Rust is the worst enemy for 90's cars. The cheapest and best way to insure a long term viability of a 3rd gen is to grease rust proof it every year IMO. The rest will be fixable for long, it just might involve investing some money.
Up here in Canada, several of our provinces use road salt/chemicals to melt winter ice, to reduce accidents.
- in S/W Ontario, we are not called a "rust-belt", for nothing
So between 300-450 Km is about tops, for many quality vehicles / or equivalent to 186-280,000 miles
- fewer Northern owners, can keep a high mileage/15 year old vehicle on the road, usually rust eats the frames/floor pans/brakes & fuel lines/door bottoms/quarter panel lips/bumper rot, etc.
So many cars at about 150,000 miles get scrapped, due to sheet metal cancer / while the engines still run fine.
I got my rare (rust free) 2000 4Runner SR5 4x4, in January / one owner, low miles, dealer maintained, garage kept.
It got wax-oil spray undercoated entirely / first few days of ownership.
- approx. 1 gallon, sprayed inside every nook & cranny, from entire undercarriage to inside doors & rockers
- good rust proofing needs to be a annual application
Only way to keep a 15 year old T4R on the road for another 15-20 years.
- my Gen3 is currently at 83,000 miles / or 133,600 Km
My 2000 4runner is the best vehicle I've owned / only wished it had the newer 3.5L v6 (269 HP).
- the styling is timeless
Now my wife's ride is a 2008 RAV4 Limited v6, with low speed 4x4.
- this one is for daily work & family rides
- it accelerates like a 60's muscle car, another Gen3 we plan to keep for several more years
Amenities are nicer / leather, moon roof, dual climate control, shorter wheel base, more nimble, much better on gas, etc.
^^ While the wife's ride may eventually get upgraged to a newer v6 Highlander or used Lexus RX350 / Dad will always be happy to keep his old 4Runner, for a few more decades.
