I want to come back! I miss my T4R

2

2003Can4runner

New member
I had a beautiful 2000 Limited 4runner with the rear locker and regret getting rid of it. I needed something that can tow my camper and tow my girlfriends horses so I got a 5.7L Tundra. Loved that truck, but 9mpg was getting to be a little much. So, I made a bad short sighted decision and picked up a 2008 Mazdaspeed 3. Fun little car, but I don't know what I was thinking going from a 4runner to a 5.7L tundra to a tiny little car...
Anyways, I want a 4runner. A 4th gen. V8. I'm looking at buying it rather than leasing it like my previous 2 vehicles. I love having the warranty, which I'm going to lose when I buy a V8 4runner I'm assuming. My questions are: I know the 4runner is very very reliable, but if something did break, how expensive is it? I would hate to pick one of these up and have the 5spd transmission go on it...Would I be safe buying one with 100 000 kms on it? I know the answer is yes, but if something little breaks I don't want to have to spend thousands...

Thanks!
 
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The only things that seem to be costing money are as follows:
1) Frozen brake calipers (03-05 so far)
2) 90k timing belt on the V8
3) A few t-case actuator seals have been leaking. So far the fix is to put in a junk yard one for 900-1500. The acuator is expensive and it requires a dissambly of the t-case. Don't panic, so far this has only been a few at over 100k miles. Read more at T120 on that...

By purchasing at 60k miles or less you should be able to get a good one, ensure that critical fluids are freshened up at the correct time and have a great vehicle for many years to come.

:cheers:
 
Re: Re: I want to come back! I miss my T4R

97hb said:
No 4th gens have manual shift, but overseas they have the 4.0V6 with 5speed ;)
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I know that they don't have a manual transmission. The V8 has a 5spd automatic transmission.

Thanks for the info! I was always under the impression the 4.7 had a timing chain. Or am I thinking of the 5.7 in the Tundra?
 
No the 4.7 has a belt . Its a powerful engine IMO.

As far as costs for breakage it could be anything or could be nothing .

No really way to tell , if not buying a new one then get a certified used one and buy extended warranty with it. I would buy it from a reputable Toyota dealer who sells certified used Toyotas. Just my .02

A V6 is not a bad option at either , plenty of power and a durable engine. I figured you maybe didn't need such a heavy tow vehicle any longer since went from truck's to the Mazda . The V6 has plenty of tow power.
 
I made the switch trying to convince myself that I didn't need the towing ability, but I've realized I do. I think for the fairly short trips I do with my girlfriends horses, the 4.7 should do fine. I know its not going to tow like the Tundra, but it'll do.

I normally wouldn't be this concerned with buying a used vehicle, all these newer vehicles are so complex. So many things can break and AND be very expensive to fix.

My dad had a 2003 Limited V8 4runner so I'm familiar with them. I loved how smooth the 4.7 was.
 
2003Can4runner said:
I normally wouldn't be this concerned with buying a used vehicle, all these newer vehicles are so complex. So many things can break and AND be very expensive to fix.
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I agree with you, so many things to break down. ABS brakes, 4 disc brakes, what about the VVT-I, maybe the VSC.

Toyota oveall does seem to hold up over the long term, that seems to be the best part of owning a Toyota . I wonder how the Lexus 400 that come out in 1990 is doing? It had a lot of gizmos, I am sure quite there are still a few around.

Also, I wonder if you get a car with less than 36,000 miles and still under warranty, could you get a 100,000 miles warranty from Toyota???
 
peter78 said:
I agree with you, so many things to break down. ABS brakes, 4 disc brakes, what about the VVT-I, maybe the VSC.
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Luckily, that "complex" stuff seems to be very durable. The ABS pumps do fail, but it is rare. Disk brakes are easier & more user friendly when it comes time to work on them. They are also self adjusting, so basically anyone can do a brake job without worrying about adjusting them properly.

Overall, I think a modern vehicle is definitely more complex than an older vehicle, but at the same time they seem to be much more reliable, despite the higher complexity. If you think about it, it seems pretty amazing that modern vehicles are so trouble-free.
 
EH007 said:
If you think about it, it seems pretty amazing that modern vehicles are so trouble-free.
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I agree , it's amazing how all this electrical/mechanical stuff is engineered to work in sync with each other .
 
Well if that's the case than maybe I shouldn't be so worried.

Right now my problem is my 2008 Mazdaspeed 3 has 4000kms and I've only had it since August. I think I'm going to be stuck with it for a while :(
 
I have had my 08 Limited V8 for a year now and I can honestly say that this is the best vehicle I have ever owned to date.

I love this rig and will drive it into the ground. The build quality is just amazing...No rattles yet...

As for the motor, that is what sold me on this thing...oh so smooth...

Do it!

Cheers
 
If gas prices shoot back up to $4/gal the Mazda will be saving you money. My mom bought an '06 to keep the miles off of her '99 Limited which is only up to 78k and for the mpgS.
 
Until the truck is under manufacturer warranty, you can purchase Toyota's extended warranty thru any Toyota dealer. We did that when we got our used '04. the basic warranty was about to expire in two months and for about $650 got the Toyota extracare 7 year / 75K (wichever occurs first) warranty..
 
Also if it is a certified pre own you can purchase the Platinum warranty from Toyota which basically is a bumper to bumper warranty.

I bought it for my 04 that had 63000 miles on it

the warranty is good till 7/100k
 
Trading the 4runner

Have to add, been there, done that. The used 04 I got had a lot of issues, dealers did not fixed them so I got tired of the hassle, got a new Impreza. I thought, it's good on gas, AWD, has enough room for me, etc. Had it for two months (what was I thinking?), missed the 4runner badly, started to really hate the Impreza so ended up trading it in with about 1500 miles on it for a new 4Runner in '07.. Lesson learned. Did not care about losing money (luckily was not a whole lot) and I don't care about the gas prices. I'm happy every minute I'm driving it and that's all that matters.
 
Re: Trading the 4runner

dieselwolf said:
Have to add, been there, done that. The used 04 I got had a lot of issues, dealers did not fixed them so I got tired of the hassle, got a new Impreza. I thought, it's good on gas, AWD, has enough room for me, etc. Had it for two months (what was I thinking?), missed the 4runner badly, started to really hate the Impreza so ended up trading it in with about 1500 miles on it for a new 4Runner in '07.. Lesson learned. Did not care about losing money (luckily was not a whole lot) and I don't care about the gas prices. I'm happy every minute I'm driving it and that's all that matters.
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Here Here
 
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