So have been looking for a replacement for the one I totaled a month ago ( today is a month). 3rd gens are very hard to find up here. Only one decent one popped up recently, and it sold that day .


edit:

never mind, yes montana is considered part of the rust belt......crap

Coulda fooled me... I grew up in Wyoming, college in MT folks retired to MT about a decade ago. Roads tend to be sanded if the need anything, which is rare because the sun does an outstanding job of clearing the roads in a day or three. Mostly just the shaded corners get the sand... Never had any vehicles rust out growing up and we didn't take any particular care with them.

Might want to evaluate each vehicle on its own merits. Or, if you're serious about buying and shipping, enlist those of us down in the southern states to help you hunt. Most of us on here are already watching just out of curiosity.

Yes sir the entire upper half of the continental United States is a rust belt which a few exceptions. If the state uses salt and it snows most of them they are rot states..

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I am going to go look at the rig tuesday. earliest I can get to see it.If still avaiable, they go real fast up here. I talked with the owner who brought it from Montana and he said that he had heard that rust was an issue on cars, esp these yotas....so he was careful when he bought it 5 years ago. Well that what he said. Pictures of exterior look good and no rust ( and only one small dent in bumper), he said he could send pictures of frame if I told him where in particular I would want to see... I told him areas like shock mounts, rear control arm mounts, etc. Havent gotten any pictures yet.

Might be true, but some states can be different within them selves. For example, here in Alaska, where I am and for a few hundred miles around, they dont use salt or chemicals....just crushed rock and rarely at that , mostly in towns or in the hills near intersections or tight corners. Otherwise you learn to drive on snow and ice ( obviously I had not learned well enough ) However in southern alaska peninsulas they use salt and you avoid cars from there.
A friend I emailed who now lives in Montana said they only use chemicals now and only in the cities.

Guess if im interested in this rig, I will poke around with a screwdriver.

Thanks

My cousin lives in Whitefish, MT and has a Ford Escape that’s from there as well. The passenger side shock mount rusted out recently, which is common on those when exposed to salt. I don’t think MT uses as much salt as the Midwest and east coast, but I’ve seen rusted vehicles in MT. Salt is bad for the environment and that’s one of the reasons they don’t use it that much or any in the western states. I’m glad they don’t use salt in the mountains of Oregon, but you better have 4wd or chains if there’s snow.

I'm from Montana, they use Magnesium Chloride, which is a salt compound.

I don't believe Montana is as bad as some east cost/mid west states, but it's no west coast or desert.

Patience Grasshopper, since you have to look south look at 3rd coast area.

Davis auto sport on ebay is always selling 3rd gens. They are in Virginia.

Davis Autosports

gx470 59,000 miles
2008 Lexus GX 470 | Davis Autosports

Interesting... I wish all the states would goto sand. Works just as good as salt and can be reused if gathered in catch basins. IN Pa they use salt, small gravel, chemicals. :-(

oh well......sold in 1 day, typical here if any good

Hey brillo
this is not related now to rust. But hey I started this thread and I can take it a different direction
You seem real knowledagable on these rigs.

There is a 98 limited that came up a few hours drive away. miles worry me ( 280k) but in the pictures it has the fake wood center console but all the door hardware is not the fake wood, I thought the door switches would be too. Also it does not have a locker, I thought those years limteds did. has sunroof and leather. Clean title, clean carfax, no dents, no rust , everything works. Black with tan leather. steering wheel center is tan. Limited fender flares but not that lower panel on the doors I see on the 2000 and up. He said if it has remote door locks he would not know cause he did not get a remote when he bought it. Of course they say oil changes every 3k and would prob say only driven by grandma to church.
Thanks

Thanks

Go here: TOYOTA 4RUNNERVZN185L-GKPZKA - TOOL-ENGINE-FUEL - | Japan Parts EU
Do VIN search will tell you what it is in a drop down banner look at Grade info.

My Tetanus 1 has 270k on it and never had the engine opened yet nor replaced transmission. I opened the auto pan and replaced the filter and exchanged the fluid at 215K when i bought it in 2015.

Most 1998 Limited had lockers but its possible some did not. I have
a 1997 limited that has the fake wood dash pieces and the doors panels were not. I had greyish leather and sunroof with the elcocker. So for some odd reason Toyota did use those dumb glue on fake wood grain. I thought it was aftermarket crap but some did and it seem to be in that timeframe up to 1999.

Those lower door panels are from 1996 up. I thought all limited had them as they do have those larger flares. Should have had a hood protector too and had those plastic covers over the rocker panels from the front fender to the back.


I actually put the limited fenders doors and bumpers on my 1998 sr5 as my fenders were gone.. I like the flares because they keep the rig cleaner I just need to put the rocker plastic back on and the running boards back on as well. :-)

I take photos of the limited parts I talking about and put them on my build thread so you can see what they are. :-)

Davis auto has nice looking examples for sale. I haven't dealt with them first hand but every one I've seen has looked nice. They seem to have upped prices significantly over the last year. It seems that 3rd gens have generally gone up but most of the Davis ones seem to be 10k+.

They're super clean and I've put enough money into mine this year to question keeping it instead of buying a Davis or comparable one.

You can get a better deal if you find one yourself and are willing to travel but paying a fee to procure a nice example is starting to make sense, at least in the rust belt. There are a few other resellers but Davis does seem to be the most consistent I've seen. I'm also biased here, being from the Maryland/Virginia area. Out west, you will have an easier time sourcing your own on craigslist, etc. At this point, in MD, you really need to find one that someone intentionally traveled for or travel outside of the rust belt yourself.