Miles rolled back 150k
 

I just dropped 4k on a 1997 SR5 3.4L 4x4. The clock said 130,000 and the cheap vin report I ran (through offerup) didnt show any mileage. I didnt even know carfax logged mileage. Thought it was just for accidents. LIVE AND LEARN right?

Anyways I'm invested now. It shows the car was maintained by toyota until 250k and there is zero rust, Thats good news at least.

Timing belt, and water pump replaced at 200k (the timing belt looks good still) but thinking it should be replaced again.

Throttle body serviced at 230k

Engine and power train checked at 260k

But the bad news is the car has roughly 300k now.

I replaced the starter 2 weeks ago and plan to change the plugs tomorrow but I'm not too mechanically inclined so I'm not sure where to start, or how to tell what needs replacing. The motor runs smooth, but transmission is starting to clank after I start moving from a stop, which I read is common on the forum. It just started this after my 1,000 mile Utah trip last week.

I was going to install the 6112 coilovers this weekend but not sure if thats a smart move. I may need to save the money for something big in the future.

I cant sell the car knowing the miles were rolled back, so I think its best to dump money into it and enjoy the ride.

What do you think? Should i start doing preventative maintenance or will I know when shit starts happening it needs to be fixed?

If you like it then make the best of it. Do the few small things like LBJs, Radiator/trans cooler, plan a timing belt job relatively soon, and do all your fluids. then afterwards move on to the fun stuff! Since the resale value is already screwed up, you should probably try to get the most you can out of it, and it still has a lot more life left in it.

Hopefully you didn't overpay too bad, but there really are worse vehicles for it to happen with. Might as well ride it out, just treat it like a 300k mile vehicle.

I found out my first 4runner likely had a similar rollback at some point in its life. Clock showed 137k when I bought it, a couple years later I decided to run a report, which showed services past 200k miles, oddly enough the jump back to 130 and change at registration didn't trigger any rollback warnings on carfax or autocheck.

At this point I've come to terms that mileage is just a number with these 20+ year old vehicles and that will only become more true as time goes on. My current fleet consists of the rolled back runner that's had so many parts sunk in it doesn't matter, and 2 beautiful 2 owner Toyotas, my original power train 265k mile 02 Taco, and a 97 4runner with 270k that I did a top end rebuild on and am refurbishing.

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3rd gen runner's odometers cannot be "rolled back". How????

They do break down and can be replaced.

Bummer is they carry the mileage from where ever they were installed previously.

Not sure that has to be disclosed Legally to anyone when vehicle is over 10 years old, at least not in good ol' Tejas! But yeah it would have been 'nice' to know.

On the flip side, they last a very, very long time (compared to all the other crap on the road).

Luck and enjoy the Runner! :cowboy:

I know in PA if there is evidence of odometer tampering or the cluster has been replaced the title has to be branded total miles unknown, not sure about other states

The 97 odometers are mechanical, not digital like the later ones, so it probably could have been rolled back

Been through that before. Are you planning to report the issue to the authorities?

I'm guessing the person who brokered the deal with you is supposedly 1-2 people away from the "real" owner, right? And now that you've uncovered an issue they are aghast, have no idea how it happened, and don't really know how to get in touch with the "real" owner?

:)

On these 3rd gen 4runners and 1st gen Tacomas its pretty easy swap out a cluster in 5-10 minutes. And the analog ones, as any analog, its not hard at all to roll back the miles to whatever you want. I had to swap out the digital odometer cluster on my 99 DD cause of a faulty fuel gauge, so I actually have 57K more on the rig than the cluster shows. Shows 322K but has 379K, I'll never sell it so no problem. On getting an inspection sticker the guy commented to me on the mileage discrepancy, so the DMV is keeping tabs also.
So to be sure on these mileages, check the records trail carefully.

I had the same thing happen when I bought my 4runner. Bought it with "165,000" miles, and a couple weeks later decided to get the Carfax and found out it had service records up to 323,000 miles. I'm somewhere around 360,000 now. I'll never buy the Carfax AFTER I buy a car again. Expensive lesson to learn, but it has ran like a top since I bought it so I can't be too upset.

Odometer fraud is a crime in CA. Did you buy it from a dealer? If yes report it to the police and you'll get your money back and they go to jail. If it was a private seller, still contact the police and see what they can do. Might be hard to prove.

As far as "how" to roll back the miles, it's not that hard to do with some patience. Even easier on 2nd Gens... not going to share on the internet how they did it though.

The "clank" you hear from a stop is the rear slip joint on the rear driveshaft. Get a grease gun and hit up all the zerks but especially the one in the back just before the last u-joints. It will take a LOT of grease if it's run dry.

A vehicle with 300k that could pull off having 130k to the potential buyer. Could anyone think of a more 4Runner story than that?

Such a shame people try to commit fraud. Heck I am proud of the mileage on my rigs.

There isn't any reason for it. I believe it's a chrime in every state. Changing a damaged or broken cluster is one thing especially as they can bust. That is very rare though.

I am sure it's one of the reason they went to digital odometers.

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More common then makes sense
I used to own a used car lot got out because I had a consensus
But it looks like a well maintained truck good luck
Mike :whip2:

2 days ago a guy with 2008 120K Avalon (recent purchase) had to get a transmission... The first thing that came to my mind is an odometer rollback!

Like Scotty Kilmer says.... NEVER trust a seller, do your inspection/research.
It is very easy to differentiate a truck with 300K miles and 130K miles.

LOL I was just thinking the same.

"This is the most 3rd Gen 4Runner thing I've read all day"

Same happened to me. I'm the 3rd owner after the fact. After some research, It was a used dealership in a neighboring city. That dealer is no longer in business. Go figure.

I'm keeping this thing for as long as I live. Going to pass it down to the kids, hopefully they keep it. Haha.