drmoreau
New member
Okay guys. New here. Previous Toyota owner (Supra Turbo, Celica & Yaris) but this is my first truck.
Long story short my mother (67) lives next door and I helped her out by buying her a car (1998 Saturn SL1) a couple of years ago. Well it ended up overheating really bad in traffic and seized the engine. That left us needing another car. My wife has a 2012 Mazda 2 (awesome little car) and I drive a 2010 Yaris 2dr HB (super fun little car). Well, starting next year I will be a stay-at-home father and will be homeschooling my little girl so a car note was not the best thing for me. I decided to buy something cash for myself and let my mother take over the notes on the Yaris (that way I still kinda get to have it too, at least some times).
I went riding around trying to find some kind of small truck or SUV and everything I found was either ragged out or way too expensive. Then just as I was turning to head home and give up I spotted a nice looking 4Runner parked near the street at a small lot. I figured they'd want 6K for it or so since it looked to be in really good condition (and I don't know the value of trucks at all). As it turns out I picked it up for $3600 and a light-colored Toyota 4Runner was actually the first thing that had popped in my head when I decided to get a truck.
It's got 162k miles on the clock but was well maintained. It belonged to a guy who eventually gave it to his son to go to college with and then he got it back when the son graduated. No major problems whatsoever, interior pretty clean (for a 14 year old vehicle), exterior nearly perfect except for a small dent in the rear passenger door, has hitch and hitch wiring, running boards, "spoiler" or whatever you call it near the brake light, really good tires, transmission shifts well, CD player, AC is cold as ice...
Basically I think I got a steal. It is throwing a couple of codes that seem to common and related to the EVAP system which probably explains the slight oil/gas smell I notice when I first shut it off.
(Okay, I didn't really make a long story short, sorry.)
My plans for it? Not too much really. I'd be interested to see what others have done to 4Runners of a similar year and color. Eventually when the tires wear out I plan on replacing them with something just a tad more agressive, I'd also like a bull bar on the front and possibly a couple of lights on the top (fog lights? what do you call them when they're on top of a truck/suv?)
I'm also interested in any cheap/zero dollar mods that you guys do to these trucks. I know most vehicles have some interesting little mods that are done for next to nothing and it's always fun to see what an enthusiast community comes up with.
Attached are a few pics of the new (to me) ride.
Long story short my mother (67) lives next door and I helped her out by buying her a car (1998 Saturn SL1) a couple of years ago. Well it ended up overheating really bad in traffic and seized the engine. That left us needing another car. My wife has a 2012 Mazda 2 (awesome little car) and I drive a 2010 Yaris 2dr HB (super fun little car). Well, starting next year I will be a stay-at-home father and will be homeschooling my little girl so a car note was not the best thing for me. I decided to buy something cash for myself and let my mother take over the notes on the Yaris (that way I still kinda get to have it too, at least some times).
I went riding around trying to find some kind of small truck or SUV and everything I found was either ragged out or way too expensive. Then just as I was turning to head home and give up I spotted a nice looking 4Runner parked near the street at a small lot. I figured they'd want 6K for it or so since it looked to be in really good condition (and I don't know the value of trucks at all). As it turns out I picked it up for $3600 and a light-colored Toyota 4Runner was actually the first thing that had popped in my head when I decided to get a truck.
It's got 162k miles on the clock but was well maintained. It belonged to a guy who eventually gave it to his son to go to college with and then he got it back when the son graduated. No major problems whatsoever, interior pretty clean (for a 14 year old vehicle), exterior nearly perfect except for a small dent in the rear passenger door, has hitch and hitch wiring, running boards, "spoiler" or whatever you call it near the brake light, really good tires, transmission shifts well, CD player, AC is cold as ice...
Basically I think I got a steal. It is throwing a couple of codes that seem to common and related to the EVAP system which probably explains the slight oil/gas smell I notice when I first shut it off.
(Okay, I didn't really make a long story short, sorry.)
My plans for it? Not too much really. I'd be interested to see what others have done to 4Runners of a similar year and color. Eventually when the tires wear out I plan on replacing them with something just a tad more agressive, I'd also like a bull bar on the front and possibly a couple of lights on the top (fog lights? what do you call them when they're on top of a truck/suv?)
I'm also interested in any cheap/zero dollar mods that you guys do to these trucks. I know most vehicles have some interesting little mods that are done for next to nothing and it's always fun to see what an enthusiast community comes up with.
Attached are a few pics of the new (to me) ride.
