Hi All. I'm looking for a 3rd gen 4runner:

- must be 4wd

- would absolutely love one with a manual transmission, but its not a deal breaker if its auto. I know they're hard to find.

- must have under 200k miles. I get it - they're reliable. I'm just not looking to buy a vehicle that has that many miles, regardless of its reputation or how well it was taken care of. I've been looking for months and its exhausting trying to find one that is under 200k. I know they're getting old, but there has to be some out there that didn't have the absolute piss driven out of them

- must be CLEAN. If you're selling one that has lived in the rust belt its entire life, I promise I won't be interested. No offense. I'm just looking for one that is crispy.

- stock or close to it. No crawlers or hardcore overlanders

- Looking to keep it under ~$10k

- I'm located near Raleigh, NC but would travel in the south for a nice one.

Err... even the youngest, a 2002, has been on the road for 17 years now. To be under 200k, that'd be less than 12k miles a year for a 2002, and under 7k miles a year for the oldest 1996 models. Those numbers are well under the national average for miles driven per year (Feds claim 13,500 average, with men averaging closer to 16k).

Just pointing out that you're Drastically limiting your pool of potential. But yes, they're out there. I just bought what you're looking for myself, a 1-owner, 194k mile, fairly clean (mostly neglected maintenance ~ but the inside was filthy/stinky too). I paid about 1/3rd more than the going rate for a similar vehicle but with ~250k miles and more than one owner. Also took me about 8 months of hunting. That might help your perspective... oh, and I wound up going about 600 miles away to buy the thing, based on pictures and a couple brief phone calls.

1998 Toyota 4Runner SR5 4x4 5-Speed for sale on BaT Auctions - ending September 23 (Lot #23,167) | Bring a Trailer

This sounds like what you want, note that it's already at $12k and has 4 days to go.

I knew the "national average" spiel was coming at some point I get that, and as I said in my original post, I know they're getting old. It'll certainly be a lot harder to find one under 200k, but that's what I'm holding out for. I've seen some really nice ones locally that are in the 150k - 180k range buuuuutttt they're 2wd. womp.

That one on BaT already at $12.7k! Wow. That is quite an amazing example, but unfortunately that's a bit more than I'd like to spend. I'd like to keep it under $10k (i should've put that in my original post - my bad) and that thing will probably be closer to $15-20k by the time the auction is up.

Sorry, I didn't bluntly type out my point.

They exist, but expect to wait longer, pay more and have to travel further.


Good luck. Just from personal experience, my "clean" truck has soaked up another $3k in just parts to address the deferred maintenance (like original lower ball joints that were rusting out, original brake lines that had dozens of cracks, leaking valve cover gasket that's puking just enough oil to make a massive mess but not enough to drip onto the ground, etc...) Only posting this so you can plan for it ~ even with low miles, age will still have had it's way with anything rubber.

I see what you're saying

Mine might fit the bill.

FS: 2002 4Runner Limited - Mild Build - D.C. Area

Thank you, I'll think about this one a bit. Seems like it was well taken care of, I'd just prefer one a little cleaner. A little bit more dinged up/used offroad than I would like, especially for $10k. Just my opinion based on what I'm looking for

I bought a vehicle locally today. Thanks everyone who reached out to me I really appreciate it!