Buying help

C

Cooper44

New member
Hi everyone! I’m in the midst of the buying process and would like some advice before I pull the trigger.

I’ve been wanting to join the 4Runner bandwagon for a couple years now and am finally in the position financially to do so. I’ve spent countless hours reading through every relevant forum I could find and appreciate all the knowledge shared thus far.

I narrowed my search to a 4th gen V8 and think I have found the perfect one. It is a 2006 V8 and has been babied it’s whole life, but it has 205,000 miles on it. I negotiated $1,000 off the asking price and am at $8,500 right now. The truck has a clean carfax and I am having a mechanic check it out tomorrow. I just really can’t afford to have it die on me in the near future, so I thought I’d reach out for y’alls help.

Here is the description of the ad and the recent preventative maintenance:

“Excellent condition and meticulously maintained. All preventative maintenance taken care of on time. Everything works. Great for a daily driver and ready for more adventure.

Basics:
2006 limited with leather, nav, sunroof and a V8. 205,000 miles, Mobil 1 oil changes, all services done on time or early. Exterior is in great shape with minor trail rash. Interior also in great shape. No cracks in dash. Driver seat bottom needs repair.

Mods:
Bilstein 6112 front coilovers and King coils, Bilstein 5160 rear shocks with Icon coils, SPC UCA, 5th gen brakes and trail wheels with Falken Wildpeak AT 33s (7k miles), ARB front bumper, lifetime LED cubes, all led light, wired for fridge, etc.

Service since 180k:
Timing belt, water pump, HVAC clutch fan, alternator, pcv valve, radiator, all hoses, pulleys, belts and fluids. Tie rods, rebuilt SPC front UCA, new oem LCA, new king 700lb. coils.”

What do y’all think? He’s got over 4K in mods done (that I would have done myself regardless) I appreciate you taking the time to read this over for me!
 
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sounds like a nice 4runner & fair price but a little high on the miles.

if you havent yet, i would ask for good pics of the frame or if you can see it in person crawl under the truck & look over the frame & suspension parts for rust. the one thing these 4runners & tacomas suffer from is terrible frame rust, especially in winter climates. im sure youre aware but tacomas had a recall due to frame rust... but they wont do it for 4runners that use the exact frame & have the same rust issues.

all in all it sounds like a decent deal if everything else checks out.
 
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high miles and modified...i always preferred modding myself. decent chance it has been wheeled hard by previous owner with such modifications?

similar thinking to buying a used WRX. id rather find one stock than modified because modified means they likely used it hard or increase of that chance.

your call...i could be off with my thinking here.
 
firebirdguy said:
sounds like a nice 4runner & fair price but a little high on the miles.

if you havent yet, i would ask for good pics of the frame or if you can see it in person crawl under the truck & look over the frame & suspension parts for rust. the one thing these 4runners & tacomas suffer from is terrible frame rust, especially in winter climates. im sure youre aware but tacomas had a recall due to frame rust... but they wont do it for 4runners that use the exact frame & have the same rust issues.

all in all it sounds like a decent deal if everything else checks out.
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Appreciate it. Frame rot has been one of my biggest concerns while looking. Luckily this one spent a majority of its life in Texas and is in pretty good shape
 
hinmo24t said:
high miles and modified...i always preferred modding myself. decent chance it has been wheeled hard by previous owner with such modifications?

similar thinking to buying a used WRX. id rather find one stock than modified because modified means they likely used it hard or increase of that chance.

your call...i could be off with my thinking here.
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It has definitely been used, but not abused. I understand where you are coming from and have thought about it from that perspective as well, but I also value having the mods already done to save me time and the headache. I'm just starting to dip my toes into everything and have no prior experience working with cars besides changing my oil here and there.

I think this would give me a good start to working on things my own. Relatively cheap vehicle to "practice" on and doesn't need big, major mods right away. I can gradually add smaller mods and kind of work my way up if that makes any sense?

Thanks for the thoughts!
 
Post the link so we can get a look at it. The only major factors for you to consider are rust depending on where you live/where it's been and the 4lo/center diff lock actuator.
 
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Zed33 said:
Post the link so we can get a look at it. The only major factors for you to consider are rust depending on where you live/where it's been and the 4lo/center diff lock actuator. If that doesn't engage, you will spend a bit to replace it or tinker with it yourself, however this part won't leave you stranded if you leave it alone.
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Those were my first two questions to him lol. Here is the link:

Facebook Marketplace: 2006 Toyota 4Runner * Limited Sport Utility 4D - Cars, Trucks & Motorcycles - Durham, North Carolina
 
Zed33 said:
Oh yea! I saw that one for sale before I bought mine. Good job doing research, I also obsessively read everything I could before buying it. Definitely get some pictures of the frame. If that's all good I'd go for it, the v8/trans these are equipped with is a solid combo.
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Woah, small world man. May I ask when you first saw this one for sale? Might add to my negotiation leverage haha

And I appreciate the insight. I just checked out your rig and it looks sick!
 
Cooper44 said:
Woah, small world man. May I ask when you first saw this one for sale? Might add to my negotiation leverage haha

And I appreciate the insight. I just checked out your rig and it looks sick!
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Yes small world indeed!

Honestly it was a while ago. I've had mine almost a month and started looking about a month before that.

And thanks, I bought her with some known issues going in but it was only $5k. So far I've put almost $1k into it and she's getting back up to "nice" status lol slowly but surely. Almost gotten everything sorted except for the backyard exhaust and the 4lo actuator. Going to wait until I get another beater to tackle that as I may just drop the tcase. Pic of the front end "almost" level and the bumper gap fixed. She's getting there:
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/59821534@N08/49429621987/in/dateposted-public/" title="pjimage"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49429621987_6213b5956b_c.jpg" width="800" height="800" alt="pjimage"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
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ZLJUANN said:
That is a very clean looking rig. The mods are bonus. Even if you buy all those components second hand, you'll spend a couple thousand. 200k miles is nothing for these. thats a $12-15k truck out here in CA.
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CA prices are crazy man! I'm also not one to be deterred from a modified vehicle as long as the mods are tasteful.
 
Zed33 said:
Yes small world indeed!

Honestly it was a while ago. I've had mine almost a month and started looking about a month before that.

And thanks, I bought her with some known issues going in but it was only $5k. So far I've put almost $1k into it and she's getting back up to "nice" status lol slowly but surely. Almost gotten everything sorted except for the backyard exhaust and the 4lo actuator. Going to wait until I get another beater to tackle that as I may just drop the tcase. Pic of the front end "almost" level and the bumper gap fixed. She's getting there:
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/59821534@N08/49429621987/in/dateposted-public/" title="pjimage"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49429621987_6213b5956b_c.jpg" width="800" height="800" alt="pjimage"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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nice looking 4runner & $5k is a great price!

were the rims painted when you bought it? the charcoal looks nice on the sport rims.
 
firebirdguy said:
nice looking 4runner & $5k is a great price!

were the rims painted when you bought it? the charcoal looks nice on the sport rims.
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Thanks man, yes they were painted already. I kinda want to go with a bronze to give it some contrast.

To the OP: Keep us updated on what you decide to do!
 
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