Hi all, appreciate any and all feedback in making a decision to upgrade from my 02 third gen.

I’ve got deposits down on two trail premiums, a 14 and a 16. The 14 has 6,800 miles, California vehicle. The 16 has 133k miles, Delaware vehicle but very minimal rust underneath. Both have KDSS which I care about.

The question is, does a $9k premium for the low mileage vehicle make sense? Both were taken care of very well; the 16 being a 1 owner and 5K mile services at Toyota dealership until now basically. If it matters the 14 is MGM and the 16 is black.

Thanks!


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I would argue it may depend on your use case and projected annualized mileage. 4Runners are typically 250K+ mileage service life vehicles assuming they don't get done in by aging or issues related to poor maintenance, accidents, etc. That means the '16 with 133k miles may have already used up about half of it's usable life.

If you only plan on driving 10K miles a year, you could probably get 5 to 10 good years out of the 2016 I'd think. If your use case is higher though (say more like 15 to 20K miles a year), the low mileage vehicle may be the better buy despite the higher price. The only thing that would worry me about a 9 year old vehicle with only 6800 miles is that I'd wonder if it was really serviced at all (considering the first oil change isn't even called for until 10K). I'd probably want to flush literally every fluid in it upon receipt.

If I had the cash I would definitely go for the low mileage one. I just replaced all the fluids at the Toyota dealer for my 2015 Trail Premium before selling it to my daughter. This was at 60,000 miles and eight years old and cost $1500 at the local Toyota dealer which seemed reasonable to me for as many fluids as there are (coolant, brake fluid, tranny, transfer case, differentials, power steering, and oil change with filter)

Agreed. And honestly I don’t drive a ton of miles probably 10-12k is all.

I actually asked them to consider flushing the fluids since it has most likely been sitting, technically it still needs to go through inspection so I don’t have a lot of detail on it. Which is off because I don’t know how they come up with a price and list it without inspection it…


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$1,500 is not bad actually. I do have the funding for it technically but there is always other places to put dollars. For instance I’m not a fan of the trail wheels after 2013 and I want a roof rack to replace the chrome one


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Maybe you could negotiate the price down to reflect the cost of the fluids that need to be changed?

I’m thinking that if they don’t change them as part of the inspection. I haven’t gotten any info on it really outside of getting a deposit on it


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If you drive 10-12k miles a year it will take you ten plus years to get the '14 to where '16 currently is as far as mileage. In ten years the '16 will have ~250k miles. If you plan to keep this vehicle for the long-term, 15-20 years as your '02 3rd gen indicates you may be open to, then I would go for the '14.

This is what I’m thinking. Thinking with the 14 I have a vehicle that I’ll give to my daughter in 14 years, albeit I take care of the frame living in Michigan.


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It's kind of difficult to answer this question when we don't have a full vehicle history. Have you looked at that? And another thing to consider as mileage goes up, there is the maintenance it's going to need. Bushings, belts, pulleys, water pump, rotors, drums, CV boots, LCA, they all start to wear. I would also caution you that the frames tend to rust from the inside out. That in an area where they salt the roads is my main concern aside from any unknown damage.

Understood, both have been maintained it seems with the wild card on the 14 because it’s sat for so long without being driven much. I can post the carfax reports if any interest


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I do my own maintenance so fo me personally changing the major fluids isn't an issue. As long as it was properly stored and doesn't have any rodent damage or rot on the rubber parts I'd probably go for the low mileage vehicle as I keep mine for quire some time. The tires could very well be an issue as they are quite old now if original and if they sat they could have flat spots on them.

Here's the other caveat to consider; is it worth it? When I was shopping for a Tacoma I saw a very low mileage one at a Chevy dealer. It was in excellent condition as far as I could tell and had all the bells and whistles. The problem was that the dealer wanted way too much for a vehicle that old. They were dead set on not going any lower though because it was low mileage and then their eyes it was the same as having a newer vehicle. Vehicles don't work that way, they depreciate with age unless you're talking some kind of classic or rarity. I found one at a Toyota dealer in excellent shape with about the same miles and it was only two or three years old for about the same price. Sure I didn't get power mirrors or power seats, but I lived. And besides, features typically seem to get improved upon every year so that more than made up for it.

So I guess what I'm saying is make sure it's worth what you're paying and you're happy with that. There will always be something else that comes along, don't feel like you have to buy what's in front of you're at the moment.

Thanks I appreciate the insight. I’ll check the tires as well. Honestly the value proposition is the hardest thing for me. It’s about $10k more for the 6k mile vehicle vs. the 133k mile vehicle. $23.5 for the 16 with 133k miles and $32.9 for the 14 with 6k miles.


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