I have built up a 2001 with no surprises. I bought the 4Runner with what was supposed to be a repaired transmission that was called out. The previous owner thought the supercharger meant it was a race car so he screwed the transmission trying to race it on 33s. I ended up replacing the transmission after 100k miles of my daily driver use. But the vehicle as a whole has never failed to get me home. I now have 350k miles on the vehicle with the supercharger without any complaints. I did the standard 3rd gen maintenance like changing the radiator to prevent the pink milkshake and keep the gear oil changed like normal.

The vehicle as a platform has been great though. The selectable transfer case was great to have the handful of times I found myself having to drive hours on snow/ice patched roads. The "AWD" open transfer case has been a great feature of the 2001-2002 rigs. I find I leave the transfer case open when running off road and the vehicle handles better for it. I have not had any issues getting the rig into 4wd high or low but I try to work the actuator at least once every two months and drive a little to keep the seals good like the manual says.

Overall I think a lot of the naysayers on the 2001-2002 models are people finding the exceptions and making them big deals to make their older vehicle feel better. I have nothing against the earlier years; but after having my Dad's '98 4Runner for a couple weeks I will not go to an earlier year if I lose my 2001. I will end up going to a 4th gen most likely.