My wife and I have two kids and two sedans. Her Volvo S70R and my MINI Cooper S JCW. They've worked fine for the four of us these past few years, but we recently added to the family: After putting down our 15-year-old Mastif 8 month ago... we just adopted a two year old female boxer. Long story short, she and her brother got bored in a local motel room and decided to play tug-o-war with the drapes. The frustrated owner took them out to one of our local parks and shot 'em both. Brother was DOA and sister made a run for it after taking a through-and-through hit with a .45. We think she's pretty lucky, so we've re-named her Clover. She's a doll with the kids, cats, other people... but a real b!%c# towards other big dogs. We're working on it.

So this week my wife and I were talking about what to do, since niether of our vehicles are great "dog" cars. She suggested the possibility of trading her car in for a V70XC (all-wheel drive wagon) or the big XC90. We've been down that road before and the only wagon model XC I would want to own is the newer 2002 or newer models (due to changes in the AWD system). Shopping around, they aren't cheap. The XC90 is even more (out of our price range right now IMO). So we'd be looking at forking out the difference between the older sedan and the newer wagon... and we'd still have a car that we'd be concerned about sandy shoes and muddy paws.

So I got to thinking... over the last 5 years I've really only regretted selling one vehicle: my 1991 Toyota pickup. Extended cab, manual tranny, 22RE 4cyl, 4x4. An amazing-yet-simple truck. It just didn't take to baby seats really well, so it had to go. I got top dollar for it at the time, but I was sad to let it go.

So fast-forward to this week... I decide to see if I can score a 4Runner for a reasonable price. I'll pay cash and insure it to a minimum. Make it a snow/camping/beech cabin/dog car.

Ended up looking at a half dozen cars throughout the area and was coming to the conclusion that my hopes of getting a clean/straight/well maintained 4Runner for under $5000 might be a little optimistic. Everything I looked at was either mechanicly questionable, dented and dinged, or just plain funky inside. Not only that, event those undesirables were all hovering around the $5000 mark (usually above). I was really hoping to spend less and get more. Hey, I'm an optimist (or maybe just dellusional).

But, on Saturday I got a break. Found a sweet manual 1994 Gray SR5 V6. Price on the sign $5000. Price in the Autotrader $4800. Straight body, an engine bay you could eat out of, clean interior (one little rip in the drivers seat), full Toyota dealer maintained service history. Aftermarket wheels with new BFG All Terrain T/A's (my favorite!). Tow package. Power everything (and it all works), AC that blows cold. Rear tint. Fender flares. Running boards. The only options it's missing are the sunroof and roof rack. Otherwise it's loaded. Just a strait and clean truck.

The only two things I could find to pick on were a slight oil drip at the tranny's main seal (the owner suggested it goes through between 1/4 and 1/2 quart per month) and an ever-so-slight case of the usual Toyota rear-end sag. I figure I'll watch the leak and fix it around the time I need a clutch. I have some springs on order and they should be here next week.

Negotiated price came to $4400. I'm totally satisfied considering it's a clean, straight, known history 4x4. It's going to work great for us. I'm so psyched! Even got to drive it home in the snow and enjoy the 4WD (I so missed that - the Volvo AWD system in the XC we owned just didn't compare).

Dog divider is on the way and I think I might have an upholsterer sew up the rip in the driver's seat (I don't care how it looks, just don't want it to get worse). Otherwise, I think I'm set.

So happy to be a Toyota owner once again!

I got a '07 a while back and love it. I moved to the Northwest and see a lot of 4Runners around. I guess you have gone to the 3rd Gen page to see some fine models shown. Welcome back!

Being a '94, I think it's actually a second generation... but it's so straight and clean, you could easily mistake it for newer IMO.

He shot your dogs over some drapes that you could have replaced???!?!?!?!?! I probably would have beat him to within an inch of his life if he did that to my dog. Seriously, that is unbelievable...

Cheers

BTW...my guy is a mastifff....fantastic dogs...

Sorry to hear that you lost yours...15 years...wow...

Cheers

No, no... sorry for the miscommunication.. it was the original owner of the dogs that shot them! I just adopted the survivor.

Now, I've known people who've put down their elderly farm dogs that way, or shot at agressive loose dogs around their livestock. It wouldn't be my first choice, but I can understand it. I just couldn't imagine doing it to my 2 year old pups out of frustration. I almost feel sorry for the guy. There are definately better ways to get rid of dogs you can't keep. Heck, drop by any vet and drop 'em off. I'm sure someone will make a few calls and take care of it for you. But now at least one of them ended up in a good home with a family that adores her.

Congrats on your 4Runner! It looks like it is in great shape. You can never go wrong with a Toyota. Great looking dog too!

Congrats on the ride and new addition to the fam. My toy poodle is 17, and can't take a sh|T for his life. Still nice and strong, but getting old fast.

Hope everything works out for you.