[s1moore1s]

Hello to all - my first post! Thought I would comment on my 2004 Sport Edition - 4.0 (4wd). I'm in sales, so I drive a lot. I currently have over 213k miles on the 4Runner! I bought it from a friend (who was also in sales) a year ago when it had 170k miles. Here is what I've done:

-new bearings in the rear, about $1k
-new catalytic converter, about $230 (not from dealer)
-brake caliper
-normal stuff like pads and rotors
-bulbs in the ac console. Easy to replace, did this myself

I change my oil every 5k with whatever synthetic oil is on sale at Advanced Auto, truck uses no oil - amazing for the miles on the engine.

I seem to have a pinging noise that I never noticed until the catalytic converter was changed. I seemed to have more power after the change, and they said it was supposed to flow better than the stock converter. I'm not sure if that would have anything to do with the noise or not. I'm currently trying different grades of gas to see if the noise stays or not. Truck still runs great however.

Problems I inherited and haven't fixed:

-AC either blows hot or cold. If I have the setting on 'Low' the air blows cold, if it is set to 65 or above it blows hot. If anyone knows a fix, please let me know - otherwise I just live with it

-Tilt steering doesn't work. I'm guessing there is a spring that is missing. The dealer said the steering column is serviceable so I've left it alone. I would like to fix, although the steering wheel is in a good location.

Overall impression at 213k miles:

-If you drove it today you would never think it had that many miles. Very tight throughout. Still looks great and I still get compliments on it (color - white). I believe I will keep driving just to see how far it will go to satisfy my own curiosity. Should be interesting if I have the patience to do so. I drive about 36-40k a year, so the miles come quickly!