Advice?

[Bacchus1990]

I am a high school student in Colorado, my current car is a 1990 Audi 200 wagon. I have gotten sick of spending absurd sums of cash to keep it running and I am considering buying a 1st gen 4runner to replace it.

While I know of Toyota's infamous reliability, It would really help to know if there are any reliability issues common in the old yotas. Do you guys think it would be a good buy.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

 

[mspa]

Hey Bacchus,

It depends on what amount is "absurd" to you. I personally think that regardless of age, a Toyota will be cheaper to maintain than an Audi. When buying used, the real issue is what will the 4runner you buy cost to get to a satisfactory state of reliability for you.

I just bought an '88 4runner SR5 with V6 that is high mileage, and needs about $2000 of work to make it right for me. But I knew I'd be putting at least that much into it at some point . . . just not right after I bought it. But even so, it's still more affordable than it would have cost me to buy a newer truck, which I can't afford to insure anyways.

To me the key benefits are:

1) affordable

 

[fourwd1]

The 86-89's are IFS, and there is currently a service campaign to replace the steering idler arm.
The 3.0 V6 is also known for head gasket problems, a service campaign also exists for that.

Two things to check out if you find one you like. Just give the dealer the VIN and he can tell you what's been done.

 

[Bacchus1990]

Thanks you guys. I accept that because its used, things will break/need to be replaced. and the removable top is definitely badass. We get a shit ton of snow where I live, so a truck is almost required. I am gonna keep my eyes open. I have already put about $2,000 into my audi, which isn't so bad, but shit just keeps breaking. Thank you again for your advice.

if anything else comes to mind just let me know.

 

[the_dingman]

The 86-89's are IFS, and there is currently a service campaign to replace the steering idler arm.

Pardon my ignorance, but does that mean there is a recall and that I can have mine taken care of for free?

 

[Zinarac]

Pardon my ignorance, but does that mean there is a recall and that I can have mine taken care of for free?

Yeah. Just call your local Toyota dealer and have them run your VIN to make sure that your 4Runner is eligible, which it should be. I had mine done on my 1993 4Runner just a few months back.