Advice? / the Real Cost of Free

[drawnonward]

Hi All,

I just joined the forum today. Though I am new to this particular forum I am no stranger to how great a source forums can be for advice from those who know first hand. So with that small stroke to the collective ego, I would like to ask for some of that sagely advice...

I have a family member looking to get rid of a '99 4runner Limited 4x4 automatic. They have offered it to me for free if I want it. I am not sure if I do.

The offer came after I spent some time this weekend helping them get it running again. It had been sitting outside for around 2 years. It was actually much easier than I thought it would be. A little while on a trickle charger, some air in the tires, and she fired right up and moved around the driveway. Gotta love Toyota!

Now for the bad. Before it was replaced it was their DD and has racked up over 300k miles, but received all the regular maintenance, oil changes, etc. along the way. As you might expect, left sitting outside all closed up for such a long time left the interior quite full of mold.

Normally this would be a deal breaker for me, but as the thermometer keeps dropping I am reminded of the nightmares of driving the FWD Accord I have now through another New England winter...and would sleep so much more soundly with a 4x4 in the driveway.

So I ask, would you take it? If so, should I just plan to gut the interior to get rid of the mold? Or do I just thank them kindly, and buy some studded tires for the Accord?

Any advice is welcome, if you need some more info I'd be happy to share as well. Thanks in advance! :cheers:

 

[TheKorstjens]

I would take in a heartbeat. 300000...shes just getting broke in. Haha. Service it. Read up here. And drive it. They are amazing trucks as u already see by the ease of gettin her back running

 

[KidVermicious]

Dude. Free. As long as you've got the driveway space, I'm not seeing a downside to a $0 truck.

Yank the seats and carpet, powerwash the heck out of all of it, then leave it all out in the sun for a couple days and let the UV do it's job while you change all the fluids and put a good tuneup on the motor. Then put it back together and drive it forever. Or if you don't like it, sell it at the end of winter. But don't turn down a free running truck, that's just silly.

 

[sigalution]

I'll take it if you don't want it!

At 215k on mine, I know I will be happily driving still at 300, so there's no doubt I would take it.

 

[TheDurk]

I just replaced the carpet on my '99 last year and cleaned every piece of plastic I took out. Truck looks great. If you are getting it for free, you can splurge $250 on a new carpet. Then you will be able to sell it for at least $250 when you want to. Moldy carpet will probably never be right.

I got mine from these guys. Recommended. Here is the how-to on installation:

Auto Carpet Installation Instructions - How To

And here is a good video on a 3G 4Runner:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-lABufvLSk

 

[MosesByxbe]

If it runs and drives, my only additional concern woul be frame integrity. Get under it with a flashlight and a hammer. Tap all over the frame to see if rust has weakened it.

 

[RockyMtnYota]

Dude. Free. As long as you've got the driveway space, I'm not seeing a downside to a $0 truck.

Yank the seats and carpet, powerwash the heck out of all of it, then leave it all out in the sun for a couple days and let the UV do it's job while you change all the fluids and put a good tuneup on the motor. Then put it back together and drive it forever. Or if you don't like it, sell it at the end of winter. But don't turn down a free running truck, that's just silly.

Agree, pull seats and carpet. Might be able to have the carpet professionally cleaned, I would think steam would kill the mold. There is also anti-microbial sprays you can hit the carpet and interior of body once carpet is removed. Best part you will have a new hobby vehicle!

 

[snivilous]

Worse comes to worse you can part it out and get a couple thousand bucks.

 

[Offroad_Medic]

Take it! A free car is a free car. If you hate it or it sucks that bad you can always donate it as a tax write off to the kidney foundation. Haha but seriously a free 4runner is a jackpot. That thing has plenty of life left in it.

 

[tee-bone]

I think it unlikely you'll ever get the mold out of the carpet - but a replacement is so cheap, who cares? Same thing with the seats; just get a used set. Not sure about buying a replacement headliner, but I'd dump that too. Mold is pretty icky.

Seriously, Toyotas are capable of some amazing longevity. Wash what you haven't replaced in a borax solution (borax kills mold, as opposed to bleach, which just lightens it) and prepare to drive it, probably at least another 100k.

 

[IanB]

If you put a bit of time and money into it, you'll make money when you sell it. Pretty hard to lose on a free 4runner.

 

[Brique]

Mold is some nasty stuff, and not to be taken lightly. It can make you or your kids sick if it's the bad kind, or at the least be a constant irritant to your lungs. If it were me, I'd replace the seats, carpet and headliner. You'll want to be sure to clean out the vents and the blower fan too. Figure the cost of all that and that's what your "free" Runner will cost you. Plus of course mechanical updates and any other surprises.

That said, having just gone through the buying process, in my neck of the woods that truck would probably be worth $5-7k if it didn't have the mold. If you were willing to put the money into it, you could have a very nice truck on your hands.

Now, something you didn't mention was the condition of the paint. I just bought a truck that had pretty obviously been outside for a while. I figured the bird droppings and other marks on the hood and roof would detail out. Found out on Friday they won't. Too far into the clear coat. I'm still glad I bought this particular truck, but I get to add a hood painting to my long-term list of expenses.

 

[BrianSD_42]

Dude stop whatever you are doing and do a T4R search (check my sig) for 'sound deadening' or 'interior removal'

I bet you can buy the entire ceiling and other parts for < $100 at a junk yard. You can order a brand new custom cut carpet for about $100 (other have done it, see the search results) and all the plastic can be cleaned easily with Lysol.

I removed my entire interior (carpets, seats, ceiling, all panels) in < 4 hours back in 2006 and did the sound deadening mod.

It was super easy, so much easier than actual mechanical work. If the problem is the seats, assuming they are cloth then you can remove them and sanatize them before covering with seat covers.

You absolutely should pull the carpet. Don't expect power washing to work at all, except to create more mold. Just throw the carpet and order a new aftermarket one. Lots of threads on this.

I wouldn't worry about a little mold. It can be fixed super cheap. The truck is not made out of wood lol.