Whats up every one so we just picked up our 03 v8 4runner with 57k on the clock today and we've been driving it around a bunch already. Also took it off road a little bit too.. Lol already bottomed it out. (woops) but..

only about a week ago my girlfriend started talking about 4runners. Initially I thought she was crazy. (I always believe in keeping your current car unless its really not serving you well anyway) So anyway I have been thinking about building a small tow truck for my car but when I found out the v6 4Runner can tow 5000lbs something clicked in my mind. My GF wants an SUV that will get her through the winter and maybe just maybe it could tow my car to and from the track. Finally after a couple days of serious research my GF came to me and says she really wants one, so the next day I go to work and ask my boss to see what we could get one for at the auction. He goes "get one at the auction, we are trading one in right now". Wow great timing!

So I go look at the car and its pretty beat up but nothing a little paint work wont fix and I can get some good deals on paintwork. Also the car drove pretty well especially for 76k. I also knew the last guy who owned it was a rich guy in his 40s who used the car as a family car so the drivetrain prob wasnt beat on. g We taded it for 11,200 which we thought was a deal but my boss decided that he wanted to sell it to me for 13,650... nice guy huh?

Forget that beat up crap and the next day we went out and researched cars all over Ma and RI. I found 2 v6s with lower mileage for 13,990 and then I find a 03 V8 with 57K on it for 11,500. I went down there the same day they posted the car. Nada on the car is 18K+

Looked over the car and there is no paintwork anywhere, I do a car fax and the car is clean a one owner vehicle that was leased in New Hampshire. I am like this is just too good to be true, so we get it checked out at a shop. Clean bill of health. So I am like alreight lets see what we can get off on the car even though I felt kinda bad because we really stole the thing. I got him to come down another 500$ for 11k even. I then get her a loan with half the interest she was paying before.. so even though its a much more valuable car and shes only doing a 48month loan compared to her 60 month loan (and she put 2k down on her last car and nothing on this one) on her last car her payments only went up about 40$ a month.

Car hasent even been cleaned yet. This is the way it came from the dealership. Whoever owned it before kept it pretty clean inside/out










Wild Spirit? WTF are these? They are pretty quiet on the highway and look like they're more agressive than stock but I know tires make all the difference when it comes to snow traction so I was wondering if anyone knew how these tires were




I set up the hitch tonight too and saw that this car has a sticker next to the hitch that says it has a 7300lb towing capacity so did I get a later 03 with the higher towing capacity? It also has all the wiring right there so I could just plug a trailer in and go.

This car also seems to corner a hell of a lot flatter than the first v6 we drove which felt floaty in comparison. We took the new car around some pretty tight back roads and we were doing about 40mph and I can say for sure that in most other suvs the tires would be squeeling. How do I tell if I have the upgraded suspension system or if I have the air shocks in the back?

Also I seem to be having that issue where we get some wierd smells in the car under acceleration with the back window down which goes away with the window up (I am pretty sure the exhaust fumes are just getting sucked into the car through the back window when its open) Other than that the only mechanical issues is that it feels like the tires need to be balanced because theres a vibration through the wheel at 70+mph and the rotors more than likely need to be tuned because I'm getting some movement through the wheel as I'm coming down from highway speed. Are these things known for warping rotors?


But all in all this is almost as good as getting a new car myself except for all the bills

Nice ride! Sounds like found a nice one for the money.

GF pressure is what caused me to look at 4Runners too, I have no regrets, I love mine!

Given that your towing a race car/show car you're probably thinking about rad fluid changes, axle, t-case, brake fluid and trans fluid changes. As sweet as your T4R is it IS five years old now.

Nice runner! I bought my 05' SR5 V8 with 52k on the clock a year ago, now have 63k, and haven't had any problems. Some things you'll want to do to yours though that I would recommend. First, assuming you're a DIY type, since you've got a custom car, I'd swap out the front, rear and differential casing fluids for some fresh full synthetic gear oil. I use M1, and love the stuff. Second: someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe you do NOT have the sealed transmission, which I'm jealous about, but also means you can service the transmission fluid MUCH easier! "Confirm before buying", but I would swing by the Toyota dealership and pick yourself up a box of Type IV transmission fluid and do a few "drain n' fills" of the fluid. Especially since you're going to tow with it. I would also check the air filter, and "even though they're 100k plugs", I replaced mine shortly after getting ours, and have no-none-nada-complaints about doing it. It smoothed out the idle quite a bit. If you're a DIY oil changing guy, I'd pour in a cup of seafoam into the oil, let it idle for 20 minutes, shut it off and let it sit for and hour or two, then change the oil for some good synthetic. I've done this twice, and it really cleans up the inside of the engine, and too smooths out the idle.

Cosmetically, you and I have the same clothe seats. I can tell by your pictures that you're ready for a cleaning. When we got ours, it was owned by a smoker. I was able to get the smell out, but always felt like the seats weren't as clean as they should be. I bought a Bissell Little Green machine for about $70 bucks, and took to the seats. Mine looked like yours...and the dirty water at each draining looked like, i kid you not, dark-chocolate milk. I was STUNNED! The seats didn't "look" that dirty, but boy, after that experience, you wouldn't believe how much better they look "and feel" now! Night and day difference. I just used hot water, no soaps. I can't recommend it enough.

The brakes: Mine does it too, as does others. Mine aren't warped "just turned", and the pads are practically new. I think it's normal at those speeds. The "smell", normal too. One of the biggest complaints about the 4runner ever. Search for "sulfur smell", and you'll see countless threads. Also, don't be alarmed if you feel a "thump/clunk" sometimes when you come to a stop. It's normal as well. Search for that as well "or just look in the problems section". You've got to grease the driveshafts every 10k or so to prevent it, or just live with it. I do, and have no real complaints about it "happens maybe 15% of the time".

You'll love this beast! Great choice! I'm hoping to detail mine soon "never been done" and post up some photos. It's midnight blue, and I'm excited to see what it looks like after a full claybar, 2 coats of Mequires polish and 2 coats of Mequires wax looks like.

PS: In the glove box, you should find a secret compartment, but also the in-cabin airfilter housing. Just slide the tray out and check it. You might want to replace it, or simply clean it. But at those miles, I'm willing to bet it's ready for a good shake! Best thing about Toyotas, especially the v8's, is that all it takes to bring it back to brand-new status is usually in the fluids, and a steam cleaner. I had a 95' LS400, that when sold at 132k miles, ran better, felt better, looked better, drove better, and acted better then most brand-new cars of today. Too bad my wife didn't like it "too big", otherwise I'd still have it along with the 4runner!

Later 2003 V8s have the weight distribution hitch with (depending on 4WD or 2WD) 7000 or 7300lb capacity. Also, a little tidbit, later 2003 SR5 and Sport Editions come with body color cladding and flares instead of the gray.

The smell you're getting is most likely the infamous "sulfer smell". There's a TSB on it, but a couple that covers specific model years and engines. If memory serves me, it should be covered by emissions warranty which is good for 80 months (or 8yrs) and 80k miles.

Nice, we cleaned it up today and it shines up pretty well. I tried to change the oil today but when dropping the skid plate the first bolt I tried, I broke the head off. I also cleaned up some rust around that area with a wire brush and put a few coats of paint on it. I pulled the dipstick and it looks like its deff full of oil or even a little over filled but the oil looked kinda nasty.. The fact that the skid plate is so rusted on there makes me wonder how long its been since the oil was last changed. What do you guys recommend for oil quantity? I read in the owners manual it should be around 6.5 quarts.. Usually I throw an extra half quart in my cars just to be safe. I also checked the air filter.. its damn near brand new.. so no need to touch that. It should be a little while till I actually start towing so I should have some time to do the rest of the fluids. I do have a tranny dipstick which should make it pretty easy to flush the tranny too.

The sulfur smell is deff there and its really suprisingly bad. My other car is a track machine, mostly solid/poly suspension bushings, straight pipes for and exhaust, no power steering ac or heat so you know I can deal with some crap.. that sulfur smell almost makes me sick and nothing does that. With the back window up though we figured out that its no longer a problem.

Otherwise though the 2UZ is great. I had done lots of research on it before because I was looking at the 4Runner for high performance applications. Pretty amazing motor.. I didnt find out till we bought this car that it has the 2uz. Super smooth and the 5 speed tranny is a GREAT match.

We are very happy and now that its cleaned up quite a bit it looks even better.

My car hit the dealership lot in 09/03 So it must have been one of the last 03s they got