Just a quick shout out to our 3rd Gens for being tough as nails even if they do rust a bit.
my stupid car may need the engine replaced and it's only a 2012.
So I"m driving my 20 year old 4Runner and it's not failed me yet. Thank GOD I bought this thing and have been fixing it up with all your help and support.

Raise a glass of whatever to our trusty, rusty, dusty old beasts!! I know I sure will.

That's Hyundai for you. I'd just lease one and abuse it as a daily in that period. Good enough.

In my opinion, in the mid to late 90's, Toyota was making the absolute best vehicles on this planet, bar none.

Our newer 2011 Toyota's are still very good, but you can tell the quality is just not what it used to be. The paint on my 97 4R which lived most of it's life in the rust belt, is holding up better than both my Camry and our Highlander.

My step mom has had a couple Hyundai's and has had pretty good luck with them. I want to say her Azera had about 200k miles and still ran well. Unfortunately, there were a million other little problems with it so she traded it in.

Now my buddies 2012 F250 diesel....What a piece of junk that thing is. For a $72,000 truck new, it is constantly having issues. He had another F250 with the notoriously crappy 6.0 and that thing was constantly breaking down too...

I started out with 80s/90s cars but thought i'd be super cool and buy something new straight out of college (2005) and while that VW was pretty solid, I have since gone backwards, first to a 2002 bmw just because i've always wanted one and eventually to my 96 4R. I honestly will probably sell my 6 spd V8(emphasis on fun) bmw because I love this stupid old 4runner more. Its much easier to work on and problems are generally much easier to diagnose and i was able to rebuild the motor myself with a little help from a friend.
This stepping backwards was mostly after helping people around me with new cars once all the new wore off and the abundance of new sensors and doohickies became a major pain in the ass to maintain rather than convenient features.

I also might be a hypocrite because i let my wife buy a brand new highlander but talking her into something older was a stretch. She works from home and offers the new car to me daily for my commute but thats not happening.

Yeah no doubt on the reliability of these things, I drive 1,000 miles per week in them.
Don't fret about rust. Very simple prevention stops it. 30 minutes is all it takes. Whatever point your rig is at now, you can totally stop any progression. Here's what I do.
SEASONAL RUST PROOFING using WD-40 only

I drive a company car... a 2018 Camry, and it's really nice. But whenever I drive for personal reasons, it's the 02 4Runner or the 04 Solara Convertible. Worse MPG in both, but I don't really care.

JOELZY: I've been where you are with BMW's. Selling my BMW and going into a NB Miata was one of the funnest decisions I ever made. I regret I sold it last year (to get the Solara) and am actively looking for another. Miata's are just plain fun to drive! At any speed.

Love the 540 but for a car almost completely up to date on maintenance and needing very little, its pretty impractical for several months out of the year in my new location. a miata could be a lot of fun and cheap but i'm thinking if i sell the bimmer i might end up with another long term project being that the 4runner is now my daily.

This is quite helpful! Thanks

It is a good thing you didn’t buy that 4th gen then.

Hynduais and Kias are a crapshoot. Seen some last to 300,000+ miles, others not even 50,000 miles.

I’m still looking for that V8. But maybe another 3rd Gen is imminent. Easier to find but need that towing power for long term.
Wish they’d throw a V8 in them again. Sequoia are too damn big and Land Cruiser too expensive...plus that whole technology thing🤮
Love my Silver n rust specialty😁

love mine, one of the best rigs I have owned. Headed from the snowy cascades ( got 2 feet last night) and moving to Alaska, taking this beast with me. Gonna do some preventative stuff first as parts and shops are rare and expensive from what Ive seen on my last trip to Fairbanks a month ago.

Today just put in 4wd, hit the locker and crawled right out

Amen. My 2001 simply refuses to break, EXCEPT for the frame. At 265k miles, it's now becoming structurally unsound and, unfortunately, I have to bail out on her. The only 'failure' ever was alternator brushes at 220k (my fault - that's a maintenance item) and the power steering return line (repaired with fuel hose - I might have damaged the original return line during the timing belt replacement). Other than radiator, timing belt/water pump, and normal brake service, all maintenance items, EVERYTHING on this truck is original. Yeah, the rust is sad, but who else builds vehicles this durable? Nobody.
Edit: forgot, the exhaust isn’t original. The original was cut off when the cats were stolen, and replaced with OEM. Then replaced again last year under warranty.

Working for Hyundai in the past taught me how hit or miss they were. My 97 4runner has never let me down and up to 267k

as an update, I picked up the Sonata on Saturday. Drove around all day and when I was 1 mile from home, dropped off a kid and yep, that check engine light right back on and back to the dealership today with it. grrrrr

I also missed out by 20 min. on a 4th gen lighter blue 05 that I went to see. This couple walked in, he bought the 06 and she wanted to see the 05. Well they bought BOTH!! I mean jeezz, give a girl a chance. LOL just the way my luck is rolling.

But hey - my Silver Beast is running right along just fine. Maybe I'll revisit that 98 I was looking at see if he still has it.

I do like to read all the stories of our 3rd Gens running like champs even if rust consumes them. (Hand salute to the death of them from rust.)

I once met a gentleman who drives AMGs and Porsches, but in the back corner of his house there sat a 4runner. So I asked him what’s the story with the 4runner. He said “David, when I absolutely have to go somewhere I’ll get in my 4runner. It may not get me there fast, but I’ll get me there!”