Buying an 03' runner tips and advice?

[surchk]

After giving me his 04' my dad decided to get another runner since ive been using it quite often for work and school now.

The one hes purchasing an 03' and a color he likes, black. The carfax looks great, service and inspection at normal intervals and the last odo was 65,125.

Hes buying it from a buddy of his who is the one and only owner of the truck and the price is 13,000.

I will be doing my searching after this post since I just heard he is buying it and he well be making the purchase within the next 4 or 5 hours or so.

Given an 03' and 65K is there anything we should worry about changing soon or anything we should be prepared for? The only thing i noticed was it failed emmissions at 56K which really isnt a huge deal since it passed the last 3 inspections with out a hitch.

Me and my dad arent really car/truck people. Im slowly getting into the automotive and truck game and have been learning a lot since i joined the forum and since I got my truck. Any feekback or input would be awesome! In the meantime ill hit the search bar and see what i can dig up regarding maintenance. :lookout:'


Edit:

Heres some info on the new one hes getting:

2003 Toyota 4Runner LTD
4 DR WAGON SUV
4L v6 Fl DOHC 24V
AWD
Exactly like mine, different color and a year older.


ALSO!!!! =]

My dad said he was considering keeping the 04' he gave me and might consider getting me an 02' he saw on craigslist
Ill probably post in the 3rd gen section but if you guys got any input on this thatll be cool too:

Its an 02' Limited, one owner, with 89,000 miles. The timing belt and water pump had recently been changed (not sure how recent). Tan w/ Tan interior, auto tranny.
Hes asking 10,500. Im going to call for the vin and find out specifics my self right now.

 

[97BlackAckCL]

If it failed emissions then chances are the cats are bad, I had to replace my cats on my 03 because it failed emissions.

 

[surchk]

Awesome thanks for the heads up!

Well he decided not to rush and get the truck today. We saw it today and the body was in pretty bad shape so we are still on the look out for another one. He is set he wants to get a runner with a limited trim with a v6. He may consider a Jeep SRT8 as well. But we'll see!

 

[NJshadow93]

If you get a Jeep, or any Chrysler for that matter, you're asking for big problems. Everyone I know who has a Jeep has major problems. Engine troubles, transmission died, etc. Someone I know got a Grand Cherokee used which left him stranded on the highway after only 2 months. Test drive both 3rd and 4th gens, you'll probably fall for the 4th gen power and comfort over the 3rd gen. Why not look into a V8 4Runner?

 

[Sungod]

With the number of head gasket issues popping up on the v6, you may want to consider a v8. I know there are a lot of people out there with a v6 and no issue, but since there are virutally no reports of head gasket issues with v8, I would stick with a v8 when buying used.

 

[surchk]

Thanks for all the input guys.

Im definitely sticking with my 4th gen it is a V6 and its worked awesome for me for work and school so far.

My brother has a 3rd gen and its tough as hell.

My dad on the other hand, im just not sure what hes lookin for. He was set on a another 4th gen so were still doing some shopping around. He was also set on a V6 Limited mainly because of gas, personally after reading through hundreds of threads it seems the MPG on the V8's on here arent THAT bad. Ill run the gasket issue by him and see what he says, I was on autotrader and saw a lot of V8's for a decent price as well. We have only ever used the runner on road we dont offroad.....at all.... but ive always like the idea of goin muddin one day.

The SRT8 was just something he threw out there only because I was talking about it months ago. He went from a late 80's early 90's Wrangler to a Benz ML320 then to the runner. He was always talking about his old wrangler and has a bunch of pictures of it so he does have an affinity towards Jeep.

Thanks for the heads up and all the insight guys :keyboard: