Hi Guys,
This is my first post in this forum.
After reading thru many of the posts, I get the feeling you guys are a lot younger than me....but here goes.
I am looking at a 3rd gen T4R for my 17 year old son's first vehicle....It's been a very long time since I have bought a pre-owned vehicle, and I am a big believer in Toyota quality...BUT....Our budget tells us we will be buying one of these with at least 100K mileage....Have you guys had pretty good luck with T4Rs with this kind of mileage?
What octane rating do they need to drink?....87?...89?....92?
Has anyone had any experience driving in soft beach sand with them ?...(sons a surfer)
Thanks in advance for any and all replies!

There is a good mixture of ages on this forum I believe.

100,000 is not a lot for these vehicles. Make sure the timing belt and water pump has been done and you should be good. Also check the rear axel seals.

87 is fine.

Soft sand should be fine. Air down the tires a little and your good to go.

Well, I can tell you myself from personal experience, it's great for a 17 year old.

Why?


I bought one last year right after I turned 17. As a 17 year old, I am also very pleased with it. I bought mine with 142k miles, now with 152k. No problems at all. I just happened to buy mine from a person who knew nothing about their car, so a lot of repairs and maintenance have been done. They ran the car well over 15k per oil change on cheap conventional oil with a crappy generic filter, etc. The exhaust manifold was also cracked in two. I replace them with high performance LCE headers.


I bought mine as a base model, so I have a 2.7 l4. I personally wish I got the V6 just because it's really not that much of a difference on gas. Most of the gas I used in the 4 cylinder is used trying to get up to speed, and the V6 has much less a hard time going up hills and such. It evens out roughly on gas. I use Shell regular, 87 octane.


I'm sure if your son has a job, he will enjoy it. These are as easy to work on as a model car. It's all just screw here, bolt here, popping and snapping things in and out of place.

I have done very much to mine that the previous owner would never recognize it. It is also pretty cheap and easy to find things for.

If theres anything the 4Runner is excellent for, it is definitely off-roading. It has a very high clearance even with stock height.

It would be best to get a 4WD or one with a rear differential locker for those facing rough terrain, but my 2WD w/out locker does just fine. No treacherous stuff for me though.

Sand shouldn't be much of an issue i can see, but I wouldn't be the one to tell you.

Hope this helps!

like the aforementioned youll be fine buying a car with over 100k heck thats just starting to break the car in.

its great in the sand, snow hell anything you throw at it mine stock did some amazing things off road.

I'm 18 and it's my first vehicle and i love it. The gas mileage isn't too bad, i get about 17 mpg with the 3.4. I haven't been in sand but it's awesome in snow. I'm sure he'd love a 3rd gen 4runner!

What's your budget?

It would be hard to find any 3rd gen under 100,000 miles. On my 01 I am thinking of getting new brakes, maybe, at 111,000 miles. I think the 3rd gen are built pretty tough.

I am thinking of giving my 01 to my Son. He really likes it, but I have a few concerns. The first being, on the front visor is the roll over warning. It is good they have air bags and ABS brakes. I think getting VSC would be good, especially for a younger driver. Vehicle Skid Control came out in 2001, so only 2 years of the 3rd gen. has it. My Son still has a learners permit, I am wondering how much it will be for insurance on a 4Runner?

Mine is just shy of $600 for liability only through state farm for 6 months. This is my 2nd car, first was a 94 civic but I despised that vehicle so sold it and bought this one...I am 16 btw and this car is an excellent vehicle for me. The 4wd has saved me a time or two from sliding into things and the ABS saved me from hitting a deer once and running off the road another time. I love it, wouldnt trade it for any other car.

Why is VSC so good? I hear people complain about it all the time.

I'm 18 now and love my 4runner.

People compain, especially when your on the trail. You want to speed up on a muddy hill and it sesnses your sliding, so it tries to correct it and you need to slide.

Consumer Reports says VSC is one of the best things for SUV and accident avoidance. They showed statistics on how much better the accident rate was if they have VSC. On a rainy road on a turn, the car starts to skid, with a high center of gravity of a SUV, what do you do? Well, an experience driver might be able to handle it, but someone learning may not do as well. The VSC can help in that situation. Now, when you want to do donuts in the snow, VSC really sucks.

Make sure that he has good tires. My t4r doesn't take turns worth a crap, if I am on the gas going around a turn when it's wet outside it's VERY easy for me to kick the rear end out. I wouldn't worry about it to much though, he will learn real quick that you shouldn't accelerate or brake to hard around a turn unless absolutely necessary.

Next time it snows take him out to a big parking lot and let him drive around to get a feel for the car on slick surfaces. That's what my dad did and I learned the limits of the car in minutes. Jm .02

EDIT: On my dad's t4r the VSC sucks, he has an 03 and if it senses that you are sliding you are pretty much screwed when it comes to stopping with the engine. I'm not sure if this is what it actually does, but it feels like it disconnects the trans from the engine so downshifting is worthless and the only thing you can use is your brakes which we all know is a bad idea to use on ice/snow.

Just like in SC it hardly ever snows in GA. For drivers here it is more important to learn how to drive in heavy rain.

Reports have said that the VSC was one of the best safety devices that came out after the seat belt. It has saved more people from accidents than ABS, power brakes, etc.

My only complaint was the TRAC I system in the 01-02 4Runners. It was set too sensitive. I remember trying to pull out onto the main street on a snowy day only to have all of my power cut due to the wheels slipping a little. Left me "stranded" in the middle of the street with on-coming traffic. :awais: Be careful with that.

That is exactly what I read abut VSC. I guess a lot of people don't like it, but it is an important safety item. Also, being stuck in the middle of the road is what happened to me, I was leaving my work, which is a very busy road, called South Cobb Drive. I stepped on the gas and instead of snow, I was under some losse gravel and it took off only to slow down to get traction. Great, I am in the middle of South Cobb Drive at a crawl. The problem is, if you turn of the traction control it comes back on when you go over 15 or 20 MPH.

I did get stuck in the snow once and I turned off the traction control to get me out. The wheels spun on my 2WD and it got me out.

i have a 2.7 5spd. Im 24 years old, drive on the beach all the time in the summer and she does great. i elected for the 2.7 because it has the timing chain which wont kill your engine if it snaps. also i get 22 mpg. it is great in the snow and i love it.