I’ve got a baby on the way and have decided to get another 4runner for the wife. I’ve found a plain Jane ‘96 SR5 4WD with fancy little gold emblems and.. a blown head gasket. Dude was originally asking 1500 for it when I first went to look at it. Told me he was towing a couple SeaDoos up a hill and all of a sudden he lost power and engine started to stumble and bog, eventually killing the engine, never to start again (2+ years ago). Thinks it’s the head gasket but I didn’t have a solid battery to check compression. Trans fluid looked and smelled healthy.

Dude calls me 3 months later asking $800 for it, which was very tempting but I told him I’d think about it. The thought has grown on me the past couple days so I thought I’d reach out to the community for your thoughts. Replacing the HG isn’t discouraging, and it would be a great past time endeavor.. although I’ve never done one in this engine.

So, what do you guys think? $800 for a grocery getter/baby carrier, or let it go?