CarPlay, all that jazz.
There's also, of course, the virtual cockpit
which is a digital dash.
It worked really well.
I really liked all of this.
Do you think that when I drove the SQ5,
SQ6, sorry, last week that we talked about,
I found that the Audi infotainment and virtual cockpit
and all that was perfectly fine,
but it didn't strike me as breaking any new ground
versus what other car companies are trying to do.
Again, not a problem for me,
but did you have that same kind of feeling in the Q3?
No, they really emphasized it
in their presentation and their presentation
that this Android Automotive OS 1,
they've really changed the interface.
They've changed the way that icons are presented
or app shortcuts are presented.
So they're trying to make it more stylish,
I truly believe that they think that the consumer for this
is sort of like a young adult who's into the technology
and connected, maybe social media and stuff like that.
They even offer YouTube on an Audi application store.
I don't know why you really want YouTube on a non-electric vehicle
because that just seems like a distraction.
But then again, actually, the more I think about it,
they got rid of Google podcasts for YouTube music,
which is confusing,
but that's how people can listen to podcasts
on the Google platform now.
Yeah, it's been a couple of years, I think.
So I guess maybe that's what they're talking about.
There's also one of these voice assistants
that chimes in every time you say something like,
hey, Audi or whatever.
I don't care about any of that.
What a lot of people were curious about
is that Audi is incorporating a new control scheme
for their gear selection.
It's like this static column
that does not move with a little switch at the end of them,
where you would be...
Where is this column?
It's on the steering wheel.
Or on the steering wheel column, sorry.
So it's a...
I'm confused.
It's like a column-mounted shifter that doesn't move.
Is it a stock that comes off of the steering wheel?
Yeah, a stock.
Sorry.
A stock.
So it's...
It has a stock with a dial,
kind of like what you would use for, I guess, windshield wipers?
Kind of, yes.
It's not quite like the big chunky one
you used to remember on a truck
or the big...
Well, those don't turn.
Yeah.
Or the one that you would see on modern...
Hyundai's?
Or the Tiny Mercedes one.
Yeah, it's closer to the Tiny Mercedes one,
but it just doesn't move.
And at the end is a little square
that toggles up and down
and you push it in for park.
You know, Sammy, a lot of people
have been making a lot of noise about this,
but I don't think it makes that big of a difference.
Like every automaker now
is introducing its own way to change gears.
Yeah, the one thing I think about when I sit in a car these days
is I really wish they would be a different way
to choose drive, park, and reverse.
I'm so tired of a simple basic system
that has worked well for 70 to 80 years.
Yeah, I know.
I want something that's confusing
that I have to relearn
that means I can't loan my car to my elderly relatives.
You know, it's really an answer to a question
that had been answered decades ago.
Yeah, that's fair.
I don't think it's that big of a deal.
I think the moment you get into this car
you'll get yourself used to it pretty quickly.
You're not saying I'm going to put it in park
while I'm trying to turn the wipers on.
No, the wipers are just on the other side.
Oh, that's an easy thing.
That's an easy thing to do.
Just have two identical controls on different sides
of the steering column.
Do we not appreciate that with window wipers
and turn signals?
Yeah, but you know, a little less mission critical.
The other thing to talk about here is it's powertrain.
There's a two-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder engine.
It always feels like every single Audi ever made
has this EA triple-8 engine.
In this application it makes closer to 260 horsepower
which is pretty good because the outgoing one only made 220
which is kind of the, I think the industry standard
for this type of car.
But you have to use super gas, right?
Ultra super maximum gas.
Right, and I noticed that the car really did not feel
underpowered in any way.
It was fine.
One of the strangest things though is that in Europe
they sell this car as a plug-in hybrid
and that seems like a pretty cool
just like a determining factor
that would make this car feel more interesting
compared to the rest of its class.
I don't think there's a plug-in hybrid.
Maybe it's a cost thing.
Like maybe it would push it too far.
Oh sure.
So compact.
I think in Europe there's probably more of a tolerance
for expensive small cars.
In North America, I don't know,
people see a high price tag on a small car
and they start looking at a larger car for the same money.
I don't know, man.
It seems like car pricing in general here
has gotten out of control
and I think they can sell anything for any price they want to.
$87,000 Toyota Trail Hunter.
Yeah.
We're just talking about that.
That used to be, you know,
range-topping LX pricing.
I remember you sent me down on the stump
and you told me about back in the day.
$87,000 would buy you a Ferrari.
Was it a Testerosa?
I think so probably.
So I think, you know, they can probably pull that off.
There's a 420 watt sound system.
It believe it's a 12 speaker sound system.
Oh my goodness.
Can I tell you,
we get in and out of these press vehicles all the time.
And I find myself having to adjust my
my sound systems or the sound settings
so often now because it depends on what I'm trying to listen to.
If I'm listening to a podcast or from listening to a music,
there's very different, like some of these sound systems
are so either rudimentary or so powerful
that like a regular sound profile
just doesn't seem to work in.
Here's what I do.
Whenever I get into a press vehicle,
you turn the bass from max to something more reasonable.
What I do is I get out my little app,
the tracks feel mileage.
I write down the mileage that I'm starting at
then I connect my phone to the infotainment system
and then step three,
I go into the sound system.
I flatten the EQ.
I turn off all the 3D garbage stuff
that's not real, all the processing,
and then I'm happy.
That's what I do.
I go by into these random weird gimmicks
that they're programming into audio.
And I like this approach because
yes, the flattest one is probably the one that works
for the most amount of content
in terms of music or podcasts.
But sometimes I find myself on the road.
I can't quite hear what I'm listening to
and I have to do something with the speaker set up.
I mean, yeah, I'm going deaf
so it's hard for me to hear stuff.
Period.
This Audi comes with profiles
that you can just switch to
on this new podcast now.
It's just last past Ben revealing
that he's going deaf and talking about podcasts.
Oh, I've known this guy.
I've known this for a while.
Do you want to unleash this on the podcast
on the listening?
Yeah, moment is passed.
I also wanted to make it feel like
I'm also going deaf and just ignoring you.
I hope you're not.
I'm not.
Yeah, probably.
Wouldn't wish it on anyone.
The car also comes with all-wheel drive,
the standard stuff,
nothing to worth while to talk about.
My experience with it was pretty good.
I really did not feel like it was a cheap car
trying to be expensive.
But more of a premium car
just at a smaller size and price point.
That might be because we were driving
European smack vehicles,
which is what you said earlier.
They have a higher tolerance
for these kinds of elevated prices
and they have more features on them.
You're also driving on tiny European roads, right?
Yeah.
They're getting you into the mentality
of like, oh, this vehicle fits my lifestyle very well.
We've, I agree with you on that.
I actually really love the size of these cars
on those roads.
They feel right.
And I live in a,
like the city that I live in
can't feel kind of tight.
There's a lot of small roads.
The super advanced city of Hamilton?
Yeah, right.
Come on.
And I also feel like, you know,
a small car really works
in some of these denser city streets.
So I was happy with that.
The major thing that I think
Elie wanted to showcase
is something that might not apply
to some of our listeners
because it's not going to be offered
to you to US buyers
is the digital matrix.
Elie, the headlights,
which is a headlight system
that's made up of 25,
over 25,000
LEDs, which is too many LEDs.
No, it's a fantastic
instrument, something happened.
I'm willing to buy 12,000 LEDs.
That's my upper limit.
These LEDs are really,
they are by the,
you're laughing too much.
I'm laughing because,
I'm laughing because
I remember when like one or two LEDs
was like a really big deal.
And now they're like, well,
there's 25,000 LEDs
on this bottle cap
and you're like,
yeah.
Well, I actually think that's funny
because Elie must have been one
of the first automakers
to have LED daytime running lights.
And they used to be little dots, right?
Like, yeah, that was singular.
Singular LED.
Yeah.
Make the size of your fist.
Singular little dots
that they used to put around.
I think it must have been the R8.
I had them.
But now they got 25,000.
Well, I was going to say,
I feel like LED DRLs
are the 20 years from now
are going to be the feature
that dates designs the most.
That'll be so interesting.
It'll be like, I know exactly
when this car came out
because the shape of the LEDs
on its front end.
But these LEDs are informed
by the safety systems
found in on the vehicle.
So basically,
they can react to what the camera
and adaptive cruise control
sensors are seeing
and can change the direction
of the beam
and illuminate only the road
in front of you.
So you don't
in terms of low beam headlights.
Mainly you're not
blinding anybody.
And then in addition to that,
they can project
kind of like
they can enable and disable
these LEDs as needed
and project information
onto the light beam
which is both the most gimmicky
and most interesting thing I've ever seen.
So it's like a head-up display
that's going past the windshield.
Yes, it's like a head-up display
on the road.
And I know that sounds stupid
but here's what they did.
They made us drive these cars out in the road.
They made us turn on adaptive cruise control
and lane-keeping.
And the car,
so basically we could see
the light,
the road in front of us
between us and the car head
perfectly illuminated.
And then the system would put
these two lines,
they would basically
blank out a couple of LEDs
and put these two black lines
in that light beam
to visual lines
where you are in the lane.
And it's also worth pointing out
that this is not
illuminating the lane next to you
until you turn on the signal
which then it illuminates it
on a rhythmic
like TikTok,
like your signal.
So I'm still a little bit,
we've talked about this before off mic.
I'm still a little bit confused
by this because I need those lights
to illuminate the lane beside me
because that's where the deer are.
Yeah, I think,
I mean, there's a little bit of
like pattern,
like scattered pattern to it.
I think a much more controlled way
than the randomness of other
like high beams sometimes.
And if you ever look at like
IHS reports,
they can really peg
a automaker's headlights down
just based on their glare pattern.
And I think basically
what Audi's doing is they're
focusing their glare pattern
to what is essential
and can control it to such a
extent that it will not
interfere with oncoming motorists
or so I understand that for a high beam.
But for a low beam,
you're not going to be interfering
with oncoming motorists.
Yeah, no, it doesn't completely
like leave the other lane in shadows.
Because you need the,
you need full frontal illumination
once you're outside of a city
or your headlights are useless.
Right.
And I've driven some
of the cool matrix designs
like from Mercedes-Benz
where they leave the brights
on all the time
and then they carve out
the space for the vehicle
that's coming towards you.
And you can actually see
that dark zone move
with the vehicle
that's in the oncoming lane.
And that's available in Canada
for a few years now.
Yeah, I think that's I think that's
really cool technology.
This is doing something kind of like that.
It's not like I said,
it's not totally leaving an entire
thing in in darkness.
I'm going to the other thing
that it will do will
project a snowflake on the road
when it's I see out there.
I think that's really funny.
Like I know it's yeah exactly.
It's going to be funnier
when it's projected over actual ice.
Or snow yeah.
So I want to ask you,
how do you feel about augmented reality
because that's basically what this is?
Yes, I really like it.
I think it's really cool.
I think it is.
Look, all those features are already in the car.
Like the adaptive cruise control,
the makes use of these cameras
that can sense so much of the world around it.
And augmented reality,
I think typically uses
mapping mapping data
or vehicle to X data.
And this didn't quite have that.
I'm sure it eventually will.
It could put speed limits on that projection
or something like that.
I think that's super cool.
I really do love that.
I would love to see more of it.
One of the only issues it seems to add
a lot of complexity and data
to the overall vehicle.
And right now it seems like
we've gotten a lot of cars
that have been released lately
with unreliable infotainment systems.
And I'm worried that adding too many gimmicks
will take away from the basic functionality
that we expect from infotainment systems.
Also, maybe basic functionality of headlights,
which are key.
I mean, your headlights aren't working
because the software won't boot.
Yeah, that's a great point, right?
Like, what happens?
And I mean, sensors can be blocked.
They can be damaged.
They can something can happen.
What will happen to the headlights
when that happens?
Will they just
revert to a normal phase, hopefully?
Following on with that.
You never know.
The additional cost of this type of headlight
means that in an accident,
the repair costs are going to be
astronomical.
Absolutely huge.
It could be contributing to increased
insurance costs for motorists.
Absolutely, 100% it does.
But it's worth pointing out.
I'm curious as to what gets damaged more frequently.
A windshield, which needs to be,
which needs to have a special coating
in order for head-up displays to work.
Or the headlights.
Yeah, but this vehicle has both.
Yeah, well, it did not have a head-up display.
Okay, so like, I mean, I would say
headlights are at the front of the car.
Yeah, they're going to be taking more.
If you're in a parking lot, someone backs it
to your windshield is fine.
I guess that's my point.
Yeah, of course.
I think that's a great point.
I've damaged more windshields
than I have headlights.
That's my point.
Yeah, because you're wild.
Do just out there with no rules.
That's driving through Apple orchards.
Also, it's a crazy windshield risking activities.
Partially true.
We have these, it's like season now for these
I think they're called...
My wife calls them conquerors.
Have you ever heard of these?
You're gonna have to give me more than that.
It's a tree.
It's called a European horse chestnut.
And they make these massive chestnut
like seeds.
We have butternuts in Canada.
And they fall.
And we have a couple of roots
that I take that are covered by these things.
I mean, the day one of these trees hit me right,
like drop red on my windshield
and scared the daylights out of me.
I was like, what was that?
And I just thought stuck in my windshield wiper.
And I was like, oh man, one of these things.
Wow.
Anyways, the starting price for the Q3
has not been announced.
I would imagine it costs around 40 to 45,000 dollars
which is an average price of a compact car in the segment.
I would say that similarly the pricing in Canada
is not going to be going off any further.
Let me double check what I...
Love these typing cents.
Yeah, you should.
Why not?
No comment.
Let me get this in.
My expectation for the pricing in Canada
is that it'll be about 45 to 55,000.
So would you recommend this vehicle?
Yeah, right now I would assuming that that
is what the pricing will be.
I was very happy with the performance of it.
I'm happy with the design of it.
I'm happy with the technology that's offered in it.
And especially for Canadians who
I think that lighting technology is really cool.
It's one of those few features that makes me say,
oh, that's why you bought a luxury car.
That's why you bought a fancy nameplate.
And I think that there's so many vehicles
that don't offer a killer app or a killer feature
or something to point at and be like,
that's why I sprung for the
Audi, for example, I'm into that.
I really dig that.
I love it when an automaker tries
to make their vehicle stand out and pulls it off.
It might be a gimmick,
but those systems kind of functional.
So last week at the end of the show,
I mentioned that I had bought another car.
Yeah, you left us with such a teaser.
And I'm sorry to the people who reached out
online to get hints.
Well, people were like,
now they have to wait a whole week to find out what I bought.
So I hope you're not disappointed by what the answer ends up being.
But I want to just kind of walk through the process
that I've been going through over the last three months or so
because it has not been fun.
And normally for me, shopping for cars is fun
because I have a disease
and I'm almost always looking at online ads
for enthusiast-type cars
or at least vehicles that I find interesting.
Like the manual transmission pathfinder I bought
in back in June,
which is still serving me well.
But my wife has a commute that's about 260 kilometers
round trip that she does once or twice a week,
depending on weather and things like that,
whether she's actually needed in the office.
And it involves city driving and mostly highway,
but once you get to the city, things are pretty gnarly.
And it's a lot of bumper to bumper traffic.
So 260 kilometers, I guess, is like
160 miles, something like that.
Okay, it's not in substantial, but it means that
the vehicle that she needs a vehicle that's comfortable
needs a vehicle that's safe and needs a vehicle
that is relatively reasonable of fuel mileage.
And for parking, it can't be gigantic.
And fuel mileage and parking are kind of linked.
Like you can't have a gigantic vehicle that gets good gas.
It just doesn't really happen.
So the last two years,
she's been driving a 2024 cross trek,
which we leased for two years
because when we moved to the country,
we didn't have a lot of time to find a new vehicle.
It was 2022, 2023,
and the prices for use cars were horrible.
Like they were through the roof.
We were just looking at garbage stuff
that was the same price as this particular lease,
like 500 bucks a month, $12,000 all in.
So our lease is up in November.
And the last three months have been me trying to figure out
what we're going to replace it with.
And at first, I wanted to go electric.
And I was very convinced this is what we were going to do.
I was also convinced that EV prices in Canada
were going to start to come down
because the refuer incentives available
from the federal government got rid of its incentives
for electric vehicles.
The problems of Quebec still has one that's a little bit lower,
but it was still available.
And I was like, okay,
they're going to drop pricing to reflect this
because most of these companies were
relying on these incentives
to get people in the showroom.
That didn't happen.
It's happened in the States recently
because the $7,500 tax incentive is no longer available.
And as of yesterday,
I believe that Hyundai dropped the price
of the Ionic 5 between $7,000 and $9,000
depending on the trim level,
which is pretty dramatic.
It didn't happen in Canada.
That's it.
I don't think that price drop is coming to Canada either.
No, that's what I just said.
It's not happening.
I thought you were just talking about that.
Yes, go ahead.
So I was waiting for something that wasn't going to happen.
I was really had my heart set on an Ionic 6.
But I started looking around
and I was like, oh, maybe I can get a coin at EV
because on the used market,
the first generation coin at EVA,
well, the first generation facelifted one,
if you get one that there's two versions,
there's the one where the battery warranty is gone,
and you can get those for like 15 or 16 grand,
which is a pretty decent deal
for 400 kilometers of driving on a charge,
which again is a factor on this route trip in the winter.
My wife's going to lose like 40% of that capability.
So I wanted to keep her in the range
of being able to do it without having to stop
on her way home to plug in.
And then we would just charge it home.
And if you want one that has the warranty,
you're looking at around 25,000 for tax in.
And that didn't seem too crazy.
And then I started looking at lease deals for the Ionic.
And I actually, I looked at the Machee as well.
Ford was offering like $17,000 in rebates off of the Machee.
Ionic was offering all in tax included lease rate for four years
that was the same as what we were paying for the outback,
$500 bucks a month.
And it kind of seemed like that's where I was going to go.
I was like, all right, it's the same price we're paying now.
We're treating transportation as another bill that we pay every month.
And that seems to be a brand new car,
so theoretically less problems.
And let's just do that.
And then I kind of realized that this is a vehicle
that five days out of the week sits in the driveway.
When we drive together,
we're almost always driving one of my vehicles or a press car.
Because I have to drive the press cars.
And I usually have to drive the long distances.
So we're just going to take that if we're going on any kind of trip.
So I was like, why am I going to pay $500 a month for a car that we're not using?
If it was a car that we were either both going to be using every day
or she was going to be using every day,
then yeah, I think that makes a lot of sense.
But I essentially talked myself out of leasing.
And I was really surprised by that.
Then I started to think about, well,
what's the upper dollar limit that I want to spend on a car that's going to sit five days a week?
And I was thinking, do I really want to spend 25 grand on a Kona?
I like the fact that we wouldn't be paying for gas.
But there's a few issues with the Kona out there on the used market.
They have there's some infotainment problems.
There's some cooling problems.
It's not big deals.
But they are things, sorry, when I say cooling problems,
I mean inside the cabin like the air conditioning system.
It's problematic.
I was like, do we want to pay a lot for a car where we're not really necessarily going to get the
savings because it's not going to be driven all that often.
So the fuel mileage savings are minimal, maybe $150 a month we would save.
And that would easily be eaten up by the purchase price of the vehicle.
So I started looking around at, you know, what's the $15,000 mark?
That seemed to be like, you know, which the Biden cash,
get something decent around that price and be happy with it.
And this is where the market got weird for me.
Like there's a lot of cars at price point.
Yeah.
Early contenders was the Subaru Outback
with the 3.6 liter flat six engine and the five speed automatic,
which was made until 2014.
And I was really set on finding one of these because it's the most reliable
Subaru that's out there.
Otherwise, I would have bought a used cross track.
But the thing is, the cross tracks of old all come with CVTs if you want an automatic
and it's not a good transmission.
It's not reliable.
I can't ask my wife to drive a five-speed manual in traffic every day.
It's not every day, but every time she uses it, it's just not fair to do.
So I wanted this five-speed automatic because of the reliability.
I quickly discovered there are no clean examples of this vehicle to be had in Quebec.
Everything I looked at was either rusty or had hidden problems.
I had a couple of vehicles inspected by a garage that I trusted and none of them passed.
Then, I moved on to the Golf Sport Wagon, which a friend of mine found a one-owner,
senior-owned 130,000-kilometer example of 2017.
It was affordably priced with like 13 grand.
It did not have adaptive cruise, which was kind of disappointing for my wife.
It did have Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, which is a bonus.
I was set to buy this car.
I was ready to go make a deposit.
A weekend visit from a friend of mine who was a Volkswagen service manager for like five years
during the period that they sold this car, talked me out of it.
He said that they used to keep five turbos on hand at any given point,
so they could get through Friday without having customer cars in the shop over the weekend.
He also said that I would be dealing with constant little problems that would drive me crazy.
I did some research and I discovered that unfortunately,
this Sport Wagon was outfitted with the panoramic sunroof,
which has a class-action lawsuit that Volkswagen had to settle for how much it leaks.
Volkswagen bought the sunroof from a third party and installed it, and there are non-stop problems
with it. It's problems in the sense that like the actual assembly that holds the class can
be cracked and let water in, and once water comes in, it destroys the headliner and all
associated electronics. And then even if you have, wow, we're talking about like a cascade of
events that makes a car that just destroys a car. And even if it doesn't leak the track for the
cover, my friend was like, look, he's like, either you leave it open all the time, or you leave it
closed all the time, but eventually that track's going to come off and you're going to have to
place the headliner because it will get snagged and tear and all this stuff. So I walked away from that
car. I then started looking at the Chevrolet cruise, the second generation. A car I've always liked,
and which I discovered is pretty reliable. The 1.4 liter turbo engine, they made a hatchback
version starting in 2017, I think 2016. Yeah. I'm on such a journey here. I love this. I know I'm
just taking a spores bin with it. I'm just monologuing here. I'm sorry about that. But I started
looking for a cruise because I, like I said, I always liked how it drove. I discovered the very
reliable. I ended up finding one about an hour from my house. It was one owner, low kilometers,
what reasonable kilometers. And the owner appeared to have taken care of it. When I showed up,
it had a check engine light, which he had not told me about. I did not bring my code scanner with me
because he did not say that I needed to. So I was like, look, I'm interested in the car. It drives
OK. It had a little bit of a hesitation around 3,000 RPM that eventually smoothed out.
And he had a stack of receipts for maintenance going back to over his whole ownership,
was mostly just oil changes. And he's like, well, my garage told me that the check engine light was
just because I didn't drive it enough at high speeds. So there was moisture building up in the
exhaust system. And I'm like, I guess that's kind of plausible if this is a CEL for like an oxygen
sensor or something. I said it to a garage for inspection. They pulled the code. And they found
a couple of things. There was like some oil leaking from the engine head. There was a torn CV
boot and some leaking. Those weren't big deals. But the the check engine light was for an
under boost condition on the turbo. Oh, God. Here we go. Okay. At that point, it could have been
many, many things. Sometimes for the crews, it's just either a cracked hose somewhere or a bad
PCV valve. Oftentimes you don't have to replace the turbo. But you might have to replace the turbo.
And the fact that this guy had driven the car like that for a year really made me wonder like
what, you know, how careful he really was about maintaining it and how he didn't notice that
is that there wasn't good power from the car. So I walked away from that. And at this point,
I'm so frustrated. Like I've been driving cars. They haven't been working out. The following weekend,
I go to a Subaru dealer that has a 2017 outback with the 3.6 because I'm so frustrated that by
this point, I'm willing to consider CVT equipped outbacks because the CVT for the 3.6 liter six is
a different part, different part number than the four cylinder, which is more problematic.
It's got stronger internals. I drive this car that had been trading in at a key dealership. It was
neglected. They didn't have any information about it. And I could tell, I drove it for a while and
when I brought it back, they wanted to make a deal. They were, I probably could have got it for like
three or four thousand less than they were asking. But there was all these issues that they had
documented and other people had driven the car and it had it inspected and walked away.
And I decided to do that. I was like, it's just too rusty underneath and I don't trust it. So
I'm at my wit's end. I see this pair of ads that show up on Marketplace. There's someone
is selling two outbacks, a 2015 and a 2017 both with the 3.6 engine. One has 200,000 kilometers.
The other has 120. The 200,000 kilometer vehicle is for 10,500. The other one with a much less
kilometers is like twice the price. And the other car also has iSight, which was not available
in 2015 with the flat six. So I contacted them. I'm like, hey, I saw you have these vehicles
were sailed and they're like, yeah, we we're a a psychotherapy company. We own four outbacks with
the 3.6 and therefore our employees, they drive up north into native communities and they do therapy
and they come back. And so we like these vehicles because they're reliable, they're safe,
and we over maintain them. If there's a problem, we just get it fixed because we can't afford to
have our employees not be safe. And I'm like, I'm liking all that I'm hearing here. So I go and I drive,
I don't even look at the 2017 for twice the price because like it's not worth paying that much more
for adaptive cruise. I drive the the 2015 model. It drives fine. They kept it very clean. There's no
obvious problems with the vehicle. And then they're like, you can go to the garage. Here's the address
where it gets where we maintain it. And you can ask to see the service records. And I did
and I looked at two years of service records. And every time there was any kind of problem, they took
care of it. It was they were up to date on fluid changes. It was in shop every four months for
preventative maintenance. I felt good about the vehicle. And I ended up buying it. So we've had it for
a week now. Okay. Immediately after buying it, I discovered there was paint work on one of the
fenders. Like someone literally the same day, I did not see it when I first drove it because you
can only see it on an overcast situation in bright light. You don't see it. It's like a sparkly
paint. And when there's cloud cover, it looks like someone sprayed a bit to cover a scratch. But
there's no rust there. And I talked with the the seller after that. They're like, no, we have a
clean car facts for the car. We didn't do that work. So we don't know the details of what that is.
But that has been the only surprise. I have a little bit of a clattering sound over some bumps.
And I've discovered that these vehicles have a spring in the electric power steering system
that very often clatters to the point where there's a TSB from Subaru and a replacement part kit
that has this longer spring with a slightly longer screw that I bought. And I'm going to put in this
weekend. And that will thankfully get rid of the rattle. But we haven't had any other problems.
It drives pretty well. It's comfortable. My wife's getting used to it's a lot bigger than the cross
track. And this is a little bit more gas but not a lot. But it's just a more comfortable quieter
car for her on the highway. And now I haven't owned an outback in 25 years, I think, or maybe 20 years
the last time I had one. And I had that was a 90s one. And I had it for a very repetitive time.
It's a car that belonged to my grandfather. It had not been well maintained. And I did not keep
it very long. But all this to say, I do not enjoy shopping for a quote unquote normal commuter car.
Like the process is difficult. You're dealing with dealerships that are often
if you're looking at a used car of a certain age, they're indifferent. Like they don't really care.
They don't know anything about the vehicles that come in. You have to really take on the burden
of inspecting and validating the cars in good shape for yourself. And it's stressful. It's really
stressful, especially since we had a ticking clock on this lease being done. But we were selling the
cross track to the same dealer that was selling that Volkswagen as a friend of a friend. They wanted
to buy our cross track from us before the lease was up because it has so few kilometers and it's
super clean. We put like 30,000 on it in two years. Yeah. So it's all working well. We're getting
a check instead of just sending the car back to Subaru. Love that. And we have a car that hopefully
will last the next four or five years without any issues given the small amount of mileage that's
going to be put on it. And I'm happy to be back in outback nation. And I'm already looking at
weird mods that I'm never going to do because it's just a commuter car. It has LED headlights that
were installed because of going up north with the car. It's often dark. There's not a lot of
it's seasonally darker than it is here. It gets darker earlier. So they wanted their employees
to be safe. So it's got brighter LED headlights. So that's nice for us out here in the country.
And I am considering ways to add Android Auto so that my wife can have easier navigation
than just your phone on the windshield. But so far happy with it. It's 3.6. I am in
driven one in so long. Like I might not have driven one since this generation was released.
And now Sammy, I have an outback just like you and maybe you'll respect me a little bit more
because of that. Yeah. Or maybe you'll I mean I've always felt like you don't respect me a lot
because I have the turbo CVT equipped outback. But you have the now automatic or is your CVT?
No, yours is. Yes, CVT. It's a CVT. But at least you're you're naturally aspirated six.
Now I'm going to tell you my turbo my turbo model the fuel economy is so bad
unless I really, really try. And it's just a different way of driving it. And I'm curious
to see how it's just such a bland boring way of driving it. You have to be so self conscious
of what your speeds are, how you're and how you're applying throttle or braking or coasting.
And as soon as you get in the city, just the fuel economy just tanks. So I'm curious to see what
your lifetime fuel economy will be like. Well, so far she's seeing nine just she's seeing just
under 10 liters per 100 kilometers. So about 25 hours per gallon. That's pretty good. That is
pretty good. She was the I'm not getting that the cross truck was between seven and eight. Yeah,
that's much better of course. Yeah. And then the other thing is the my my issue with all of the
Subaru's I've owned is that the paint is like non-existent. So they like scratch at the at the
slightest sign of like dust. Really? That's been my experience. Wow. I don't know what type of
paint they use, but it's super flimsy. I'm curious what other people have said about their
Subaru experiences. I feel like this like era of Subaru, this like past maybe 10 years,
they've really focused on making like really solid, mechanically solid vehicles that are
more reliable and safer. And I think you you found the main reasons as to why you would get one,
right? Like those are the main reasons that you would you would get one. I'm still very nervous
about the CBT for the four cylinder vehicles. There's like a hundred thousand mile warranty extension
going up to 2019 or 2020, I think, because of how many problems they had with it. So with the six,
it's a different transmission, but I'm still wary. We're going to try and stay ahead of things with
fluid changes every 30,000 kilometers or so. Yeah, which is not a cheap thing to do. Maybe it'll end up
being every two years, but it does seem to help keep these transmissions on the road. Yeah, I think
that's cool. I think that was really that was a really long journey to a to another Subaru.
Yeah, what is it about about this brand? I don't I like wagons. You know, I also briefly considered
a Genesis, Hyundai Genesis like the first generation, because there that with the 3.3 liter B6,
I think they're apparently quite reliable except for carbon buildup because of the direct injection.
But finding examples is tough. There was nothing close. There was stuff that was maybe an hour and
a half away that I could go look at. And it just doesn't have the functionality of a wagon. I
really like wagons. The outback is probably the most affordable way to get a wagon that is not
going to give you too much trouble from a maintenance perspective, because otherwise you're going to be
looking at European wagons up here. We didn't get the Buick version of the Regal wagon from the
last few years. We didn't get the Jaguar XF Sport break. You know, we're pretty limited when it
comes to wagons. And like all those carrier price or just a premium because they're premium badges.
I mean, even think about the Volvos, right? Yeah, the Volvos are just too complicated to own,
because if you start looking at the price point that we could that we would want to spend looking
around 15,000, you're looking at the turbo and supercharged four cylinder engine. Do I really want
to get involved with that? And then I think about how bad census is as an infotainment system.
And it's like the car is not compelling enough. Like it doesn't do anything better than the outback
to make me want to roll the dice. Yeah, exactly. That's fair. Like the outback feels like a known
quantity. The other thing I like about it is there's a huge community. So if I have a problem,
I just search online and like this whole rattle thing. I was like, I'm getting a rattle from the left
left front of the car. It seems like suspension, but there was no suspension problems reported by
the previous owner. And when I when I move this suspension, I'm not hearing it. It's only when I'm
driving. And then it turns out it's like, Oh, sit in your driveway and move this steering wheel
back and forth. Do you hear it? And I'm like, yeah, I do. And I'm like, it's definitely this
this screw in this spring. And it cost me like 40 bucks at the super report parts counter. And now
I have to buy a TS 40 torque head because I don't have the hollow heads for the safety screws.
And then it's it's literally 10 minutes under the car while it's on ramps. So yeah.
And all of that from just looking it up online, I can guarantee you the Volvo community is not as big
for DIY. I'm curious about that. But it's definitely not. We'll see. We'll see. We'll see all the
Volvo owners who listen to our Volvo listeners are going to message this far fewer volvos than
there are Subaru's. Yeah, but they're they're passionate bunch perhaps. Oh yeah, definitely.
I'm eager to see how many Subaru owners are going to message us compared to Volvo owners. And
this is a this is a shout out to our listeners. Head on over to our website, unnamed out of
motopodcast.com, go to the contact farm and let us know if you've got a Volvo or Subaru or don't
maybe don't don't play into Sammy's hands here. You don't have to play his game. Do I want to hear
or just give us whatever's going on. Tell us what's going on. How are you? What's what's been your
your your like? And we love hearing from you guys. If you guys want us to talk about whatever's
going on the industry or something that caught your eyes, let us know. We love doing it. So head on
over to our website or you can email us. It's Benjamin at Benjamin hunting dot com or you can find
us on social media. I think the easiest way to find Ben or myself is to go to Instagram. I'm at
Sammy underscore. Like you're laughing. You can find Ben. He's at hunting Benjamin. Sammy, what are
you going to be driving next week? I'm actually going on a little trip to Europe. I'm trying to get my
hands on a on a Jeep over there that we do not get in North America at all. It's called the Jeep
Avenger. So I'm trying to get my hands on that and hopefully I do and I can come back and report
on that. Otherwise, I'll just get some rental and we'll we'll talk about that as well. So while
Sammy is gone, we're going to have Fred at the show, Chad Kirschner come on and guest host for us.
So we will still we'll still be having episodes out even though Sammy is once again abandoning us
for Europe. I will be talking next week. It's a it's a tough call. I think I'm going to be talking
about the Nissan Versa that I drove, which oh man, I would love to talk to you about that. The most
I can't wait to hear this. It's the most affordable car in America brand new car by a large margin
and it is done by the end of this year. So that will be interesting to talk about. Very cool. I
look forward to hearing it and and check out check out my Kickstarter model UN comic.com this Tuesday
it goes live would love to have you get on board for my story of aliens high school kids in the 90s
and the fate of the earth head hanging in the balance. I love it. My you and comic.com go for it.
Bye everyone.
About this episode
A deep dive into the 2025 Toyota 4Runner Trailhunter and 2026 Audi Q3, featuring Benjamin's recent car purchase journey. The episode highlights the Trailhunter's off-road capabilities, unique features like a hybrid engine, and its competitive pricing compared to other Toyota models. The Audi Q3's design improvements and advanced technology, including a new infotainment system and innovative headlights, are also discussed. Benjamin shares his challenges in finding a reliable vehicle for his wife, ultimately leading to the purchase of a 2015 Subaru Outback, and reflects on the complexities of car shopping.
2.4 liter turbo four
33 inch tires
adaptive cruise control
aftermarket suspension
ARB
chassis
CKB
drivetrain
eight-speed automatic transmission
five-speed automatic transmission
Audi Q3
Audi SQ5
BMW X1
Buick Regal
Dodge Avenger
Dodge Journey
Ford Bronco Sport
Hyundai Genesis
Hyundai Kona
Jaguar XF
Lexus GX
Lincoln Navigator
Lucid Air
Mercedes-Benz GLB
Mini Countryman
Nissan Pathfinder
Subaru Outback
Suzuki Samurai
Toyota 4Runner
Toyota Land Cruiser
Toyota Tacoma
Volkswagen Golf
Original notes
Whats that you hear? Is it the sound of trails being hunted? Or roads being lit? No, you're right, its another episode of the Unnamed Automotive Podcast being beamed right to your devices! This weeks show starts off with our first review of the 2025 Toyota 4Runner TrailHunter, which Benjamin is towing with around town. Why is there yet another off-road oriented version of this off-road-oriented SUV? How does it differ from TRD-branded models? What's with the pricing? Benjamin breaks it down for you.
Then Sami flies of the country to test out the 2026 Audi Q3 in Scotland. Armed with a new design, new infotainment system, new gear selector and new headlights, Sami is eager to talk about what makes this compact crossover so special, and what his reservations are about this whole class of small luxury vehicles.
Finally, Benjamin finally reveals the latest addition to his garage. Thanks for listening!
Unnamed Automotive Podcast
Unnamed Automotive Podcast
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