Decades ago, most of the modern safety features we now take for granted had to be mandated by the government. Airbags and Seat belts specifically. Nowadays, backup cameras are now mandated by the government. As for creature comforts, most manufacturers find it profitable to nickel and dime customers for these features because the profit margins on cars are increasing slim. But I agree with the OP. Some features should be standard equipment but I believe we are getting closer to the days when all cars will have the modern tech consumers come to expect.

 

I use brake hold feature all the time in rush hour. My car when I got had 3 pages long options and features. IMO, too many. But some are very appreciated.

 

ughhh brake hold is the best! the XLE camry even has it now which is pretty awesome, as well as full speed cruise control and the rest of the TSS-P features. XLE V6 camry is really top notch now

my E55 came with brake hold at the time, but only in europe it was called SBC hold but functioned the same. there was another feature called SBC stop, where the car automatically applies braking when you take your foot off the gas in bumper to bumper traffic. all you had to do was lightly tap the gas and the car would bring itself back to a stop for you.

 

Simply cause this vehicle has a cult like following. The 4runner through a regular buyers eyes, is WAYY TOO MUCH MONEY For WAYYYY TOO little car. Old tech, Old powertrain, Old everything. However from a market niche offroading buyer, nothing beats a 4Runner. Its like the GX, Lexus is PROACTIVELY dumping HUGE incentives in a vehicle it has to import from Japan and convince buyers to pay handsomely for essentially a vehicle that is older then dirt...People buy it, not cause its the latest ad greatest, but cause its probably never going to need to visit a dealership until someone other then Lexus issues a parts recall.

 

^^ Indeed. 4Runner name is pretty big.

My manager at work recently bought a new one. He has an older one, I think a 2001 or so. He has about 200k miles on that one and his wife still uses it as a daily driver and apparently cannot be separated from it. He had a very troublesome Audi that needed replacing, so with his great experience with the older 4Runner he didn't even look at anything else. Wanting to replicate their great experience with the old one, they just went right to the local Toyota dealer and bought a new one.

With all that said, a capable 4WD vehicle is a must for them. They have a weekend cabin high in the mountains that can be difficult to get to. Not saying the 4Runner is the only vehicle capable enough to do it, but its capabilities are certainly not wasted with him.