2004 T4R lifespan question

[3dogs]

There's a 2004 SR5 (V6, 4WD) for sale near me for a great price but it has waaaay more miles than I'd usually consider: 203,000. The CarFax shows routine maintenance and no major repairs, dealer of course says all the miles are highway miles due to commuting.

My question is this - if a car is well-maintained, what would be a reasonable expectation for the life expectancy past this point? I know plenty of T4Rs are running with more than 200,000 miles, but I'd like some input on what to expect from such a high mileage vehicle.

I have a '99 Subaru with 177,000 miles right now so if I were to consider this T4R more seriously I would need to be sure it would have a number of "healthy" years left in it. I'm currently driving between 2,000 and 3,000 miles a month in my current vehicle due to my job.

You can't beat basically being able to buy a vehicle outright, which is why I'm even considering it. If we buy a T4R with the mileage I'm hoping for I'm looking at waiting another 18 months and having payments for 4 years.

 

[mckbrew]

There are potential issues with a vehicle this old, but you have to look at it like this. (It's taken me a long time to come to this realization and one of the reasons why I just bought a 2004 4Runner myself with over 130K on the odometer.)

You might get several thousand miles out of it, you might have to replace a transmission or engine within a few weeks (chances are if the maintenance is good, it will be awhile). Too often when a vehicle starts needing repairs we trade it in thinking it's the best route. I feel that manybe people should consider setting aside some cash to pay for those more expensive repairs.

Let's say your engine went out for example and as a rough number it costs $2000 for a complete repair. You've owned this vehicle for 3 years on a 5 year loan. Instead of paying for the engine, the average customer goes out and buys a new(er) vehicle with payment of $150 a month more and refinances for 5 years again. It's going to cost a lot more than the repairs you would have had.

Probably a more detailed response than you wanted (I tend to get long winded), but here is what I recommend. If you are serious about this vehicle, go get it checked out by an independent mechanic. Have them identify anything that might fail soon, or needs to be addressed then make your decision.

 

[jimithing]

If your Subaru will make it another 18 months then I'd wait. I don't think it will be unheard of for these 4th Gen's to make it to 300k or 350k most of those miles being driven by the same owner - an owner that's meticulous with the maintenance. I think you just don't know what you're getting with that many miles, no matter how good the service history looks on Carfax.

 

[3dogs]

We would be saving a good $10,000 at least by going with this T4R so saving money for repairs wouldn't be a big issue. Of course one of my friends pointed out that since none of the "big" things have been replaced yet they could all be pretty close to it at 200,000 miles. :\ I do wonder how much they would be willing to take for it - it's already listed at $3,000+ less than KBB and NADA, even accounting for the mileage - if I could get them even lower...

The Subaru will likely be easily able to last another 18 months (we thought we had something major wrong last week, but it was a bad rotor that was covered under a parts warranty instead ), but it is too small for my growing dog pack, so there was the allure of more space sooner, too. I hate being (semi)patient.

 

[03_4x4Runner]

I would never personally buy any vehicle with that many miles even if it is a Toyota. It will start to nickle and dime you to death. If you depend on the vehicle everyday to get to work, make sure you have a backup vehicle. I would find a different vehicle.

 

[CraigRoberts]

It should be reliable, but ideally you would be mechanically competent yourself to handle small things (and prevent the nickle & dime effect).

If not, the ideal route probably would be to buy something new and keep it forever. If you know you put those 200k miles on and were meticulous about the maintenance, you might be happy trying to keep it to 300k+ vs. picking up someone else's potential problem child.

I bought used, but only 16,000 miles and certified. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. On the flip side with a used car sold as-is someone could have beat the piss out of the vehicle's engine/tranny and left you with something about to fail.

 

[3dogs]

Yea I'm going to walk away - just not worth the what ifs, even if it's tempting. LOL