Advice under $25k

petron5000

New member
Background

Have a 3rd gen with 220k and a Camry Hybrid and I've decided to sell them and get a single vehicle. $25,000 budget

7-mile commute during the week and we have a 150-acre farm that we go to on the weekends 60 miles away.

Vehicle will do some off-road but on my property, not recreationally.

Landed on a 5th gen or GX460, but prefer the rear roll-down window. Have driven both.

Prices seem to be all over the place and high (damn resale value). I have a TN dealer license through a friend so I do have Manheim access and can ride on dealer tags, meaning I can get in and out of cars quickly.

Requirements
  • 3rd row--have 3 kids (14, 10, 6)
  • 4wd
  • No rust

Preferences
  • Non-white, black, silver colors--I like strange colors.
  • Leather (personal preference)
  • Heated Seats
  • Not crazy mods.
  • 4runner rear window.

Things I don't care about
  • Navigation
  • Rear entertainment (I don't believe in screens in the car).

So, if you were in my boat what would you do?

Would you worry about mileage?

Would you just buy the newest Limited or GX460 you could find within budget?
 
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SR5 premium w/3rd row (or non-premium and do the leather aftermarket... may depend upon your feelings for a factory sunroof).
 
Background

Have a 3rd gen with 220k and a Camry Hybrid and I've decided to sell them and get a single vehicle. $25,000 budget

7-mile commute during the week and we have a 150-acre farm that we go to on the weekends 60 miles away.

Vehicle will do some off-road but on my property, not recreationally.

Landed on a 5th gen or GX460, but prefer the rear roll-down window. Have driven both.

Prices seem to be all over the place and high (damn resale value). I have a TN dealer license through a friend so I do have Manheim access and can ride on dealer tags, meaning I can get in and out of cars quickly.

Requirements
  • 3rd row--have 3 kids (14, 10, 6)
  • 4wd
  • No rust

Preferences
  • Non-white, black, silver colors--I like strange colors.
  • Leather (personal preference)
  • Heated Seats
  • Not crazy mods.
  • 4runner rear window.

Things I don't care about
  • Navigation
  • Rear entertainment (I don't believe in screens in the car).

So, if you were in my boat what would you do?

Would you worry about mileage?

Would you just buy the newest Limited or GX460 you could find within budget?

You can find what you want, just dig around on the internet. Have you test driven these? The 3rd row options are SR5 and LE, so you should know how these ride differently. After that it's basically 4WD or not. You're probably going to get a 100,000 vehicle for $25,000, but more options if you are willing to spend low - $30,000s.
 
Mileage vs year will depend a lot on where the truck lived. In salt states, I'd go newer, but since you already said you're aiming for no rust I would assume that an older, lower-mileage vehicle from a non-salting state would be ok. Just try to make sure it didn't sit undriven for long periods.
 
I think you will get more for your money with a GX460

If I was to do it over again I think I would have gone that route ( I bought new FWIW)
 
I would be happy to provide you advice for less than $25K. You wire me $24,995 and then I'll send you whatever advice you need. And it'll be way better advice than the free advice you've already gotten... because it wasn't free!
 
Wife and I have both and I would opt for the GX460, or an older J200 for your if you can find one in your price range. We were looking at older 470s with low miles for awhile but they'd sell the day they were listed at a good price. That said, 460 is killing it. Unfortunately took us awhile to find a good deal with low miles in our area and I had to drive 120 miles for it.

Pros over 4Runner:
COOLED ventilated seats
V8 :guitar3:
Fulltime 4WD
Driver's line of sight


Cons:
Heavy :girl:
Gas :hippie:
Enform sucks & no chance of swapping head unit

Side note: regarding enform, I recently had a 2018 JKU in my possesion for over a week, and previously I thought the toyota technology was dated. I was wrong.
 
There’s an sr5 with third row in grey somewhere in the mid-atlantic. $20k and 80k miles I think. Seems like an okay price.
 
Wife and I have both and I would opt for the GX460, or an older J200 for your if you can find one in your price range. We were looking at older 470s with low miles for awhile but they'd sell the day they were listed at a good price. That said, 460 is killing it. Unfortunately took us awhile to find a good deal with low miles in our area and I had to drive 120 miles for it.

Pros over 4Runner:
COOLED ventilated seats
V8 :guitar3:
Fulltime 4WD
Driver's line of sight


Cons:
Heavy :girl:
Gas :hippie:
Enform sucks & no chance of swapping head unit

Side note: regarding enform, I recently had a 2018 JKU in my possesion for over a week, and previously I thought the toyota technology was dated. I was wrong.

Not knocking the GX, because it's worth looking at, but my 4R has FT4WD and ventilated seats. It only lacks the V8 and the barn door.
 
Requirements
  • 3rd row--have 3 kids (14, 10, 6)
  • 4wd
  • No rust

Just for the fact that you want a functional 3rd row, I would steer you away from the 4runner unless you plan on your kids never being taller than about 5 feet. The 3rd row in the 4runner is nothing more than an afterthought to make it appealing across a broader consumer market.

My suggestion would be a Sequoia, Land Cruiser, or GX. A Lexus LX may also be a feasible choice since those don't have the same cult following as the Land Cruiser. Obviously, look for vehicles that don't come from salt states. I noticed you're in TN, so I'd advise looking in Atlanta since their used luxury car market is typically the lowest priced within hundreds of miles.
 

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