From my experience of the 4 runner from knowing someone who had one for a while they are generally quite well equipped as they are usually (all?) imported and they come with plenty of toys, but considering they look to be about the same size as the lwb frontera they seem awfully cramped inside and the one I was in seemed a bit tail happy on the road. That said, there is a surf equivalent of FOG so ownership may well be fine
As for the bloke who was 'dissing' our favourite 4x4, well, he wasn't
that rude about them. I've heard worse from less informed people, and I can see how he might have a low opinion if he got himself a truck that hadn't been looked after before he got his hands on it. Not necessarily a sound basis for making a recommendation though...