I bought my Runner around Christmas 2015. It is a Limited, auto trans, 4wd, Natural White w/ grey fender flares, fat lip bumper, leather interior, no e-locker or heated seats, but otherwise loaded with all the good stuff.
This will be a thread of my mods, maintenance, and adventures (because what's the point of building something this cool if you don't have some fun with it?). I hope that you will find the following entertaining, interesting, and hopefully at least somewhat educational.
I plan to break the whole process down into a series of small posts, because I simply do not have time to chronicle the whole process at once...nor will I ever admit that I'm done modding!
What I wanted: I needed a 4wd for work, with a decent amount of ground clearance. I drive in all kinds of snow and sleet, and also travel a lot of back country abandoned roads as part of my job. I also wanted something that looked nice on the inside, but that would be easily cleaned and able to withstand hunting and fishing trips, cow checking, and my dogs. Being a fairly recent college graduate, I was unwilling to spend more than $5,000, so I knew I had to tolerate at least moderately high miles, but I didn't want to go over 200k. Hearing many stories of rusted frames on 4Runners and Tacomas, I was set on the frame being in good condition, as I need this vehicle to last me at least 5 years, with hopefully enough frame left to be able to sell it for a little bit when I'm done with it.
I set out searching Craigslist, the source tightwads like myself use to find deals on used vehicles without having to talk to dealers. I live about 2 hours from St. Louis, and most of the used vehicles around here are beat up pretty bad, so I set my sights on one owned by someone in the suburbs who used it to run to the mall and back. After months of searching, calling about several adds only to find out that they didn't fit my criteria, I finally stumbled upon this one. Called the owner 30 mins after he posted the add, and got up at 6am the next day to get there to look at it before anyone else.
The PO was an friendly and honest fellow, who had used the Runner for his personal use for several years. He had a rather good grasp of the technical aspects of the vehicle, and had upgraded to an Acura...I have no idea why, but he said he liked it. It was apparent that he had done a great job of taking care of it, both mechanically and physically, as the leather was in good shape, with the usual minor cracking of the driver's seat that seems to come with mileage. He even provided a carfax, which showed pretty regular maintenance. After a short test drive, I fell in love with it, and the seller thankfully came down a couple hundred bucks off his asking price. I probably would have paid more if he refused to budge, but thankfully it didn't come to that. We signed the title, and I had a sweet new ride.
Purchase Price: $5,000
Mileage:181,400
Frame: Minor surface rust, mostly around and to the rear of the rear axle
4wd: in working condition
Engine: 3.4L V6, was leaking some oil around the valve cover gasket, and also had some slight lifter noise, mostly noticeable at low idle. My dad has had several toyota pickups with the same issue when they reach that mileage, so I wasn't too concerned.
Interior: Leather, with aftermarket Kenwood Radio w/ bluetooth microphone for wireless calls. (I later found that the PO spent $315 on this system from a receipt in the glovebox)
All electronics and gadgets were in perfect working order.
Here is a photo of what it looked like when I bought it. Subscribe and let me know what you think! Also, I frequently post photos of my adventures, which often include my 4Runner, to my Instagram: jrlochman
Linear Mode
